The Montavilla neighborhood is a place just about anybody might want to live in. It has an “almost suburban” feel, a city website notes, but it’s near downtown Portland, with a population that’s more diverse than the city as a … Continue reading In Portland, a neighborhood watch group stirs debate over how to respond to the homeless
Guardian study of two US cities finds crime is likelier to go down than up in neighborhoods that host city-sanctioned encampments They stood in a rainy parking lot under fir trees, 60 homeless men and women, young and old, patient … Continue reading No link between homeless villages and crime rates, Guardian review suggests
It’s a Costly Side Effect of Portland’s Housing Crisis THE HAND SANITIZER-FUELED Bunsen burner was a form of streetwise ingenuity to make MacGyver proud—but it may have cost a life. When the body of Rachael Edwards was found in Oregon … Continue reading As Winter Approaches, the Homeless Are Using Dangerous Methods to Keep Warm
The Strip is gone… The “Strip,” a stretch of North Lombard Street in St. Johns where approximately 20 homeless people lived in a dozen RVs, is gone. In July, WW explored the location, a favorite dumping ground for abandoning RVs … Continue reading As City Officials Tow RVs Off the Portland Streets, People Priced Out of Apartments Wonder Where to Go Now
A lack of data has led to funding cuts for some programs that otherwise might support these individuals, while others — such as OHSU — seek to boost their offerings In her 31 years, Willow Paloma has had many identities: … Continue reading Homelessness Compounds Health Challenges for Transgender Portlanders
In Portland, which prides itself on being a beacon of progressive politics, the practice of using prisoner work crews is painted as a win-win – but that’s not how some see it In many places in the US, the fraught … Continue reading ‘Straight up bullshit’: inmates paid $1 to clear homeless camps they once lived in
Timothy Allen Ferrell is the kind of person officials and advocates argue about. Despite a lifelong history of trauma—born with drugs in his system to a 15-year-old mom, then foster care, heroin and meth use, and drug-related criminal convictions—Ferrell insists … Continue reading Is There an Ethnic Group More Likely to Be Homeless in Portland Than Others?
This city has never before seen so many recreational vehicles parked on its streets. There is a stretch of North Lombard Street called the Strip: a line of 12 RVs parked snout to bumper on the west side of the … Continue reading Portland is Towing Caravans of RVs Off the Streets. Here’s What It’s Like Inside Those Motor Homes.
Homeless people say they must choose between a ticket to ride and eating. So why is the train so crucial? For most Portlanders, high temperatures inspire cold drinks, or a jump in a river. For Nathan Lewallea, who has epilepsy, … Continue reading Why Do Homeless People Ride the MAX Green Line All Day?
One of the faith leaders who has worked closely with the most vulnerable people on the streets has a theory. The paradox jumps out from the latest homelessness numbers released by Multnomah County: The number of people sleeping on the … Continue reading Why Are So Many of the People Sleeping on Downtown Streets So Damaged?
The animals provide emotional support and four-legged security for people on the streets. You’re not paranoid: The number of Portland dogs with homeless owners is growing rapidly. Local animal hospital Dove Lewis says the number of homeless people getting veterinary … Continue reading Why Am I Seeing So Many Homeless People With Dogs?
Many already have jobs—not easy ones, either. The refrain of “Get a job!” is as old as poverty and panhandling. But one of the hard truths of homelessness is that many people who qualify as homeless work hard and still … Continue reading Why Don’t Homeless People Just Get Jobs?
City’s early homeless villages shaped new housing experiments locally and globally as part of movement to reimagine how the homeless should live PAMPLIN MEDIA PHOTO: JIM CLARK – Dignity Village founder Jack Tafari (right) sat on the steps of a … Continue reading From protest to a place of their own
What do homeless people say about reports that the men suspected in shocking crimes lived on the street? The two men are among the most notorious criminal suspects in recent Portland history. Jeremy Christian is accused of fatally stabbing two … Continue reading In Aftermath of Notorious MAX Crimes, Portland’s Homeless Fear Reprisals
By Amanda Waldroupe, Thacher Schmid and Camela Raymond For years, a graveled lot directly north of Kenton Park in North Portland’s Kenton neighborhood, sat vacant. But on June 5, a work crew arrived on North Argyle Street to begin transforming … Continue reading It Brings a Village
