Samm McCrary is a housing advocate who advocates with Residents Organizing for Change, Here Together, REACH and Central City Concern.
The best time for legislators to act on behalf of our unhoused and those at risk for becoming homeless due to the pandemic is right now.
Oregon had the dubious distinction of having the highest rate of unsheltered families with children among U.S. states; we are in crisis. Funding from President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan needs to be placed in the hands of those who provide direct social services, so we can hit the ground running, not be held up in endless red tape, while children, families and individuals suffer on the dangerous streets.
I am passionate about this work because more than 10 years ago, I found myself closing the gate behind me for the last time on my three-bedroom house with Pergo floors, stained glass windows, Asian pear trees and 100-year-old rose bushes in the yard. One hand held the leash with my Labrador, who had lived in that house for all of her life, and the other a small suitcase on wheels that held everything I owned.
When people see you in that position, they see only the snapshot of here and now, not the decades of working to attain a four-year degree from university, raising two generations of children, working 50-plus hours a week as a counselor. You are only a bag lady, making them uncomfortable so that they avert their eyes, or worse shout, “Why don’t you get a job!”
With the help of JOIN, and then wrap-around services for the next two years, I was able to find housing, a foundation under me, and start to rebuild my life, and pay forward the things that were given to me. I have lived in the same building for 10 years, and I love the volunteer work that engages me.
Everyone deserves a safe and affordable home. It is so exciting that with the funds coming through the American Rescue Plan, people can be housed, build their lives via keeping employment, job training, education — all very difficult when you spend the day just trying to find a place that is legal to be, places for food, something as simple and vital as a restroom, a shower and a place to rest your head at night.
I encourage the state Legislature and our city and county governments to get the American Rescue Plan funds out to direct workers who have the ability to disperse them in a timely manner, and to invest these funds in housing stability.
OPINION: The American Rescue Plan Act is a promise of what could be
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This article appears in May 26, 2021.