The Housing Crisis in Portland, OR

Homelessness has been a huge problem in the United States of America for quite some time now. It seems that no matter what people do, it only seems to worsen. Approximately 53% of houseless veterans have disabilities. In addition, more than half of the houseless veteran population in the United States has a mental disability. It is very sad that these veterans with disabilities have had to resort to living on the streets because they don’t have any other options. Many are without families, jobs, support systems, and friends to go to.

There are many barriers that people with disabilities may come face to face with, such as not being able to find a job or earn any money simply because of the fact that they are houseless and have a disability. This makes it hard for them to land jobs. Society as well can prevent them from escaping houselessness, because of the opinions and thoughts that many people have towards disabled houseless people. That they may have addiction problems, or even the fact that they could be dangerous to the community. This way of thinking makes it harder for them to fit into society, because they would feel judged, and because they would not have any role models or family to go to for help/guidance. They may even have a hard time making decisions for themselves and choosing the right thing to do, since many homeless people come from bad households, and a place of childhood trauma where they weren't taught good morals or what is right vs wrong.

Since this has been an ongoing issue for multiple decades, someone must have tried to do something about it, right?

An example is Home Forward, a housing program in Gresham, OR, where houseless people can go to stay, and try paying cheaper rent to live there. Created in 1941 made by the Portland City Council after the United States entered World War II, with nearby shipbuilding factories gearing up for the war effort, Portland needed safe and affordable housing for the people streaming into the region for work. In two years the agency created housing for 72,000 people: workers in the shipyards and foundries. Today, their mission is to assure that the people of the houseless community are sheltered. Home Forward has a special responsibility to those who encounter barriers to housing because of income, disability or special need. They promote, operate, and develop affordable housing that engenders stability, self-sufficiency, self-respect and pride that represents a long-term community asset.

However, Home Forward claims to provide ‘affordable’ apartments for the houseless in Portland, and to ‘make sure the community is sheltered’, but rent is due every month and jobs are not provided to them. They do background checks, check their income wages, require landlord references, check their property debt, and criminal history. Most houseless people do not have these things, given they’ve been on the streets and jobless, with no family’s to take care of them. This is the problem, there are so many houseless and disabled people on the streets with nowhere to go, even for shelter, because they would be denied into these housing facilities that claim to “believe that everyone deserves a roof over their head, and that everyone is capable of improving their lives, regardless of their current situation.” Many of their current situations are not good, given the circumstances that they are in with having no money, no job, and nowhere to turn to. Home Forward claims that regardless, the houseless can improve their lives and get an apartment with them, even though they would have to go through a variety of things in order to be approved to live there.

There are very few places in Portland, OR that actually allow the houseless to stay the night for free. Most of them (with very few as an exception) charge some kind of fee to stay there, which just ends up putting them back onto the street. When it comes down to the houseless who have disabilities, it’s very hard for them to be able to find a place to stay, even for the night. If we could find a way to put more money towards homes that could shelter people who need it most without charging them, or requiring background checks, that would be the ideal solution. Almost all of these places have rules, regulations, and costs/fees that many houseless disabled people can’t afford, let alone pay rent and have the proper necessities to get a job. The systems they have for houseless disabled people that are currently available do not meet the needs they deserve to have. The only way to fix this is if the government took the time to focus on the houselesses needs, and put some money towards overnight shelters to get them off of sleeping on the streets. Below I have attached some links where you can donate to charities that go straight to getting people off of the streets, and are proven to have worked for many houseless people. The government is not focusing on the houseless community as a serious issue in America, they need free housing, and free shelters that they would be able to go to for the night without being charged and asked for paperwork. The only other thing to be done is for people to donate towards true causes that are proven to support, and get houseless people off the streets. Check out the links below, and spread the word on what the government should be doing for the poor houseless people in this beautiful community.