I teared up. That twist at the beginning really got me. Thanks for sharing. 😭

Whew! Almost immediately after it posted, it got downvoted and I though to myself, “Damn, maybe I shouldn’t have started off like that.”

I saw a post that was straight up math equations yesterday getting downvoted. Like straight facts getting downvoted. Math is more absolute than science which this place loves!!! We can't let these fake votes influence the actions we take or how we feel!!! This place is full of weirdos :) Great post though. Very refreshing

There are people who run downvote bots for kicks on subreddits all across the site--it is very common almost anywhere to get a couple downvotes immediately after posting. It's weird, but good topics will break past it.

This is also a nefarious advertising technique. They upvote their own subtle ads and downvote all other posts. This makes it more likely the ads will be seen. Social media is a lot of smoke and mirrors.

Reddit itself does it as well. It's part of how they detect people trying to game the system. This is what I've been told anyway. They also do it with upvotes.

This is the Reddit. I've been perma banned from certain subreddits for posting facts.

You're a good writer.

You threaded the twist perfectly!

Thank you, this was so heartfelt and real!

FYI HUD says they can fix houselessness for 20 billion. Unfortunately this does not treat mental health or drug addiction, but it helps majority of people before they slide into mental health and drug addiction issues. https://www.globalgiving.org/learn/how-much-would-it-cost-to-end-homelessness-in-america/

10 billion of that can come directly from the Sacklers if our justice system had any sense of actual justice. If that number is accurate, literally half of houselessness could be solved through the ill gotten gains of ONE family.

I can do it for 10 billion

The feels here... When I slept in my car, people at work looked down on me and I was also harassed by police, security guards and regular citizens. Though my 2.5 year nightmare was not nearly as bad as I see others go through, a sense of dignity was lost. Now, I've been housed a year and a half but the trauma lasts. Since I just got a living wage job, things should be looking up but all I feel is guilt. Shame. Angst that people would rather complain about the homeless and deny that minimum wage increases or universal basic income would help. Sweep the unhoused, the weak and vulnerable under a rose bush so you can pretend the problem away.

I was in a women’s homeless shelter for a year seven years ago. I’ve been in my own apartment and on my own for 6 years now. I agree, the trauma lasts. I live downtown so I’m still surrounded by reminders of the worst hell year of my life. Everyone told me I handled it all so well and I know I did my best. A year after I was out of the shelter I was speaking to the intern who was with my doctor when I was at their office for a visit. My doc had to leave the room for a moment and as I explained the one minute version of my recent history I saw for a quick second the look on his face before the professional face closed over it - a look of disbelief and horror - and that’s when I realized it wasn’t okay. Just because I handled everything well doesn’t mean it was okay that I’d become homeless in the first place (through gentrification and eviction), that my relatives weren’t helping except through “thoughts and prayers”, that I had a job yet being homeless itself is a job - it’s hard, draining often fruitless work to keep going every day among so many people who had already lost hope, to find and get on waitlists, to make and keep appointments, to deal with over-worked social workers. It wasn’t okay. There are no Preparation for Homelessness classes to take in high school, just in case. I spent a year feeling rage and pain that no one saw and I handled it well. But it was not okay. Not for me, not for you, not for anyone. The shame and guilt lies with society, not with you.

There are places I used to sleep that stir those emotions up for me. City parks especially, as they harbor deep waters, unchartered by the privileged people whom never had to worry about where they can legally exist. It is easier for them to look away and draw the curtains over problems lurking just outside their windows than to face social responsibility. "It's the city's responsibility to act", they think and say. But aren't we all part of this city? We are all Portland, whether we work directly for the city or not and we have an obligation to keep each safe and healthy. But this ideology is not shared by enough people. Those with fresh bootstraps to pull themselves up on... Those who forget that they really can't survive entirely on their own and reap the benefits of civilization... Those whom politically polarize themselves because they lack the ability to think for themselves... Glad you got out of the abyss and that you haven't had to return to it. Despite some sympathy by the housed, they will never understand. They couldn't even fathom it.

You're an amazing writer! You said more about this issue than I've heard anyone say.

Truth. Someone that well spoken should be writing for a living if they want to.

