wnere poverty.
BY SHANNON SINGLETON
poverty and assum ed that people of color
C O N T R IB U T IN G C O L U M N IS T
experienced hom elessness at a higher rate
because we experience poverty at a higher
few years ago, I wrote about race in
rate. W hile this is true, the information that I
social work and the structural and
learned during the SP A R C initiative helped
interpersonal racism that went
undiscussed in Portland. Portland seem ed m
to e realize that this assumption is in fact
more com plex. M o st com m unities’ rates of
rely on a problematic narrative about itself
hom elessness are actually lower than their
that included being
proportionate rate of poverty. In the black
“progressive” and
community, however, our rate of
“colorblind.” M y issues
hom elessness is double our rate of poverty,
with this approach to
while white households’ rate of hom elessness
race and racism persist,
drops in com parison to their poverty rate. So
and despite long
why, then, are we as a com m unity not making
standing equity
the connection between structural racism
initiatives in both
and hom elessness? T h e data seem s to tell a
Portland and
pretty clear story.
M ultnom ah County
D uring the SP A R C initiative, we spent the
governm ent structures,
Shannon
week talking about the need to center race
we have yet to have
Singleton
and m ake changes in our organizations.
honest, authentic and
Shannon Singleton
T h ese changes include hiring practices and
frank conversations
is the executive
cultures that are often toxic to people of
about race. T h is began
director o f JO IN , one
color, as well as structural changes that can
to change in M arch with
o f Portland’s largest
address racism and the disparities that exist
the Supporting
providers o f services
in housing and hom elessness services on the
Partnerships for Anti-
to help people get
basis of race.
R acist Com m unities
into housing
Stay with m e. It is easy and com fortable to
(SPA R C) initiative.
get defensive and assert to m e that you are
W hile com m unities of
not racist. B u t as a colleague once told m e,
color have been waving the flag of
we all drink from the sam e poison well of
oppression and inequity for years, having
racism . T h e structures that we are all
facilitators com e into our com m unity and
socialized into are designed to serve and lift
speak frankly about the consequences and
up the dom inant culture and oppress people
dangers of racism seem ed to have helped
A
those in the dominant culture finally listen.
I have long associated hom elessness with
incapable of m aking the needed changes that
will m ake services equitable. We need to
understand our biases in order to address
the organizational and structural barriers.
I implore all of us working in this field to
slow down, listen to people of color, exam ine
our biases and the structural oppression that
exists within our system . To change the
culture of our organizations to be more
equitable and to undo and challenge the
white suprem acist culture that perm eates
the way we do this work and design our
organizations.
I implore my fellow executive directors to
dedicate tim e and resources to truly address
racism . We cannot continue to rely on a few
people of color in our agencies to carry this
work, to call out racism , and to wait patiently
while we have yet another cultural
com petency training. Enough is enough.
Step up, create space for real change, get
com fortable with being uncom fortable.
U nderstand that equity m ight m ean that
dominant culture organizations receive fewer
resources. Listen to and believe people of
color when they are sharing their
experiences. P u t ego aside. E m brace the
reality that social justice and ending
hom elessness work requires us to exam ine
and undo the institutional and structural
oppression that has helped create our
current reality where people of color are
significantly m ore likely to be hom eless than
of color, and without-intentional work to
white people. If we can do this, we can begin
exam ine and undo our internal biases we are
to create an equitable housing system .
SPARC and Portland
■ Ail
percent of those living in poverty, they
account for more than 40 percent of
■ Black men remain homeless longer
than white or Hispanic men, according
Social Innovation.
■ In Multnomah County, blacks
of blacks tallied in the 2017 Point in
Time homeless count doubled over the
previous number just two years earlier.
■ Portland is part of a 10-city initiative
by SPARC to examine the root causes
of racial disparities in housing and
related social service networks.
II1S1IIBIBBill111II!IlII11111 1 1 ! I l c B l I i B I
■ Dallas, San Francisco, Syracuse,
N.Y.; Tacoma, Wash.; Atlanta, Ga.;
Minneapolis, Minn.; and Columbus,
Ohio are among the other cities in the
project.
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CLACKAMAS COUNTY
DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES
MT HOOD COMMUNITY COLLEGE
PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY
CLACKAMAS COMMUNITY COLLEGE
COMMUNITY CENTER
50 SW 2nd Ave, Portland
A p ril 3 ............................... 9-11
A p ril 1 0 .........
9-11
A p ril 17..............................9-11
A p ril 2 4 ............................9-11
Student Union - 2 6 0 0 0 SE Stark St
Gresham
A p ril 3 ....................... .....12-2 p.m.
A p ril 17........................... 12-2 p.m.
PSU TriO - 4th Floor Rm 425,
1829 SW Broadway, Portland
A p ril 11............................ 12-2 p.m .
A p ril 2 5 .........................12-2 p.m .
PCC SYLVANIA COLLEGE CENTER
STREET ROOTS
24375 SE Stark St, Gresham
A p ril 9 .............10:30 a.m .-6 p.m.
12000 SW 49th Ave, Portland
A p ril 11..............................9-11 a.m.
A p ril 2 5 .......................... 9-11 a.m.
211 NW Davis St, Portland
A p ril 2 6 ...................... ...12-2 p.m .
FREEDOM FOURSQUARE CHURCH
WORKSOURCE GRESHAM
660 SE 160th Ave, Portland
A p ril 2 3 ......... 10:30 a.m .-6 p.m.
19421 SE Stark St, Portland
A p ril 5 .............................. 2 -4 p.m.
3 NW 3rd, Portland
A p ril 2 4 ............................2 -4 p.m .
HUMBOLDT GARDENS HEALTH FAIR
PORTLAND RESCUE MISSION
WASHINGTON COUNTY
5033 N Vancouver Ave, Portland
A p ril 2 0 ..............2 :3 0 -5 :3 0 p.m.
111W Burnside, Portland
A p ril 1 2 .......................... 8-10 a.m.
A p ril 2 6 ......................... 8-10 a.m.
BEAVERTON CITY LIBRARY
19600 S Molalla Ave, Oregon City
A p ril 4 ...............................9-11 a.m.
A p ril 18..............................9-11 a.m.
a.m.
a.m.
a.m.
a.m.
EAST COUNTY CHURCH OF CHRIST
COLUMBIA COUNTY ___ ______
SACAGAWEA HEALTH CENTER
1060 Eisenschmidt Ln, St Helens
A p ril 2 ............................ 9-12 p.m.
MULTNOMAH COUNTY
CLACKAMASSERVICECENTER
8 8 0 0 SE 80th Ave, Portland
A p ril 1 0 ......................... 10-12 p.m.
JOIN
UNION GOSPEL MISSION
12375 SW 5th St, Beaverton
A p ril 5 ..............................9-11 a.m.
1435 NE 81st Ave, Ste 100, Portland
A p ril 1 2 ......................... 12-2 p.m.
CareOregorr
Caleb Green, Community Outreach Coordinator, greenc@ careoregon.org 503-416-4883
Tamara Pedrojetti, Community Relations Program Manager, pedrojettit@ careorgon.org 503-416-1
goMobile team
careoregon.org