Case study Portland: Why large-scale shelters make sense
Bybee Lakes Hope Center north of Portland, Oregon. Image by Wikimedia Commons
Portland, OR explores how a mix of larger-scale shelters and alternative shelters can work together to address the inhumanity of street homelessness for cities like SJ. Excerpt from Street Roots, Portland's excellent weekly street newspaper.
According to a recently announced spending plan to address homelessness jointly funded by the city of Portland and Multnomah County, local sheltering options will substantially increase.
The plan, which will cost $38 million in total, allocates $18 million to add 400 new beds to the city and county’s available roster of shelter space and “bring people out of the elements and offer connections to health and housing services.” The city and county will divide the rest of the funds between efforts like expanding mental and behavioral health services and improving hygiene services at unsanctioned encampments, among other areas of need.
Shelter space can take on a lot of different forms. Recent Street Roots coverage explored shelters like the proposed Safe Rest Village sites that allow people to temporarily reside in private tiny homes, which offer a sense of privacy that many people who have experienced homelessness say can be invaluable. And when travel took a nosedive during the pandemic, converting vacant hotels into quarantine-friendly shelters became an often-discussed model that offers similar privacy benefits.
These alternative shelters are popularized and held up as beacons of progress. However, they have not replaced the congregate shelter model. In order to move people off the streets as quickly as possible, which policymakers say is their top priority, congregate shelters will have to be utilized as well.
Homeless people and advocates say all of these short-term options can be beneficial, but only if politicians develop the shelters in tandem with policies that make lasting change. The main goal must be to support homeless people living in them, not to appease housed people and business owners with hastily formed shelter options.
Who are short-term shelters meant for?
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler addressed the danger that many of Portland’s unsheltered residents face daily while living in outdoor encampments during a Nov. 1 press conference announcing the new spending package — but followed up to say those affected most by these sites are people who don’t live in them.
“Too many of Portland’s houseless (people) live in squalid, filthy, dangerous locations outdoors. And all too often, they’re victims of crime themselves,” Wheeler said. “The impact of these unsanctioned encampments is felt most by housed Portlanders and business owners who are closest to these campsites.”
The conspicuous nature of unsheltered homelessness in Portland — made more visible by the fact many people living in unsanctioned encampments can’t easily access restrooms or trash services — has particularly appeared to attract the ire of local business owners.
Organizations representing business owners in Portland, like the Portland Business Alliance and dark money advocacy group People for Portland, issue some of the most prominent demands for improved short-term shelter across the city. However, advocates fear this is done more with the hope of moving homeless people out of sight than actually helping them.
In a video testimonial created by People for Portland, an organization that has made “end unsheltered homelessness,” one of its primary goals, Portland Clinic CEO Dick Clark explained why he wants urgent action from local policymakers to address homelessness.
“We are experiencing daily issues, ranging from needles being found at our doorstep to tents being found on our property, to people suffering healthcare issues, to endless garbage,” Clark said. “It takes us away from serving our patients and starts to jeopardize our business.”
Bobby Todd Mitchell has been homeless in Portland since he moved here in 2018 and is involved in homeless advocacy work. He has lived in encampments on the streets and in congregate shelters, and he’s now living in one of Do Good Multnomah’s converted hotel shelters. Mitchell said he understands business owners may be uncomfortable with encampments near their workplaces, but the needs of the people living on the streets should be prioritized.
Read the whole thing here.
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