I have some good news, and some bad news. Lets start with the good:
Street Roots, a nonprofit newspaper that helps those living with homelessness and poverty, has launched an easy-to-use website to accompany its Rose City Resource publication.
The Rose City Resource site offers a “comprehensive guide to the public services and assistance programs in the Portland and tri-county area.” You can find information on basic needs like clothing, food, shelters and employment, to legal services, health care (pet care too), counseling, and cheap entertainment.
Such a wealth of resources will probably be more necessary now than ever, thanks to (and here comes the bad news) the unprecedented rise in homelessness statewide.
The Oregon Housing and Community Services Department has released new staggering numbers that prove what many of us can already see in the streets — the number of people in Oregon identified as homeless has increased 37 percent from the same time last year, according to the state-wide One-Night Homeless Count. There were 12,529 homeless in January 2008. This year, 17,122.
“The numbers confirm what we already knew,” said OHCS deputy director Rick Crager. ”Families and individuals can’t afford to pay for one of their most basic needs – a place to live.”
Corky Senecal, director of Housing and Emergency Services at Neighbor Impact in Central Oregon, called these recent homeless a “new face of homelessness that we’ve not seen before.”
Obviously, a new approach is needed.
Senate Bill 200 (PDF), introduced on behalf of OHCS, establishes a state policy on homelessness and requires the Department of Human Services and OHCS to better coordinate housing and services. It also encourages a focus on permanent housing as the preferred response to homelessness.
Meantime, there’s always Rose City Resource.
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- Imitation Being the Sincerest Form of Flattery, Check Out Boise’s plan to end homelessness. The Idaho
Tags: Department of Human Services, economy, Homeless, senate bill 200, street roots
Portland city council is currently considering a plan that will take $42 million from the Lents URA to build a new baseball stadium at Lents Park. This plan will remove money from this year’s affordable housing budget and will put low-income homeowners at risk of losing their homes and becoming homeless.
City council must not support this plan! Rejecting this plan is one step in our fight to curtail the uptick in homelessness in our city. Do not cut the affordable housing budget. It costs more to fund a shelter’s needs for one homeless person than it does to support a low-income homeowner.
42 million bucks would house, feed, and educate a lot of homeless children. Homeless adults are the shame of America and the legacy of Reagan, but homeless, neglected, and hungry children in America actually exist. In a manner that would shame God for letting it happen.
We can play baseball on any goddamn flat surface. I’m with Timbers forever on this one.
If you think the homelessness demographic is rising now, just wait. It’s good that there is a pub like Street Roots. Kudos to the WW for telling us about it.
“Obviously, a new approach is needed.” Even with the inclusion of the word ‘obviously’, it still deserves a big fat DUH! There are many programs that work so while we’re figuring out how to keep from adding to the homeless population, let’s lend $ and support to Street Roots, Sisters of the Road, New Avenues for Youth, and others who have a track record of success and a desperate need for more resources! Don’t reinvent the wheel or continue driving on flats!!
Sorry, I could be homeless in the am,but because there is a bit of effort to find work in me,I would pickup a broom, or a shovel and work.
There are homeless folks..those that want to be, and those that are.
I want that 42 million dollars Leonard and Adam’s are trying to steal for more then homeless issues.
A bridge that may come down and kill those sleeping under it, or kill those driving across it to pay taxs for those folks that deserve it,and not steal it.
Amen GM.
Economic development is where it’s at. Without micro-enterprises, we can’t win the war on poverty.
