4
street roots
Féb. 28, 2014
P H O T O B Y A D R IE N NE B A R N E T T
“Pastor” M ike Davis talks with people in E ast Portland where he has made it a seconds career to extend outreach a n d assistance to people
experiencing homelessness.
D AV IS, fro m page 1
Oregon Department of Transportation and
Multhomah County, have made his job
harder than usual While these new ' '
strategies aim to help reduce the visible
im p a c t of ,h o m e le s sn e s s in th e com m unity.
Uavis and otfters rind the agencies'
initiatives missing the target and instead
impeding the real solutions to the multi
faceted problem.
While routine camp clean-ups by
authorities are commonplace to most
homeless populations, Oregon Department
of Transportation’s sweep this past October
shook up the Southeast homeless
community more than usual. Evicting
around 30 people from a sizeable camp
between Johnson Creek and 1-205 (and
taking the majority of their tents and tarps),
ODOT officials said the camp’s occupants
had been contributing to serious ?
environmental degradation along the creek.
“People had been using the creek as a
toilet and washing area, and had created
dams harmful to the stream’s integrity,”
says ODOT spokesperson Don Hamilton.
“The state has put a lot of money m it to
help restore the salmon habitat there, and it
has continued to get worse. ,We had to do
something.”
While its intentionsmay have been well
founded, the sweep scattered the camp
residents across the surrounding area, some
without the gear they left behind. One of
the residents of the camp died four days
after the October sweep, and his friends
claim he suffered a severe emotional impact
from the loss of his camping gear days
before. Now, those displaced from the camp
remain unadjusted and upset by the jolting
move.
Many of these campers spend cold
mornings at the Clackamas Service Center,
a house converted to a community center
on 82nd Avenue, walking distance from the
Springwater Corridor. The center provides
warm food, clothes and biweekly medical ,
aide from an Outside In clinic van, and
reinains the only hub in miles offering
homeless aid to the growing displaced
community.
Davis usually starts his days at the center,
checking in with folks and learning about j
new changes in camp setups and pending
legal issues. While not at the Johnson Creek
Camp during the major sweep, Davis has
alternatives. It just keeps pushing these
camps elsewhere.”
One of these cleared areas used to be
Davis’ own living site before he moved into
a home. Walking through the now-empty
grounds, he recalls a time When interacting
been involved m 'the légal répercussions ’
with visiting authorities was far less
downtown with the business alliance,
there’s something wrong.”
In October, while ODOT was Clearing thè
Johnson Creek camp, a large' media spotlight
remained on the potential move of
downtown’s Right 2 Dream Too camp,
keeping the ODOT sweep largely out of the
public eye. Cornett blames this solely on the
locale — there are fewer business and
neighbors affected by the East Portland
campers — so fewer people want to hear .
about-it.
“You can’t ignore what’s happening along
the Springwater trail,” Cornett says. “The
more people you bump from downtown/the
more people end up in Southeast.” ;
The main problem, Cornett says, is that
no one is talking about solutions.
, “Sure, you can keep waking up people so „
there’s no conflict with business owners
downtown, but then what? Someone has" to
be a voice at the state level talking about
reducing poverty to make a real change,” he
says.
Davis echoes Cornett’s concerns, adding
that the majority of Portland’s great
homeless resources are downtown — more
than an hour’s bus ride from the
Springwater camp areas.
“Most people can’t find a way to get
downtown for a doctor’s appointment or
employment help,” Dayis says. “And there’s
the risk that if they do leave, their home
will be destroyed.”
A few camps are taking matters into their
own hands, revving up efforts to remain
largely unaffected by tire authorities’
ramped-up interactions and neighbor’s
complaints. Their secret? Camouflage.
“Lumpy” has been living in the Johnson
Creek neighborhood all of his-life. And he,
has no intention on leaving anytime soon.
