Street Roots •
Page 3
Editorial
Jan. 13-19, 2017
Wrttete
Be safe, be kind, be alert
T ^ o u r people have frozen to death on
W Portland’s streets since Jan. 1. City and
JL county officials along with homeless
outreach organizations have been working
around the clock. It’s a nightmare scenario
for people sleeping
OUtside.
Emergency shelters
and warming centers
around the region have
opened, but
unfortunately the
B y Israel Bayer
community isn’t able
to reach everyone.
Readers will ask me,
Israel, why aren’t people experiencing
homelessness going into shelters? Many
people experiencing a mental health crisis
can’t be around other people in large groups.
No one has a plan for that.
I can’t tell you the number of times Street
Roots has worked with someone having a
mental health collapse and there’s simply
nowhere for that person to access services.
Social service agencies are overwhelmed.
First responders don’t have an answer. We
offer individuals a hot cup of coffee and a
restroom. After that, individuals are cast back
out into the wilderness with no clear plan for
how to address their mental health crisis. It’s
a frustrating and sad reality.
More so, many people experiencing
DIRECTOR'S
DESK
Israel Bayer is the
executive director o f
Street Roots. You can
reach h im a t
israel@streetroots. org
or follow him on
Twitter @israelbayer.
streets, others died horrible deaths after
having terminal illnesses. Many died of drug
overdoses, some were self-medicating due to
their homelessness and/or mental illness.
Homelessness is a sick and twisted deal
where you’re lucky to get out alive. You most
certainly will be traumatized for life by the
experience. It’s hard to .find the sunny side of
the street.
In the meantime, be kind. Be alert out
there, readers.
Warming centers are open in Portland and
Gresham during day and night To assist
someone in locating shelter and
transportation to shelter, please call 211.
Calls can be answered in more than 150
languages.
If you see someone outside, unsheltered,
whose life appears to be in danger or is in an
apparent medical crisis, call 9-1-1. Otherwise,
if you see someone about whom you are
concerned, such as not being dressed for the
conditions, call police non-emergency 503-
823-3333 and request a welfare check for that
person.
Don’t hesitate. It’s better to be safe than
sorry. You might just save a life - literally.
This week has certainly has been a wake
up call for me. In many ways, working on the
streets for so long and helping coordinate the
annUaFfemefessdeathcdunt with the
If you would like
to have
that you’ve
written published
io our pages, or would
like to gel involved as a
member of our reporting staff,
S
contact Managing Editor Joanne Zu hl a t ,
¡8 503-228-5657 Joanoe@streetroofe.org.
We ask t o all submissions include the
author’s name and contact information,
if available.
Street Reels
211NWOavfe$t
Ported, OR 97209
. .
503-2285657
Fax:503-227-3117
www.streetroots.org
www.news.streetroots.org
-
Hours: 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 7:30
a.m.-2 p.m. Sat and 7:30-1 p.m. Sun.
i m Street Roots?
Contact Israel Bayer at i$r3el»eetroot$.org
Staff
Israel Bayer
israd@streetroots.org
Executive Director
M anaging Ed ito r Joanne Zuhi
joanne@streetroots.org
m e d ic a l e x a m in e r an d h e a l th d e p a r tm e n t -
Vender Program Director Cote Merkel
people tlying w the streets'had become' so
' th e ir ow n. W h y w o u ld n ’t th e y ? T h e y w a tc h
people die every single week on the, streets.
Four people freezing to death on
Portland’s streets since New Year’s is a wake
up call. Unfortunately, the wake-up call has
less to do with shelter capacity and more to
do with the lack of mental health services
and housing. Long after the snow and cold
are gone people will still be dying on our
cole@streetroots.org
n o rm a liz e d in m y e x p e r ie n c e t h a t t h e n e w s
Operations Director Sarah Beecrofi
Development Director Sarah Cloud
of another homeless person dying barely
even phases me. That s not OK.
The reality is that every time someone
dies on our streets it should be a wake-up call
for all of us. That housing should be
prioritized at all levels of government and
that in fact homelessness or someone dying
on the streets is anything but normal.
Program Assistant Meghann Van Pelt,
Jesuit Volunteer
Development Assistant Patricia Romero
Reporters Emily Green, Suzanne Zalokar,
Sarah Hansell, Leonora Ko, Jared Paben,
Amanda Waldroupe, Stephen Quirke
Photographers Diego Diaz, Joe Glode
Editorial Assistant Monica Kwasntk
Canvasser Desmond Hardison
Saying that, it’s important to recognize the
many volunteers, outreach workers and first
responders working on the streets to save
people’s lives. People are tired. They
continue on. Working around the clock to
save people’s lives.
It’s also worth noting that some social
service agencies close their doors during
snowstorms. If your mission is to serve
people experiencing homelessness and you
close your doors during a snowstorm you
might want to revaluate your priorities. It s
unacceptable, period.
In 2015, an average of more than 7 people
died every month in Multnomah County.
Some chose suicide over living on the
Board of Directors
Chairman Brad Taylor
Vice-Chairman Rachel Langford
Treasurer Heather Stadick
Secretary Dan Jones
Directors Rich Rodgers, Michael Anderson,
Leo Rhodes, Sandra Hahn, John Brown, Marcus
Swift
Volunteers
Jan Bayer, John Barker, Stacey Heath, Anjali Rathore,
Zoe Klingmann, Dan Jones, Dennis Hogan, Monica
McKune, Susan Wolfe, Lucas Hawthorne, Thomas
Buell Jr., Jeanie Lunsford, Yasmin Amirsoleymant,
Jason Cohen, Tom Ray, Doug Spangle, Susannah
Kamala, Jon Raymond, Diana Richardson, Cherie
Manning, Paul and Madeline Gefroh, Mary Anne
Joyce, Anne Reif, Gillian Horen, Mark Oldani, Meg
Holden, Bridget Brown, Cody Travels, Bianca Butler,
Robb Hengerer, Alex Cherin, Tom Vandel and Grace
Gallagher. If you're interested in volunteering with
Street Roots, please submit a volunteer application at
streetroots.org/volunteer,
Or you can call for more information at
P H O T O B Y ISRAEL B A YER
Jan 10.