Does Rob Layne work for a drug dealer consortium? That is the only reason I can see him being able to say that conditions are getting “demonstrably better”.
The real problem here is, it's an "overnight shelter". I stayed in this shelter since it opened and we used to be able to "line up" at 7pm then we couldn't line up until 7:30 pm we were also told we couldn't be within a two block radius before then. We were told it was because of the neighbors didn't want us around before 7:30 pm because of the businesses around there. Another problem is, people have been on waiting lists for years and haven't been given any help. Do you know the homeless needs a referral to be able to get any kind of help? Why can't the homeless just walk in to a shelter and ask for help? I'll say this till people actually do it, if you want to help the homeless, go live among them and experience what they do. Then you will know why they are not getting the help they need. The old say of "it takes village to raise a child" it also takes a village to end homelessness and not just a few organizations to do it. So unless you, and you actually get there and help, the homeless will always be around because these organizations do only the bare minimum to help. Also, do you know the CEO of the salvation army makes over $360,000 a year? Why so much? Do you also know, these shelters tell us it's because they are "under staffed" is why they are not open 24/7? Like for real? They can't or won't ask people who stay there if they want a job working there, so they can stay open 24/7? Do some research on your own and stop depending on people to tell you what the problem is.
Did I get your attention? I hope so because it is. I've been homeless since August 2025. I've been staying at the salvation army on Northrup and nw 15th since day one it opened on September 2nd. It's an over night shelter. What exactly does an over night shelter do? It gives the bare minimum of help because we only get to sleep there. We check in at 8pm and have to leave at 6am 7 days a week. What is open at 6am for anyone to look for work? Nothing. Here's the the thing, I work Monday through Friday and have the weekends off. Where do I get to go? On the streets where society doesn't want the homeless. I have to bring all of my belongings with me which is just a backpack of clothes. Who would hire me if I needed a job with me carrying my stuff with me?
Now your probably asking yourself "if your working, why are you still homeless?" Great question. Since I work from 7am to 3:30pm I have to buy my own food. As you know, food has gotten expensive. Rent is expensive. If you look around, the cheapest studio goes for $1,000 to as high as $1,400 a month. Plus there's a deposit of $500 to $1,000. Then there's electricity which is how much do you pay? After taxes I get $550 a week. I spend about $150 for food a week and I go-to WinCo for food. About once a week I will buy fast food just to have something warm to eat. I also smoke cigarettes and I know I shouldn't but that's an addiction none smokers don't understand. It's hard to quit especially now being homeless because it is stressful. I spend $50 to $70 a week on cigarettes. So far I'm at $200 a week. Then I have $28 a week for public transportation that's $228 a week. So I'm able to save anywhere from $280 to about $300 a week. But we also had the holidays which I didn't work but three days the week of Christmas, Thanksgiving and new Year's. That "ate" at some of savings.
Now back to homelessness is a profit making business.
Google "how much does the CEO of the salvation army make"? You'll see they get over $360,000 a year that's close to $100,000 a day. Imagine if just $260,000 of that could help the homeless. They could hire some people staying at the shelter to help keep it open 24/7. Go-to a shelter and ask them why they don't have people who stay there work for them so the shelter can stay open 24/7? This would help the homeless by giving them a job. All of these shelters depend on government assistance and your donation. Yet just how much help does the homeless get? Here's another thing I've been on a waiting list since August and I haven't gotten any help. There are other people who have been on the waiting lists for years and still haven't gotten help. Why? These people have lost hope getting help. When people lose hope they tend to resort to well, drugs or alcohol so they can deal with being homeless. When I went to get on the wait list, I told the guy who was helping me "if was an addict or alcoholic id probably get help faster wouldn't I?" He responded with "I hate to tell you but your right". These shelters that offer programs need people who are not working so they can have them stay for a year while they're going through the "program". More money for them from the government.
