Vulnerable People and Places Blog

     Homelessness puts women in adverse situations where they lack safety. When a woman is pregnant and facing homelessness, she experiences even further risks and challenges. In Oregon, there are options and services available to women for pre/post-natal care, but there still isn't enough. Further, for the services that are available, the issue of providing continued, stable support throughout one's pregnancy remains perhaps one of the greatest barriers. If you or I were facing homelessness and were worried about our basic necessities like finding a place to sleep, and accessing food and water, I don't think that transportation to and from set appointments would be at the top of our priority list. It is virtually impossible to ask such a task of an expecting mother facing homelessness when it means abandoning her needs and adding on an entirely new point of stress.      In Oregon, organizations like Oregon MothersCare help mothers access low-cost and free ...

  Renaudah via FreeImages The bill HB 3501, which was proposed earlier this year, would guarantee the rights of homeless people living in tents, vehicles, or other temporary shelters to inhabit public spaces, including abandoned buildings or parking lots, parks, and other areas that are not privately owned.  This bill's purpose was to reallocate funds from law enforcement homeless sweeps to programs that would help rehouse homeless people or provide emergency shelter.   The bill would be a step in the right as law enforcement sweeps in Portland forcibly remove and relocate homeless people and often strip them of their possessions and leave them without any shelter.  These homeless sweeps are known to be traumatizing for those already disenfranchised and vulnerable.  And with the increase in homeless sweeps in there is no increase in temporary shelters to compensate for the confiscation of tents and tarp shelters.  It can take years of waiting for hom...

       Often when people are going through early recovery, they find themselves with a lot of free time and no longer having the ability to see the friends that they used to have. They may choose to go to many recovery meetings, but this does not completely move their mind away from the life that they previously lived. Moving your body and getting back into shape surrounded by people who respect your recovery acts as a great support system. Without having to worry about the cost, you can increase the rate of your recovery by healing your mind, body, and spirit.  The Recovery Gym: 931 SE 6th Ave Portland, OR 97214   (971) 302-6630 FREE MEMBERSHIP FOR ANYONE IN RECOVERY Classes M-F 6am- 7pm Unlimited class passes! Call for Personal Mentor Support, Resource Referrals,  and Pro-social events! email:  info@therecoverygym.org website:  therecoverygym.org

Photo Credit: Ana Ramirez Homelessness in America is an extremely complex issue that has no end all be all solution, instead there are many small ways that you can help those in need and be a part of the solution. One of the best ways to help is by spreading awareness of the issues that homeless people currently face. However, before you can achieve this you must first understand their situation. The perception people have for the homeless is often negative. The standard assumption most people have is that those who are homeless are in that position because of their own poor choices or out of sheer laziness, which is often not the case. What people need to understand is that there are a number of different reasons why people become homeless, many of which are out of their control. For instance, addiction and mental health issues are a huge problem for many of the people currently homeless. Because of their conditions they are often unable to seek out employment, let alone maintain empl...

Significant psychological effects on homeless individuals can occur when faced with numerous challenges and stressors associated with their living conditions and the experience of homelessness itself. The constant uncertainty, lack of stability, and exposure to adverse conditions can contribute to developing or exacerbating depression and anxiety disorders. Homelessness can be a traumatic and stressful experience, exposing those individuals to dangerous situations that can lead to the development of PTSD. This mental health condition can cause flashbacks, nightmares, and anxiety attacks. Living on the streets or in unstable housing conditions can expose individuals to chronic stress, sleep deprivation, malnutrition, and inadequate healthcare. These factors can contribute to cognitive impairments, including attention, memory, decision-making, and problem-solving difficulties. These effects on a person experiencing homelessness can inhibit their ability to find a solution for their livin...

photo by: Nathan Howard/NPR Due to global warming, temperatures have been rising all over the world, creating prolonged droughts and intense heat waves; the Pacific Northwest getting the brunt of the heat wave, Portland specifically experiencing temperatures in the triple digits for three consecutive days in June 2021. These conditions can be deadly for the homeless population, or for those who are inadequately housed, as without appropriate shelter, most suffer physical hardship as a result of dehydration or heat exhaustion.  Around the country, heat contributes to some 1,500 deaths annually, and advocates estimate about half of those people are homeless. In Portland, 54 deaths of the homeless have been confirmed to be related to the June 2021 heatwave, in which June 26th, 27th, and 28th brought temperatures up to 108 degrees (42.2 Celsius), 112 degrees (44.4 Celsius), and 116 degrees (46.7 Celsius) respectively.  For the Portland homeless community, living on the streets pai...

 photo credit: Spencer Platt/Getty If you are a commuter on the Portland TriMet or have driven around downtown Portland an immediate observation is the number of houseless people around the city. Adding to the abundant amount of discourse, I think a positive aspect of the houseless population is the amount of recycling that happens because of them. Many grocery stores have a bottle drop service. The line for the bottle drop service is quite long during rush hour and when you are in line it is easy to get to know one another. I find that many people who use the bottle drop service are usually houseless or are looking to make some extra cash. Talking with many "Canners" I see the essential role that they have as major contributors to recycling. In 19721, Oregon was the first to adopt the Bottle Bill and in 2009 Oregon recycled more than one billion beverage containers which if each bottle was to be deposited, though it wasn't, it could be estimated to be 100 million dollars...