More Than a Meal: How a Small Act of Support can Strengthen Portland

 A Community That Cares: When people think or discuss the topic of homelessness, they often focus on the mainstream problems such as lack of housing, economic challenges, and governmental/policy problems. While all of these can be a factor in affecting homelessness, they often make the problem seem like it’s systemic and we can’t make a change or difference to help the homeless. Although many people don't understand how they can help these people, a large part of it comes down to how the community raises awareness and supports the problem and people.  

In a city like Portland, community involvement has always been a key factor in the way the city structures itself and  peoples daily lifestyle. Local businesses, organizations, volunteers, and small acts of kindness, can make the difference and be meaningful to people with various situations, specifically those experiencing homelessness. For homeless people, access to basic necessities such as food, water, safe places, and support from the community can provide a sense of relief, happiness, and dignity. It is so important to realize the role that Portland's community can play in supporting the homeless. This can be a step towards a more compassionate and supportive environment for all the cities residents homeless or not. 

Meeting Basic Needs: For the homeless they struggle to get the necessities, so something as simple as a nice warm meal can mean the world to them. Not only can it help them emotionally but physically as well. For them food is hard to come by so by being provided a nice warm meal it can signify stability, care, and support. There are various organization and community kitchens located within Portland where they help to provide meals and other essential resources to those unhoused. It is programs like these that help support the unhoused and can provide a safe space and a feeling of comfort. One small step can help to lead to bigger changes! Something as simple as providing a meal or basic necessities can seem like something so small but it could mean the world to these people and help to build a better community and future!

Role of Community Support: The city of Portland has various strengths, but its main strength is the community's involvement. The people within the city actually care, which makes the city unique. Within the city local organizations have to rely on volunteers, donations, and public awareness for the organization to be able to function and obtain their goal properly. When people decided to help and part take in volunteering it only makes these organizations stronger and helps the target audience more. An example of common organizations helping the unhoused are called transition projects. These organizations aim to provide shelter, essentials, and support to those unhoused. These types of programs are focused on helping people to move guests by giving them the essentials in hopes to get them back on their feet. These organizations are fantastic but can only function through the support of the community through resources and volunteering. This is why community engagement matters!

Small Steps Toward Change: Homelessness is a complex issue with no simple fix, but we can drastically help the problem with small actions that can lead to big changes. Educating and learning more about the issue can bring more light onto it and help engage them community in helping to support the ongoing change to fix the problem. If you are interested in helping the city you live in you can read this to learn more about homelessness which in result might be very eye opening to the issue. : https://endhomelessness.org/overview/

To be able to directly help the problem you can support: https://blanchethouse.org/donate/

Sometimes helping others can start off with something as simple as educating yourself or familiarizing yourself with a problem. This can then help to spread awareness and support for programs or organization's that can, and do make change for the betterment of the unhoused community. When people come together they can do powerful things, imagine what the community of Portland can do! They can help better peoples lives for the benefit of not only the unhoused but the city as-well. One small step can lead to a big change! Let’s start today!