Recently I became acquainted with one of Portland’s dedicated public school teachers. Carol Kaufman has been teaching blind and deaf children in the public schools of Portland since 1975. Prior to that she taught deaf children in Indiana for eight years. I asked her if she had much awareness of the homeless children we have here in our city.
We got together for a cup of tea and she brought some information regarding Portland Schools report on the homeless student count. Briefly, the report she had said the school district reported 1,411 students were homeless during some period last year, compared to 1,620 in the 2004-2005 count.
That’s three percent of PPS students. Of the homeless students, 39 percent said they were living in a shelter, 60 percent were sharing housing with extended family or friends, and 1 percent were staying in motels.
According to the report, some students are identified as they enroll, others are referred by social workers, receive help through service centers on the Marshall and Roosevelt high school campuses, or are identified through outreach workers’ efforts. In the 2005-2006 school year, Project Return lost several staff as the school district shifted federal Title 1 funding. Because of the budget cuts, fewer students may have received services. In the fall of 2006, Project Return added back some staffing, and opened new resource centers in Jefferson and Madison high schools, which is likely to increase the number of students served in 2006-2007.
To assist homeless students and families, Project Return operates resource centers that offer the services to K-12 students and families, including credit recovery for students seeking to graduate, school supplies, food pantries, washers and dryers, and access to computers, phones and community resources.
More than 10 percent of all homeless students reported statewide are enrolled in Portland Public Schools. Throughout Oregon, the Department of Education said that 13,159 of the states’ 559,224 students (2.4 percent) were homeless.
Homelessness is an issue that hits close to home for Carol.
"I’ve had friends who could have been put on the street had it not been for my basement where they could stay until they found jobs," Carol said. "A man and wife from my Bible study group had no place to go when the group home had to make changes. Another friend, was suddenly left homeless and out of work when the apartments he managed were sold. The rent on his business was raised, and the IRS wiped out his bank account. My basement sheltered a teacher’s assistant for a summer until school started again. He had salary for nine months, then had to face three months on nothing. I’ve had family members who could have been homeless take refuge in my basement."
I nodded my head with each story. Carol has had personal and direct contact with folks who were working and never expected to be homeless. So many working people are "on the edge" of homelessness, and keep struggling a day at a time, hoping things will get better instead of worse.
"That’s true," Carol agreed. "I think there are a lot of people who are close to being without help. The older people get, the harder it is to read small print and instructions one gets regarding health care, employment opportunities, etc. My wish is that people could be helped to keep off the streets. Once they are put on the streets, one can watch as they go downhill because they cannot keep themselves up (dress, health, education, etc.) and they soon become depressed and feel guilty about not taking care of their family, and soon develop other health problems which may not be covered by a health care program."
I asked Carol to share a story of one of the many folks she’s known and their experience with homelessness.
"I’m not so naïve that I think I can assume all the homeless folks are safe. However, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet a lady who was smart enough to put herself in a location that allowed her to keep sheltered. She found a male homeless friend that provided some safety. She did some housework for people in the neighborhood and some of us were able to get her into housing over the winter. When summer came, I again saw her with a sign for help. The housing situation (due to lack of money) had run out and she didn’t have a job. She had been to Central City Concern but all she got there was to be urinated on by another homeless person who probably had a mental problem. She was embarrassed that our help didn’t get her off the street. She tried to hide, but a friend and I found her and assured her she didn’t have to hide from us.
"We found out that she had glaucoma and got her into a vision evaluation. She qualified for services from the Commission For the Blind and SSDI. It’s unfortunate that she lost her vision but it provided a way to get her off the streets."
I had to notice what a sad comment it is on the system, that her situation wasn’t "bad enough" until she lost her vision. Many funds are very specifically targeted.
Finally I asked Carol if she had any closing comments she’d like to make to our Street Roots readers.
"Like keeping the sidewalks scooped off or you can get sued. Who cares about the elderly who can’t do it? Well, I could get carried away about all the injustices I see and some of the stupidity of regulations, but I’d better quit! One thing I’d like to say to the people out holding signs. It’s really not smart to be holding a hungry sign and smoking a cigarette. We all have to do more than hold signs. We have to remember, "I am my brother’s keeper."
I thanked Carol for sharing and look forward to hearing more from her.
