Housing
Portland Street Response: Join the campaign
Endorse our plan for a new system of first responders – teams of firefighter-EMTs and peer support specialists with training in de-escalation who can respond with compassion to 911 calls about people struggling with homelessness and behavioral health crises. LEARN MORE AT PORTLANDSTREETRESPONSE.ORG ▩ ACT 1. Read our plan (Click or tap the image to download a PDF of our…
Portland Street Response: A Street Roots special report
Costly police resources are dispatched again and again to handle low-priority calls for service involving people experiencing homelessness and behavioral health issues. In this special report, Street Roots explores how these issues are being responded to currently, as well as how we can build a better system. ▩ THE NEED FOR A BETTER STREET…
The need for a better first response on Portland streets
Portland knows it has a problem: Every day, costly police resources are dispatched again and again to handle low-priority calls for service involving people experiencing homelessness and behavioral health issues on Portland’s streets. One Neighborhood Response Team officer reported spending 90 percent of a typical day responding to citizen reports of homelessness in a survey…
If not 911, this is who responds to Portland street homelessness
These are the teams called upon to solve public safety concerns and medical issues that arise among people experiencing homelessness in Portland. These teams often respond to the types of situations that many Portlanders are over-utilizing 911 and the police non-emergency number to report. (Click or tap the image to download a PDF of this…
Portland Street Response: A blueprint for a better system
With input from various public officials and agencies, as well as from Street Roots’ position as an organization that works with people experiencing homelessness, we’ve imagined a street response team that would alleviate the drain on police resources and serve as an appropriate and compassionate response to street homelessness. This service would begin small and…
A better system for street response: Where do we go from here?
Of the programs described in this special report, only one has indicated interest in taking on the task of becoming a street response team similar to Eugene’s CAHOOTS program: Portland Fire & Rescue’s CHAT (Community Health Assessment Team). Firefighter Tremaine Clayton, CHAT’s manager and sole staff person, is familiar with CAHOOTS and the nonprofit health…
Portland needs big action on street response – now
Just under three hours south by train and I was in Eugene, there to witness their mobile crisis support program, CAHOOTS. I wasn’t the only one to do this. In the past couple of months, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, Police Chief Danielle Outlaw and Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty’s staff have all come to Eugene to…
Portland spends millions responding to homelessness, researchers find
A year ago, two Master of Social Work students at Portland State University set out to answer a question: How much does the city of Portland actually spend on homelessness? The answer was – and remains – elusive. While there are budgeted figures for agencies specifically charged to provide homeless-related services – shelter, housing and…
Opinion
Portland Street Response: Join the campaign
Endorse our plan for a new system of first responders – teams of firefighter-EMTs and peer support specialists with training in de-escalation who can respond with compassion to 911 calls about people struggling with homelessness and behavioral health crises. LEARN MORE AT PORTLANDSTREETRESPONSE.ORG ▩ ACT 1. Read our plan (Click or tap the image to download a PDF of our…
Portland needs big action on street response – now
Just under three hours south by train and I was in Eugene, there to witness their mobile crisis support program, CAHOOTS. I wasn’t the only one to do this. In the past couple of months, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, Police Chief Danielle Outlaw and Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty’s staff have all come to Eugene to…
News
Portland Street Response: A Street Roots special report
Costly police resources are dispatched again and again to handle low-priority calls for service involving people experiencing homelessness and behavioral health issues. In this special report, Street Roots explores how these issues are being responded to currently, as well as how we can build a better system. ▩ THE NEED FOR A BETTER STREET…
New Portland curriculum helps students identify sex trafficking, exploitive relationships
Many youths caught up in the deceptive world of sex trafficking might not even realize it, said Emmy Ritter, executive director of Raphael House, which serves survivors of domestic and sexual violence. “It’s more subtle than a pimp picking them off the street,” Ritter said. “A boyfriend might begin to ask his partner to have…
Group busts myths, builds relationships with young sex-trafficking victims
Social service professionals who work with sex-trafficking survivors in Multnomah County will tell you there are a lot of myths and misconceptions surrounding the commercial sexual exploitation of youths and young adults. “The major media message has been this happens to young white girls who get kidnapped and put in a creepy van to be…
Portland City Council votes for FCC action on 5G research
The Portland City Council has voted unanimously on a resolution demanding the Federal Communications Commission update its research on the health and environmental impacts of 5G radio frequency wireless emissions. It also calls on the FCC to make the results of that research publicly available. The resolution, which the council passed Wednesday, March 13, notes…
Vendor Profiles
Street Roots vendor profile: I can make a difference
The other day, Luca had a cool moment with a Street Roots customer. “The reason why I’m doing this interview is because I met someone who read my poetry in the paper,” said Luca. “She said it helped make her happier and see things in a different light. “Ever since then, I realized that I…
