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
When a worker at the Multnomah County Tri-County Service Coordination program met with a client recently, the client, Tina, was having a meltdown. Her boyfriend had just been incarcerated, and she’d been up all night, recalled Alison Goldstein, the program’s … Continue reading Program Aims to Innovate to Improve Health, Lives of Portland Area’s Most Vulnerable
You could tell how seriously Crystal O’Connor was taking Joan Mershon’s Rent Well class on a recent Saturday just by looking at her three-ring binder. Impeccably organized, layered with color-colored Post-It notes, it was every bit the 2017 equivalent of … Continue reading Crystal’s ‘Trapper Keeper’ & Rent Well’s beacon for technically homeless
Conversations about homelessness too often devolve into stereotypes, such as “it’s their choice,” “they’re not from here,” “he needs to get a job,” “it’s not their fault,” etc. Jerry Vermillion’s story transcends paint-by-numbers talking points. Vermillion, 52, has been living … Continue reading Hard working, conscientious, well groomed … and homeless
That’s how Ibrahim Mubarak sees it, and it’s possible nobody in Portland knows more about the topic than he. Known for strong advocacy and direct action tactics, he is once again at the center of local news after Commissioner Dan … Continue reading No Shelter: Advocate Mubarak says agencies turn backs on Terminal 1
Can the community rally behind a big tent vision uniting the private and public sectors, faith community, social service sector and philanthropists? That’s the question posed by Homer Williams, the developer proposing a mammoth homeless shelter at Terminal 1 on … Continue reading The Big Plan: Williams Takes Case for Terminal 1 to Public
My latest blog post on Medium.com/@poorforaminute looks at the underground economy in the largest homeless camp in the nation: A man on dialysis, sucking ice in his tent on a 93-degree day, survives on “food stamps and God.” As he … Continue reading Tinkers, barterers, dealing & disability
On July 15, Portland Mayor Charlie Hales gave an eviction notice to the largest homeless camp in the Pacific Northwest. The mayor announced that, starting Aug. 1, Portland police would sweep homeless people living along the Springwater Corridor bike trail. … Continue reading Some Homeless Campers Have Lived Along the Springwater Corridor for a Decade
Willamette Week just put a story on their website which grew from my first blog post on Poor for a Minute. I cowrote the WW story with Rachel Monahan; it says the Springwater homeless camps may now be the largest … Continue reading Springwater camps may be the largest in the U.S.
Writing in the Flat Keys: Thacher Schmid's Portfolio 