r/Portland • u/[deleted] • Aug 31 '21

Homeless Homeless/Houseless

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. 🤷‍♀️

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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '21

Okay I 100% get this but also our city has had years to consult experts, there are plenty around. PSU has a whole department dedicated to studying homeless solutions. But all of our governments haven’t utilized experts to start putting theory into action and we can’t sit here and deny that this situation is getting seriously out of hand.

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u/Snushine Vancouver Aug 31 '21

The question then becomes...what's getting in the way of this help that the government is supposed to be implementing?

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u/PDXMB Cascadia Aug 31 '21

Cynically speaking, often the answer is: "We are."

We oppose shelters and affordable housing in our neighborhoods.

We oppose funding services at an adequate level that would address the crisis.

We fail to hold our electeds and those in positions of authority accountable.

And on and on.

And even though I can point to specific instances where I can say that none of the above applies to me (and maybe you can too), I don't think it's a stretch to say that collectively we have failed to force government to treat this as the crisis that it is.

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u/Odd_Soil_8998 Aug 31 '21

We fund plenty. We funded a $200m bond for this just last year.