Why Not End Homelessness Here?

The media can be a powerful instrument of change. When images from Hurricane Katrina’s devastation pounded into our consciousness, our hearts opened along with our wallets. We knew it could happen to anyone. Several columns and opinion articles have compared the need of the hurricane victims to people experiencing homelessness locally.
Bob Durston, Chief of staff for city commissioner Eric Sten, says, “It’s a legitimate question. If we can help victims from across the country why can’t we end homelessness here?”
Has Portlandia abandoned her citizens to the streets? Like the needs of the hurricane victims, the need here is obvious. Anyone walking through Old Town at 7:00AM will see the numerous huddled bodies lying beneath tattered blankets on the cold hard concrete.
When we see people sleeping on the streets in our hometown the strength of impact impels us to distance ourselves from the image. It could never happen to us. The homeless must be lazy or have done something immoral and God is punishing them. Durston says, “People divide the homeless into the deserving and the unworthy.”
The corporate media focuses on negative stereotypes, the first sellable image they come across. It takes time, work, and concern to perceive the positive examples of people struggling and succeeding in spite of the burdens of poverty. Durston says, “We need to show the broader community that folks who are homeless can be contributing members of the community. In some cases, they just need some help getting back on their feet. When people do get back on their feet, they often become contributors to the community. “
Positive examples are not that hard to find if you’ve been around the block as many times as I have. Starting with organizations I’d say street roots, Sisters of the Road/crossroads and Dignity Village are grassroots organizations/communities that are made up of primarily homeless community members. Their leadership is, at least in part, people who have experienced homelessness.
Marc Jolin, Chairman of the Board of Directors for JOIN says, “JOIN is successful securing people in housing because of the long term relationships we develop and nurture.” Mutual respect and dignity are what set these organizations apart from organizations that run on a social service model.
Positive examples abound, but I think we need more than just a poster child. I grew as a person while experiencing homelessness and believe we, this includes you, can build relationships with people in poverty thereby acknowledging the human worth of each other. We are far stronger together than apart. Durston paraphrases the maxim, “Our community is only as strong as the weakest part.”
Many people recognize the need, yet are baffled as to how they can help. The Homelessness Working Group, a project of Southeast Uplift has been working towards a Project Connect Day. Cece Noel, Director of Southeast Uplift says, “We want to capture stories that put a face on homelessness.” The intent is to get local media focused on people in poverty who work toward solution.
Noel says, “We are asking the city for $50,000 to develop a media toolkit which will educate the community how to get involved.” Elements include training volunteers, advocating for public policy, and breaking down the stereotypes by building relationships.
This is not a simple problem fitting nicely into confined accounting categories. I feel this is a community project that affects everyone in Portland. The Portland Business Alliance has long listed the visible homeless downtown as one of it’s top concerns.
If we can spend millions of dollars in Old Town tearing up concrete sidewalks to be replaced with more concrete sidewalks why can’t we address the root of the problem? If we continue to look at the issue on a superficial level; we will continue to have homeless sleeping outside on multi-million dollar sidewalks.