The mayor of Portland claims he added 1,500 beds yet what he hasn't told people is, there are shelters being closed down. That's right look it up for yourself. Southernland rv safe space, this what I found out as to why their closed: Closure: The site was closed in late 2025 due to the city needing the land back for other purposes, despite earlier extensions. The Portland value inn is "slated for demolition". As well as two other shelters. Wy'east side shelter had 90 beds. market street shelter which had 120 beds are closing down. Which the wy'east shelter also houses veterans. That's 200 beds lost so far. When you Google how many beds have been lost due to shelter closures, they use news channel reports and one county website. They won't disclose how many beds are being lost why? There's another shelter that is being closed and all they say about it is "it has a significant amount of beds" it does not give an exact amount. Why? What do they consider "a significant amount of beds"? 50? 100? 1,500 beds? According to Portland only 210 beds have been lost. But they won't give an exact amount of beds. Why? Now this is just my opinion because I don't have the "facts". Is it because all their doing is a "shuffle game"? Ya, just moving beds from one location to another and telling you "we created more homeless beds and shelters"? If you haven't noticed, politicians won't give you all the details or the facts because they want to look like they're doing something when in fact all they're doing is as little as they can so they get your vote again.
Ok so why just over night shelters? Why not 24/7 shelters? Why not have shelters do "rehabilitation" and not just for drugs and alcohol but rehabilitate people from being on the streets for years? Do what? Rehabilitation from being on the streets for years? Why yes because people who have been homeless for years have become accustom to that life style. They may have forgotten how to look for work, how to pay bills ECT.
The way homelessness is profit making is, these shelters employ people to work there. But they won't offer anyone staying there a job because if they do, they loose that person as a "client" and they loose money they get for them.
In Portland, Oregon there is a paper called street roots and they have it. They're giving people the chance to make money for themselves. Since I've been on the streets I've made friends with a street roots vendor and he has made almost enough money selling the paper to get off the streets. I've also heard about other people who sold street roots who have gotten off the streets. If this paper can help people by providing them a way to make money, why can't shelters? This is what I'm talking about how homelessness is profit making business because if a shelter hired people who are staying there. They could actually help the homeless.
Do you see the vicious circle the homeless are in? Shelters need the homeless so people can have jobs. Society needs homeless shelters so they can donate and get a "tax credit". But do the people who work at shelters really need that job or can they get into another career? Can people donate to other organizations for that "tax credit"?
So what it comes down to is, society needs people to stay in their misery so they can have shelters to put them in and give people jobs.
I hope this has opened your eyes to the fact that politicians and organizations are not helping the homeless like they should. It will take you to go-to the city and demand no more over night shelters. All that do exist needs to be 24/7 and that they hire the people who stay there to help run the shelter. By now your probably asking yourself "why is guy so adamant about hiring the homeless at shelters? For work experience because a lot of the homeless have been on the streets for years and don't have recent work experience which is what they need for employment. When the homeless gets the chance to work in a shelter it will give them "customer service experience". I will say this about that experience. I've watched many people yell at the staff in the shelter I'm currently staying in and they have to "take it". They can not yell back at them or physically remove them from the building. They have to allow the person to walk out on their own or try to calm them down so they're not disturbing other people in the shelter. So imagine being an employer needing someone with that kind of patience to work for them in a "public service" kind of job. This could be the experience a homeless person needs to work, well, maybe for you.
There's a saying and I know you've heard it, "it take a village to raise a child" well it also takes a village to end homelessness. So are you ready to stand up and actually help the homeless? Are you willing to go to the city and make the demands I just just laid out for you? You can also ask a homeless person if they want a job the next time you need someone. It is that easy to end homelessness but everyone has to be willing to do just a little bit of help. Don't be afraid to talk to them, homeless people are quite friendly and willing to help whenever they can.
On a side note. Oregon had a 35% increase in homelessness last year according to a news article from the Oregonian. Why? Partly because of what I've outlined, rent is expensive, food is expensive, utilities are through the roof and taxes keeping going up. Ah taxes! People keep saying "taxes the rich, tax corporations and business!" Yet, they don't understand business 101 is "pass the cost onto the customer". Yep businesses are to make a profit and the higher the cost of something, means, the higher a price you will pay for it. So why not demand our "elected officials" to "live within their means"? Ya, just spend what they have without raising taxes to get more money.
