Portland observer., January 16, 2013, 2013 special edition, Page 34, Image 34

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January 16, 2013
2013 s p e c ia l ed itio n
Right to Dream, Sleep, and Be Human
c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 33
Mubarak, I sign the red book, a
visitor log tracking the names
and dates of all camp occu­
pants. Above the check-in
desk is a com m unity cork
board, posted overhead with
housing information, free din­
ner events, and other opportu­
nities of interest for those who
stay.
Mubarak walks me by the
formerly houseless, Ibrahim
Mubarak.
E a rlie r th at m orning,
Mubarak and other advocates
of the houseless were at the
courthouse, suing the city for a
mounting stack of fines the
city has been piling on the camp
for months.
A few guys are gathered
around an Iphone, smoking
cigarettes, and getting a kick
out of a YouTube clip of Mayor
Sam Adams speaking in court.
The city says the recycled
doors that barricade the camp
from Burnside Street, and “pre­
vent just anybody from coming
in,’’ said Mubarak, are too high.
Mubarak introduces me to a
few other comrades, some of
whom are in rotating shifts as
volunteer security guards and
checking folks into the camp
where up to 90 people call
home each night.
There are tents for single
women, single men, couples, large m akeshift tents, pro-
and tents exclusively for bat­ tected with blue tarps from
tered individuals. Anyone en­ above and strewn with bed-
tering, 17 and older, must read ding and a few sleeping bodies
or re-read the camp’s code of below. Quiet time is 10 p.m.
conduct, a printed and lami­ to 8 p.m.,” he said, but people
nated list of rules stuck to an are allowed to rest here during
outer post. No drugs. No alco­ the day.
hol. No open flames in camp.
Mubarak makes an inquiry
P rio r to my to u r w ith about a tent which looks di-
sheveled with blankets and
bedding, asking a man nearby
if he knew who was in charge
of cleaning it up. The man
says he will do it.
It costs about $1,200 a
month to operate Right 2
Dream, says Mubarak. Most
of the budget is spent at the
Laundromat.
There is a kitchen tent filled
Behind the closed-walled
kitchen tent was an open tent
with the only free electrical
outlet and running water spigot
nearby, a place to eat and wash
dishes, and for volunteers to
meet.
Mubarak pointed out the do­
nation tent, stuffed with ran­
dom goods other people think
houseless people might need,
Any religion that professes concern for the
souls o f men and is not equally concerned about
the slums that damn them, the economic
conditions that strangle them, and
the social conditions that cripple
them is a spiritually moribund
religion only waiting fo r the day to
be buried.
- Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
with cooking devices, utensils
and d o nated foods from
Quaker Oats to mac & cheese,
bread and potatoes to canned
food and hot cocoa. A new
friend living at the camp later
tells me he’s roasted an entire
turkey in the camp’s modest
outdoor grill. Only bones were
left after everyone ate, he said,
C h a s e & Weil. LLP
and a trailer compiled of scrap
wood— an office-in-progress,
soon to be hooked up to the
Internet for people to look for
jobs and housing,
Mubarak leads me to the
permanent shelter area, where
more than 20 tw o-person,
camping tents are clustered
like mushrooms within two
brick walls barricading the
back of the camp.
Behind the tents is a make­
shift rack of donated and per­
sonal bikes. Dignity Village
donated raised garden beds
which sit at the center of the
camp, just away from the des­
ignated smoking tent.
Across from two porta-pot­
ties, one designated for men
and one for women, a Christ­
mas tree stands between the
garden beds, its branches still
wrapped.
“Why won’t they open the
vacant buildings for people to
stay?” said Mubarak pointing
to Chinatown as he stands on
the sidewalk near the deco­
rated doors that barricade» the
south side of Right 2 Dream.
Agencies, individuals and
education groups donate $100
to paint a door. The money
goes to the operating costs of
Right 2 Dream Too.
“I want to see affordable
housing, more jobs, universal
healthcare, dedicated social
services and apartment readi­
ness classes,” said Mubarak.
“I want to see social justice in
that everybody is equal.”
As he talks, some people
walk by and stare. Others,
some with worn clothing and
missing teeth, smile, pat his
back and shake his hand.
CELEBRATE
MARTIN LUTHER KING
Salutes
Martin Luther
King, Jr.
Gerald M. Chase
R ichard L. Weil
A ttorneys at L a w
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Portland Oregon 97205-3621
Phone 503-294-1414 * Fax: 503-294-1455
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