Vulnerable People and Places Blog

Study finds that home villages are working better than group shelters and are helping citizens secure permanent housing. "The village model is also faster to build and more attractive to occupants, as it offers greater privacy. Villages have the lowest initial capital cost per unit, if the land on which they stand is provided for free, the study found. But over the long term, they may be more expensive than motel or congregate shelters if the tiny homes must be replaced due to wear and tear, it said. And operating costs are higher for villages than congregate shelters despite similar staffing levels." Want to find out more about the study? Check out this link! Tiny home villages more effective than group shelters at getting formerly homeless people permanently housed, study finds Attention: The Portland State University senior capstone for multimedia would love to hear from you. If you have the time, please click here to fill out a survey about ...

It's 7am, and most of us are hitting snooze or brewing our first cup of coffee, but not for the homeless community in Clarkston, Washington. John Parke, known as "Cowboy," gets up at the crack of dawn not to wake up to an automatic cup of Keurig coffee but to pack his entire home before the local authority writes him up another ticket for sleeping in.  Cowboy on the move Many cities across the United States are finding ways to either support or ban the homeless population growing across the country. Some counties are creating permanent supportive housing while other counties are banning encampments, an out-of-sight, out-of-mind solution that, for some odd reason won't cause the issue to disappear.  When rural counties aren't taking responsibility for their community but instead pushing the problem for others to fix, it isn't creating a solution but creating an ever-growing snowball. When Lewingston County in Idaho banned camping in 2022, the homeless community...

It's 2024 you would think we've figured it out. If you live in Portland, you can testify that the houseless situation has become more apparent, but what about Oregon as a state? Oregon hit a record high in homelessness; what does this mean for our future or even the present? Check out the link below to see how it's dated since 2007.  Homelessness in Oregon hits record high in 2023