The perspective of people actually trying to use the system is too often left out. While you and I can see the wisdom in hiring homeless people to help run the shelter and extend its hours, I'll bet there are reams of regulations and "worker protections" that keep it from happening. Perhaps another readers can enlighten us.
I'm sure there are "policys" that make hard or even impossible to hire them. That's the problem, if the homeless can't get work, how can they get themselves off the streets? It's these policies that need to be redone so they can get the help they need
I have only anecdotal feedback from speaking with people at some of the City's various contracted services and with private nonprofit groups that do outreach. They have told me that they value and seek hires with lived experience of homelessness, for outreach, peer-support roles and operations roles. Also, many of the leaders were formerly homeless and dealing with substance abuse issues - there are several very public examples in Portland that come to mind (Alan Evans, Lance Orton, to name just two).
The city has dumped on the Pearl and now turned their back. The city thinks they are right and we are wrong. They have no interest in engagement and solutions. The Pearl Association should maybe consider a consult with attorney John Dilorenzo and/or we plan a demonstration outside city hall, and/or we request a meeting with our District 4 councilors. Basic public safety has eroded.
I hate be the bearer of bad news but, every neighborhood doesn't want a homeless shelter and ya I know it's because it brings bad people there but as I stated, these shelters can employ those who stay there you know what that do? It would give a homeless person recent work history and a way to get off the streets. That's why it will take everyone in Portland to do their part. If your business owner, try giving a homeless a job. They just might be the best employee you have ever had but if you don't, you will never know.
Less than one mile from that shelter there is an industrial zone where the negative effects of the homeless/drug situation would be so much diluted.
Why do we put shelters in the most densely populated or visited areas where the social impact and the economic damage are the highest? There are many empty lots and empty buildings in the nearby industrial zones. There's Schoolhouse Electric less than a mile from the Northrup shelter and many other buildings closer. Why on earth do we not use these? No one lives there.
Having spent some time outdoors myself decades ago, I know I'd prefer the extra space and reduction in dirty looks. Also less hassle from the cops. Space is cheap so clientele could get more personal space. Given the low density, a heck of a lot fewer people would object.
Pluses would be:
Hundreds of thousands of vacant square feet making space cheaper.
More personal space for the clientele.
Less hostility from neighbors.
Most people feeling much safer most of the time.
Less damage to property values.
Less loss of property taxes.
It's just so horrible watching Portland would itself so deeply. Shouldn't the path that results in the least pain and damage overall be the right choice?
As I stated, it will take a village to end homelessness, not just a few organizations. Yes, they should use these empty buildings for the homeless, I have no argument for that.
Hi Peter, thank you for your comments. We fought the installation of the low-barrier overnight shelter for months, using all the arguments/logic you mentioned. We tried to get the mayor to build the facility at Bybee Lakes, where land and hard-won expertise in truly helping the homeless is on hand. We had a 60-page research paper that - at its core - established that it is IMPOSSIBLE for the city to mitigate the deleterious effects of putting a shelter in the densest of residential neighborhoods. Simply put: The mayor decided to sacrifice the safety and well-being of the city's tax-paying residents in order to apply his ineffective and costly solution. These overnight shelters are a high-priced band-aid, they don't address in any meaningful way the dominant drivers of homelessness: mental health, substance abuse, and affordability. Sadly, they do very little more than keeping the participants alive for the night. After leaving the Northrup Shelter last week, 2 participants OD'd in doorways less than 20 yards from the shelter. One nearly died, but for the application of Narcan by PDNA volunteers.
Thank You Linda and volunteer team! Your continued reporting is exemplary! The city has not been challenged in this way. The city is blind and deaf to our daily concerns of safety and livability. WE MUST CONTINUE TO "POKE THE BEAR"!!!
What help have they done? Since you don't know, nothing, because if they did, Portland wouldn't have the population of homelessness it does. Do you know the homeless population has grown and is still growing? Apparently not. If you did you would be furious about it. Read my comment then you will understand ya the long one.
