More than a Fence: What Gresham, Oregon is doing to the Homeless

Amber lives on the streets of Gresham, and she is tired of being harassed. She has been told to move four times in the last three days. She is a good worker, preparing meals at a local church for the hungry two times this week, and working in their clothing room every week.

"They are telling us, 'You know that camping is illegal in Gresham, don't you?' They told me that next time they see me they will arrest me for camping. Were are we supposed to go? I'm tired of being forced to move every day."

People should not be forced to leave unless they have a place to go. Sixty five percent of the homeless in Gresham come from Gresham. It is time for Gresham to take care of their own, and provide solutions, not abuse.

What else are Gresham and their services doing?
-Ticketing the homeless for sleeping (Gresham Police)

-Threatening arrests for camping (Gresham police)

-Verbally excluding people from the city (Gresham police)

-Telling the homeless to go to Portland (Gresham police)

-Refusing to put out a fire on a homeless camp (Gresham Fire)

-Refusing to allow shelters to be built in Gresham (City Hall didn't allow Human Solutions to build a family shelter in city limits)

-Bulldozing homeless camps (Troutdale)

-Fencing all of Gresham's part of Springwater Trail (Mayor of Gresham)

-Severe fines (over a thousand dollars) for those who camp there (Gresham City Council)

-Claiming to rely on JOIN, when they know that JOIN has no money until June 

-Denying their responsibility to help with any kind of social services (Gresham City Council) 

-Telling the homeless to move to the RedBarn (a church service for the homeless) which will be penalized if they allow camping on their property (Gresham Police)

-Sending monthly code violations/penalties to the RedBarn, without clarifying what should be fixed (Gresham Code Department)

-Claiming that RedBarn is responsible for the homeless in Gresham (Gresham police)

-Offering 30 days to pick up possessions, but throwing them away ("Unauthorized campsite" notice)

-Leaving notices to contact 211 for services, then claiming that Gresham has no overnight shelters, thus forcing campers to leave the city. ("Unauthorized campsite" notice)

Sending officers to the homeless who have been penalized for attacking the homeless (Officer Durbin of the Gresham Police)

Most of these happened this last week.

East Multnomah County Homeless Meeting 2011

In April 2011 about 20 of the homeless community of Gresham met to discuss the current situation for the homeless and what services would be most helpful to provide. After a general list was created, the list was voted on to establish priority. The following items are listen in the order of the most votes.

1. Bus tickets
Transportation is a huge issue and the preferred solution is bus tickets
Either one zone or two zone tickets; bus passes would be wonderful, if possible
Tickets could be worked for; e.g. work at a church for an hour for two-four tickets

2. Pet health care
The number of pets, especially dogs, has increased considerably in the last couple years. Thus, the need for some care for the pets have increased.
Emergency care
On site clinic
Vaccinations
Licensing—obtaining free training
Raincoats for dogs
Look into donations from pet stores
Flea and worm treatments
Muzzles

3. Safe place to sleep overnight
This is not a shelter, but a place to camp or park safely. Shelters are not usually preferred unless the weather is particularly bad. The issue here is safety-- from anyone who wishes to harm the homeless or to steal their possessions.
A parking lot for cars
A safe camp where items can be permanently stored

3. Day labor site with phone—both ingoing and outgoing
There are many skilled laborers on the street but almost no opportunities to work. We could use the day shelter sites as places for day-employers to pick up and drop off laborers.
This can be done pretty simply using a cell phone we already have and a Craigs
Listing

3. Laundry facility or vouchers
There are currently no opportunities to do laundry for free in East County.
Check out store on Cleveland or 162nd and Glisan

6. Dental care
There is currently no dental care for the homeless in East County.

7. Permanent Night shelter

8. Community computer at the day shelters

9. Storage Lockers
These could be built and housed at Anawim.

Now I Understand...

I had a mysterious conversation with the emergency services manager of Gresham and the fire marshal a couple weeks ago. I was talking to them about the need of people sleeping on the street and how much danger they are in, especially when it gets below freezing. I spoke of Fred, whose leg was cut off a couple months ago because he had slept outside in freezing conditions. I spoke of the sixteen year old girls who have been sleeping outside all winter. And about a father and his sixteen year old pregant daughter who found themselves desperate without shelter.

And the response I recieved from them is a lot of fire codes, and how we can't open because we don't have 200 square feet per person and how it is acceptable to have a standard of only opening churches when it gets below 22 degrees. And they told me, "This is not a social problem," and they said, "This is not an emergency," and they said, "You should just let other people deal with this." This was a foreign language to me, so I spoke of fire code with them, because it seemed to be the only language we could both understand.

Only this morning did it dawn on me what they were saying. They were saying that the fact that some people sleep out side and freeze to death is something they can live with. When they say, "This is not an emergency" it means that they don't consider it important that Fred lost his leg. It is unfortunate, I am sure they would agree, but it doesn't keep them up at night. They wouldn't want the sixteen year old girls, pregnant or otherwise, to sleep outside in the freezing cold, but it doesn't actually concern them, either. Because they have accepted that their city, their country, is a place where such things happen.

About seven years ago, I was going out to a homeless camp site to see Bill, just in case there was something I could do to help him. He had night blindness and was beginning to be mentally unstable, so I was going to take him to health professionals and see what could be done. When I found Bill, he was in a ditch, with no pulse. The paramedics told me he had died of hypothermia in the night.

To have leaders in our city help all of us, to treat us all as citizens, we need leaders who have compassion. I understand, it is difficult to have empathy. It is stressful and painful. Empathy can make you lose sleep when you realize that it is freezing outside and there are people suffering out in it. Compassion can make you wake up anxiously because you don't know if you've done enough to help those in need. But a deep care of others is the only thing that will stir us to make things better for everyone. And it may cost us, but it will make our city better, it will make our county livable, and it will make our nation human.

Please, as it freezes these next few nights, think of those who are sleeping in it, and consider what can be done for them. Not just tonight, but for years to come.

Skills

One of our folks on the street came to the day shelter with her eleven year old nephew. He came to her the other day saying that because he doesn't have a dad, he doesn't have anyone to take him camping. So, he said, "You're homeless, so you know how to camp. Could you take me?" She laughed out loud and agreed. They spent a few days at the Sandy River near a homeless camp.

One of the jokes the folks on the street say every once in a while is, "Hey, let's go camping!"

Homeless Community Meeting

Over the last year and a half, the East Multnomah County homeless community has been meeting together occasionally to discuss the needs of the community and what the community plans to do in order to meet those needs.

Last year we met in March, and the primary objective stated was to begin a day shelter in Gresham. This objective was realized in January this year. Three churches besides Anawim opened up a room one day a week for the homeless to have a place to be where they won't be kicked out of, or concerned that they would be reported as dangerous or illegal. Of course, to exist without a place to be IS illegal in Multnomah Co, according to the camping ordinance. So for churches to offer a place for the homeless is to allow the homeless to be legal, for at least that period of time.

This last week, we had another of our regular meetings, and the homeless determined that they didn't care for how security has been handled at the day shelters and Anawim. They feel that it has been too lax, and those who break the rules-- especially the rules about violence-- should be given more severe discipline rather than just leaving for the day, and there ought to be a difference in discipline between those who begin a fight and those who are defending themselves. So a sub-committee was formed, made up of Linda, Dano and John Fagerson, and they will determine suggestions for the different places as to security measures.

They also want to have a broader meeting next time, inviting not just the homeless, but also those who are working in the day shelters to try to develop new policies for the shelters.

This is what ownership looks like: taking on responsibility.