Vulnerable People and Places Blog

 As members of the Portland community, we strive to serve when we can and think outside the box. All members of our community are meant to feel open and welcome, and our goal was to try and bridge that gap the best we can. In these efforts, we know we can't change the world overnight, but we can sure try. We have been posting flyers all over Oregon and downtown Portland. If you see one of them, that's a small mind change to help create a bigger one. With more and more access to resources, struggling people in our community can receive the support they need. As you can read on this blog, there are countless stories of political corruption, moral quandaries, systemic hatred among individuals, and environmental issues that make it hard for people out of our community to receive the care they need. We are focused on the houseless community, serving a large population. With these resources, we can help people who are on the line of houseless or are trying to bounce back. If you are ...

For some, the library is a faint childhood memory, having its introduction be our beautiful look into the world of literature for the first time. For many, though, that is the extent of what they know. Outside of fellow scholars or students studying for their degrees, there isn’t much use for public libraries in the public consciousness. However, a city's public liberty is not only the epicenter of learning but positivity and open arms to the community. The public library is the undervalued lifeblood of a city’s information ecosystem. It brings people closer to information and provides them with many extra resources they might not know about in a diverse and equitable sense. A library doesn't say no to its community. Figure 1: Inside the Multnomah Country Library.

For many, the response of Portland, Oregon’s Mayor Ted Wheeler, to the ever-growing houseless issue in Portland is too little too late. After being elected mayor in 2016 and reelected in 2020, it has taken more than a third of his time in office to propose a solution to provide affordable housing and authorized houseless camps in the city, according to  OPB . The belated response comes after years of criticism, public embarrassment, and harassment. Hank Sanders from the local news organization  Willamette Week   interviewed Wheeler about the details of these volatile encounters from angry constituents after receiving a public lashing for his lackluster actions in these crises.  Image Source: KGW8 Please take the time after reading to fill out this short survey! Thank you. https://forms.gle/MrsHML16woC5pkBW6 In defense of Wheeler, the houseless problem has been an issue worldwide before Wheeler’s time in office and has grown exponentially since the COVID-19 crisis. Ma...

Finding a permanent solution for those experiencing homelessness has always been an enormous challenge. The COVID-19 pandemic has made those efforts even more difficult. Traditional shelters are not ideal when it becomes necessary to maintain physical distance from others. Building new shelters to meet this need is very expensive and takes almost two years to complete. So, what to do? Welcome to Project Turnkey. This program, administered by the Oregon Community Foundation, was established last year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the wildfire’s that left many without homes. The program leverages federal and state funds to purchase motels and hotels in counties across Oregon to be used as emergency shelters and transitional housing.   “Project Turnkey reflects an enormous and collaborative statewide effort to quickly deploy an innovative solution for a complex set of challenges for communities facing increased houseless impacts,” said Max Williams, President and CEO of the...