street roots
Dec. 21, 2012
P H O T O B Y R O B E R T B R IT T
24 HOURS, from page 8
Over at City Hall, a regular vigil was
taking place - protesting the city’s anti
camping ordinance. Despite recent changes
to police guidelines, the city ordinance still
prohibits camping on public property in the
city, an act that can be as simple as curling
up inside a sleeping bag. A sign inside vigil
says, “Every blade of grass has its angel that
bends over it and whispers, grow, grow”
By the time people were settled in, one
reporter counted seeing more than 300
people sleeping outside that rainy night,
each staging a kind of civil disobedience out
of necessity and survival.
One Street Roots vendor is camping
outside City Hall. He is homeless. His
mother has Alzheimer’s but he has no
resources to care for her. Everything he
owns, he says, is on his back. Sleep is nearly
impossible because of his PTSD, and he
deals with sleep deprivation on a daily basis.
But he feels safer outside City Hall.
It’s raining harder now. Headed under the
bridges and along Waterfront Park
Life is hard. Man sleeps under tarp in front
of City Hall.
It’s almost impossible not to get sick out
here. Most vendors sleeping outside this winter
will get walking pneumonia.
People die homeless all of the time, rarely
makes headlines. Violence, addiction, health.
I t’s a hard knock life.
As the evening drifted on, people were
establishing their spots for the night.
Couple walking past Lan Su (Chinese
Gardens), one wearing soggy sleeping bag and
one with many belongings, looking for a safe
spot to bed down.
Two individuals, one with a horrible cough
and one with the thinnest blanket ever, bedding
down at MAX stop till they get rousted in a few
hours.
fust passed Right 2 Dream Too, which is the
quietest and most orderly thing on this entire
block.
It was because of these conditions that a
group of people on the streets formed Right
2 Dream Too, a rest area at Fourth Avenue
and Burnside Street for people experiencing
homelessness. By the time Street Roots
arrived that night, they were already having
to turn people away. They were at capacity
with 80 people seeking shelter for the night.
It’s primitive, but it’s dry and safe, one
person notes. “I’m cold, so cold,” one
shivering woman says at the gate. They
P H O T O B Y IS R A E L B A Y E R
Campers pack the stoop of Street Roots late Thursday night.
make room for her inside.
There’s a lot of resources, but sometimes it’s
hard to get to a place to ask for help. It’s not a
dignified experience, says Heather.
“Being here made me realize ju st how m any
people are struggling. I t ’s unbelievable, ” says
Heather.
“When you are a single mom and find
yourself homeless, the stress is unreal. I can’t
even describe it. ”
Heather’s 10 year old is in 5th Grade and
says her dreams are to be a singer.
There are four family shelters operating
in Multnomah County during the winter
months, and the workers there report
seeing more homeless families this year
than in the recent past, including more two-
parent families in need. Each of the shelters
can accommodate 50 people, and one can
expand to 80. All four shelters are full.
The city is slowly waking up. Machinery
sounds, delivery trucks, etc.
Living on streets one always encounters
noise and more noise and then more. Only a
couple hours of silence to get good rest, if dry.
About 15 ppl lining up at Union Gospel
Mission. A new day is beginning. Mood very
subdued. Raining.
Talking w / a man who has been homeless
for two and half weeks in Old Town.
He says he was laid off and got an eviction.
Is currently working in the service industry as
a server in the day.
Doing best to fin d fu ll time work & get off
the streets soon. “I ’ve only been homeless fo r
two weeks of my life. I ’m 50.”
As morning arrived, the city rustles with
cold, soggy people regrouping to start
another day. Reporters sent in their final
posts around 6 a.m., 24 hours since the first
crew visited the shelters. Soon the cycle
would begin again. But all who returned to
the office - people familiar with the world of
homelessness - were still taken aback by
the striking numbers of people huddled
under bridges, awnings, in doorways or just
with each other. At night, any disguise of
normalcy is stripped away.
Early morning workers emerging, gliding
down streets with coffee in hand. A soaked
camper walks by, shivering against the cold.
Sometimes, and right now, I wish we had a
dryer @streetroots. So many people simply wet
all the time. So many frail canvas shoes.
Comments are still welcome at #SR24, where
you can read the complete feed on Twitter.
For more than a year, this vigil outside City Hall has protested the city’s camping ban.