I live, work and grew up in Portland, Oregon, and a recent letter to the editor immediately rang as untrue to my city (“It’s time to follow the other Portland on homelessness,” Aug. 16).
There is no open campsite in Portland, Oregon, that provides toilets and dumpsters. On the contrary, a law was recently introduced that makes any type of temporary shelter illegal on public property. This covers anything from tents, to a blanket to lie on in a park. We do have tiny home communities called “safe rest villages.”
Since their implementation, these villages have been criticized across the political spectrum. To our homeless population, they are unsafe and inaccessible. People are often turned away for having children, pets, drug addiction or just too many belongings to fit inside the cramped buildings. Residents complain of theft and assault, both from other residents and staff. For those with faith remaining in this model, they are poorly managed, understaffed and dangerous. Many neighbors of these communities complain of the same dangerous and unhygienic conditions described in the letter.
At best, I’ve heard these places described as somewhere to put homeless people to hide the problem without creating solutions. At worst, I’ve heard them called modern concentration camps. Regardless, this is not the time to follow Portland, Oregon. It is time to get people into homes.
Sammus Prehn
Portland, Ore.
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