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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (June 26, 2015)
Street Roots • June 26-July 3, 2015 Page 3 E d it o r ia l Federal plan has promise, but needs more to deliver hospitals yet are too sick or injured to recover on the streets. Getting the health care system working in Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness got a bit of a makeover. tandem with housing makes common sense, as each It’s only five years old, but the nation’s only network is highly influenced by the success of the comprehensive policy for addressing homelessness was other. The federal Housing and Human Services is falling behind the times. One of the most notable is the promoting using Medicaid assistance to include realization that it’s a lot tougher than just pointing a permanent, supportive housing for people experiencing finger at states and demanding and at risk of homelessness. And it should. Housing is a results: In fact, the feds have social determinant of health. pushed the goal for ending chronic And, of course, the plan recognizes the obvious: The homelessness back two years to need for more affordable, stable, low-income housing. It 2017, blaming a lack of also encourages public-private partnerships, and Congressional support. synching networks between the streets and housing and The changes also include adding an operational assistance opportunities, and promoting “housing first” definition for an end to homelessness. Yes, the 2010 and rapid-rehousing programs. All well and good and in original seems to have left out that bit of whimsy. As many cases working tremendously right here in proposed, the new operational definition states that an Portland and Multnomah County. end to homelessness means that every community will All great, but where’s the money? have a system in place that ensures homelessness is prevented whenever possible or is otherwise a rare, The president’s 2016 budget includes nearly $5.5 brief, arid non-recurring experience. billion dedicated to homelessness assistance, plus Maybe that will put an end to the shifting sands of additional housing vouchers to help a whole range of defining homelessness that has been problematic since low-income families, youths and veterans. That’s a $345 states began implementing 10-year plans to end million increase over the previous budget and.is to be homelessness. Regardless, it’s a needed definition, dispersed in the form of state and local grants. emphasing the imperative on prevention and pleasantly It’s a start, but the forces of under-unemployment, void of complex parameters that parse those declared suppressed wages, social displacement and a worthy from the simply destitute. skyrockting housing market, among other economic The changes to the federal plan also emphasize the factors, remain unfettered and continue to work against connection between housing and health care and link us. Reversing poverty has to be a nationwide priority services for people experiencing homelessness. Medical with all those factors in our scope, because respite programs, like our Recuperative Care Program homelessness is their creation. Until then, we will in Multnomah County, are proven to be cost-effective continue to see the dates extend into the future, on an alternatives to long-term hospitalization. More ; . obscure federal document, to meet our endless, goal of importantly, it is humane treatment, for people ending homelessness. experiencing homelessness who are discharged from If you would like his month, a seldom-quoted document called the B that you’ve written published \ in our pages, or would like to get involved as a member of our reporting staff, author’s name and contact information, Street Roots 21 f NW Davis St. Portland, OR 97209 503-228-5657 Fax:503-227-3117 www.streetroots.org www.news.streetroots.org Hours: 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m., Sat. and 7:30-11 a.m. Sun. Advertising Interested in advertising in Street Roots? Contact Israel Bayer at israel@streetroots.org Executive Director Israel Bayer israel@streetroots.org M an ag in g E d ito r Joanne Zuhl . joanne@streetroots.org Vendor Coordinator Cole Merkel cole@streetroots.org Operations Director Sarah Beecroft Program Assistant Grace Badik, Jesuit Gentrification a sweet tune for the privileged f T ^ h e latest 2015 Multnomah County Homeless Count was released in early June. If homelessness, housing and wages are any indicator of how much Black Lives Matter in Portland - then we are failing, badly. Homelessness in the black MRBCTORrS community is skyrocketing. S IP! SBC “African Americans have the highest rates of over-representation By Israel Bayer among communities of color, making up 24 percent of the homeless population compared with 7 percent of the county’s population as a whole,” according the latest Multnomah County street count. “African-Americans also experienced the greatest growth in homelessness between 2013 and 2015. This comes on the heels, of the State of Housing report put out last month by the City of Portland showing that there wasn’t one neighborhood that black and Native American Portlanders could afford a two- bedroom apartment. Not one. Zero. “Correlations can be made between thé fact that black people have median incomes that are less than half of their white counterparts and that housing rates have gone so high that there are few neighborhoods left that people can afford,” says Karol Collymore with the Equity Foundation. It’s true. , According to the Urban League’s latest report, State of Black Oregon, the unemployment rate among African-Americans in Oregon age 16 to 19 was 55 JL Israel Bayer is the executive director o f , Street Roots. You can reach him at israel@streetroots. org or follow him on Twitter @israelbayer. percent. If all of these facts aren’t examples of blatant racism in progressive Portland, then I don’t know what is. We haven’t even touched on the long history of inequities in the criminal justice system and education systems. Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum a different group of people live: a mostly white and progressive population that are finding Portland to be quite nice. A sustainable city filled with hope, creativity and innovation: those with resources and an education, they call it paradise. “Creating walkability with restaurants and stores can help transition an edgy part of town into one that is hip and hopping with pedestrians,” said National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun at the latest national realtors conference in May. “This type of real estate development transforms the community for the better.” The coffee is brewing, the whiskey is flowing and the music is playing. There is money to be made and lots of it. It’s a sweet tune for those privileged enough to hear its jingle. “The soul of our community is currently being tested,” says Charles McGee with the Black Parent Initiative. “We need to fight to maintain the Portland many of us fell in love with. We all benefit from a more diverse community. Until all Portlanders are able to access stable housing and living wage jobs we aren’t living up to our community’s promise. We can do better. We have to do better.” The question we have before us, readers, isn’t whether racism is alive and well in Portland. It’s what are we going to do about it? 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 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 ( I 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, Cherie Vedal If you are Interested In volunteering with Street Roots, please submit a volunteer application atstreetroots.org/volunteer. Or call Volunteer Coordinator Grace Badik for more Information at 503-228-5657.
