Vendor Profiles
Street Roots vendor profile | Experiencing hope and looking ahead
Jason Isbell recently submitted paperwork for a housing voucher program through Old Town Recovery Center. If accepted, he will begin receiving a monthly housing stipend, and he hopes to move into an apartment within a few weeks. “I’m starting to experience hope again for the first time in a long time,” he said. Right now,…
Opinion
Kaia Sand | People for Portland’s proposed ballot measure is wrongheaded
When the ambulance pulled up, Elizabeth Bodenstab nearly refused medical help. The Street Roots vendor who’d just had a seizure in front of our offices was willing to risk her well-being for housing. She was too concerned that she’d miss her housing appointment. “She didn’t want to get in the ambulance because she had a…
Housing
Despite increased capacity, still not enough shelter beds
Despite increasing capacity since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Multnomah County’s supply of publicly-supported shelter beds for people experiencing homelessness is insufficient to meet the need. The County says it has just 1,614 shelter rooms and beds, including congregate shelters, family and domestic violence shelters, motel rooms, and sleeping pods. There are at least…
Business owners asked for sweeps and got them
After weeks of failed attempts to get homeless Portlanders cleared from several streets downtown near Northwest Third Avenue to make way for a pending event, Daniel Klinkert sent a frustrated email to public officials demanding their removal. “We need a commitment that the tents will be moved well before the event to allow for the…