Yes there is a homeless problem. BUT not all homeless people are truly homeless. Street roots is a good example of a great theory that in reality is a shelter for deadbeat dads & other lazy, employable people to panhandle and receive money, unreported & tax-free. Some vendors make up to $100/day “selling papers”. That same decrepid lookinig guy you see EVERY DAY at your local market or store, isn’t selling papers. They are there to feed off the good-natured people who truly want to help those “down on their luck”. After much research, I’ve found these “vendors” receive more cash, food, clothing, etc. “donations” by folks that don’t even bother taking the stupid paper that they toss in the closest trash can, if they do. Why do people continue to support that SAME guy every day?? Does anyone hand YOU a $20 for standing around & looking pathetic?? Don’t you WORK hard for your money? If a guy can stand begging for 8 hours, he can certainly stand behind a French fry machine at mcdonalds & EARN his money, pay his taxes, his child support, etc. Why don’t these losers just get jobs (they ate generally offered some sort of work DAILY)? Per one “vendor”…”why bother, I make more money off these bleeding hearts than I would at a reular job”. These guys tip off the neebirs in how to look more pathetic to get more $$. Street roots does “vendor highlight” stories I’m their rag that have a grain of truth & embelish it to draw more pity & ALWAYS give the location of the poor, sweet (yeah the sweet guy who committed domestic violence & is on the streets dogging the consequences & the cops) so they can sell more papers! Their fake articles on their “vendors” trick the few poor souls who read the rag into giving the guy real cash, free clothes, tents, supplies, food, etc. What about the victims of these men? Their abused spouses, their abandoned kids? Next time that poor pathetic guy, you’ve come to care about after seeing him every day fir years (laughing at you inside for conning you) think about how hard you have to work & tell him to get a job! If you want to be charitable, research and support an honest charity that truly needs the money. I suggest a battered womens charity.
Typos in previous post are courtesy of iPhone!
I have been homeless at several points in my life. Contrary to popular belief, most homeless did not become so out of choice and not because they are lazy, stupid, or immoral. Many homeless people are victims of abuse in the form of neglect and abandonment by their parents or other caregivers. Some of them are simply victims of life’s tragedies, such as hurricanes, fires, or other catastrophes from which they simply don’t have the resources to recover. I invite you to my blog devoted to raising awareness on homelessness: Freethegods.com. There you will find an article I wrote on homelessness and pictures I have taken of homeless people. I always give them a dollar or two for the privilege of photographing them. I am often surprised by their cheerfulness and sense of pride. Often, they will show themselves to have some kind of talent. There is a fine line between genius and insanity.
Thank you, David Scott.
The primary cause of homelessness is the rising gap between income and cost of housing. Many families are finding that they cannot afford to pay the mortgage on the homes they own. There are otherwise “normal” people like you and I who aren’t as lucky in life. They are struggling to make it and contribute to society. If we don’t support them in their efforts, we will see them on the streets. It costs more money to fund emergency shelters and other homeless services than it does to help low-income homeowners stay in their homes. Without a home, it is difficult to find job and be a good role model for your children.
“If a guy can stand begging for 8 hours, he can certainly stand behind a French fry machine at mcdonalds & EARN his money, pay his taxes, his child support, etc.”
Streetrootsisascam,
Do you think that a job at McDonalds will pay for rent, food, child care, and taxes? What if that person needs a car to get there? Forget about it. I know people who live or have lived like that, and they’re just barely getting by with their head above water. Some people, through poor but not drastically bad decisions, or bad luck, just don’t have a buffer to guard against even minor problems.
If the car breaks down, what if the person doesn’t have $300 to get it fixed? They lose their job. They lose their job, they can’t pay rent, they get thrown out of their home. Not everyone has caring relatives or spare money in the bank. What is pocket change for some people – getting a car fixed, a sudden medical expense, a raise in rent or a cut in pay – can mean life or death for other people.
I live in downtown; I’m exposed to this issue every day. Surely there are some who “choose” to be homeless. But I’m certain that most people are not sleeping on the street, begging for spare change, curled up in alcoves and storefronts, are not doing it because they think it’s a great time. This is a very sad issue that, directly or indirectly, impacts all Portlanders and resources need to be allocated to help alleviate this.
I also really like this: “We can play baseball on any goddamn flat surface”. Take the $42 million and do something to HELP Portland and its citizens, rather than build something that will only undercut local businesses. This is not the time to build a new stadium.
I am a caring, concerned, socially conscious citizen who cares deeply about the homeless situation. I advocate for help of people truly in need. I am referring to a news paper that portrays itself as helping people in need. When you check out the facts, most are not unemployable. I believe that battered women, children, people who are mentally or physically incapable of working, of the millions like myself, who could lose their world & be homeless. My comments were strictly directed toward street roots & I sincerely apologize fir not clarifying my views. And believe me, single mother of two, victim of domestic abuse, working at mcdonalds wouldn’t get me through a week, but if that was an alternative to spanging, I’d take it.
[...] because the number of newly homeless people has been growing so fast in this economy, their high-dollar efforts are helping only a small fraction of the homeless [...]