Supporting Local Businesses on a Budget

As Oregon embarks on its second lock down order, small businesses are feeling this freeze both in spirit and in finances. Businesses have cut down their hours, services and for some, they have completely shut down. This is devastating for our community as a whole. Small businesses keep communities diverse and vibrant, not to mention the jobs that they provide. In an ideal world we could all donate and purchase from these small shops, but unfortunately due to COVID most of us are also suffering financially from this pandemic. So, how can we help our favorite local small businesses during COVID-19, while also watching out for our own finances? It turns out there are actually a few ways to do this!

The first way is by following them on social media and interacting with their posts. It's likely that many of them rely on social media to grow their businesses. Instagram and Facebook are huge tools for marketing, especially for small businesses that may not have a full marketing team. Interacting with their posts right now is one of the easiest ways to boost their account and spread the word about them! It just takes a couple clicks and you’ve helped a small business without even touching your wallet!

Another great way to help local businesses is by leaving positive reviews on Yelp or Facebook. These reviews help to boost their businesses website and encourage potential customers to check them out. You do not have to purchase from a small business to help boost their sales! Encouraging other people to try their product or service is a way to show that you care about their success and send more customers in their direction!  

One more way to help your local business get through this particularly tough time is by reaching out to them directly with a little word of encouragement. On top of the financial problems this is causing for so many small business owners, there is also a loss of morale that so many are experiencing. Sending an email or comment about how much you appreciate and love a small business is the emotional support they may need to get them through these uncertain times. Seeing sales go down can make business owners feel like they are not as wanted or appreciated, but this is not the case! If you are able to, send a nice email or a happy comment on their next instagram post. It might make their whole week!

Everyone is struggling right now in a lot of ways. We would all love to order take out every night and go on online shopping sprees, but that is not exactly feasible for many of us right now. Maybe we are not able to support our local businesses through our wallets, ,but we can support them through our words and hearts. 

For more resources and ideas check out these articles!

NBC News: 11 Ways to Help Small Businesses Affected by Coronavirus

Harvard Business School: Ways to Help Small Businesses Now

Homelessness doesn't equal substance abuse

One correlation often associated with the homeless population is drugs or alcohol, some sort of substance abuse.  Growing up without understanding them, the stereotype I was shown was that they were bad people and you would steer away from them.  Often in the media they’ll be depicted as dangerous, on the side doing drugs or heavily drunk among parks, etc.  What needs to be understood is that most of the homeless individuals struggling with substance abuse have some form of a pre-existing mental health condition and were led to drugs or alcohol as a result before their homelessness.  This would then lead to their relationships and responsibilities being broken down and those they can rely on leaving them or disregarding them. Homelessness becomes a result of these issues, and due to lack of support they are unable to find or receive proper treatment.

In terms of data,  it is estimated that over half of the people living in supportive housing systems suffer from substance abuse disorder.  It is found that the elderly will turn to alcohol and the youth towards drugs.  These housing solutions aren’t a final means to solving the homeless crisis as these individuals living through the housing systems also require proper address of their issues to get them back on their feet and to a position where they can place themselves back in society.  Luckily there are solutions towards that in the form of recovery centers.  These centers will help assess and work on improving their problems with substance abuse or their mental health while providing resources for them to utilize and absorb for their reintegration.  The issue of course that comes with being homeless is the means to pay for it or access it.  In regards to payment, the options include scholarships, public insurance, or free and low income programs of which can be researched for the desirable area.  The links below provide additional information and resources for help.

Resources

Addiction Resource

AddictionCenter

Recovery

Living in the Pandemic

    Living situations are always complicated when deciding where to live or who to live with, but unfortunately, during the COVID-19 pandemic, several thousands of people have lost jobs or have been evicted from their homes, resulting in more people being homeless across the world. Some people have had to resort to moving in with family, which I've done myself during this pandemic. As a college student, I'll try to find ways to save financially in any way I can. Before the pandemic, I decided to go to PSU, because I had the advantage on not living in the dorms, and ended up living with family. I knew how expensive college already is, so when the pandemic hit and I knew I wouldn't be attending classes in person, I decided to move back with my parents. It's not just college students who have done this, but everyone who want to live comfortably. But how does someone live comfortably during the a global pandemic, especially if they don't have a place to live?

