Vulnerable People and Places Blog

     The housing epidemic is no stranger to Portland. One of the biggest factors is the high cost of living and lack of affordable housing in the area. The living costs have kept rising coupled with the same average salaries throughout the years with no signs of salaries rising to match rent costs. So with that, eviction rates in Portland have been on the rise and are exponentially growing. From June 2025 to June 2026 the total evictions filed in Multnomah County alone equated to over 11,800 cases. For each month, 90% or more of the evictions were filed due to rent non-payment.       Unfortunately, if these tenants are being evicted due to nonpayment, they are unable to afford any representation by a lawyer for their case. In the past 12 months, only 15% of all the eviction cases had tenants that had legal representation. The Oregon Law Center made an analysis of The Oregon Judicial Department’s eviction data and found that the tenants outrightly won a...

The Oregon Department of Transportation has halted its $4 million annual payments to the City of Portland for removing homeless camps from state-owned properties after the state legislature failed to pass a transportation funding package. In announcing the cut, ODOT cited the need to balance its own budget and warned of possible layoffs within the agency. While contracted cleanup efforts will continue, they’ll operate at reduced levels, though a previously approved $900,000 fencing project to block camping near I-405 is still slated to move forward. Despite the scale-back in state-funded sweeps, Portland’s unsheltered residents can still turn to several community-led resources. Hygiene4All offers a sanitized shower trailer, clothing and bedding exchanges, and on-site health workers who provide first aid, enroll guests in food assistance and health insurance, and make medical referrals. They’re open Sundays and Thursdays from 3 pm to 9 pm, plus Tuesdays and Fridays from 3 pm to 7 pm at ...

  How Music Benefits Portland's Homeless Community Portland is no stranger when it comes to its music scene. They have so many options for a variety of groups to perform with openness of genres as well. It’s great to also learn their music scene can promote such a great cause in helping minorities like the homeless community.   A program called the Artist Mentorship Program (AMP)   is a Portland based non-profit that provides a creative space for homeless youth to build healthy, relationship-centered communities through music and art activities. AMP’s philosophy centers on the belief that homeless youth are resilient and creative and  deserve a dynamic support system that nurtures their growth. It’s a vibrant community of artists, mentors, and caring Portlanders working together to uplift young voices.   There is a collaboration between the amazing Oregon Symphony and the Path Home Village Family Shelter, a Portland nonprofit serving families experiencin...

The Revolving Door Effect The Predatory System Targeted at Homeless Individuals      Formerly incarcerated individuals, especially those with multiple incarcerations, face a severe housing crisis upon release, with homelessness rates nearly 10 to 13 times higher than the general public . They frequently struggle to secure stable housing due to explicit discrimination from public housing authorities and private owners, using credit checks, income requirements, and other methods during screening processes. This pervasive instability often pushes individuals into marginal housing like hotels or motels, a small difference from literal homelessness, significantly hindering their ability to access essential resources like healthcare, employment, and education crucial for successful reentry.      This cycle of homelessness and incarceration is severely exacerbated by the criminalization of homelessness , through laws that prohibit essential survival behaviors s...

Hit While They're Down The Cycle of Homeless Incarceration      The connection between incarceration and homelessness in Portland, and across the nation, creates a harsh cycle that traps vulnerable individuals in systemic instability. People released from jails and prisons face a nearly ten times higher likelihood of experiencing homelessness than the general public . The more times it happens the chances of a way out become exponentially harder. As judgmental creatures and a system built of reputation, this grim reality fuels a "revolving door" effect: housing instability increases the chances of re-arrest and re-incarceration, while release from prison significantly elevates the risk of becoming homeless. This cycle is often exacerbated by local policies that criminalize basic survival behaviors for unhoused individuals, such as sleeping in public spaces.      Individuals experiencing homelessness, especially those with a history of incarceration, simply ...

  There are thousands across Oregon who are suffering from housing instability. Permanent Supportive Housing provides a model that brings an opportunity for housing along with services that will enable individuals to stay housed, such as job training and substance abuse treatment. Although the data on its effectiveness so far is limited since it’s a new approach, they can help bring us out of this crisis.  However, not everyone may feel comfortable going from living on the streets directly to an apartment complex. Additionally, most of these places are already completely full with massive waitlists. That is where places like Opportunity Village come in. They offer an alternative with transitional stability. The residents earn their keep by working on projects around the village to keep it up and running.  The village helps provide that much needed physical and emotional stability for its residents to plan ahead for the future as they work towards more permanent housing. S...

In Portland, where the crisis of housing insecurity remains urgent and visible, grassroots solutions are doing powerful work to meet people’s basic needs with dignity. One of the most impactful of these is the Community Free Store —a mutual aid effort grounded in compassion, solidarity, and trust. Unlike traditional charity models, mutual aid is about community members supporting each other directly, without hierarchy or strings attached. It operates on the belief that we all have something to offer, and we all deserve to have our needs met. At the Community Free Store , people experiencing homelessness or poverty can access essential supplies—clothing, hygiene items, snacks, harm reduction tools, and more—completely free of charge. Volunteers often organize, sort, and distribute donations in public spaces or through pop-up events. These spaces become more than just places to get help—they are places to be seen, welcomed, and treated with dignity. Why It Matters Immediate impact: A cle...