Street Roots • Nov. 3-9, 2017
O p in io n
Page 3
Now is the time to get housing done
n the morning of Jan. 31, dozens of
people in places like Woodburn, Wilsonville
people lined up at Catholic Charities
and Battle Ground, Wash.
in Southeast Portland for the
Throw in rising rents in Portland and
possibility to get a shot at first-come, first mass evictions and it’s a nightmare. No
serve affordable housing units at the St.
amount of housing units on the private
Francis apartments.
market can undo an entire generation of
Of the 102 units becoming available, only
people being thrown into housing instability
10 of those units were for people with
from the housing bubble and the 2008
incomes of 30
recession, all the way to the present mess
percent or less of
we find ourselves in.
Portland’s median
This, on top of nearly 40 years of
family income, which
affordable housing disinvestment from the
amounts to $14,300
federal government, and a Trump
per year for a single
administration that threatens to burn the
person. More or less,
house down. It’s not looking good. We need
people experiencing
resources and we need them badly. Like
homelessness or
yesterday.
living in shelters.
That brings us to today.
Street Roots reported that some of those
First and foremost, Metro, our regional
individuals seeking housing were from
government, needs to find a way to
outside of Portland. A caseworker from
prioritize affordable housing in the region.
Wilsonville had traveled to the city to
I’m not talking pennies here, I’m talking
represent her clients in Beaverton who
billions. All the green spaces and
were seeking housing.
transportation projects in the world aren’t
Then the news came that numbers at
going to help tens of thousands of people
Multnomah family shelters
that find themselves housing
were skyrocketing. Historically,
burdened.
family shelters in Multnomah
Multnomah County, in my
County had a no-turn-away
opinion, should be thinking
Out of every
policy. As it turns out, many
outside of the box to continue to
residents from outside of
crisis comes an create revenue for more
Multnomah County are trying
opportunity to affordable housing dollars.
Everything should be on the
to access shelter in Multnomah
reflect and
table. Tourism dollars. Sales tax.
County.
change,
and
do
Increasing the short-term rental
It’s a surprise to fto one.
things
better
or
The lack of affordable
tax, etc.
housing throughout Oregon is
differently.
Building more shelters in
Portland in today’s environment
affecting Oregonians
will be a massive policy failure.
everywhere. Bend is a disaster.
Now I’m not saying we don’t
The coast, too. Southern
need more shelter. I’m saying
Oregon is off the grid, literally
without creating more revenue for actual
and figuratively speaking. The state of
affordable housing units and maintaining
Oregon continues to treat the housing crisis
our rent assistance strategy it will all fall in
with kid gloves, pretending that things like
on itself.
homelessness and affordable housing are an
Politicians may be tired of dealing with it,
urban problem.
but you know what? They are going to have
Local communities around the Metro
to deal with it. This problem isn’t going
region and the state (with the exception of
away.
Eugene) invest almost no money or ongoing
More so, statewide housing advocates
revenue into the production of affordable
must find a way to rise to the occasion.
housing units or homeless services. It’s a
Doing what we’ve been doing isn’t getting
nightmare scenario for Oregonians, and
us there. We need massive investment and
unfortunately, Multnomah County.
strategic vision. We need to be more
This year, Street Roots joined in
sophisticated. We must build a foundation to
partnership with Meyer Memorial Trust to
move policy in way we’ve never dreamed of.
launch a two-year project on Oregon’s rural
If not, the reality is the problem will just
housing crisis. Across the state, in our most
continue to get worse.
rural areas, the ratio between people’s
I believe that there’s no better time than
income and housing prices are among the
the present, and out of every crisis comes
highest in the nation. Tourism housing is
an opportunity to reflect and change, and
consuming affordable housing stock, and
do things better or differently. Regardless if
even well paid professionals are finding it
you’re a tax spending liberal or an angry
difficult to stay in rural communities
neighbor or business owner, we all want the
because there is simply a lack of places to
same thing. The public is hungry for
live at a reasonable price. It is no wonder
something.
that we see Oregonians, many from the
Poor people don’t care about policy or
metro region, are coming to Multnomah
procedures or systems or anyone’s next
County for housing.
election or how advocates get it done. They
Multnomah County social services aren’t
care about having a safe place to call home
innocent either. It’s not uncommon that
and protecting their family. Let’s find a way
social service providers working to house
to get it done. The alternative - well, there
people have to find units on the private
is no alternative. There’s only more
market further and further out. I’ve had
homelessness.
social workers tell me they’ve housed
O
Israel Bayer is the
executive director o f
Street Roots. You can
reach him at
israel@streetroots. org
or follow him on
Twitter @israelbayer.
author’s name and
Street Roots
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503-228-5657
Fax:503-227-3117
Hours; 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. MorvFri .,7:30
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Staff
E xecu tive D ir e c to r Israel Bayer
israeltoeetroots.org
E x ecu tive E d ito r Joanne Zuhl
joanne@streetroots.org
V e n d o r P ro g ra m D ir e c to r Cole
cole@streetroots.org
O p e ra tio n s D ir e c to r Sarah Beecr
P ro g ra m A s s is ta n t Caelin M iltko,
Volunteer
V e n d o r A s s is ta n t Scott Jackson, A
Gillow-Wiles
D e v e lo p m e n t A s s is ta n t Rosemary
Editorial Producer M o n ica K w asn
gg
S
j e n io r S ta ff W r ite r Emily Green
R e p o rte rs Sarah Hansell, Leonora
Prado, Jared Paben, Amanda Waldo
Stephen Quirke, Helen Hill
P h o to g ra p h e rs Diego Diaz, Arkady Brown
C a n v a s s e r Desmond Hardison
'
' t B i l l :
< || i t ft
Board of Directors
C h a irm a n Brad Taylor
V ic e -C h a irm a n Rachel Langford
T r e a s u re r Heather Stadick
S e c re ta ry Dan Jones
D ire c to rs Rich Rodgers, Michael Anderson,
Sandra Hahn, John Brown, Nels Johnson and
Alison Hallett
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, Jason Cohen, Doug
Spangle, Susannah Kamala, Jon Raymond, Diana
Richardson, Paul and Madeline Gefroh, Mary Anne
Joyce, Del Shawn Davidson, Gillian Floren, Mark
OIDani, Bianca Butler, Alex Cherin, Jenny Farres, Evan
Firsick, Camber Hansen-Karr, Miranda Woods, Henry
Brannan, Megan Smith, Luke Scheuermann, Annie
Aube, Helen Hill, Mark Brown, Lily Krai, Mary
Emerson, Adam Bruns, Brooke Anderson and Megan
Pickerel-Winer. 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 503-228-5657.