    The homeless population is already a global issue that we have been attempting to address altogether, but people are making more precautions with COVID making it's ways into communities. According to the CDC and the National Alliance to End Homelessness, discusses how people who are homeless age faster than those who are, making them a greater risk, because as the CDC has reported, older people are at a greater risk of getting COVID. So, if the homeless population is aging faster and has less access to health care, they also have a greater risk. The unfortunate issue is that much of the homeless population are faced to face homelessness, because of unaffordable housing, so as I mentioned before many people will try to live with friends or family if possible. However, we know many people don't have that access.

    Having low income housing is such an important part to combating homelessness, because as more people move out on their own, affordable housing is what will allow more people to have a decent life and combat the homelessness issue that America, as well as the world, is facing. Argyle Gardens is one group that is attempting to combat the issue. They are working on creating more affordable housing for people of low income, and is considered a "sustainable apartment community." They are a group that has shown us that affordable housing is possible and we have a way to combat the homeless population issue.

For More Information, Click Here:

https://www.argylegardensapts.com

https://www.oregonmetro.gov/news/argyle-gardens-affordable-housing-community-opens-north-portland

Homelessness in Families

Homelessness in Families

    Did you know that Oregon had the highest rate of unsheltered homeless families in the country in 2019? Oregon had a rate of 54%. The closest states to Oregon in this were Colorado and Tennessee at 30%. That is a 24% difference in rates, almost double the rates of Colorado and Tennessee. When I read this statistic, I found it very upsetting. 

    I feel like when the homeless population is brought up in media, they only focus on homeless individuals and not the families that are experiencing homelessness. I had figured that there were some homeless families as well but I didn't know it was to this extent. This is why I think that having low-income housing and available shelters are so important in our communities because we need to help those in need and especially help those who are struggling to provide for their families and young children. If we want to stop homelessness, we need to start focusing on the younger generations that are experiencing homeless so that they don't grow up homeless and have children who are then homeless and the trend continues for more generations to come.

    One company that is trying to combat homelessness in Oregon (Portland specifically) is Portland Homeless Family Solutions. They provide housing for homeless people in Portland and you can help the fight by donating or volunteering with the company. Find out more at http://www.pdxhfs.org/.

TOUCH STARVATION AND DEPRIVATION DUE TO COVID-19

Touch Starvation is a Consequence of COVID-19's Physical Distancing

The current COVID-19 pandemic times mean that social distancing is an important practice to protect your health, but social distancing can also lead to feelings of isolation and may cause individuals to become touch starved or touch-deprived. Humans are designed to be social people and we have many different forms of daily physical contact. When we take away these daily and routine physical contact connections we can often fall into the emotional state known as touch starvation. Touch starvation is the lack of sufficient skin to skin or human touch interactions. Pre-COVID times, we had many different forms of skin to skin or human interaction contact, handshakes, a comforting or guiding hand on your shoulder, hugs, and other forms of daily casual contact. Read more about COVID-19s role in touch deprivation by clicking the link "Touch starvation is a consequence of COVID-19's physical distancing"



7 Signs You Might Be Suffering From Touch Deprivation
Being touch starved or deprived of touch can lead to several emotional and behavioral side effects such as stress, body image issues, and even aggressive behavior. Click the link to read about seven signs of touch deprivation "7 Signs of touch deprivation "



5 Soothing Practices to Help You Cope With Touch Deprivation
Even though there are no exact substitutes for human contact and connection, there are still habits and practices we can do to help soothe our brain and emotions during these times. We can stimulate and support our brain and mental health by listening to ASMR videos. We can support our bodies by comforting practices such as warm baths and weighted blankets. Click the link to read more practice for dealing with touch deprivation "5 Soothing practices to help you cope with touch deprivation"


