Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 23, 2015)
Street Roots • Oct. 23-29, 2015 Commentary Page 13 A new camp in North Portland fights for survival addressmg t h f h o X ST t0Ward illustration of this emereenrv tha« e 18 Perhaps no better the strip of land between G rLle tbeTtent encampment at Portland Greeley and interstate in North rents o? are w a iW to h i UMble to afford Portland “ fr0” «>e Premises before M Railro J i n i the emergencV declaration, Union Pacific bweep 01 the Greeley campers on city property, but the d e l i v e r e d . 3nd portabIe toiIet services have yet to be Elsewhere in Portland, the city continues to routinely sweep homeless people sheltering on public land. This practice is deeply harmful to our most vulnerable community members and it needs to stop. Pushing the homeless from placetoplace, impounding their few and often critical belongings again and again, is tantamount to the criminalization of their lack of shelter. Getting to know the campers at North Greeley these past few weeks has been a genuine pleasure, but their stories of life outside in Portland are profoundly upsetting. One of the first people I met told me he had been through over thirty sweeps in his time on the streets here. I helped him through yet another one at the end of last week, as he, his fiance, and his parents-in-law were all staying in a camper trailer on Union Pacific land'along Greeley and were told they had to go. If I hadn’t helped along with other concerned community members, moved their trailer to a sympathetic church’s parking lot, this family would have lost S 6 ft h3d 3nd been rendered more homeless, and become a greater burden on public resources. Another group that I helped move from Union Pacific to d Pe7 atuGreeIey told me ^ e n swept three days for the past month. Imagine these three m e i - ‘“eludmg a disabled veteran, a coUege student and two nffTh* R° ° te vendore - trying to gather the resources to ge, off the street while having to pack up and move everything they own every few nights. , _ ____ ___ y 8 Dee, another young man camping on city land at Greeley told me he is on the waiting list for housing through Transition Projects and Central City Concern, but that it wil be four to six months before they can get him inside. He ha: done what he can, the available resources in this city are doing what they can for him and he has no choice in the meantime but to find the safest possible shelter outside. For now, that’s the Greeley Camp. To sweep Dee would be to punish this young man for the city’s lack of affordable and transitional housing. This is unacceptable. The city has taken the right step in declaring an emergency and I commend Mayor Hales’ office for allowing the Greeley campers on Portland public land Some respite from the sweeps. But elsewhere in Portland there is no such respite, and public land under the jurisdiction of other agencies such as Or®g°n department of Transportation is also being subject to routine sweeps. Sweeps kill. Winter is c o m in g and a sweep can often mean losing items like documents prescriptions, and cold weather sleeping gear that are critical for survival on the streets. The city should move to identify areas of city property, like the strip at Greeley, where people can take temporary shelter. The Portland Parks Bureau should not be subjecting people sleeping in the parks to sweeps, as is now a dailv occurrence. p ie city should communicate with ODOT and similar agencies in ways that reflect recognition of the state ^ l enier?encY an^ toward finding alternatives to sweeps. lh e declaration of emergency is just the beginning, and it will take time for the City to use its new powers on zoning to free up new shelter space. In the meantime there are people who have no other option than to shelter outside. Needing to sleep is not a crime. It is a basic requirement for life. The policy of sweeps is inhumane and it only makes the problem worse. We need to do better. Vahid Brown is a historian, community activist, and advocate for the houseless. He is a PhD candidate at Princeton University. The North Portland camp has set up a GoFundMe called Support Greeley Homeless Camp. o C E N T R A L C IT Y CO FFEE SDtinkwelL&oyiMd,. Sourcing & roasting craft coffee to benefit programs at Central City Concern. IN STORES New Seasons Market, Whole Foods, Food Front Cooperative Grocery, Green Zebra, Chuck's Produce and Will Leather Goods. AT YOUR OFFICE Interested in serving Central City Coffee at your office? Get in touch with us and we can help you make that happen. 503.226,7387 ON OUR WEBSITE Buy Central City Coffee online and have it shipped directly to you or a friend. Follow our Facebook page for updates and. specials, centralcitycoffee.org facebook.com/CentralCityCoffee coffee@ccconcern.org USACU.ORG/JOIN street dig Pa Missed an issue? Check with your neighborhood vendor for specific editions, or visit streetroots.org for news and more. mancia Conveniently located on SW 1st & Taylor (95 SW Taylor Street). Stop in, call (503-275-0300), or visit us online at USACU.ORG.