This is the worst mayor, city council, and county lineup we have ever had. We have to vote them all out when they come up for re-election, in short order. I’d be willing to sign recalls in the meantime, if anyone thinks we could get the numbers. There’s no reasoning with people who lack intelligence or care, they simply must be removed from office.
That's the problem. People listen to the "professionals" who actually have no clue as to what's going on so they do as they say. If people would get out of the homes and look at the problem they would see there is a lot work to do. If they would put the time in themselves and help, homelessness just might end.
Thanks, JW, for your comments. Even though JVP is leaving, her commissioners are stuck in outdated belief systems that continue to be debunked by the local and national experts. Increasingly, the campaign for eliminating Multnomah County makes sense. In the meantime, we have to challenge the county commissioners to be accountable and DO THEIR JOB. I asked JVP last week for a discussion on how the county could/should apply their outreach resources to the needs of the people at the Northrup Shelter (of course, dead silence). The county gets all the funding for mental health, addiction and housing, and yet they apply ZERO resources to the 110-155 people who show up every night in the Pearl -- and who desperately need access to their resources. I'm talking about the working poor who need housing assistance, the mentally ill who need behavioral health resources, and the substance-addicted who needs pods, recovery and detox services. The County is not doing anything to attempt to work with the people at the low-barrier shelters, and that is just horrific.
Who really thought they’d wait ‘til an hour before opening to go hang out near the shelter? I remember reading that initial statement with disbelief. I no longer shop at Safeway after 5 p.m.
Thanks to Allan for this summary. To put a fine point on the shuttle issue: The Northrup Shelter, as the largest-capacity shelter, gets a disproportionate number of the city's most vulnerable homeless -- persons with acute mental issues, acute substance abuse issues, and with dire mobility issues. They are dropped off to the shelter after medical discharge from hospitals, from other facilities after psychiatric holds or treatment, from the police, and from PSR. In the morning, it is physically challenging for some amputees in wheelchairs, or for the elderly and medically fragile folks with walkers, or for the recent discharges, to physically and cognitively manage the streetcar system (the only station open at 6am is 3-4 blocks away, and some shelter participants are lost, especially when fresh from a medical discharge). The shuttle service, which transported the folks directly from Northrup Shelter to Oasis day-shelter (where additional outreach and next-step services are available, or where a meal at Blanchet House is close by) was a real lifeline for those most vulnerable folks. We are asking the city to consider keeping at least 1 shuttle run per morning, specifically to serve the most vulnerable, so that they don't have to languish for hours on end in the street, in alcoves, or streetcar shelters. So far, we've been unsuccessful. Please write the mayor to ask him to reconsider the decision to eliminate the shuttle service, which could serve the most vulnerable, in particular.
An Old Town resident had a take on why the shuttle system was changed: To bring people from shelters across the city to the Oasis Day Center.
Others have noted that occupancy at the center is still sparse because users come in for immediate supplies and services and then move just outside, where substance abuse goes unchecked. Oasis has the capacity to handle more people; the surrounding neighborhoods may not.
Mayor Wilson's policy is missing a key ingredient, that is directed at the people who are so severely mentally ill they can't be sheltered safely. Some are so paranoid that they can't tolerate a shelter and others are either intoxicated or in severe withdrawal, and few just want to disobey the law. Civil commitment in short term hospital care beds in local hospitals. Portland needs 1000 more acute care beds that now, currently at just 250 which is way too low. Also, Portland police are all tied up with these people and there aren't enough officers. Strengthen the criminal justice system and jail those who break public laws. Civilly commit those who are severe mentally ill, get them cleaned up, fed, detoxed, some medicated, and talk to them when in the hospital. Give them some mental clarity for a change see if they choose to change their ways. You can't do this on the cheap, but it will cost the city much less if you make the above changes given all the problems with revenue lost, policing costs, crime issues. No more public moneys to long term housing or housing first organizations. It incentivizes disability and is a horrible policy for future citizens to fund. Those money's should be solely philanthropic.
