Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This isn't a problem specific to Portland, this kind of thing happens in every major city in the world.
we are in the portland forum, and since we live in or are interested in this city, we should be concerned where it concerns our area. This is one of those appropriate issues to apply the saying " think globally, act locally".
not that i like that saying for everything, but it does definitely apply to this kind of issue.
Homelessness happens to the best of anyone. It happened to me. And I would be the last person you could imagine to go into one.
I can relate to a lot of what the OP has said about the conditions of shelters. I lived in one located in the inner city of a major metro area. Funny thing...I had a car, I had a job....but no housing or family to fall back on (though they lived across town I was not granted access to their homes...very sad situation of dysfunction). With a car and a job and going to school, I was in a much better position to get OUT of the shelter, but it still took four months. That's one of the reasons why many never get to leave them.
I slept on the cafeteria floor with nothing but a sheet (no blankets) between myself and the cold floor. No pillow. Food was usually rancid or moldy, but it was food. You were given a packed lunch that consisted of a plain bologna sandwich and an apple. That was lunch every day for all those months living there...
You were not allowed inside the shelter until 9pm. They woke you up at 4am and sent you back outside until breakfast at 7am. Once breakfast was served, you were sent back out again. Only the "residents" accepted into their 12-bed program were given access to showers. There were over 200 on the waiting list. If you had nowhere to go, you were still on the streets boding time until after dark.
Some people think that shelters are so warm and fuzzy. That people who are dedicated to "helping" are in charge, and that the food and accommodations are fit for an animal.
Reality check...it's not.
so glad you described your experience. you are one of the percentage that climbed out of it, thank God, though some find it harder or impossible.
You also pinpoint one issue that would help if there was better accountability. I mean, I know what it means to have nonsupportive non helpful family. That is one factor that determines the fate of most: how supportive has family been?
In my opinion, people who have plentiful resources should be lawfully required to help their family members that are falling throught the cracks. In one state, Louisiana, inheritance laws require that parents pass their wealth down to their children when parents die.
No such laws on the books in Oregon or most states, but that would be a start: how many 50-year-old unemployed women could use such an injection of material support when their parents die....rather than simply joining the ranks of housing-endangered about-to-be homeless folk. Because maybe mom and she did not get along, so now she becomes homeless due to no inheritance at a crucial time in her life??? just one kin d of example but it is a common one.
Over a hundred years ago, most societies even in europe and elsewhere, and here, traditionally and religiously made an effort to make sure that family took care of its own. Since laws and society no longer require family to take care of its own beyond the 18th year, we need to address this issue. The welfare rolls would be reduced, and many problems of this type would be solved if wealthy people had to help their poor relations at some reasonable level. Because this does not happen and because of the unsettled nature of our families nowadays (do not stay in one place for several generations), welfare programs have to happen as a safety net. Get the family wealth working for all members by law as it should , in all good conscience, and much of government welfare needs and issues are greatly reduced.
Of course this seems strange since U.S. society has gone so far from this track in its thinking (having any responsibility for the needs of family members).. But it seems that a law would be necessary, because too many irresponsible people do not attend to this important thing without one. Whereas some other cultures automatically take care of their own for fear of seeming dishonorable- there is no such accountability for our own in the USA. This is a huge shame, and a big factor in issues such as homelessness and welfare.
Rich people have homeless and on-welfare adult children! No, not druggies, just down-and-out, and often, they are the seriously abused and / or neglected. It's a VERY common scenario, and THERE OUGHTA BE A LAW.
we are in the portland forum, and since we live in or are interested in this city, we should be concerned where it concerns our area. This is one of those appropriate issues to apply the saying " think globally, act locally".
not that i like that saying for everything, but it does definitely apply to this kind of issue.
Thank you for saying that. I posted before that I do not understand why, when people post about a subject regarding a Portland situation someone is always bound to say "But you should see it there or there or there."
