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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 13, 2013)
street roots 2 Sept. 13, 2013 Looking at our city on the hill P Right 2 Dream Too has earned its place at the table ot many people gave them a chance. From the neighborhood and bureaucrats to certain shelter providers and the business community, no one believed that a group of homeless people could be successful in creating their own safe refuge from the harsh realities of homelessness. Right 2 Dream Too has been proving those critics wrong for more than two years. Tent cities created by people experiencing homelessness are nothing new in America. They date back to the Civil War and run through the Depression era with the emergence of Hoovervilles — homeless camps named after President Herbert Hoover for his lack of support of housing on a federal level. With the rise of modern-day homelessness came tent cities that were In order to combat born organically and poverty and intentionally. homelessness, we must Right 2 Dream Too, in many ways is a look at every version of Dignity alternative available. hm Village - except that Right 2 Dream Too is located in the heart of downtown Portland and will soon move to the Pearl District with the help of city officials. Right 2 Dream Too has received the support of law enforcement for maintaining an orderly camp and civility with some of Old Town’s hardest to reach individuals on the streets. They helped facilitate the housing of dozens of individuals with social-service agencies and helped maintain the safety of women experiencing the extremes of homelessness. They did all of this while experiencing homelessness themselves. Their service to the city and to themselves should be commended. “I commend Commissioner (Amanda) Fritz, and the organizers of Right 2 Dream, for seeing these negotiations through. It is clear that no one answer will solve the homelessness issue in America. But Right 2 Dream has one answer, for one segment of the homeless population,” Mayor Charlie Hales told the Portland Mercury. “We look forward to the next phase — the relocation of Right 2 Dream — and the public input process. I support her commitment to meet with the neighbors and businesses, prior to executing the use agreement, and to develop a good neighbor agreement.” Right 2 Dream Too is now set to move into the Pearl District under the Broadway Bridge. Ironically, the Pearl was a neighborhood once home to hundreds of people on the streets before gentrification and displacement. Today, the posh neighborhood, with a strong philanthropic spirit, has the chance to be good neighbors. We look to neighborhood leaders to rise above the hype and to welcome Right 2 Dream Too. We look to neighborhood leaders to rise above the NIMBY rhetoric that has become the norm in these kinds of circumstances. Right 2 Dream Too deserves a chance to continue organizing to improve the living conditions of people on the streets. Street Roots is thankful to have elected officials and community supporters who believe the same. In order to combat poverty and homelessness, we must look at every alternative available. Right 2 Dream Too has proven time and again to be great partners, and it deserves a seat at the table. Human capital, as it relates to poverty ortland is a city on a hill. A shining and displacement in our community, has example of how to think about and become a patchwork of desperate attempts plan urban growth, public to combat decades’ worth of the defunding transportation and sustainability, parks and of safety-net programs. It’s what you get the environment, clean when we don’t invest in people, specifically water, etc. The list goes poor people. on. Add a bustling and Don’t get me wrong. Our local growing tech 1 government has prioritized the safety net at community, urban times and done its best to create livability gardening and the and a quality of life for people struggling on emergence of cycling By Israel Bayer and our light begins to the fringe. The faith and business ™ 1 shine even brighter. communities are engaged. It’s still not I love Portland. I’m a enough. proud fan. We live in a city where ideas and I can appreciate that as a region we innovations can be developed, crafted and continue to work towards sustainability, supported. We are a young city, both in innovation and building a bigger, brighter spirit and in the history of urban city. In order to do that, we have to invest landscapes. Our traditions and values are in people across a broad spectrum. constantly being shaped and recreated and We must help create an economic engine driven by people, just like you, that have that supports alternative incomes for hopes and dreams of a better tomorrow. people on the streets, people with Where else can beer, food and the simple disabilities, people coming out of prison, luxury of life blossom more than in the mentally ill. We have to make serious Portland? Life is good. investments in early childhood Beyond the luxury, the challenges development. We must build and maintain Portland and our region face are real. The affordable housing and homeownership economic challenges tens of thousands of opportunities for hardworking people. We individuals and families endure are very must give immigrants and refugees a real. The lack of diversity and race in the fighting chance at being successful. We heart of Portland’s playground is also very must work across class lines and issues and real. Suburban poverty is real. support one another in ways that don’t Homelessness. I can keep going: A polarize and segregate our populations and statewide mental health system that, ideas. We must rise above. honestly, is pathetic. Zero regional planning It’s going to take a village, young and old, on transportation and affordable housing. bin and small, rich and noor. It is possible. Forget regulations. The list goes on and on. N Israel Bayer is the executive director o f Street Roots. You can reach him at israel@streetroots. org or follow him on Twitter @israelbayer. WHAT DO YOU THINK? Send letters to the editor to Street Roots, 211 N W Davis St., Portland, OR 97209, or e-mail to joanne@streetroots.org. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, the official elected to represent the state o f Homelessness has vowed to keep his eyes closed, as long as he sits in the House. B y M a r ie M c K im m Executive Director Israel Bayer Network of Street Papers. Street Roots 211 NW Davis St. Portland, OR 97209 503-228-5657 Fax: 503-227-3117 streetroots.org news.streetroots.org ¡srael@streetroots.org Managing Editor Joanne Zuhl joannetstreetroots.org Vendor Coordinator Cole Merkel coletstreetroots.org Operations Director Sarah Beecroft Program Assistant Grace Badik, Jesuit Volunteer, gracetstreetroots.org Development Director Sarah Cloud Office Assistant Amber Bielman Reporters Jake Thomas, Alex Zielinski, Nathan Gilles, Sue Zalokar Photographers Kristina Wright, Christopher Onstott ? TtiK Street Roots Rose City Resource Street Roots publishes the Rose City Resource, a comprehensive booklet of services for people experiencing homelessness and poverty. To inquire about getting guides, call 503-228-5657. Resources are also available online at www. roseci ty reso u rce.org. Vendor orientations are at 1 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the Street Roots office.