Does Rob Layne work for a drug dealer consortium? That is the only reason I can see him being able to say that conditions are getting “demonstrably better”.
The real problem here is, it's an "overnight shelter". I stayed in this shelter since it opened and we used to be able to "line up" at 7pm then we couldn't line up until 7:30 pm we were also told we couldn't be within a two block radius before then. We were told it was because of the neighbors didn't want us around before 7:30 pm because of the businesses around there. Another problem is, people have been on waiting lists for years and haven't been given any help. Do you know the homeless needs a referral to be able to get any kind of help? Why can't the homeless just walk in to a shelter and ask for help? I'll say this till people actually do it, if you want to help the homeless, go live among them and experience what they do. Then you will know why they are not getting the help they need. The old say of "it takes village to raise a child" it also takes a village to end homelessness and not just a few organizations to do it. So unless you, and you actually get there and help, the homeless will always be around because these organizations do only the bare minimum to help. Also, do you know the CEO of the salvation army makes over $360,000 a year? Why so much? Do you also know, these shelters tell us it's because they are "under staffed" is why they are not open 24/7? Like for real? They can't or won't ask people who stay there if they want a job working there, so they can stay open 24/7? Do some research on your own and stop depending on people to tell you what the problem is.
Homeless is profit making business.
Did I get your attention? I hope so because it is. I've been homeless since August 2025. I've been staying at the salvation army on Northrup and nw 15th since day one it opened on September 2nd. It's an over night shelter. What exactly does an over night shelter do? It gives the bare minimum of help because we only get to sleep there. We check in at 8pm and have to leave at 6am 7 days a week. What is open at 6am for anyone to look for work? Nothing. Here's the the thing, I work Monday through Friday and have the weekends off. Where do I get to go? On the streets where society doesn't want the homeless. I have to bring all of my belongings with me which is just a backpack of clothes. Who would hire me if I needed a job with me carrying my stuff with me?
Now your probably asking yourself "if your working, why are you still homeless?" Great question. Since I work from 7am to 3:30pm I have to buy my own food. As you know, food has gotten expensive. Rent is expensive. If you look around, the cheapest studio goes for $1,000 to as high as $1,400 a month. Plus there's a deposit of $500 to $1,000. Then there's electricity which is how much do you pay? After taxes I get $550 a week. I spend about $150 for food a week and I go-to WinCo for food. About once a week I will buy fast food just to have something warm to eat. I also smoke cigarettes and I know I shouldn't but that's an addiction none smokers don't understand. It's hard to quit especially now being homeless because it is stressful. I spend $50 to $70 a week on cigarettes. So far I'm at $200 a week. Then I have $28 a week for public transportation that's $228 a week. So I'm able to save anywhere from $280 to about $300 a week. But we also had the holidays which I didn't work but three days the week of Christmas, Thanksgiving and new Year's. That "ate" at some of savings.
Now back to homelessness is a profit making business.
Google "how much does the CEO of the salvation army make"? You'll see they get over $360,000 a year that's close to $100,000 a day. Imagine if just $260,000 of that could help the homeless. They could hire some people staying at the shelter to help keep it open 24/7. Go-to a shelter and ask them why they don't have people who stay there work for them so the shelter can stay open 24/7? This would help the homeless by giving them a job. All of these shelters depend on government assistance and your donation. Yet just how much help does the homeless get? Here's another thing I've been on a waiting list since August and I haven't gotten any help. There are other people who have been on the waiting lists for years and still haven't gotten help. Why? These people have lost hope getting help. When people lose hope they tend to resort to well, drugs or alcohol so they can deal with being homeless. When I went to get on the wait list, I told the guy who was helping me "if was an addict or alcoholic id probably get help faster wouldn't I?" He responded with "I hate to tell you but your right". These shelters that offer programs need people who are not working so they can have them stay for a year while they're going through the "program". More money for them from the government.
