Street roots., January 18, 2013, Page 5, Image 5

street roots
Jan. 18, 2013
KOTEK, from page 4
what’s going on. And everything is at a standstill.
And we don t have a way to force them to
come to the table, and that’s why you’re seeing
no one participating in mediation.
J.Z.: The legislature bent over backward for Nike,
what is it doing for the rest o f the workforce to
improve our unemployment in this state, and
identify opportunities for the unemployable.
T.K.: Keeping Nike in Oregon and having
them expand is going to be good. It’s going to
create jobs and more jobs in all the services that
.go into supporting Nike. I didn’t like the process,
but it wasn’t enough not to support it because I
think it will create jobs. That being said, it was a
real eye opener for people to say we are doing
something for Nike, but what about everybody
else. But I think the biggest thing for the folks
who read your paper and work here, is figuring
how to provide people new skills and get them to
work.
That’s something of the TANF situation as
well.
J.Z.: They cut the JO BS program in TANF,
which helped people train for new jobs and provided
them basic support during the transition.
T.K.: Right. You have a single mom, who has
very limited skill sets, and then you say, get a job.
What kind of job is that woman going to get? And
then we’re going to cut your money off if you
don’t get a job. So that piece will have a lot of
focus.
The other piece for this session, we have a lot
of new bonding capacity coming on line because
we’re paying off a bunch of bonds. So, the
question is, what new projects are we going to
build? A lot of construction jobs. That helps
everybody, because those jobs create other jobs,
and that’s going to be good for the economy.
On another issue, I’m really pleased what the
governor did in his budget around mental health.
He’s got some new investments. There are new
Medicaid dollars coming on line to support
mental health, so this could be a really big
session for building the capacity for more
outpatient care, more supportive services, more
supportive housing, more peer counsel work -
the types of things we know work for people in
recovery.
J.Z.: Is mental health a topic you think the state
o f Oregon has not dealt with properly in the past?
T.K.: It has been inconsistent. And they have
not been, from my perspective, focused enough. I
want a complete continuum of care. That’s how
mental health gets handled. It needs to be
coordinated. Some people do need acute care at
Junction City or Salem, but not everybody. But
the bulk of folks need short-term stays, so they
can get back on their feet, they need help with
medication, they need supportive housing, so I
would say we need investments in that entire
continuum, and I think with the governor’s
budget, we’re poised to do that. People need to
ask for what they want. The mental health
community needs to come in like the schools and
say I need this to get this done. At least there
would be one focus.
P H O T O BY ISRAEL BAYER
City, county gear up for
one-night count of homeless
outside - on the street, in a car or
abandoned building. In combination with
utreach workers from organizations
the One-Night Shelter Count, which is
throughout Portland and Multnomah
conducted on the same night, the homeless
County will be out at the end of
January trying to determine exactly how count provides information on scope of
homelessness and the need for services.
many people are homeless in this area.
The shelter count gathers information on
The work is in partnership with Portland
people sleeping in or turned away from
and Multnomah County to compile both the
emergency shelters, motels, and transitional
numbers and demographics of people
housing.
experiencing homelessness, from the
The homeless and shelter count is
Columbia Gorge to the floating camps on
coming at a time when Multnomah County
the Willamette River. The date for the one-
and the City of Portland are updating the
night count is Jan. 30, however people will
10-year plan to end homelessness. The
be surveyed on their sleeping status for
updated plan will look at a broader
that night through the week.
population of people to target for housing,
The homeless count is conducted to
specifically families experiencing
learn more about the individuals and
homelessness.
families experiencing homelessness who
Generally accepted as an undercount, the
are unsheltered. The report is federally
2011 one-night count tallied more than
mandated and happens in communities
4,600 people who were homeless. Nearly
around the U.S. throughout 2013.
half were families with children, a 35
“The street count is a snapshot of
percent increase over the previous count in
homelessness in our community,”'says
2009.
housing commissioner Nick Fish.
Meanwhile, the city’s financial crunch
“Knowledge is power - the better we
has the Portland Housing Bureau
understand the challenge facing us, the
contemplating a 10 percent reduction in its
better we can respond.”
housing and homeless service programs.
The count captures those sleeping
S T A F F R E P O R TS
O
A street scene in Old
Town where a man
beds down in a
doorway, protected
from view by his
wheelchair.