S treet R oots • May 29-June 4, 2015
E d ito r ia l
Page 3
Solutions, not sweeps, will end homelessness
very year about this time, like clockwork, the
Dream Too on the inner eastside, something inner
City of Portland conducts annualcamp sweeps in
eastside residents should support.
inner Southeast Portland, and eventually parts of
Put into context well beyond the sound bite, this
downtown right before the Rose Festival.
collection of tents, tarps and human beings is the
And every year, like clockwork, Portland! media
product of limited social resources, a lack of living
machine jumps on the story as if it were the first time
wages and job opportunities; a decline in our affordable
homeless camps have ever been
and low-income housing stock; and a development
swept. Elected officials and the
agenda that is plowing over formerly low-income lots
police claim to be helping the
and erecting luxury rentals and condos. Currently,
homeless by cleaning up the
Multnomah County is an estimated 20,000 units short
troubled camps, while posturing to
of affordable housing. It doesn’t help that skyrocketing
neighborhoods, businesses and the
rents are hurting local efforts to support
general public that they are getting
people with rent assistance dollars. Not
tough on crime, so to speak. The script If we are to turn the
only are there not enough units
is always the same.
corner on homelessness,
available to house people, the burden of
What makes this year different?
Portland needs to get
first and last months rent and stablizing
One thing you could say is
serious about prioritizing
people’s lives adds additional obstacles
neighborhoods where homeless people long-term housing
for
social service providers and people
have historically slept en mass are
investments in our
experiencing poverty. .
rapidly changing. With new housing
community, including
developments, rising rents and
Human beings are living in extremely
regulating development,
businesses emerging throughout the
unhealthy conditions, regardless if their
taxing groups such as
city. There are simply fewer public
sleeping in an “entrenched” camp or
Airbnb, implementing
spaces where people are allowed to
alone down by the river. Living without
demolition fees and
sleep.
building more affordable a home means living through a
There’s no question that with more
traumatic experience that isn’t logical
housing.
organized business, neighborhoods and
or rational. People die, very literally.
cycling communities — on the eastside
People are experiencing mental health
specifically —people experiencing
crises, domestic violence, sexual assault, sleep
homelessness will systematically continue to be pushed
deprivation, trauma in many forms.
out of the area, at least for the time being.
What can be done?
The rhetoric behind the sweeps is standard — it is
The niayor’s office, has touted the idea of more rest
the first step to getting people into housing. Everyone
areas citywide for people experiencing homelessness.
supports that. But w h e r e i^ tn ^ ie x ^ te p f in ^ a ^ e s ^ j M o r e o r le s s , th is w o u ld b e a p la c e for p e o p le o n t h e
shelter agency in the city, Transition Projects, has a
streets to have a safe place to sleep. If we are to turn
5-month wait list for men — 462 men on the list. And
the corner on homelessness in Portland not only does
there’s a 7-month wait list for women, with 271 in line.
the city need to think out of the box, it needs tq get
They have 310 shelter beds. They’re all full. They
serious about prioritizing long-term housing
almost always are.
What’s the long-term plan for people on the streets in investments in our community, including regulating
development, taxing groups such as Airbnb,
camps? Some elected officials will point towards A
implementing demolition fees and building more
Home For Everyone, the latest plan to support people
experiencing homelessness and an increase in money in affordable housing, to name a few. Until that day, camp
sweeps will come and go, but homelessness will remain
this upcoming budget. Others will point to supporting
the same.
more rest areas for people on the streets and Right 2
E
1
P 1 IÌW 1
m IA f A *
Vicious Cycle of Homeless Policy
Street Roots is a
member o f the
Western Regional
Advocacy Group, o r |
WRAP, a coalition o f
organizations along
the West Coast
working to eliminate ■
the root causes o f
homelessness an d
poverty.
Since passage o f
the McKinney
Homeless
Assistance Act in
1987, the federal
governm ent has
created several
homeless plans b u t
they continue to fail
because they lack
political w ill,
adequate funding
fo r actual housing,
Si implementation.
iv I i 1S 8'1 M iI 81I H M M S H ' I ' I
m
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contact Managing Editor Joanne Zubf at
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Staff
Executive Director Israel Bayer
iSrael^streetroots.org
Managing Editor
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Vendor Coordinator Cole Merkel
coie@streetroots.org
Operations Director Sarah Beecroft
Program Assistant Grace Badik, Jesuit
Volunteer, grace@streetroots.org
Development Director Sarah Cloud
Development Assistant Ann-Derrick
Gaillot '
Reporters Emily Green, Sue Zalokar,
Christen McCurdy, Sarah Hansell, Sam
Bouman, Jacques-Von Lunen, Jared Paben
Photographers Diego Diaz, Joe Glode
Canvasser Desmond Hardison,
Board of Directors
Temporary responses
Increased
homelessness,
tohom elessnessthat
Fail to address the
systemic causes of
Stereotypes of
homeless people as
degenerate.
hom ele ssn ess,^-
Periodic calls for
local homeless
plans based oh the
newest p o lic y ..
Premise th a t
homelessness is caused
Ever-changing policies
geared tow ard fixing
b y th e d è fid e n d é s o f
homeless people.
different sub-
populations o f
•^homeless. p e o p le -^
I t has replaced tens o f billions o f HUD housing dollars
w ith a few billion homeless assistance dollars.
—
• There are 355 ten-year plans to end homelessness th a t
cover 860 cities, yethomelessness continues to grow.
Chairman Bruce Anderson
Vice-Chairman Brad Taylor
Treasurer Heather Stadick
Secretary Amber Bielman
Directors Rich Rodgers, Michael Anderson,
Leo Rhodes, Nora Coon, Darren Alexander,
Eddie Barbosa, Rachel Langford
Volunteers
Jan Bayer, Rob Shyrock, Stacey Heath, John
Barker, Sarah Hansell, Aaron Von Reyn, Chere
Cobb, Audrey Cerchiara, Jade Maniscalco,
Anjali Rathore, Eliese Baker, Doug Spangle,
Susannah Kamala, Susan Gallagher, Tom Ray,
Lee Ko, Dan Jones, Lisa Waldo, James Yu, Sam
Bouman, CherieVedal
If you are interested in volunteering with
Street Roots, please submit a volunteer
application at streetroots.orgA/olunteer. Or
call Volunteer Coordinator -Grace Badik for
more information at 503-228-5657.
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