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.