While Occupy Portland simmers in front of the Justice Center in Southwest Portland, a smaller, quieter residential occupation organized by Right to Survive and Right to Dream Too has set up on a vacant lot on the corner of NW Fourth Avenue and Burnside. The group has a one-year, donated lease on the lot and plans to use it as a safe space for people to sleep. Street Roots asked the individuals in that space: What personally drew you to be here today?
“I’ve been homeless for the past three weeks, and I kind of stumbled across this and inquired what was going on here. I thought what a great, wonderful idea for this area that they opened it up for the homeless. I’m going to access the facilities here, the resources they have available here, which I think is a wonderful spot, very conveniently located, just a great idea.”
— M.J.
“We see it as being something positive and coming off of the street and someplace safe, structured a little bit and getting away from under the bridge and businesses doorways and stuff like that.”
— Josh Watson
“Because Portland has found it fit to make it a safe environment and a drug-free environment for us to lay our heads down instead of running the streets, and I think it’s appropriate for this place to be here to create a safe environment… A lot of times you don’t want to be running the streets and when you’re trying to kick using or something, you only continue that vicious circle because there’s nowhere to go and rest your head. If you had a place to go rest your head, you wouldn’t have to go running around. And this place is perfect because sometimes you just want to go lay down. I’ve been plenty of times where I don’t want to use and I just walk around and I’m tired and exhausted and in order to keep going I have to use to keep going because I have to stay alert. And this place I can just come here and lay down and get up and regroup in the morning.”
— Andrew
“Right now I am homeless and I need a place to actually go if I’m not in the Mission or something so I can rest and or find a sanctuary or somewhere that I won’t get kicked out by the cops or harassed or for just relaxing somewhere, there’s nowhere in Portland to be. Everywhere we go we seem to get pushed along. It’s very insecure to be homeless around here and a lot of us, we just don’t know where to go. We’re wandering around every 15 minutes having to move, and it makes for great insecurity”
— Adam
“I’m actually broke down, my car’s in the shop; upper remodel, upper-engine rebuild, it was $2,200 and I’m stranded here for about two weeks. This timing, this thing worked out perfect because we were sleeping on the streets and parks and we spent the last of the money on a couple motels and everything else was getting our car fixed.”
— Mike from Bennington, VT, who is moving to Seattle after the town flooded earlier this year.
“Nowhere else to go. ”
— Eric
Compiled by Cole Merkel