Giving stats "there" does not help when someone is inquiring about "here."
I'm a homeless, middle-aged woman who is invisible to many, yet becoming more and more common. For many years I supported myself in a competent and comfortable manner, living alone in a decent studio/or 1 BR apartment, working full-time and meeting my needs. I have never abused drugs or alcohol, and have tried to live an ethical life and be a contributing member of society. If someone would have asked me 5 years ago if I thought this would ever happen in my life I would have never believed it. Anything can happen to anyone, even those who think they have taken all the necessary "precautions." Financial stability can be taken away in a heartbeat, and many people are two paychecks away from being in my situation, unless they have family they can fall back on.
I'm an educated woman who has always worked within the corporate sector. Two years ago, I was laid off from what was a comfortable and relatively secure position for many years. At first I was able to manage, I had some savings to fall back for rent and medical insurance, etc. and my unemployment check helped cover transportation, food and everyday living expenses. But time passes as quickly as funds dwindle. I became unemployed at the age of 47 and while the country was rapidly slipping into a recession, two major obstacles to deal with. The first thing I realized, without being cynical, is that ageism is alive and well in this country. There was a definite distinction in the amount of interviews and job offers I received when I was in my 20's and 30's compared to what was happening to me in my late 40's. It seems I've become irrelevant. If a person my age with my background applies for an entry level job or a minimum wage job I am told I am "over qualified" or its obvious that younger people are given these jobs. One time I was asked "but why would you want a job that is such a significant cut in salary and less than what you were doing?" Well, the answer seemed simple enough to me -- I need to survive. Many people cannot comprehend that statement unless they are faced with it personally.
After I pounded the pavement and drained my savings, I lost my home. I do not have any reliable family to assist me and friends seem to be only able to do so much. Friends can be kind and charitable with food, clothing, the use of a cell phone/computer, or emergency shelter but many of them have their own families, limited space, limited resources and simply cannot or do not want to take on the responsibility of another person's life. Couch surfing is a temporary solution.
I'm out of options. I have tried and tried to organize my thoughts, use all my resources and contact government agencies. I went around in circles and circles and no one could / would help. Since I don't have young, dependent children many of the programs available for those women were out of my reach.
I am scrambling and trying desperately to get back on my feet but the tidal wave I am facing with no home or money is holding me under and making it a quickly insurmountable situation. The only viable solution right now seems to be an actual city homeless shelter which means I must relinquish any extra clothing, business apparel, or other life building items. Its a horrible catch-22 situation. Being homeless invites inordinate stress and illness into a formerly functioning persons life. And so on and so forth. Taking a shower every day and cleaning yourself up becomes a herculean task and suddenly an act that most people don't even thing twice about doing within 15 minutes of waking up takes an enormous amount of thought trying to figure out or plan for a person who does not have a home. Job hunting in these circumtances is even more daunting. Most town libraries offer free internet/computer access for a limited time every day and you need to have steady contact information for prospective employers to contact you. Welfare and food banks will keep people from starving to death but cannot give them what they need to live or move forward.
I've reached the end of the rope. I'm out of options and will probably just disappear into the landscape. Unfortunately I will not be alone as time progresses. I think it will rapidly become a societal cancer.
834SM, I have almost been in your shoes. Just as I was set to do the "couch of friend's" thing I got a job through another friend four years ago after a lay-off.
Since I have lived in Portland (30 years) I have been laid off 4 times. Three of those times was because the companies I worked for closed their doors. The fourth was a cutback. I am facing a possible layoff now. It's one of the reasons I want to move from Portland. I know things aren't so great in the job market in most places but from what I have heard they are better in some.
I have also known several other middle aged women who have had the same story. There is not a whole lot out there for us. It seems once we are past childbearing age Society doesn't have much use for us and if we cease to be able to support ourselves, there is little help available for us.
I know what you are going through and I know the way it can change one's perspective on life. I don't know what information I can give you to help. All I can do is totally empathize with your problem and hope things will work out for you.
