Vulnerable People and Places Blog

Introduction: The role of landlords in the housing sector has evolved over time, reflecting changes in societal norms, economic factors, and legal regulations. Landlords have played a significant role throughout history, from feudal lords in medieval Europe to property owners in contemporary societies. In the past, they often wielded significant power over their tenants, setting rules and rents unilaterally (britannica.com). Today, with the invention of modern tenancy laws and regulations, the power dynamic has shifted in favor of renters, with tenants enjoying greater protection and rights. The modern landlord faces a myriad of responsibilities and challenges. They are tasked with maintaining properties, addressing tenant concerns, and adhering to legal regulations. With the rise of short-term rental platforms like Airbnb, some landlords have embraced the sharing economy, managing multiple properties and meeting the demands of transient guests. This shift toward more active property...

For some, the library is a faint childhood memory, having its introduction be our beautiful look into the world of literature for the first time. For many, though, that is the extent of what they know. Outside of fellow scholars or students studying for their degrees, there isn’t much use for public libraries in the public consciousness. However, a city's public liberty is not only the epicenter of learning but positivity and open arms to the community. The public library is the undervalued lifeblood of a city’s information ecosystem. It brings people closer to information and provides them with many extra resources they might not know about in a diverse and equitable sense. A library doesn't say no to its community. Figure 1: Inside the Multnomah Country Library.

For many, the response of Portland, Oregon’s Mayor Ted Wheeler, to the ever-growing houseless issue in Portland is too little too late. After being elected mayor in 2016 and reelected in 2020, it has taken more than a third of his time in office to propose a solution to provide affordable housing and authorized houseless camps in the city, according to  OPB . The belated response comes after years of criticism, public embarrassment, and harassment. Hank Sanders from the local news organization  Willamette Week   interviewed Wheeler about the details of these volatile encounters from angry constituents after receiving a public lashing for his lackluster actions in these crises.  Image Source: KGW8 Please take the time after reading to fill out this short survey! Thank you. https://forms.gle/MrsHML16woC5pkBW6 In defense of Wheeler, the houseless problem has been an issue worldwide before Wheeler’s time in office and has grown exponentially since the COVID-19 crisis. Ma...

Mexico, whose official name is  the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico. It is the 10th-most-populous country and has the most Spanish-speakers. In many ways, the Covid-19 pandemic only heightened the homeless crisis, which has been an ongoing issue for this Latin American country. In early 2020,  according to France24 , approximately 12 million Mexicans stopped working in April after quarantine measures were introduced by the government to curtail the spread of Covid-19. Unfortunately, this led to an estimated 2.8 million people to be out of work in June. According to Mexico's National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy, it was expected that the number of people living in poverty could climb to 62.2 million in 2020. Which i...

  Image courtesy of istockphoto.com   Monica* is a 61-year-old disabled woman working three jobs to make her ends meet. She makes roughly $2,500 a month, pays $1500 for rent, $300 for car, plus add in bills and food and it becomes impossible to save any money. Monica’s rent is going up, and she needs cheaper housing. She needs to drop two jobs because she physically cannot work that much, but if she does this, she will be homeless. Monica applied for several waitlists for federally funded housing, housing vouchers, section 8, section 42, and more. She isn't old enough for senior housing (age 62). She was denied every time for “making too much money” to meet income restrictions or “not enough money” to meet 3x rent for the apartments. She would literally need to be homeless to get help. And even then, some places require jobs, a specific monthly income, and base your income on last year’s tax return.   Post COVID-19 the housing voucher and housing assistance waist lists ha...

Finding a permanent solution for those experiencing homelessness has always been an enormous challenge. The COVID-19 pandemic has made those efforts even more difficult. Traditional shelters are not ideal when it becomes necessary to maintain physical distance from others. Building new shelters to meet this need is very expensive and takes almost two years to complete. So, what to do? Welcome to Project Turnkey. This program, administered by the Oregon Community Foundation, was established last year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the wildfire’s that left many without homes. The program leverages federal and state funds to purchase motels and hotels in counties across Oregon to be used as emergency shelters and transitional housing.   “Project Turnkey reflects an enormous and collaborative statewide effort to quickly deploy an innovative solution for a complex set of challenges for communities facing increased houseless impacts,” said Max Williams, President and CEO of the...