About the project:
The Orange Fence Project seeks to improve public understanding of the daily lives of homeless Portlanders and the systemic and personal circumstances through which people became homeless. By reporting on personal experiences, testimony, data and improving accountability for public officials, Street Roots will identify and report more feasible steps to address homelessness.
Homelessness and the enforcement of local laws on homeless people are almost entirely untracked by independent groups. As a result, the effects of these laws and enforcement — positive or negative — are largely unstudied and unknown. By engaging community members and implementing a solutions journalism framework, this project will address gaps in public knowledge while revealing potential solutions to systemic issues.
Through rigorous reporting, public record gathering, crowdsourced information and continued observation, Street Roots will provide the first independent encampment sweep tracker and comprehensive overview of homelessness policy and enforcement in the history of Portland.
Sweep Tracker:
The Sweep Tracker will operate as the flagship initiative within The Orange Fence Project. By tracking locations, dates, numbers of people affected, and using that data to follow up with displaced people, we will guide our reporting with person-centered narratives and data.