The mayor of Portland claims he added 1,500 beds yet what he hasn't told people is, there are shelters being closed down. That's right look it up for yourself. Southernland rv safe space, this what I found out as to why their closed: Closure: The site was closed in late 2025 due to the city needing the land back for other purposes, despite earlier extensions. The Portland value inn is "slated for demolition". As well as two other shelters. Wy'east side shelter had 90 beds. market street shelter which had 120 beds are closing down. Which the wy'east shelter also houses veterans. That's 200 beds lost so far. When you Google how many beds have been lost due to shelter closures, they use news channel reports and one county website. They won't disclose how many beds are being lost why? There's another shelter that is being closed and all they say about it is "it has a significant amount of beds" it does not give an exact amount. Why? What do they consider "a significant amount of beds"? 50? 100? 1,500 beds? According to Portland only 210 beds have been lost. But they won't give an exact amount of beds. Why? Now this is just my opinion because I don't have the "facts". Is it because all their doing is a "shuffle game"? Ya, just moving beds from one location to another and telling you "we created more homeless beds and shelters"? If you haven't noticed, politicians won't give you all the details or the facts because they want to look like they're doing something when in fact all they're doing is as little as they can so they get your vote again.
Ok so why just over night shelters? Why not 24/7 shelters? Why not have shelters do "rehabilitation" and not just for drugs and alcohol but rehabilitate people from being on the streets for years? Do what? Rehabilitation from being on the streets for years? Why yes because people who have been homeless for years have become accustom to that life style. They may have forgotten how to look for work, how to pay bills ECT.
The way homelessness is profit making is, these shelters employ people to work there. But they won't offer anyone staying there a job because if they do, they loose that person as a "client" and they loose money they get for them.
In Portland, Oregon there is a paper called street roots and they have it. They're giving people the chance to make money for themselves. Since I've been on the streets I've made friends with a street roots vendor and he has made almost enough money selling the paper to get off the streets. I've also heard about other people who sold street roots who have gotten off the streets. If this paper can help people by providing them a way to make money, why can't shelters? This is what I'm talking about how homelessness is profit making business because if a shelter hired people who are staying there. They could actually help the homeless.
Do you see the vicious circle the homeless are in? Shelters need the homeless so people can have jobs. Society needs homeless shelters so they can donate and get a "tax credit". But do the people who work at shelters really need that job or can they get into another career? Can people donate to other organizations for that "tax credit"?
So what it comes down to is, society needs people to stay in their misery so they can have shelters to put them in and give people jobs.
I hope this has opened your eyes to the fact that politicians and organizations are not helping the homeless like they should. It will take you to go-to the city and demand no more over night shelters. All that do exist needs to be 24/7 and that they hire the people who stay there to help run the shelter. By now your probably asking yourself "why is guy so adamant about hiring the homeless at shelters? For work experience because a lot of the homeless have been on the streets for years and don't have recent work experience which is what they need for employment. When the homeless gets the chance to work in a shelter it will give them "customer service experience". I will say this about that experience. I've watched many people yell at the staff in the shelter I'm currently staying in and they have to "take it". They can not yell back at them or physically remove them from the building. They have to allow the person to walk out on their own or try to calm them down so they're not disturbing other people in the shelter. So imagine being an employer needing someone with that kind of patience to work for them in a "public service" kind of job. This could be the experience a homeless person needs to work, well, maybe for you.
There's a saying and I know you've heard it, "it take a village to raise a child" well it also takes a village to end homelessness. So are you ready to stand up and actually help the homeless? Are you willing to go to the city and make the demands I just just laid out for you? You can also ask a homeless person if they want a job the next time you need someone. It is that easy to end homelessness but everyone has to be willing to do just a little bit of help. Don't be afraid to talk to them, homeless people are quite friendly and willing to help whenever they can.
On a side note. Oregon had a 35% increase in homelessness last year according to a news article from the Oregonian. Why? Partly because of what I've outlined, rent is expensive, food is expensive, utilities are through the roof and taxes keeping going up. Ah taxes! People keep saying "taxes the rich, tax corporations and business!" Yet, they don't understand business 101 is "pass the cost onto the customer". Yep businesses are to make a profit and the higher the cost of something, means, the higher a price you will pay for it. So why not demand our "elected officials" to "live within their means"? Ya, just spend what they have without raising taxes to get more money.
