Vulnerable People and Places Blog

When you leave your home in the morning, you probably don’t think twice about the safety of your belongings. Important documents, clothing, medication, and personal items remain secure while you go to work, run errands, or attend appointments. For people experiencing homelessness, however, leaving their belongings unattended can mean losing everything. When you don’t have stable housing, every single item you own has to be carried, guarded, or hidden. Imagine trying to get to a job interview, a medical appointment, or a shelter intake meeting while hauling everything you own on your back. For many people living outside in Portland, this is a daily reality and one of the most overlooked barriers to rebuilding stability. Without secure storage, belongings are constantly at risk of theft, weather damage, or being discarded during city cleanups. Rain can ruin clothing, blankets, and sleeping gear. Theft can mean losing essential survival items. Even more devastating is the loss of critical...

     Source: IStock Finding Your Footing: Resources for the Unhoused PDX Population Written by Emma Ridle  Even though the United States is one of the richest and most powerful countries in the entire world, we are also one of the most flawed. One of the biggest examples of this is how we have one of the world's largest homeless populations while leaving thousands of homes empty. It doesn't help that we have an ever present fentantly crisis that makes it extremely hard to get access to resources. What makes it harder is the negative stigma that surrounds homeless people, with society treating them as if all of them are drug addicts who don't deserve our money or help. The sad reality is that a large majority of homeless people are people who have just fallen on hard times and are struggling to maintain a stable income/house. This is where rehab, hygiene centers, and housing aid come in.  With this article, I've compiled a variety of FREE public resources in the ...

Providing Free/Reduced Transportation  Transportation Those affected by homelessness may not have a reliable way to connect with local companies for job interviews, or they may not be able to travel to shelters or food banks. This is where Ride United comes into play, a program that has teamed up with Lyft in order to provide the homeless/low income population with free or reduced transportation options that allow for these individuals to make it to important appointments, interviews, and food banks.  Ride United operates with a three step protocol that allows for low income/homeless individuals to get to where they need to go.  These steps include: 1. Dial 211 for assistance 2. Check for available resources 3. A ride arrives Having a hotline that dials directly to Ride United allows for just about anybody to take advantage of this program. Once 211 is dialed, a receptionist will look through all available local transportation options to find the best fit. Once a solution...

Written by Eric Linderme   Hospitality. Hope. Integrity. Community. Authenticity. These are the core five ideas that make Portland's Blanchet House one of the city's most known non profit when fighting homelessness, hunger and many more.    Located in Portland's Old Town, Blanchet House started back in 1952 as a site for hospitality all thanks to the Catholic Worker Movement. While the organization is not entirely religious, they accept all to those in need of help of any troubles facing. The Blanchet House is homed to the basic ideologies and seeks core values in making a better Portland community. They understand that those struggling do not deserve to struggle anymore and in communities like the Black, Indigenous and POC communities, Blanchet House's mission is purely to help those effected to social justice issues and poverty/homeless issues.  If you or anyone is need of seeking help or simply want to volunteer, visit their website for more ...

For many of us, taking a shower or throwing clothes in the wash is so routine we barely think about it. But for thousands of people experiencing homelessness in Portland, staying clean can be a daily challenge with real consequences. Without reliable access to showers, laundry, or hygiene supplies, people face increased risks of illness, social stigma, and isolation. Something as simple as clean clothes or a hot shower can make the difference between feeling confident enough to attend a job interview or feeling invisible in public spaces. Access to hygiene is closely connected to dignity, health, and opportunity. Clean clothing and personal hygiene often affect how people are perceived in workplaces, healthcare settings, and everyday interactions. Yet many individuals experiencing homelessness face barriers such as limited public restrooms, lack of transportation, and the cost of services that many people take for granted. These challenges make basic self-care difficult even for people...

 Cohousing and Eco Villages:  A better way to living Shared living is an underrated solution to many problems we face as a population in the United States. The homelessness epidemic has only been getting worse over the years, especially close to home in Portland, Oregon. Homelessness is driven by many factors such as lack of affordable housing, poverty, unemployment, low wages, addictions, or mental illness. Many people who are homeless, or even have a home, seek community. Community is a necessary trait to human existence, and without it life is lonely. According to many psychologists, there has been an exponential rise in loneliness. Cohousing offers many benefits, as followed:  Affordable living The cost of developing a cohousing community versus full size homes is much less. Small homes that are under 1,000 square feet can be built for as little as $200 a square foot by using renewable and recycled materials. There are even cohouse communities that are being built tod...

Reshaping The Narrative of The Homeless Population Media portrayal of homelessness plays a key role in the way that the general public views the ever growing issue. Across all forms of media, whether it be through social media platforms or on your favorite TV show, the homeless population is almost always portrayed as an individual sleeping on a park bench, grappling with mental illness and addiction, while the decisions of their past continue to lead them down a path that takes them further and further away from society. This perception of the homeless population greatly impacts the manners in which we attempt to deal with homelessness, often by targeting individual stories and ignoring systematic causes such as the lack of affordable housing and poor social assistance programs which are the real culprits behind homelessness. Perception Because the homeless population is often portrayed as little more than mentally ill addicts, homeless individuals face real difficulty in finding comp...