By Joanne Zuhl, Staff Writer
They carpooled and packed into buses, wearing buttons in
solidarity and some paired in matching T-shirts. More than 150 of them, of all
ages, abilities and backgrounds, made the trip.
They came for Housing Opportunity Lobby Day, April 4, at the
State Capitol, where lawmakers paused to open their doors to people’s personal
testimony on the challenges they’ve faced.
They gathered early in Salem before heading out to talk with
lawmakers about what’s at stake in this legislative session, including funding
for emergency housing programs, foreclosure prevention, veterans’ housing and
access to housing for Section 8 recipients. It was one of the largest
coalitions the Alliance has sent to Salem, and together they met with more than
65 legislators to talk about housing issues
They included David Henderson, who will be 60 in June.
Henderson is a former human resources consultant for a large apparel company.
About two years ago, he lost his job and shortly thereafter become disabled. He
now has difficulty walking and speaking. He was unable to work, and without a
home. “I was living in places of last resort,” he said, and that included the
Portland Rescue Mission.
Through the help of Northwest Pilot Project, Transition
Projects and emergency housing funds, he was able to get out of the shelter and
into his own apartment.
“I want to see how our legislators are addressing the
problem of housing,” Henderson said. “I want to make sure our representatives
know how important it is to us.”
Ron Deason, 65, had a long career in construction work when
he had an accident in 2005. It left him unable to work in the field. He had
saved up a year’s worth of his salary for tough times and received a settlement
for his injury, but the money ran out while he waited for his Social Security
Insurance to arrive. In all, he waited three years.
“I went from hero to zero just from falling and getting
hurt,” he says.
He lost his home, and lived in his car for seven months. In
the woods where he parked his car, he saw generations of homelessness —
grandfathers, fathers and sons, he says. He caught pneumonia and ended up in
the hospital for seven days and $150,000. He had no insurance and no money. But
with assistance to tide him over, he’s back on his feet and in housing. He was
in Salem, he says, “because I don’t want anybody to go through what I went
through.”
Amal Ahmed wanted to tell her representative about how
important basic services were in keeping her family going after they emigrated
from Somalia in 1996 to escape violence. Her mother came here with three young
children to care for, and she soon became very ill. She was suffering from
seizures and acute depression stemming from past trauma, and the opportunity
for new work never arrived.
“If there was no system at that moment, no program
supporting people, no energy assistance or housing programs or medical
programs, my family wouldn’t be where we are now,” Ahmed says. Ahmed now works
for Human Solutions, which helps find and secure stable housing for other
families struggling to get by.
Pat came to support better access to housing for tenants
with Section 8 vouchers. She learned first hand how difficult it is to find a
landlord to lease to a Section 8 recipient. After 60 days, she was unable to
find an apartment to lease to her, and she lost the voucher. Pat’s friend,
Deborah Olson, came on the same issue, and handed to her lawmaker a recent newspaper’s
classified section with the “No Section 8” ads circled in red.
“Even if the ad didn’t say “No Section 8,” they told me so
when I was there,” Pat said.
There were many others with similar stories.
John Wood is unable to work because he has Parkinson’s
disease. He is both a resident and board member with Northwest Housing Alternatives, without which he says he would not have a place to live. Like many
others there that day, it was his first time in the State Capitol building.
“These are our people and we’ve got to take care of our
people,” Wood said, noting that the experience instills a greater sense of
ownership in the legislative process.
“You realize how important we are. This is extremely
important what we’re doing,” Wood said.
“Unless you do something yourself, nothing is going to get
done,” Deason said. “To stand on your feet and have some pride. When you lose
your pride, you’ve lost your fight.”
Deason had 15 minutes with his representative, Jules Bailey
(D-Portland).
“I’ve never been involved in something like this before,” he
said afterward. “It’s kind of nice going there and seeing someone who cares.
They look you right in the eyes.”
This article appears in 2013-04-12.