Thanks for contributing, Sean.
The perspective of people actually trying to use the system is too often left out. While you and I can see the wisdom in hiring homeless people to help run the shelter and extend its hours, I'll bet there are reams of regulations and "worker protections" that keep it from happening. Perhaps another readers can enlighten us.
I'm sure there are "policys" that make hard or even impossible to hire them. That's the problem, if the homeless can't get work, how can they get themselves off the streets? It's these policies that need to be redone so they can get the help they need
I have only anecdotal feedback from speaking with people at some of the City's various contracted services and with private nonprofit groups that do outreach. They have told me that they value and seek hires with lived experience of homelessness, for outreach, peer-support roles and operations roles. Also, many of the leaders were formerly homeless and dealing with substance abuse issues - there are several very public examples in Portland that come to mind (Alan Evans, Lance Orton, to name just two).
The city has dumped on the Pearl and now turned their back. The city thinks they are right and we are wrong. They have no interest in engagement and solutions. The Pearl Association should maybe consider a consult with attorney John Dilorenzo and/or we plan a demonstration outside city hall, and/or we request a meeting with our District 4 councilors. Basic public safety has eroded.
I hate be the bearer of bad news but, every neighborhood doesn't want a homeless shelter and ya I know it's because it brings bad people there but as I stated, these shelters can employ those who stay there you know what that do? It would give a homeless person recent work history and a way to get off the streets. That's why it will take everyone in Portland to do their part. If your business owner, try giving a homeless a job. They just might be the best employee you have ever had but if you don't, you will never know.
Less than one mile from that shelter there is an industrial zone where the negative effects of the homeless/drug situation would be so much diluted.
Why do we put shelters in the most densely populated or visited areas where the social impact and the economic damage are the highest? There are many empty lots and empty buildings in the nearby industrial zones. There's Schoolhouse Electric less than a mile from the Northrup shelter and many other buildings closer. Why on earth do we not use these? No one lives there.
Having spent some time outdoors myself decades ago, I know I'd prefer the extra space and reduction in dirty looks. Also less hassle from the cops. Space is cheap so clientele could get more personal space. Given the low density, a heck of a lot fewer people would object.
Pluses would be:
Hundreds of thousands of vacant square feet making space cheaper.
More personal space for the clientele.
Less hostility from neighbors.
Most people feeling much safer most of the time.
Less damage to property values.
Less loss of property taxes.
It's just so horrible watching Portland would itself so deeply. Shouldn't the path that results in the least pain and damage overall be the right choice?
As I stated, it will take a village to end homelessness, not just a few organizations. Yes, they should use these empty buildings for the homeless, I have no argument for that.
Hi Peter, thank you for your comments. We fought the installation of the low-barrier overnight shelter for months, using all the arguments/logic you mentioned. We tried to get the mayor to build the facility at Bybee Lakes, where land and hard-won expertise in truly helping the homeless is on hand. We had a 60-page research paper that - at its core - established that it is IMPOSSIBLE for the city to mitigate the deleterious effects of putting a shelter in the densest of residential neighborhoods. Simply put: The mayor decided to sacrifice the safety and well-being of the city's tax-paying residents in order to apply his ineffective and costly solution. These overnight shelters are a high-priced band-aid, they don't address in any meaningful way the dominant drivers of homelessness: mental health, substance abuse, and affordability. Sadly, they do very little more than keeping the participants alive for the night. After leaving the Northrup Shelter last week, 2 participants OD'd in doorways less than 20 yards from the shelter. One nearly died, but for the application of Narcan by PDNA volunteers.
Thank You Linda and volunteer team! Your continued reporting is exemplary! The city has not been challenged in this way. The city is blind and deaf to our daily concerns of safety and livability. WE MUST CONTINUE TO "POKE THE BEAR"!!!
What help have they done? Since you don't know, nothing, because if they did, Portland wouldn't have the population of homelessness it does. Do you know the homeless population has grown and is still growing? Apparently not. If you did you would be furious about it. Read my comment then you will understand ya the long one.