His current camp, buried deepinto an
unassuming forested area, is now home to
eleven/including a woman six months
down next to Hilary, a former occupant of
“I wouldn’t say tfreir presence has -
and waste system and a pair of canine
the Johnson Creek camp, to catch up.
increased, but they’ve become more and
companions that serve as lookouts, thé
“My husband and Tare by ourselves now,’ more unrelenting since ,1 was a part of these small campsite is anything but disorderly.
says Hilary, sipping from a steaming mug of
camps,” he says. “It’s frightening, to be
* “That’s where I’m staying now,” Lumpy
coffee at the communal breakfast table.
honest.”
says, pointing to what looks like an
“Our community is
By now, Davis says
unremarkable growth of underbrush. To the
split up, but it’s
he knows which cops
expert eye, it’s a smartly disguised tent.
easier not: to be
sincerely care about the
Further up the small path, tan tarps with
"Most people eau/t find a
disturbed this way.
community’s well-being
wind shts drape the tree line, quietly
way to get downtown for a
We don’ t have much
versus those rooting for
camouflaging another cluster of tents.
left and we don’t
doctor's appointment or
arrests.
“I’m sure a few cops know we’re out ’
want to lose it again.” employment help. And £
“I’ve seen a cop car
here,” he says, with a shrug. “But we. clean
Hilary’s husband is
up after ourselves aren’t in anyone’s way —
there's the risk that if th e y ' drive down the bike
one of the five
path at night, pulling
like the camps oh the corridor. This is
do le a w i t h « home w ill be over at any sign of a
members of the
home, and we treat it like th a t”
Johnson Creek camp destroyed." - -
camp and arresting
Davis’ last stop of the day is not on his
to file a federal
pa s to r m ik e d a vis each occupant,” he
usual route — but a friend at the Clackamas
lawsuit against
says, shaking his head.
Service Center suggested he swing by.
ODOT, claiming the
“This isn’t how it’s
“ODOT’s been there,” he told Davis.
state agency failed to follow its own policy
supposed to work. How is this helping?”
As Davis turns the corner in an East
for removing and storing personal property
The Portland Police Bureau recently
Portland neighborhood to an open lot, he
from camps for up to 30 days.
publicized its efforts to address
brings the car to a slow roll.
“Sleeping bags, tarps, tents - they threw
homelessness. Police Chief Mike Reese
“Wow.”
it all away that day,” says Hilary, still fuming says the new strategy, dubbed “Prosper #
The area — once green with trees and
from the memory. “They could care less
Portland,” will help businesses and agencies
long grasses — has clearly been recently
about our stuff. But it’s all we had.”
better coordinate their efforts to address
hacked to the ground, exposing raw roots
Davis says the lawsuit could take years to
homelessness - within downtown Portland’s
and stumps through the freshly trodden
process, which could weaken the eventual
small radius.
ground. A few reminders of the camp once
outcome. For now, he’s more concerned
But according to. a 2013 survey conducted- 4 tucked behind thé lot’s greenery are left
about the continuing efforts by ODOT,
• by the Portland Housing Bureau and
exposed in the mud: A boot, a flashlight, a
county and city officials along the corridor.
Multnomah County, 51 percent of all 2,869 , shredded tarp.
- “See oyer here,” Davis says, pointing to a ' homeless people surveyed live in East
This just happened. I swear I was just
freshly sheared grassy clearing along the
Portland, with the majority in Southeast.
here last month, visiting these folks,” Davis
Springwater Corridor, near the center.
Downtown Portland is home to 28 percent
says, eyes fixated on the desolate grounds.
“This used to be full of native brush and
This selective focus has riled up many
As the increased spattering of snow g
frees. But ODOT hired a company to clear it East Portland representatives, including
begins to gather on his windshield, Davis’
out after they saw people camping here.”
Lents Neighborhood Association Chairman
hands tighten on the steering wheel.
In the distance, an orange tree-trimming
Jesse Cornett. In a heated letter to Reese,
You know, when you’re out here, you
truck is working its way along a stretch of
in response to the Prosper Portland pitch,
don t have a timeline. You don’t know when
the path.
Cornett criticized the plan as catering only
you’re going to lose your only possessions.
“This has become more common since
to downtown businesses concerns.
When you’re going to he woken up in the
I’ve been coming out here,” says Dayis.
Cornett, who works downtown, says that
middle of the night by the cops. You don’t
“They’re cutting down the trees to expose
despite having compassionate officers in
know when it’s going to end,” he says.
campingayeas — but theydon’tprovide
Portland, “when you have the chief working
“Trust is hanging by a thread.”