It’s Time to Clear Away Spending on Sweeps

The experience of being homeless is not pretty nor dignified. Those who must endure it firsthand are often relegated to out-of-sight, out-of-mind because of how much of a source of discomfort their situation is to others. On the other hand, for those living near homeless encampments, I can imagine how jarring it must be to be confronted daily with the realities of how some people live in order to survive. 

I understand not wanting to have strangers sleep on your sidewalk, or do drugs in front of your children as they walk to school. 

But moving the problem around the corner is not the same as solving it. 

When it feels like nothing is being done, any visible change can seem like a step in the right direction. This is where I believe the impetus for homeless encampment sweeps comes from, a desire to do something, anything that seems to help. But the illusion of progress never helped anyone in the long run.  

Portland spent $72.5 million in 2025 on sweeps and emergency shelter funding. Between 2021 and 2023, Portland spent $200,000 per homeless individual. Yet homelessness continues to rise in Oregon, and the death rate of homeless people in Portland has quadrupled from 2019 to 2023. 

Many people lose what precious stability they have when the sweeps come through. Their belongings are thrown away, and they must move somewhere new despite any connections to community or services they may have previously had access to. One Portland individual named Debby Beaver was 57 when she died a week after a sweep due to her medication being thrown out. The city contractors responsible for the sweep, without admitting any wrongdoing, paid a settlement of $45,000 after her family filed a wrongful death suit. Sisters of the Road and the Welcome Home Coalition, an advocacy group, released a report which found that people experiencing homelessness saw living in shelters “as undesirable as outdoor spaces.” The same report found that housing affordability was the biggest cause of homelessness and the biggest barrier to getting out of it. Pushing people who have nowhere else to go into temporary shelters that feel unsafe as their only option is cruel and unhelpful.  

The punishment of sweeps is not helping anyone.

If there is kind of money to pay for sweeps and shelters, then those resources should be allocated towards a solution that will actually improve all our lives: affordable permanent housing. Everyone deserves a safe and stable home. The way to ensure that for all citizens and residents is to increase access, not shove those who are in a rough way down the road. 

To read more about sweeps and what is actually happening in homeless communities, click the links below. 

Portland’s top leader escalates homeless sweeps amid federal crackdown - Street Roots

Portland said it was investing in homeless people’s safety. Deaths have skyrocketed. - Street Roots

Officials say the 'camping ban' is meant to offer resources to homeless Portlanders. None of them are tracking whether it’s working. - Street Roots