Street Roots editorial
Last year, 56 people died while experiencing homelessness in
Multnomah County. In 2011, the figure was 47. In addition to these numbers, we
know that even more people on the streets died in local hospitals that were not
counted by the medical examiner.
Why should we care?
On its face, what does the number 56 even mean? In an age
when we are overwhelmed with the number of people dying for any number of
poverty-related issues, it’s hard to give context to what the numbers mean.
What we know:
Research shows that people experiencing homelessness age
prematurely. We know that homelessness takes a toll, mentally and physically,
on the human body. We also know that homelessness contributes to death at far
too young an age. This year the average age of death was 46.
In many cases, the manner of death was horrendous.
Someone burned to death, one froze to death, and another
drowned. Seven people died of heart and vascular disease. Ten people committed
suicide, possibly due to the lack of hope. Twenty individuals suffered of drug-
or alcohol-related deaths. The list goes on.
When you begin to think of it in terms of how many people
are dying each year while homeless, across the United States, the number may be
in the thousands.
We as a community should pause and understand that each one
of these individuals were human beings and passed away far to early in life.
What should we do?
Housing is not only the safest way to provide people
adequate health care, it’s also the most cost effective. Housing should be a
key component in Oregon’s strategy for health care reform, period. We know that
by providing people a safe and stable home that we can give people the
opportunity to live long and successful lives.
Suicide prevention must also be a focus among people
experiencing poverty, whether someone is actually homeless or about to fall
into homelessness. Among the biggest keys to suicide prevention is education,
an adequate health care network and a strong social safety net.
Opiate overdoses continue to be an overall public health
problem throughout Oregon. We must do better to explore harm reduction models
that let health care providers engage and work with I.V. drug users. That
includes education, needle exchange programs and thinking about out-of-the-box
methods used in other parts of the world, such as injection sites. We know harm
reduction models of health care work when given the chance.
Moving forward, Street Roots, Multnomah County and the city
of Portland will continue to track the outcomes of people on the streets and
advocate for the social safety net.
These individuals were not
only someone’s family, or friend, they were human beings that could have gone
on to do great things in their lives given the chance. Creating and maintaining
safe and stable housing for people in distress is one way we can honor those
who have passed, and prevent thousands more from having the same fate.
This article appears in 2013-05-10.