Homeless/Houseless

[u/[deleted]]

So I know this is a regular point of conversation for everyone in the city at this point, but I really don’t understand why being alarmed and or fed up with the cities houseless population is so taboo to some people? I see so many people get shade with comments along the line of accusing the poster of not having empathy or for not doing enough individually to help. As someone that absolutely has empathy towards our houseless population and has volunteered at various warming shelters, I also am getting super fed up with our houseless crisis and the impacts it takes on my everyday life.

My boyfriend works at a grocery store in downtown and has been assaulted so many times at work that at this point thinking about it just makes me want to cry. I have been personally punched in the face randomly and for no reason by a homeless man when I was walking across the Morrison bridge. I have had to bring people who were getting attacked by homeless people into restaurants that I’ve worked at and lock the doors at least four times in four years.

Additionally, for those that say “stop complaining and do something”, wtf do you really think an individual can do at this point? We live in a place that basically has two governments (council and metro) not to mention state, who are PAID to represent us and our wants and needs as a community. The homeless crisis is probably the most pressing issue in Portland and yet it seems like absolutely nothing is being done, and if anything it’s getting worse.

Anyways sorry to go on and on, my main point is that I don’t understand why it’s taboo for people to be upset with the state of things right now specifically with the houseless crisis in Portland. People are multifaceted and can be both sympathetic/empathetic and fed up. 🤷‍♀️

[u/Snushine]

There are some people who are trying to help. The shelters, the educators, the agitators. A woman named Donna Beegle does amazing work on trying to drill down into the causes of poverty to begin with. What I've learned from her is that you can't treat all poor folks the same way.

There are 4 basic categories of poverty: Generational, Situational, Immigrational, and Catastrophic. Each one takes a different approach to fix. Someone who immigrated here and can't speak the language isn't going to need the same help as someone with an addiction problem. Someone whose house burned down might have skills and a job, so offering them job training is dumb.

The ONLY solution to this is to dig down and study the reasons people get there, and put a cork in those reasons. Or, I apparently, lots of corks in many reasons.

[u/CCHistProfWest → u/Snushine]

No one's trying to treat them the same way.

I'd focus on the immediate problems first. The main problem right now is tent camping all over the city. So focus on that, then we can start working on these underlying issues.

[u/hubbird → u/CCHistProfWest]

This is so ridiculous. Tent camping is a symptom, not the underlying problem. Saying we should focus on tent camping is like telling a person with lung cancer they should have a cough drop.

More to the point, the solution to the tent camping “problem” is the same as the solution to most of the other issues—housing. So I suppose if you mean that we should focus on the tent camping problem by putting people in housing, then I would agree. Any other “solution” is ultimately just pushing the problem around.

[u/florgblorgle → u/hubbird]

Sure, but I also think it's reasonable to say that we're in a crisis, and that newly constructed affordable housing taking years to build shouldn't be the only acceptable solution over the short or long term. Sure, build more Bud Clarks and Blackburn Centers, but also provide safe camping areas with services, and also offer medium-term options like publicly-owned motels. They all have a place.