It seems once we are past childbearing age Society doesn't have much use for us and if we cease to be able to support ourselves, there is little help available for us.
This is what aggravates the hell out of me from all the efforts to make people work later and later in life. Between more people being forced to work to pay for healthcare alone, to Social Security and Medicare extending out age requirements. . . it means little when the general job market out there does NOT WANT older workers! I know some very able people in their late-50's and early-60's, with good experience behind them, having a terrible time nailing a job right now.
I am sorry to say, but I have been at the other end of the homeless spectrum...where I have to be the responsible one helping friends out when they are having a tough time. Things change when you're in this position with friends, and while I'll send money to help good friends infrequently...my wife and I made the rule to not let anyone else stay with us. We don't want to get into the situation of having a dependent grown adult that won't leave (2 people I know are in this situation), threatened to be attacked (I have been in this situation), beaten (a friend was in this situation), or bring drug users on over for fun (myself and a friend involved in this) because we were trying to help another person. No good deed goes unpunished.
We had one friend stay with us and get back on his feet, and is doing great (He's our one exception) and that's all the good that's come from our generosity. However, we've had a few bad eggs (and seen others that abused friends and family) that we would not help again. It ruins it for people that need the help, and would do well with it, when your own friends and family are the ones who abuse your generosity.
I hate to be mean, but people I don't know on the street are really not my responsibility. If some one cares for them, more power to them. If a person does drugs it's not like I forced them to, gave them access, or even said anything to them. Drugs are a choice they made and it ruins their life and turns them on the street, I don't see how I have to give what I worked hard for to them because I made the right decisions and have resources. Even if you do give, they will still take and take and take...look up the church that is giving to the homeless in the Portland area just to have the people they just helped come back later at night and steal stuff to hawk for drugs (they will close because of the money spent replacing it). In my opinion the drug users can rot in their own filth, they are where their choices led them.
As for mental illness, that's a hard one. I've known people to be wonderful and functional members of society with mental illnesses, doing well for themselves and their families. I've also seen the guys sitting on the corner screaming that the government installed RFID's in their tear ducts and used lasers to destroy the pentagon. The people who do well I know (not that I talk to the corner crazies) did one thing I see as what helped, they knew or acknowledged something was wrong and did something about it without alienating the people who desire to help them. Most of the stories I see of the people who have no support structure anymore are the ones that assaulted the people who care about them and won't take their meds. The emptying of the asylums made sure the ones who are too sick to care for themselves or too violent to be anywhere with other rational people are on the streets (plus making sure you can do nothing against some ones will).
I say help the people get on their feet, and if they can that's what the system is for. The people who are too sick to work, that's why there is Medicare and social security.
The people who are too sick to work, that's why there is Medicare and social security.
What if one is too young for either of these things? We are not talking about drug dealers or users here. Please read 834SM's post again. She said she didn't want to sleep on her friends' couches and I never asked for this favor either. The offer was made to me in reciprocation from a friend who I had helped when times were bad for her.
I don't think any adult person who has been used to independently supporting themselves wants to be in a position of charity from friends or relatives. If there were government programs in place for everyone who through no fault of their own has fallen upon hard times, there would be no need.
No normal adult wants to be in that situation, and I was not directly replying to 834SM's post....there are 8 pages of posts to make the hamster in the head run. Medicare/Medicaid and social security are for those too sick or too old to get back on their feet...the system should be there to help those who need help to back up and running instead of to warehouse people. Those who don't want to work, are healthy, and young then there's a park bench and a dumpster to go freegan all over.
I think it's great you have friends to fall back on in need, but many people don't. Our personal experience is one where we accept some one in our home our generosity is abused...and it's not an isolated incident among family and friends.
Last edited by subsound; 09-18-2008 at 10:01 AM..
Reason: Clarify
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The Face of Homelessness is changing drastically
