Street Roots • June 5-11,2015
E d it o r ia l
Page 3
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A m akeshift camp
o f nearly 60 people
relocated under the
Tilikum Crossing
on Southeast Third
Avenue and
Harrison Streep a
location the city has
identified as a
possible new site fo r
R ight 2 Dream Too.
Street Roots
211 NW Davis S t
Portland, OR 97209
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P H O T O B Y IS R AEL B A Y E R
Sweeps cause more havoc for homeless and housed
ow does one come even close to describing
matter of time before law enforcement and the city
the experience of human suffering? Is it the
made its move.
look in a person’s eyes after having
For years Portland police have been letting people
completely given up hope or the anger that boils up
sleep and camp in what the police and advocates call
someone's voice or actions? Is it the addiction that one
low-impact areas — in certain parks;" under bridges, in
succumbs to after experiencing multiple nervous
industrial neighborhoods, etc. Many camps ebb and flow
breakdowns and becoming homeless? Is it th e m entally
in numbers depending on a range of-circumstances —
ill w om an mumblingto herself,
enforcement in a particular neighborhood pr area,
c le a rly d is tra u g h t, a n d d re n c h e d to
c o m p la in ts, safety, weather, e tc . In the.winter, camps
th e b o n e , rocking back and forth
tend to grow in numbers. In the summer, historically,
under a bridge?
with the arrival of tourists, the police ramp up
As I walked away from talking to
enforcement and people tend to thin out throughout the
city.
people this week that had been
displaced from the latest round of
The difference this year is two-fold. The cycling .
By Israel Bayer
community being vocal about homeless camps is one
homeless sweeps, it’s a question I
aspect. The other is the rapid growth in inner
went over in my mind.
Southeast Portland. More development, a growing and
What could I write that hasn’t
changing demographic of residents and a expanding
been already written a thousand
business community all led to an organized effort
times? Would there be a way to describe the reality that
against visibly homeless population in the
would even make a difference, or deserved to see print?
neighborhood. A neighborhood that tended to support
As a writer, you try not to let those thoughts gain
homeless efforts was now calling for the homeless to be
ground. You ignore such thoughts and push on, much
removed and throwing up roadblocks to locating Right 2
like trauma. One compartmentalizes things.
Dream Too to their side of the river.
The tràuma of actually experiencing homelessness,
With Rose Festival and Fleet Week on the horizon,
and the secondary trauma of people working with
the city acted. The goal was to displace homeless camps
people in poverty, is so illogical that it’s hard to
and to deliver a message that this summer people were
describe or put down in words. Having to balance high-
not going to be allowed to congregate in inner
level conversations and bureaucracies of how to
Southeast Portland. Instead of doing what typically
advocate for more housing resources for people coupled
with the daily grind of people suffering had clearly 1
would amount to a week-long crackdown on homeless
camps, the police and the city have said they will .
gotten to me.
-
continue to keep the pressure on.
More than a week ago the city of Portland, the
Oregon Department of Transportation and others began .. So, the sweeps began. TV news stations and
newspaper reporters swarmed. The police and the city
a weékloiig sweep of people experiencing homelessness
delivered sound bites to the media that people on the
in Southeast Portland. From thè river to 12th Avenue,
streets were not being displaced, but instead being
from Burnside down to Powell, the city proclaimed th at
offered social services and in some cases permanent
it was no longer business as usual for people on the
housing. When in fact, law enforcement Was displacing
streets.
people with nothing new to offer but the same waiting
We all saw it coming, possibly everyone éxcept for
lists. To make matters worse, folks on the streets claim,
those surviving on the streets,
people were receiving tickets and in some cases taken
j For months, members of the cycling community had
been complaining about homeless camps on bike paths . to jail.
Compounding the chaos, people on the streets said
throughout Southeast Portland. Safety was a major
police pointed them to the proposed new site for Right
concern. One cycling advocate I talked to. this winter
2 Dream Too — potentially poisoning the well. Now,
told me his partner didn’t feel safe hiking down the
instead of a well-organized camp under the established
Springwater Corridor anymore. To add fuel to the fire,.
leadership of Right 2 Dream Too, more than 60 people
stolen bicycles had been found in some of the camps in
now gathered under the Tilikum Crossing - defeated,
Southeast at the same time bike advocates were calling
for the Portland Police Bureau to create a stolen bicycle
See DIRECTOR'S DESK, pag e 5
task force. Street Roots knew then that it was just a
R
DIBICTOB'S
DESK
Israel Bayer is the
executive director.of
Street Roots. You can
reach him at -
israel@streetroots.org
or follow him on
Twitter @israelbayer.
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Staff
Executive Director Israel
israel@streetroots.org
Managing Editor Joanne Zuhl
joanne@streetroots.org " " >..
Merkel
cole@streetroots.org
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Program Assistant Grace Badik, Jesuit
Vendor Coordinator Cole
Volunteer, grace@streetroots.org
Development Director Sarah Cloud
Development Assistant Ann-Derrick
Gaillot
Reporters Emily Green, Sue Zalokar,
Christen McCurdy, Sarah Hansell, Sam
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Photographers Diego Diaz, Joe Glode
Canvasser Desmond Hardison
Board of Directors
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
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Barker, Sarah Hansell, Aaron Von Reyn, Chere
Cobb, Audrey Cerchiara, Jade Maniscalco,
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Lee Ko, Dan Jones, Lisa Waldo/ James Yu, Sam
Bouman, Cherie Vedal
If you are interested in volunteering with
Street Roots, please submit a volunteer
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call Volunteer Coordinator Grace Badik for
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