Ending up homeless is a tragic experience for anyone to have to go through. I’ve been homeless for a good part of the past 10 years. It’s not only discouraging, it can also be dangerous.
To be stranded on the streets among addicts, alcoholics and the mentally ill is quite a fearful place to be. Your very survival requires you to remain keenly aware at all times of everything going on around you.
Contrary to most people’s perceptions, all homeless people aren’t just drunks, spaces cases or dope fiends. Homeless people come from all walks of life. In fact, about a month ago, I met a guy who used to be a corrections officer at two federal penitentiaries for 14 years. He took a hit of crack cocaine and lost everything. I met him at an intake assessment appointment for substance abuse programs for veterans. He was sleeping on the streets, and was desperate for the assistance provided by the VA.
Others get divorced and can’t handle it. A death in one’s family can push them over the edge. Identity fraud nails thousands of people every year, for millions of dollars. Many people fall into unfortunate circumstances that destroy their lives and leave them broke, hungry and with nowhere to live.
In Portland, there are two unique shelter programs to help, one of which serves as a community service center. I’m referring to Transition Projects Inc. and the Clark Center. TPI’s Rodney Glisan Center is at Northwest Fifth and Glisan, and the Clark Center is under the east end of the Hawthorne Bridge. TPI has existed since 1969, and the Clark Center began operating in April 1998. Residents of TPI stay at the Glisan facility for four to six weeks, and then transfer to the Clark Center for an extended stay of two to four months.
At the Rodney Glisan Center, the community service center provides poor and homeless people with many types of assistance, such as food vouchers, clothing, bus tickets, identification, referrals to medical care and even a place to take showers during the week. It’s an essential agency — without it the problem of homelessness in the city would be magnified by at least 10 times.
The organization is in the process of constructing a new, low-income housing complex directly across from the Clark Center on MLK Jr. Boulevard. It’s scheduled for completion in mid-June.
The building will have 22 units for people who have completed both the Glisan and Clark Center programs and need a place to live until they can get back on their feet. The estimated cost of operating a single unit there will be about $335 a month, and there is no way that clients will be able to cover the entire cost on their own.
The staff behind the operation want to secure funds to supplement the rent that tenants can afford to pay and make it far less expensive. To do this, "hard hat" tours will be given to potential contributors even before the building is finished, beginning in mid-May and continuing until the facility is finished.
If you would like to arrange a time and date to view the building, please contact TPI’s Scott Brummitt at 503-823-4930, ext. 211, or Tony Bernal at 503-823-4930, ext. 205.
As I’ve said, TPI and the Clark Center are vitally important agencies when it comes to helping the poor and homeless people in Portland, and the support of the community is needed to allow this new housing facility to get off the ground. TPI is a nonprofit organization, and donations may be tax-deductible.
