Opinion | Unhoused constituents have important experiences to inform policy
Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson and Commissioner Susheela Jayapal gathered for policy input from 14 constituents in a room crowded with backpacks, duffle bags, walkers, bundled tents and tarps. Many people experiencing homelessness have important contributions to make to civic dialogue, but they have to carry their homes with them in order to share those contributions.
It’s a commitment at Street Roots to overcome obstacles — people can’t lug their bundled homes into city and county buildings to testify at hearings — in order to connect policy makers to unhoused folks.
For weeks before the March 23 listening session with county commissioners, Street Roots vendor staff pulled aside folks to let them know about the upcoming listening session and see if they wanted to testify. Likewise, since unhoused people are often asked to volunteer while juggling their own survival — from waiting hours for a shower to contending with losing all their belongings in a camp sweep — Street Roots advocates that they are compensated for their time and expertise, as we made sure they were for this listening session.
On the day of the listening session, the Street Roots office was buzzing. Some vendors showed up hours ahead of time, others asked policy questions to clarify what was at stake, and a few were furiously typing up their testimonies as the time to gather neared.
Street Roots vendors didn’t take this time for granted, and their input came at an important moment.
One week prior, on March 16, Vega Pederson, Jayapal and the rest of the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners voted to pilot Housing Multnomah Now, committing $4 million to support 300 people to move directly from tents to housing. The pilot, funded by Metro Support Services dollars, can be expanded when Multnomah County sets its new budget this spring and it could get an additional boost should it qualify for funds from the $200 million homelessness and housing spending package the Oregon legislature passed and Gov. Tina Kotek signed into law March 29.
The on-the-ground expertise of the people who need housing is indispensable for making this pilot succeed.
Vega Pederson and Jayapal heard people address the importance of consistent outreach to connect people on the streets to housing. There were people in the room who had successfully been connected to housing through outreach; many others still camped, waiting. It’s challenging for outreach workers to connect people to housing when they lose track of them because the city swept their camp.
"It was a great experience,” Jeremiah Leggett, a Street Roots vendor, said of the listening session. “I've been telling people about it. It was encouraging to hear politicians were actually listening."
Many people testified to the barriers to housing. Housing applications are time consuming and difficult, especially for houseless folks who don’t have access to adequate support, said Nettie Johnson, vendor and Street Roots janitor. Vendor and local freelancer Bronwyn Carver discussed how many housing agencies use a scoring system for housing eligibility that excludes people who score just below the threshold, yet who still need the assistance.
The transition from the street into housing can be particularly difficult, as pointed out by vendor Johnny Rottin, who emphasized the need for more resources to aid this drastic shift.
A common theme that Street Roots vendors emphasized was connection. Without the support of peers, vendor Courtney Varner explained, “it's like pouring something into a bucket with holes. It’s just gonna fall back out.”
Connection helps support people maintain housing, and it helps people overcome other challenges, too.
“It would be nice to have more services to help connect us to other people,” Kae W., a vendor, said, adding “one of the best solutions for addiction is to connect with other people.”
As too many people die from overdoses, others addressed the urgency of overdose prevention sites, such as the safe injection sites run in Vancouver, British Columbia. Commissioner Jayapal pointed out that such programs operate in New York and San Francisco, too.
A plan like Housing Multnomah Now needs this input to succeed with finding people on the streets and successfully connecting them to housing. The ideas have to work on the ground.
After all, some people in the room that have long experienced homelessness and poverty watch plan after plan skid by — and know that homelessness is a symptom of deep inequalities in the United States that one policy will not fix.
Leo Rhodes has been an advocate for decades, and worked in Seattle on a 10-year plan to end homelessness — almost 20 years ago.
George McCarthy has a clear-eyed analysis of federal disinvestment in housing since the Reagan administration years, the cycles of gentrification and the extreme levels of income and wealth disparity in the United States. He knows the issues are deep, and they are systemic.
“I really do appreciate every attempt at this,” McCarthy said, “but we really need to take a wider look at this. We (people living on the streets) are taking more abuse than people deserve.”
And therein lies the rub: homelessness is a symptom of extreme societal disparities in income, wealth, housing costs and public health. One plan does not fix a system.
And yet, successfully housing and supporting 300 people with Housing Multnomah Now matters for those 300 people who are experiencing “one of the worst tragedies they're going through in their entire life, which is being homeless,” as Kae put it.
“I'm young myself and this is one of the worst things I've gone through.”
That’s why we need elected leaders to listen to people who live the impacts of the policies they make. Society needs to show up for Wren, and everyone else who struggles through the tragedy of homelessness.
Haley Greico-Page is the Street Roots Jesuit volunteer. Grieco-Page co-authored this column.
Street Roots is an award-winning weekly investigative publication covering economic, environmental and social inequity. The newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Street Roots newspaper operates independently of Street Roots advocacy and is a part of the Street Roots organization. Learn more about Street Roots. Support your community newspaper by making a one-time or recurring gift today.
© 2023 Street Roots. All rights reserved. | To request permission to reuse content, email editor@streetroots.org or call 503-228-5657, ext. 404
