In Portland, prisoners are cleaning up the camps of people who are being criminalized for sleeping outdoors. There's a better way.
Street Roots has advocated for years for the city to expand the Clean and Safe program, which gives people who formerly experienced homelessness job opportunities to help clean up the city.
There are many reasons people experiencing homelessness face the backlash of the public, none more so than the build-up of trash.
It’s my humble opinion that Portland liberals don’t so much see homeless people as inhumane, but they see large amounts of trash and homeless people, and they begin to think people are inhumane. Now, I’m not saying that’s fair; it just is.
By now, most Street Roots readers know the housing crisis has driven many of our neighbors and friends to living under bridges, in doorways and in city parks.
When the public witnesses people experience the trauma of poverty, it sometimes isn’t pretty.
The lack of privacy for people experiencing homelessness means the public is going to see all of the things we as humans get to experience in the privacy of our own homes.
The city of Portland and Multnomah County are starting to see the importance of beginning to invest more in alternative methods of helping clean camps and creating economic development opportunities to support people on the streets.
Partnerships have been created with Central City Concern’s Clean Start PDX program. The program is composed of three two-person crews that collect trash at homeless camps around the city outside of downtown.
FURTHER READING: People on, off the streets work together on universal problem: Garbage
Currently, Clean and Safe has 32 formerly homeless individuals working downtown to clean the streets on a daily basis.
Expanding the program is a win-win for our community. It’s giving more people the opportunity to gain an income to support their quality of life after getting into housing, and it helps keep homeless camps clean around the city.
If government agencies want to invest in something that works, they should be investing more in programs like Clean Start PDX program.
Unfortunately, many local government agencies continue to use Multnomah County jail work crews to clean up homeless camps.
A recent article in The Guardian by Willamette Week columnist Thacher Schmid highlights that county inmates clearing homeless camps and picking up trash receive $1 a day for their services.
That’s prison labor. Some might even call it slavery. Some call it rehabilitation. I call it utter insanity.
FURTHER READING: Inside Oregon’s prison workforce: Exploitation or opportunity?
Sure, I get that some inmates probably love being on a work crew that allows them to get outdoors. And in some strange universe, one might be able to argue that it’s rehabilitation.
It doesn’t change the fact that these inmates are cleaning up the camps of people who are being criminalized for sleeping outdoors. Again, it’s insanity. It’s wrong. It’s backwards. It’s outdated. It’s unacceptable.
In short, using inmate labor to clean up homeless camps should be stopped immediately.
An organization such as Central City Concern and other nonprofits that have the capacity to help create job opportunities for struggling Portlanders should be our highest priority.
I’ve asked the county for the budget of the work crew program, wondering how much money they get from other agencies to do these camp clean-ups versus how much money it takes to run the program. I mean, if you’re paying inmates $1 a day, it can’t cost that much money.
If I were a betting man, I’d wager all that I had on the nonprofit community being able to take those investments and create more opportunities for people on the streets, while also helping clean up both camps and the city.
Let’s find a way to solve some of Portland’s most pressing needs on the streets and give people a hand up. It’s not only the right thing to do; it’s the smart thing to do.
Israel Bayer is the executive director of Street Roots. You can reach him at israel@streetroots.org or follow him on Twitter @israelbayer.
