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December 27, 2017
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by D anny P eterson /t he P ortlanD o bserver
Brienna Fultz has been struggling with homelessness for about three years and in previous years
relied on staying with friends or sleeping in her car to avoid the cold. This is her first winter in a tent.
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Brienna Fultz, a Portland wom-
an who has been struggling with
homelessness for about three
years, told the Portland Observer
that this is the first winter spent in
a tent. In previous years she stayed
in her car or with a friend.
“With as many homeless as
there are, it’s really hard to find
places where we can actually
stay,” Fultz said.
Last February, there was an es-
timated 4,000 homeless people in
Multnomah County, a 10 percent
increase from two years ago. The
camp I spoke to represents just a
small portion of the over 1,600
homeless people who went with-
out shelter at the time of the count.
Nearly 30 percent of them were
women.
“It’s hard during the winter,
you know, to keep moving and
trying to figure out ‘okay, where
are we going to go?” Fultz said.
“It’s been cold… everything
about it is hard,” said another
woman, who is called Bug.
As the camp mom, Lex said
she has broken up fights, provid-
ed spare dry clothes for older or
sick members of the group, cooks
camp meals when there’s enough
food to go around, and provides
emotional support.
“Most of us are out here be-
cause our families have abandoned
us and we don’t have family […]
we’re more of a community than
most families because we look out
for each other. We may not like
each other, but we love each oth-
er,” she said.
Alta Willman, 54, is thankful
for Lex and the other camp mem-
bers who took notice when she
had an infection on her neck that
was left untreated for days. Her
companions urged her to go to the
hospital.
“Had these ladies not cared and
loved about me as a human being,
‘cause I had gotten bit in the neck
by a spider (choking up) had they
not pushed me to go, I wouldn’t be
here. The doctor said if I would’ve
waited another four to six hours,
I’d be dead,” Willman said.
As the women look after each
other, it’s a vivid contrast “to the
many more people that are looking
down on us,” Lex said. “We have
people drive by everyday honking
at us, throwing shit at us, calling
us garbage. And heaven forbid
one of their family members ever
becomes homeless.”
“You know, we all have feel-
ings,” Lex added. “We don’t need
people to feel sorry for us. We
don’t need people to pity us. If
they want to help, we need water,
garbage [removal], bathrooms.
The rest of it we pretty much take
care of on our own.”
As frigid temperatures hit the
Portland area in recent weeks,
with ice and snow being the lat-
est ordeal to overcome during the
long Christmas holiday weekend,
shelters were opening in response.
Responding to the city’s home-
less emergency, officials continue
to step up to reach people in risk.
Anyone who is suffering from
conditions such as hypothermia
or inhaling carbon monoxide from
burning fuels is urged to call 211
to get emergency transportation to
a warming center or shelter. Those
who are interested in donating or
volunteering can go also call 211
or visit 211info.org for informa-
tion or make donations.
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