Will ever Oregon be considered safe again?

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By: Ian McMeekan

 Portland has been viewed as dangerous and unsafe for a long time because of the houseless population. In fact “Residents of the Portland metro area have once again said homelessness is a significant negative for the region, with 78% calling it a “very serious problem,” according to a new poll commissioned by The Oregonian/OregonLive.”reports Nicole Hayden of  The Oregonian. Yet this raises the question of what is being done about it and what programs are available to help with this problem. One such resource is a Program called Rent Well which was founded in 2009 and has educated the houseless population on how to be good tenants before pairing them with a landlord. Despite this, the Rent Well program has not gotten much funding as of late. This is a shame because, without the Rent Well program, this means that there is one less program to aid the houseless, and thus more houseless are on the street. Furthermore with more houseless on the street that means fewer people would like to live in or at least visit Portland with this being so the city’s population drops and it loses tourism all at the same time. Yet this can be changed because if more funding was given through a vote by the Legislators in the Oregon government Rent Well could get the support it desperately needs. And from this, the houseless would have a way to find a place to live other than the streets of Portland in the cold wet climate of the Pacific Northwest.

Furthermore, not only would the houseless get a warm place to call their own but the landlords would get business as well as the city as a whole. This is because the tourists would feel safer and the houseless would be off the streets. If all this was so more business would come to the city of Portland and the city could prosper once more. If you want to learn more about the Rent Well program and how it can help please click on this link for more information.







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