Vulnerable People and Places Blog

      The first thing I notice about the comics on display at Changing The Narrative is the colors. It sounds odd, comics are well known for featuring stories of colorful characters, and often times I'm taken away by the reprinted comics of the fifties and sixties, with their primary colors seeming to pop off the page. It's not as realistic as it is in modern comics but it's got a certain appeal to me. Those old comics had a lot less color back then and they had to attract kids' attention. Modern comics aren't black and white but with so many colors and new shading techniques, it's easy for them to blur together on the rack of your local comic shop.     Changing the Narratives comics seem to have color with a very strict purpose that immediately gets my attention. There are some black and white comics of course, that look like they were drawn in sharpie. I like these ones too, it gives them a personal look. Like the artist drew this in their notebook between cla

  While COVID-19 appears to be slowing down in Portland, the weather is getting warmer and mask mandates are no longer enforced. We must remember the vulnerable communities that we live with in our city. Things are slowly “returning to normal” however “normal cannot be achieved without continuing our focus on vaccinating high risk groups and having precautions in place for them. The CDC has shown that houseless individuals are at higher risk. We as a community need to continue our efforts to get these individuals vaccinated as well as keep an eye out to see that they are receiving the care that is necessary. Ideas may include, providing community sanitation stations and clean water where there is a larger demographic of houseless individuals. This would alleviate some worries about unsanitary transmission. We as a community should continue our outreach and provide information on food access resources, physical distancing resources and medical resources to their vulnerable individuals

        I entered the Native American Student Community Center early afternoon. I don't visit often but I often recognize its roof whenever I'm getting food at Victor's Dining Hall or Chipoltle. I'll admit that I did step up to the quiet building with a little trepidation. The exhibit I was here to see was on a topic that like most people, I'd been guilty of looking away from. Homelessness isn't a happy subject, and here I was to see a gallery of comics created by Portland State Students who had at some point in their lives experienced homelessness. Was I about to walk into this lovely building all happy and cheery and walk out incredibly depressed?  I didn't know, but the following day I was scheduled to talk to Dr. Kacy McKinney, a professor of Community Development, Visual Artist, and Feminist Geographer (didn't know that last one so I know what rabbit hole I'm going down next), who was one of the lead researchers that helped make this exhibit. I

  Food insecurity is rampant across the US and that is no different in our beautiful city of Portland. A 2020 study showed that over 1 million Oregonians experience food insecurity. An estimated 13,953 houseless individuals experience food insecurity and there is actually a larger percentage of food insecurity in urban areas compared to rural areas. While there are resources available, many individuals who struggle with food scarcity may not know about them. Below are a few of my personal recommendations on resources that will help the hungry. https://portlandfoodproject.org/ https://urbangleaners.org/ https://feedthemass.org/ I have personally volunteered at feedthemass and I highly encourage others to do the same. My recommendation is especially so if you have any food preparation experience or have a passion or willingness to learn how to operate in a kitchen or prepare food. They are an incredible organization that provides workshops and educational opportunities and could always u

 " While rents are up as much as 23% from last year across the country according to  a new report from Rent.com , Oregon's figures are even worse.  Consider that the average rent rose to $1,600 in 2021 from about $1,000 a month, a 54% increase, according to the website." Everyone knows that the amount of people suffering a homeless situation in America is exponential. There are many different variables that come into play. These can range from, unfortunate circumstances, bad decisions, substance abuse, mental health problems, etc. One that that it shouldn't be such a large effect is that rent prices rise at such staggering rates within a couple years, especially since minimum wage doesn't keep up. This doesn't come as much surprise though. Most of your average Americans have struggled with this for most of their lives; living paycheck to paycheck. The looming fear of losing your home is one that has been a constant for decades. It's no surprise then that w

image via isglobal.org  Multnomah County Services Multnomah County Harm Reduction Clinic 503-988-0577 12425 NE Glisan Street (in Menlo Park Plaza, behind Walgreens) Monday and Thursday, 11am - 7pm Services: wound care, syringe exchange, sexual health services, urgent care, Oregon Health Plan enrollment  image via kgw.com  Mobile Exchange (look for the white van) Tuesday and Friday, 7-9 pm, SE 82nd Ave and Ash St, one block off Burnside Wednesday, 3-5 pm, SE 190th Ave, between Division & Yamhill Streets   Services: syringe exchange  Multnomah County’s syringe exchange program provides: Safe disposal of used syringes Access to sterile syringes, new safer injection supplies, and new sharps containers Overdose rescue kits including  naloxone , a drug used to reverse opioid overdose Risk reduction counseling Safer sex supplies Wound and abscess care Referrals to medical and mental health care, shelter services, and alcohol and drug treatment. Syringe disposal at exchange sites i

Picture via Blanchet House's website Struggling with food insecurity?  Here are a few places to find a free meal in Portland The listed locations require no religious specifications, no income requirements, and no government issued ID or address. The list does not include any religiously affiliated kitchens. For a more complete map of meals and grocery services visit https://foodfinder.oregonfoodbank.org . Blanchet House of Hospitality Address: 310 NW Glisan Street The gist: Since 1952, Blanchett House has served meals to the hungry, and the tradition continues today. The kitchen serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner Monday through Saturday; meals have included everything from sandwiches to grilled chicken with marinated artichoke hearts Any restrictions? None Time frame: Breakfast from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and dinner from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Sisters of the Road Cafe Address: 133 NW Sixth Avenue The gist: Sisters of the Road is not the