Click and read the links below to learn more about touch starvation and deprivation

• Click to read about touch starvation is a consequence of COVID-19's physical distancing
• Click to read about 7 Signs of touch deprivation
• Click to read about 5 Soothing practices to help you cope with touch deprivation

Mental Health Assistance During These Times of Uncertainty

 It is no surprise that this year has been harsh on everyone, causing uncertainty and stresses at far more extremes than one would expect during a normal year. One thing that has changed is the focus on mental health and helping people get through the effects of stress and other mental illness related symptoms. These kinds of symptoms can have varying negative effects on people’s ability to function, one of the more extreme results being homelessness. Being unable to function and losing jobs due to inactivity, lack of motivation, exhaustion, depression, and many other things make keeping not only oneself in functioning order difficult, but a job even harder.

What can I do to help myself when it comes to my mental health, the symptoms from mental illnesses and the stressors I face daily?

With this there can be many things a person can do to lessen the effects of the impacts their mental health has on them on a daily basis. For one, something that a lot of people can do is to visit their general healthcare doctor. They have general knowledge on mental health effects and have access to resources that mainly focus on this area. Psychologytoday is also a good place to look for therapists if a person does not have access to a general health doctor. There are also many resources online that can help reduce stress as well, this is an example of that. It provides sessions to help one through their stress through breathing.

If you are experiencing the effects of mental illnesses, you aren’t alone, tons of people are experiencing the same kinds of fight you deal with every day, it is never too late to start working towards getting better

If you or someone you know has been feeling suicidal, please go here and call the listed number to get help: suicidepreventionlifeline

FINANCIAL PLANNING TO PREVENT HOMELESSNESS IN TIMES OF UNCERTAINTY

2020 has been a year of uncertainty for all of us. Some of us are dealing with personal losses, career setbacks, financial and housing struggles, and all of us are looking with uncertainty at the global economy, housing market, and job economy. It can be hard to feel safe and secure when there are so many uncontrollable factors affecting our lives. Homelessness often occurs due to unforeseen or uncontrollable financial burdens, which is why it is important to take a hard look at our financial security and assess where we are at, and where we may be vulnerable to hardships and loss.

Financial security is more than simply having money in the bank or a roof over our heads.  Financial security includes our assets, sources of income, our debt to income ratio, our living expenses, our job security, and more. Our Financial security is affected by questions like: What would happen if you got sick and could not work?  What is your biggest financial expense and what would happen if this burden grew? If you could not pay all of your expenses, which ones would you pay first? We have to look at all these factors to calculate our financial security, and it's only after taking a hard look at our finances that we can plan and prepare for the unknown and work to prevent financial crisis and homelessness. 

Some questions we should be asking ourselves when assessing our 2020 financial security

• How would you and your family be affected if you or a family member tested positive for COVID-19?
• What would your household income look like if you or a partner lost your job due to employer cutbacks?
• If you had no income coming in, how long would you be able to pay your expenses?
• If you had a sudden or large emergency expense, would you be able to pay it?
• What is the current cost of your housing and living expenses and how can you manage and lower these costs if need be?
• What is the bare minimum income you need to maintain your housing or to find a more affordable housing option?

"Change what you can control, manage what you don't, and know the difference"-Peter Drucker

All these aspects of calculating financial security allow us to plan for the uncertain times, and unexpected financial burdens, that often lead to homelessness.  By knowing our current finances, and planning ahead, we can seek to avoid financial struggles and prevent homelessness. Everyone at every level of income and financial standing benefits from assessing their financial security and planning for the future. Creating a plan for your financial success and stability should not feel unreachable or unavailable to anyone. These links provide information and resources for calculating your financial security and planning ahead for financial struggles.

How to measure your financial security

Baby steps to beginning financial success​

Resources for low-income financial counseling 

Click Here For LowIncome Financial Help Counseling