This is the worst mayor, city council, and county lineup we have ever had. We have to vote them all out when they come up for re-election, in short order. I’d be willing to sign recalls in the meantime, if anyone thinks we could get the numbers. There’s no reasoning with people who lack intelligence or care, they simply must be removed from office.
That's the problem. People listen to the "professionals" who actually have no clue as to what's going on so they do as they say. If people would get out of the homes and look at the problem they would see there is a lot work to do. If they would put the time in themselves and help, homelessness just might end.
Thanks, JW, for your comments. Even though JVP is leaving, her commissioners are stuck in outdated belief systems that continue to be debunked by the local and national experts. Increasingly, the campaign for eliminating Multnomah County makes sense. In the meantime, we have to challenge the county commissioners to be accountable and DO THEIR JOB. I asked JVP last week for a discussion on how the county could/should apply their outreach resources to the needs of the people at the Northrup Shelter (of course, dead silence). The county gets all the funding for mental health, addiction and housing, and yet they apply ZERO resources to the 110-155 people who show up every night in the Pearl -- and who desperately need access to their resources. I'm talking about the working poor who need housing assistance, the mentally ill who need behavioral health resources, and the substance-addicted who needs pods, recovery and detox services. The County is not doing anything to attempt to work with the people at the low-barrier shelters, and that is just horrific.
Who really thought they’d wait ‘til an hour before opening to go hang out near the shelter? I remember reading that initial statement with disbelief. I no longer shop at Safeway after 5 p.m.
Thanks to Allan for this summary. To put a fine point on the shuttle issue: The Northrup Shelter, as the largest-capacity shelter, gets a disproportionate number of the city's most vulnerable homeless -- persons with acute mental issues, acute substance abuse issues, and with dire mobility issues. They are dropped off to the shelter after medical discharge from hospitals, from other facilities after psychiatric holds or treatment, from the police, and from PSR. In the morning, it is physically challenging for some amputees in wheelchairs, or for the elderly and medically fragile folks with walkers, or for the recent discharges, to physically and cognitively manage the streetcar system (the only station open at 6am is 3-4 blocks away, and some shelter participants are lost, especially when fresh from a medical discharge). The shuttle service, which transported the folks directly from Northrup Shelter to Oasis day-shelter (where additional outreach and next-step services are available, or where a meal at Blanchet House is close by) was a real lifeline for those most vulnerable folks. We are asking the city to consider keeping at least 1 shuttle run per morning, specifically to serve the most vulnerable, so that they don't have to languish for hours on end in the street, in alcoves, or streetcar shelters. So far, we've been unsuccessful. Please write the mayor to ask him to reconsider the decision to eliminate the shuttle service, which could serve the most vulnerable, in particular.
An Old Town resident had a take on why the shuttle system was changed: To bring people from shelters across the city to the Oasis Day Center.
Others have noted that occupancy at the center is still sparse because users come in for immediate supplies and services and then move just outside, where substance abuse goes unchecked. Oasis has the capacity to handle more people; the surrounding neighborhoods may not.
Mayor Wilson's policy is missing a key ingredient, that is directed at the people who are so severely mentally ill they can't be sheltered safely. Some are so paranoid that they can't tolerate a shelter and others are either intoxicated or in severe withdrawal, and few just want to disobey the law. Civil commitment in short term hospital care beds in local hospitals. Portland needs 1000 more acute care beds that now, currently at just 250 which is way too low. Also, Portland police are all tied up with these people and there aren't enough officers. Strengthen the criminal justice system and jail those who break public laws. Civilly commit those who are severe mentally ill, get them cleaned up, fed, detoxed, some medicated, and talk to them when in the hospital. Give them some mental clarity for a change see if they choose to change their ways. You can't do this on the cheap, but it will cost the city much less if you make the above changes given all the problems with revenue lost, policing costs, crime issues. No more public moneys to long term housing or housing first organizations. It incentivizes disability and is a horrible policy for future citizens to fund. Those money's should be solely philanthropic.