Vulnerable People and Places Blog

Stable housing is the foundation of living safely, but for many people living across Oregon, the barriers to this stability include past evictions, credit challenges, or homelessness. That is where Rent Well comes in. Created in 2009 out of a coalition of housing advocates in the Portland metro area, Rent Well has grown into one of the premier sources of tenant education throughout the state. Through teaching key skills and providing actionable tools, Rent Well has equipped renters to overcome hurdles to obtain housing and build a pathway to stability. A Lifeline for Renters Facing Challenges Rent Well was designed for and taught to tenants who have been faced with several barriers to obtaining stable housing. This 15-hour course focuses on critical issues that will allow renters to learn their rights, to understand and negotiate complicated rental screening applications, and to effectively disclose issues in their past to their landlords. Due to a very valued partnership with Pacific

  In recent years, the cost of living has increased dramatically. For those renting an apartment or home, this means that the rental prices have only increased overtime, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. This steady increase in rental prices could mean the difference between having shelter, experiencing housing insecurity, or even experiencing homelessness. The homelessness crisis in Portland, Oregon has become a prevalent topic recently, and the increasing rental prices not only affects the general population, but also disproportionately affects the homeless population by raising the barrier for entry considerably. To understand how these increases in rental prices affect them, we need to visualize just how much impact these rent hikes have, and how they can impact their affordability for the average Portlander. Portland’s Increasing Rent Rent costs in Portland are expected to rise within the next year, potentially impacting those with low income and increasing th

Public space is defined as an area that is open and accessible to the general public. In Portland, places like the Waterfront, the International Test Rose Garden, and various parks and gardens breathe life into the city. These public spaces are intended for all people to meet, connect, and simply exist beside one another. So, what happens when the key component of accessibility begins to be stripped away and a public space becomes privatized? The term hostile architecture has been around for many years. Hostile architecture is defined by Cambridge Dictionary as a “design of public spaces in a way that stops unwanted behavior”. Examples of hostile architecture include; benches with dividers to prevent people from lying down, uncomfortable seating, fencing, etc. The design of this urban architecture limits accessibility for many people, creating an exclusive environment in public spaces. In reality, all this architecture is achieving is deterring the presence of unhoused people and movin

  Obstacles for renters exist all over the country, and here in Multnomah County is no different. Currently, we are facing astronomical rental increases while wages stay the same, or slightly increase. We are living in a time where the average income for individuals in Multnomah County is about half of the average cost of a 1 bedroom apartment. This requires individuals to find roommates, live at home for as long as possible, or end up homeless. Furthermore, our landlord tenant laws here in Multnomah County are more beneficial to landlords than tenants, and are hard to even understand in the first place. With the high costs of living and the low medium income, it's no wonder the average individual in Multnomah County cannot afford to rent on their own.  Another obstacle that is harming individuals in our county are the inequities that people of color face, as these individuals face a harder time making the same income and finding places to rent. The income gap between white people

    Losing your home is devastating, it can feel like your whole world has come crumbling down but, what’s more, you find yourself at risk of losing your job too. For many low-income workers, housing stability impacts their ability to stay employed. This post explores how losing stable housing can lead to job loss, making life even harder for vulnerable workers and making it more difficult to escape from poverty. A Harvard study, done by Matthew Desmond and Carl Gershenson “ Housing and Employment Insecurity among the Working Poor, ” highlights a link between housing insecurity and job loss. Their research reveals how forced moves, like evictions or foreclosures, can disrupt a person's life to the point where maintaining consistent employment becomes difficult. This connection between housing and employment stability creates a cycle that makes it even harder for low-income workers to achieve financial security and stability.  Life for many is a balancing act between job

Currently, there has been an overwhelmingly aggressive approach to remedy the increasingly concerning issue that homelessness has become. Encampment sweeps and other hostile tactics have been deeply favored time after time by political leaders despite these clearly creating more problems. Not only are these poor attempts at a solution dehumanizing, but they are not properly aiming at the major cause for homelessness, which evidently is our failing economy. The massive increase in housing, food, resources, and transportation without a proportionate increase in wages has created a deeply suffocating environment in which financial security alone is rare, let alone growth.  Although environmental and personal factors can increase an individual’s risk of homelessness, the overall driving force behind the nearly national rise of homelessness rates is the out of control increase in cost of living. Said cost of living can include factors such as rent to income ratios, price to income ratios, r

Safety in Homeless Shelters Although homeless shelters are a fantastic way to help people get off of the street, safety is a major concern to those in need. There are multiple variables when it comes to safety at homeless shelters that leads to people making the decision to stay on the street rather than in a shelter. Due to the inherrent nature of putting strangers in a dire situation together, violence can occur at these places. This is amplified with rooms that are shared among the people. Individual rooms with locking doors, give people a greater sense of safety as it protects them from violence and theft. Theft within shelters is also a safety concern as people are willing to do what ever it takes to get back off of their feet, to make a quick buck, or to have cloths on their back. Cleanliness is a topic that is rarely talked about within homeless shelters but is very important. Homeless shelters are can be dirty as most of the people who are living on the streets haven't b