Vulnerable People and Places Blog

Your old vehicle is worth more than you think! How ‘Drive Away Hunger’ can turn your car into meals, shelter, and vocational training for the disadvantaged. Since 1949 Portland Rescue Mission has been helping people struggling with hunger, homelessness, and addiction take steps towards recovery. Too often individuals facing job insecurity and housing instability are neglected and undervalued for the intrinsic value and capability they possess. WIth programs such as ‘Drive Away Hunger’, Portland Rescue Mission helps rehabilitate individuals facing systemic failure through direct vocational training, while providing regular meals and shelter. About 81% of  participants in restoration programs by Portland Rescue Mission remain free from addictions and in housing up to four years after program graduation. Each Portland Rescue Mission program meets people where they are at. Drive Away Hunger is no exception. Drive Away Hunger is a car donation and sales nonprofit dedicated to changing l...

In the back of everyone's mind sits the question, what is my potential? What is my purpose? Whether you are a successful person in the eyes of society or someone who has not accomplished much during their time here, this question is always there.  Abraham Maslow was an early psychologist who developed the concept that people are motivated by a hierarchy or needs. Maslow believed that human needs must be met in a certain sequence in order to obtain self fulfillment. These needs go as ordered: 1. Physiological Needs: Food, water, shelter, sleep. 2. Safety Needs: Security, stability, health. 3. Belongingness and Love: Friendship, intimacy, family. 4. Esteem Needs: Confidence, achievement, respect. 5. Self-Actualization: Achieving one’s full potential and personal growth As Maslow shows in this chronological list of human needs, physiological needs sit at the bottom of the pyramid. This lowest level of the pyramid is the absolute basic needs of humans, including food, water, shelter, a...

Skills and Potential of an Overlooked Community: Portland, a city located in Oregon, is often described as a city of progression, creativity, and innovation. The city houses various types of businesses ranging from large corporations to small family or single owned businesses. The people of the city love to support any type of local businesses or ideas. Overall, the community within the city value their self-expression and socially conscious agenda. Although these traits are valued by many, unfortunately they often leave out one group from their community, which is the unhoused or homeless population. The public often has discussions about homelessness and often debates why or how they ended up like this. These are all important discussions because they often discuss housing problems, systemic problems, or even drug use. While these possibilities may or can be true, we often forget our morality. These homeless are still human beings whom which we share the city with and are often look...

Low-Barrier Pathways into Entrepreneurship in Portland: Building Businesses From the Ground Up

  Cooking Up Community:  Local Culinary Program Opens Doors To All  The local PDX community offers an array of groups, organizations, and programs that unite and strengthen teams and personal skills. One area that often gets neglected due to oversight and lack of consideration is those among the unhoused population. Many individuals who have long histories of abilities, skills and interests that should be implemented and celebrated among the Portland community are cast aside. There are seldom groups offering opportunities for growth and expansion for these individuals. However, new organizations have begun helping those in economic or social injustices by offering trade skills and employment opportunities. One such organization is Stone Soup PDX.   Opening its facility in 2019, Stone Soup PDX is a local non-profit culinary training program specializing and equipping individuals with culinary job skills through hands-on experience. They offer this experience at t...

  The simple and invigorating dignity of being able to take a nice, hot shower is something many take for granted, not realizing having access to clean running water for a shower can be both a boon and a godsend. For Portland’s unhoused community, access to a hot shower can mean the difference between being able to interview with a potential employer or not, which further separates our unhoused neighbors from the ability to obtain stability and security with a consistent income. Research shows that limited hygiene access is one of the biggest barriers to both employment as well as housing opportunities. It also reduces a person’s confidence and dignity, as others in the community can look down upon someone who appears dirty or might smell unwashed, which creates a bigger uphill climb against potential bias. In Multnomah County, many of the shelters and day centers are often at capacity and place those seeking better hygiene and shelter on a long waitlist. Studies have also been con...

How to be a Good Neighbor (and Stay Alive) while Camping in the Urban-Wild Interface: Author: Anna M. Rodriguez   December 10th, 2025        The unfortunate truth is that people lose access to housing every day. Here in the United States, “more than half of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and one crisis away from homelessness,” according to this report by United States Interagency Council on Homelessness . With the many factors that contribute to the [lack of] housing crisis, long-term systemic changes to the housing industry must occur. However, for the 771,480 people who experienced houselessness in the United States on a given night in 2024 , according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development , long-term solutions do not help them to cope with their immediate situation.       It is estimated by the Homeless Mortality Data Workgroup that up to 46,000 houseless people die in the United States every year. The conditions of livi...