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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 2017)
Street Roots • March 3-9, 2017 O p in io n Support Oregon’s Right to Rest Act omelessness is hell. Sleep deprivation. Verbal taunts. Physical violence. Surviving in the cold and wet. Being displaced by law enforcement on a routine basis for not having a safe place to call home. It’s the opposite of the American Dream. The Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP), of which Street Roots is a member, conducted interviews with 560 homeless people living in Oregon — Portland and Eugene specifically. Eighty-eight of the respondents reported having been harassed, D IB E C T O B 'S cited by a law DESK enforcement agency or arrested for simply sleeping. Eighty-three By Israel Bayer percent had been harassed, cited or arrested for sitting or lying down, while only 35 percent of homeless people reported knowing a safe and legal place for them to sleep outside. The harsh reality is that local communities don’t have an answer for what to do with thousands of people experiencing homelessness throughout our state. The answer has historically been to create laws that punish people for nothing more than their existence. “We are right back to Jim Crow Laws, Sundown Towns, Ugly Laws and Anti-Okie Laws - local H Israel Bayer is the executive director o f Street Roots. You can reach him a t , israel@streetroots.org o r follow him on Twitter @tsraelbayer. la w s t h a t p r o f e s s to 'uphold the locally a c c e p te d o b lig a tio n s of civility,”’ s a i d P a u l Boden, organizing director with WRAP. “These laws have always been used by people in power against those on the outside . and people experiencing homelessness.” Laws vary from community to community throughout Oregon, but in reality, if you’re homeless in many communities in Oregon, you’re more or less not welcome. Some would argue that Portland is one of the more liberal communities in the state and around the country when it comes to enforcing archaic laws against people experiencing homelessness. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. While Portland doesn th a n panhandling or sitting or lying on a sidewalk - it does conduct hundreds of costly sweeps every but rather to make appropriate health care services, meaningful employment, and especially housing available to people regardless of income,” says Boden. Numerous organizations are supporting the efforts to decriminalize homelessness in Oregon, including the ACLU of Oregon, Right 2 Survive, Sisters Of The Road and Street Roots. Organizations supporting the bill are also pushing for more access to basic hygiene facilities (See “Hygiene, a human need,” page 7) for people experiencing homelessness. The harsh reality is many people on the streets experience • discrimination every day. Part of curbing people’s homelessness and providing people with opportunities is providing people with a safe place to access things like showers, public restrooms and laundry facilities. These kinds of facilities exist on a small scale in Portland, but not enough to meet the need. Statewide, it’s a hard knock life. The reality is modern day homelessness is a product of bad policy and the lack of resources both locally and federally. Thousands of people in Oregon didn’t wake up yesterday and decide to become homeless. We can’t police our way out of homelessness and certainly people experiencing homelessness shouldn’t be punished for not having a safe place to call home. It’s time for change. What can Street Roots readers do? Email and call the members of the House Judiciary Committee by Friday, March 10, and urge them to support HB 2215, the Oregon Right to R e s t A c t '- ./■ C o m m it te e C h a ir, Jfeff B a r k e r : (503) 986-1428, rep.jeffbarker@state.or.us ■ Committee Vice Chair, Jenniffer Williamson: (503) 986-1436, rep.jenniferwilliamson@ oregonlegislature.gov ■ Mitch Greenlick: (503) 986-1433, rep. mitchgreenlick@state.or.us ■ Ann Lininger: (503) 986-1438, rep.annlininger@state.or.us ■ Andy Olson: (503) 986-1415, rep.andyolson@state.or.us ■ Bill P o st (503) 986-1425, rep.billpost@state. 76 Oregon House Bill 2215, Oregon’s Right to Rest Act, would end the criminalization of sleeping while homeless, while working to support the basic human and civil rights for aU people, regardless of their housing status. The bill would ensure that their right to restful eiisuiv uiat all people r —r - have - sleep and equal access to p u b c space4 * • “The way to reduce the numbe of pe°Ple ^ ¿ « “ ^csp aces, - or.us ■ Sherrie Sprenger: (503) 986-1417, rep.sherriesprenger@state.or.us ■ Chris Gorsek: (503) 986-1449, rep.chrisgorsek@state.or.us ■ Tawna Sanchez: (503) 986-1443, .tawnasanchez@oregonlegislature.gov rep. I Duane Stark: (503) 986-1404, rep.duanestark@state.or.us ■ Rich Vial: (503) 986-1426, rep.richvial@ Page 3 Write in If you would like tohave something , . that you’ve wrltteopubl io oof pages, or would f e to get invdved a s ; ..... contact Managing Editor Joanne Zuhl a t ' 503-^3-5657, joanne@streetroois.org, We ask that all submissions include the a u t o ’s name and contact information, if available. . - * Street Roots 211 NW Davis $ t Portland, OR 97209 503-228*5657 Fax:503-227-3117 www.streetroots.org www.news.streeiroots.org Hours: 7:30 a.rrt-3 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Sat. and 7:30*1 p.m. Sun. Advertising interested in advertising in Street Roots? Contact Israel Bayer at israel@streetroots.org Staff Executive Director Israel Bayer israei@streetroots.org Managing Editor Joanne Zuhl joanne@streetroots.org . ; Vendor Program Director C o l& .W k e i cole@streetroots.org Operations Director Sarah Beecroff Development Director Sarah Cloud P r o g r a m A s s is ta n t 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 Kwasnik Canvasser Desmond Hardison Board of Directors Chairman Brad Taylor Vice-Chairman Rachel Langford Treasurer Heather Stadick Secretary Dan Jones Directors Rich Rodgers, Michael Anderson. Sandra Hahn and John Brown oregonlegislature.gov What can you say? I am calling to urge you to vote yes on the Right To Rest Act. You will be hearing HB 2215: Oregon Right To Rest Act in the Assembly Judiciary Committee. This bill provides critical civil rights protections to all Oregonians to ensure that every Oregonian is able to meet the biological need of r e s t The practice of criminalizing poor and homeless people for engaging in basic life sustaining activities like eating, sleeping, resting, lying and sleeping is unjust cruel and entrenches people in homelessness. HB 2215 will allow homeless people more time and energy to access «services search for employment and apply for hQusin ’that would otherwise be spent responding harassment, tickets, courts and jail time, Hease vote yes on HB 22X5, Volunteers Jan Bayer, John Barker, Stacey Heath, Anjali Rathore, Zoe Klingmann, Dan Jones, Daryl Hogan, Monica McKune, Susan Wolfe, Lucas Hawthorne, Thomas Buell Jr., Jeanie Lunsford, Yasmin Amirsoleymani, 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 OIDee, Meg Holden, Bridget Brown, Cody Travels, Bianca Butler, Robb Hengerer, Alex Cherin, Tom Vandel, Grace Gallagher, Jenny Farres, Evan Firsick and Helen Hill. If you're interested in volunteering with Street Roots, please submit a volunteer application at streetroots. org/volunteer. Qr you can call for more information at 503-228-5657,