  Photo from Pexels edited by Aliyah Akers COVID-19 not only has destroyed lives through the disease, but has also taken people's homes away from them. Though in the beginning of the pandemic, Portland was one of the cities that put in place laws to stop landlords from evicting people during these hard times that have but changed in the past year. In 2021, the statewide rental assistance program stopped taking new applications after all federal funds have been requested and committed to renters. With Oregon being a state that experiences higher rates of homelessness than many other states they should make sure evictions don’t happen during a crisis.  Near the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, a federal review found that 35 people are experiencing homelessness per 10,000. This leaves Oregon only behind three other states that have higher homelessness rates, New York ( 47 per 10,000), Hawaii (46 per 10,000) and California (41 per 10,000). Now as we reach a period of time when people

  Where to seek for help for homeless in Portland?   By Hai Nguyen       Homelessness is not a new topic neither calmed issue. Since pandemic has hit the whole world hard, homelessness becomes a biggest concern because it links to unemployment rate, economic fall and criminal activities. To solve the problem, everyone is seeking for a solution, but it should first comes with a resource to help homeless people to get out the issue and come back to healthier condition for themselves and communities.  Here is a list of homeless in Portland can find service and help: 1.  Calling 211 or visiting 211info.org : https://www.211info.org      This website is an easy access to social organizations which many programs such as health services, home shelters or foods. 2. Portland Rescue Mission: https://portlandrescuemission.org      "Giving hope. Restoring Life." is their slogan. PRM is a well known resource to help homeless people reconnect to the communities and assist to bring their li

  Houseless and Armed: How the Vulnerability of Houselessness Has Contributed to the Rise in  Gun Violence    Over the last two years, gun violence has been on the rise across the city of Portland. This is,  of course, a serious issue that must be addressed. However, it is important to note the impact that  this has on the rather large number of houseless individuals in our city.    It has been reported that there have been nearly a dozen fatal shooting in Portland over the last twelve that involved houseless individuals or have taken place near camps. Since this is a relatively new issue, there is no hard data.   The rise in the presence of firearms among the houseless is fairly new and is a result of the vulnerable arming themselves for protection. Those living on the streets are very vulnerable to violence, either from those within thier own community or those who see them as a bother. the rates of viloence committed toward houseless individuals are very high, so it's not surpri

Missing home: Immigrants and homelessness    It seems that upon arriving in the United States, I notice that most homeless individuals are native born Americans. Surely, there’s a population of homeless immigrants, right? I told myself. Upon reading Homelessness among immigrants in the United States: rates, correlates, and differences compared with native-born adults. I discovered that there’s no noteworthy difference between foreign-born adults and native-born adults (1.0% vs 1.7%). However, the study shows that native-born adults are more likely to be exposed to behavioral mental illnesses than foreign-born adults. Interestingly, the longer an immigrant stays in the United States, the more likely they are to be homeless.   “It can take an immigrant between 10 to 20 years to adjust to the culture and life in the United States.”   -         A Broken Dream: Homeless & immigrants    There are many obstacles that immigrants face. Access to shelters, barriers in language and culture an

Homelessness is one of the rising and current issues here in this country and it is affecting almost everyone across the country. Many of these individuals never wished to be homeless and sadly have either been dealt a bad hand in life or were unfortunately left behind by the people close to them. What these people need in most cases is a job or just any form of income that can help them get back into a home. Homeless individuals often are stuck when trying to get a job due to either a lack of clean water for hygiene, no main address where they can be reached, or that they did not finish high school and do not have a complete education. This last issue of education is actually a major issue with homeless people due to them being raised into homelessness with their parents (not by choice) and thus had to move around and miss out on early stages of education. Another thing is if they say ran away from home (due to abuse or other reasons) at a young age would also make it, so they miss

Is shelter really helpful to solve homelessness?   For people who really want to get rid of being homeless and who just stay being homeless for their own sake. We have heard homelessness and crimes link together since decades and when pandemic hit, it becomes the most common concern. The question is why there is so many homeless don't want to go to shelter and they avoid people helps.  The restriction of shelter could be one of the biggest factors that many homeless people want to avoid.  Also the mental disorder is one of the biggest issue that link to cause to become homeless and staying with no proper treatment to heal them.  https://palletshelter.com/blog/2020-5-20-why-the-homeless-dont-accept-shelter/

I moved to the park blocks in downtown Portland in September of 2019, in preparation for attending my first term at Portland State. I was only able to spend about six months in the city before COVID hit, forcing us into virtual environments and forcing me to move back home, but I explored the city plenty before then. Coming from Los Angeles, California, I am no stranger to alarmingly large homeless populations, especially in city centers. I am also no stranger to the use of hostile architecture for the purpose of barring the homeless from certain public spaces. However, downtown Portland really blew me away with its excessive commitment to implementing hostile architecture wherever physically possible. This is easily visually observable when roaming the city streets, but the weight of the situation grows when researching just how much money the city dedicates to blocking access to spaces for the homeless.  Hostile architecture can come in many forms, from a simple bar or metal arm rest