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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (June 5, 2015)
STABLE, from page 4 mane, we might ask them about the other year, and. he says he knew the program tangles in their lives, or ‘What is the dust or could really help the homeless youth he was ... dirt that is Coming up for you as you do working with. He inquired with Korschgen and she agreed. “Street kids,” he says, “they’re hyper- vigilant - watching for the cops - just everyone that walks by. They feel, ashamed. For them to come here and not be surrounded by that is very helpful.” Horses have the ability to pick up on human emotions, noticing minuscule facial expressions and movements, says Vaughn, and they often mirror whatever the human they’re interacting with is feeling. The way people react to approaching, guiding and gaining the trust of a 1,000-pound animal also plays an important role, she says. Cody Surratt, 25, has come to the ranch with p:ear several times, and was happy during the second session when the same horse he’d worked with the first time After intake, Sandell sat down in the sought him out. stable and selected a brush from a “Horses tend to have very apparent body collection of grooming tools. The theme language that is usually pretty deliberate this day: self care* He wrote down examples and straightforward,” says Surratt. He says of self care on a piece of paper, and taped it at first he “didn’t quite get it,” but he soon to the brush. Then the group moved out to realized that by observing and analyzing the the center’s enormous covered arena, and horse’s behavior in cooperation with his Sandell used the same brush to groom an own behavior, he came to an understanding Arabian mare named In Harmony. of mutual trust with the horse. The goal is to complete a roughly six- . “It happens a lot, that people who have month therapy program with each youth, survived traumas, end up having deep trust but so far attendance has been spotty - issues and other issues that are stigmatized which is always a challenge when working in our society as something dirty that with homeless youth, says Nathan Engkjer, makes people broken and needs to be hidden,” says Surratt. “It seems that equine p:ear’s Wilderness Recreation and therapy subtly subverts an immediate Transition Coordinator. He plans to grow ffe“^&tteti^6f 'dlstruSt towards so'mething by theprogram to ’also include ecotnerapy using a very large and noticeable example activities such as gardening, archery and . like a horse. Gaining a mutual trust with trail building, also offered on the 36-acre something like that can really be ranch. comforting.” The relief he says it brings to the youth Korschgen explains she and other who participate makes thje challenge of therapists at the ranch use a combination of getting a bunch of street kids into p:ear’s Equine Assisted Growth and Learning . Association (EAGALA) techniques and their Suburban for the 45-minute drive south once a month completely worthwhile. own customized exercises. “There’s a lot more laughter on the ride “A lot of what we do involves metaphor, home,” he says. so when a person is grooming a horse, or is petting or taking the tangles out of the DIRECTOR'S DESK, from page 3 Alliance Counseling and Center at Heron H ill coowner and director Joyce Korschgen disheveled, wet and tired. Street Roots was bombarded with media requests. What do we think? Is the city helping support the homeless? What is the long term plan for affordable housing in the city? Will the sweeps do any good? Why do homeless people really not access social services? The questions range from the sophisticated to the absurd. Commentary on social media and news sites throughout the city offer up differing opinions on the sweeps and homelessness overall, many of which tend to carry a underlying theme that Portland is a homeless mecca and people on the streets have it good. One commenter on Oregon Live replied to an op-ed written by the Rev. Chuck Currie of Portland suggesting homeless Portlanders should be put to death. It’s a Common misnomer that many people experiencing homelessness don’t want social services. In reality, the shelters are full. Street Roots had reported early in the week that the largest shelter agency in the city, Transition Projects, had a 5-month wait list for men — 462 men on the list. And there’s a 7-month wait list for women, with 271 in'line. They have 310 shelter beds. They’re all full. They almost always are. Portland Rescue Mission, the second largest shelter for homeless men was also full with a long waiting list. The average wait time to access shelter and housing for our most vulnerable population is asinine. It takes weeks, sometimes months to even access a shelter bed. Once in shelter, it takes an estimated 2 to 6 months,-and that’s if you’re lucky, to access some form of transitional housing. If an individual makes it this far, it can take up to three years to receive permanent housing. My point is, it’s not that people don’t want to access services or to improve their quality of life, it’s that our system is so backlogged and there is such little opportunity for housing in Portland that it makes extremely difficult for people who experience homelessness to simply get back on their feet. In a time when our city faces a real and apparent housing crisis that continues to result in thousands of people being displaced , froin their neighborhoods and thousands more sleeping on our , streets, I find it hard to stonrach any’neighborhood or Business IjB community that doesn’t want to see a group dike Right 2 Dream Too thrive. I find it equally as hard to comprehend that our collective leadership does not make housing the number one priority. • Possibly it’s my own experience that blinds me. Still, it doesn’t change the fact that human beings in our community are suffering. It doesn’t change the fact that everyone, regardless of circumstance, deserves a safe place to call home, or that in 30-plus years of modern-day homelessness, camp sweeps have never solved homelessness. 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