I’ve lived in Portland, Oregon for nearly seven years now. It has a reputation for being a vibrant and progressive city, but city policies reflect a different reality for many of Portland’s unhoused community. It’s not uncommon to see someone experiencing houselessness while traveling through the city, and actually data shows there are roughly six houseless residents per 1000 Portlanders.
We each have a stake in solving houselessness. Often residents of the city will complain about unhoused people without putting in the effort to unearth root causes and help them holistically. Systematically, the city has been criminalizing and displacing our residents, instead of solving the inequities that have left people in harsh and unjust conditions. Displacing people is not a healthy solution, it’s not a safety solution and it causes inequity to become more deep seated.
The pandemic symptomatically exacerbated most social injustices, and Portland’s houseless crisis was no exception. In a time where people were struggling to make rent as the brick and mortar economy shut down, people already living on the streets were left to survive outside.
Housing injustice is in direct correlation with every other type of justice: racial justice, climate justice, health safety and food justice. Every social issue is connected to a system that prioritizes profit over people, and leaves folks behind. Oppressive systems marginalize people, disproportionately affecting communities of color. Portland is also no exception in this regard.
I hold privilege that I must use to make transformative change for justice. I care about decriminalizing houselessness and protecting houseless communities because I fundamentally believe that everyone deserves to be treated with humanity, regardless of their income. Criminalizing and displacing people is not equitable nor is it a way to support people and get them what they need. I love my city and I want the people living there to feel safe.
Unhoused communities are disproportionately criminalized in Portland, and having more than half of those arrested in the city be people experiencing houselessness is not uncommon. Houseless folks accounted for 40% of jail bookings in 2019 according to Oregon Live, and often people are arrested for nonviolent crimes. Criminalization is technically established into the city’s code. There is also recidivism for unhoused folks who are arrested, which is unsurprising given the unjust weight of a criminal record. The key fact is that continually arresting and criminalizing people does not solve houselessness.
During the pandemic, unhoused communities were hit hard. Camps grew in size. Though the city had been more lenient on sweeping/ removing camps, especially in accordance with CDC guidelines that warned against displacing people, they have started increasing sweeps and displacing unhoused people from their spaces and separating them from their belongings.
Houselessness disproportionately affects communities of color. According to Willamette Week, Black folks are disproportionately represented in Multnomah County’s houseless community; Black folks made up 7.2% of the Multnomah population and 16.1% of the houseless community in 2019. Housing injustice is part of a system that prioritizes those with money and power and marginalizes and leaves everyone else behind, perpetuating systemic oppression that targets BIPOC communities.
The entire city has a stake in houselessness and the issue is at the front of much political discourse. Everyone’s life is touched by houselessness, while their responses and privilege may be different. The city and city officials hold sway in city policy. Police, as those who respond to calls, approach people, and make arrests, are heavily involved. They are also involved in sweeps and cleanups. Oftentimes police will be called about concerns related to houselessness, which is part of the noteworthy conflict that there are lots of residents of Portland who complain and express concerns about trash, camps, and disturbances. Business interests are also major players, even having a stake in policing communities through ESDs. Alternatively, there are advocates and protestors who attempt to stop sweeps and advocate for policies to support the unhoused community.
People who are unhoused are the most crucial stakeholders because so often they are victims of symbolic, state and structural violence. Each type of violence compounds upon itself to perpetuate the idea that unhoused people are somehow less worthy of humane and compassionate treatment, and that their experiences matter less than others or profitability.
Housing
The city of Portland has been attempting to construct housing solutions. One recent plan is “Safe Rest Villages” where people experiencing houselessness can elect to stay and access services. The city recently passed the Shelter to Housing Continuum, which in part facilitates the construction of shelters by both public and private entities. Portland also has housing construction goals for 2027 in progress for what Oregon Live calls “supportive housing.”
The Joint Office of Homeless Services is instituted in the city and county to provide services, but even so an influx of people entering houselessness ultimately replace those who get housing. The city tries to house people before offering rehabilitative services, but there are barriers to entry for both housing and also shelters. Shelters, for example, often face complaints of being too strict. Additionally, shelter space has to parallel housing for an effective solution.
Enhanced Service Districts
Business, as aforementioned, have a very direct impact on the criminalization of unhoused Portlanders. In Portland, business interests come together to form Enhanced Service Districts (ESDs) that hire security guards and have their own police to police houseless folks for cited commercial and access purposes. There is almost no public oversight for ESDs, and a lack of supervision from the city. Most of the unhoused folks arrested by the PPB were arrested within the jurisdictions of ESDs by over 100 per square mile in 2017. The downtown ESD has profited off of community service from arrested unhoused people, and two ESDs in the city have/had connections to the courts.
HB 3315
HB 3315 is a bill that passed the legislature this year that takes steps to legislate the US Court of Appeals 2018 decision in Martin v. Dubois which, according to Portland Monthly, ruled that “any laws that penalize homeless people for sleeping outside when there is no alternative shelter available to be a form of cruel and unusual punishment.” HB 3315 also works to prevent against lawsuits and (again according to Portland Monthly) “[requires] Oregon cities to reevaluate local policies that regulate ‘sitting, lying, sleeping or keeping warm and dry’ on public property to make sure those rules are ‘objectively reasonable’ in regards to the homeless individuals they target.” Cities get discretionary power in terms of how they follow the legislation, and may institute new legislation because of it. The legislation does not stop sweeps, and has received criticism.
Sweeps
Sweeps have been expanded based on certain criteria like fires, biohazards or if they impede access. The city sends in personnel to offer services and then gives folks 48 hours to come up with a plan and pick themselves up. There are conflicting accounts of services; the city started sweeping people before offering up promised shelter space, and though shelter beds have increased there are reports that the city isn’t offering support finding new living space and just directing people to move away. The city claims they store belongings of unhoused folks who are displaced, but a recent lawsuit alleges otherwise. Key in framing, the city claims that sweeps are for “health and safety.”
Housing
Establishing accessible and equitable housing is an essential step towards transformative change. Housing has been proven to reduce recidivism and is crucial to reduce criminalization of houseless communities.
By providing housing and making sure that everyone has access to necessary services, we fundamentally interrupt the cycles of oppression that marginalize, oppress, and criminalize people (especially communities of color). It’s an unfortunately radical vision, and requires lots of different steps: legislation, funding, organizing, construction… but it is possible. It’s crucial, still, to tackle other criminalizing forces like the criminal legal system and address each root cause of oppression to fundamentally change the structure of how the U.S. treats people.
Right to Rest
The Right to Rest Act was the legislation that advocates and the houseless community were pushing for instead of HB 3315. Unlike the latter, HB 2367 (R2R) was a bill that involved the leadership and voices of unhoused folks to decriminalize houseless by, according to Portland Monthly, “prohibit[ing] law enforcement and other public employees from harassing or criminally penalizing individuals for sitting, standing, sleeping, sharing food, or praying on public property.” R2R faced a lot of legislative drama, but would have been crucial in centering and amplifying the voices of folks experiencing houselessness. I support action like the R2R that actually follows those impacted. When forming legislation to help people, they have to be at the table, or else the work falls short of true justice. Comprehensive legislation to decriminalize houselessness and get people what they need is a step towards transformation.
Photo: “Homeless encampment along city street in Portland, Oregon” by Graywalls is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