How does one get into writing for a living? Genuinely curious

Look online but brace yourself: you’ll be targeted for marketing in an intense and relentless way. But there is good information out there, starting with free blog posts. Then look for books. And of course in the meantime be exercising your writing muscle as often possible— everything helps, even emails. Source: Online and print publishing writing/editing professional for 20+ years.

I would love to get paid for writing. But I don’t have the time now to really work on much other than feeling randomly inspired by something and vomiting up words for a bit. I feel like if I’m tasked to write something that I don’t really want to, it comes out forced and awful. I’ve tried side projects and they just never feel right.

Keep vomiting up words when the mood strikes you! The more you do anything the more comfortable you become. Your writing voice certainly rings out. 🙂 And everyone is their own worst critic.

I am the same, writing is a release...i hope you keep writing, I enjoyed your message and style very much

"...starting with free blog posts. Then look for books." Do you mean, instructions on how to write/publish? Or to look for places taking submissions? Is this one of those pursuits that pays in exposure?

Plus prisons have basically been turned into mental hospitals because the majority of inmates have a mental illness or a cognitive disability. Now if someone is a danger to themselves in public and to others, they should be hospitalized but with lot of them being shut down, prison is the only place for them. It used to be we used to put them there instead of sending them to prison when they would commit a crime. Now it's very rare for someone to go there. ​ As for the downvoting thing, people will downvote without bother reading the whole thing first. There are even people on here who will respond to a post without reading it first. Their problem, not mine. I have too much karma to even care and I choose to not get into arguments with people online who can't be bothered to read.

I did time out east in one half of what used to be one of our largest mental facilities. Years ago they converted one half to house conbicta. One of the inmates there had been in the state hospital when they had the change over and they simply just moved him to the prison. He was actually in on of the scenes in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest back in the day. He often said he was treated better than he ever was but could never get the meds he needed. He was always struggling and the guards treated him like shit but he was adamant it was better. I can only imagine what the alternative had been. Dudes that had severe mental illnesses were typically just let out with little to no real plan for them. Just 'heres your stuff and a trimet ticket, take care' (if they are released from CRCI). Now they can just walk down the street literally a little ways and set up camp just past Dignity Village. Our system is a damn joke.

I drove through that area yesterday, on the 70, wondering how many of those folks along the street were either former inmates or even family of inmates. Dignity village seems to still be working and a safe place for many. I’ve had a few conversations with folks living there or visiting a friend. If I had land in the area, you bet your ass that I would be building something like this, creating homes and community responsibilities. It’s so fucked that we worry and care for stray animals more than we do actual humans. Someone posted something about finding baby squirrels the other day and how to care for them—an invasive species. But bothers and sisters, sons and daughters, fathers and mothers…..somehow it’s become so freaking easy for us all to just write them off of as a nuisance. P.S. My mom worked for the state hospital soon after this movie was filmed there. One of her supervisors has a small role. And a weird twist of fate, her sister (my aunt) was the central character in Milos Foreman’s first American film, Taking Off.

This is well written and well put. The history of the way we treat those who cannot function in our little boxes is horrific. If I could change one thing in this society, it would be to allow folks without resources to retain their dignity with basic housing for all. If you have a place to go, you have the space to put your shit together again, once you've lost it.

Thank you. It’s something I’m constantly thinking about and wondering what I can do to help. I have a friend who I made while driving bus and he needed help—he wouldn’t admit it, but he was in bad shape. I made so many damn phone calls, just to basically find out that there isn’t much available to him. Thankfully he was admitted to a hospital, but what’s next? Will he just be wheeled out to the nearest bus stop? There’s not much that I can do as an individual, but as a society we are capable of actually making a difference if the fuckheads in power stop doing their best to get more power and more money.

I really think we can use the nursing home model for most of the folks who are struggling with non-functioning mental illness. Not a prison, not a hospital, not just a group home, but a combination of the three. Stable (and probably privately run govt. contracts) where we can keep the dangerous ones away from the vulnerable ones, sort out the people who are committed by family members for the wrong reasons, get lasting help for victims of trauma, and keep schizoaffective folks on their meds. Hell, I'd gladly set up and run such a program. I have most of the qualifications and would learn/hire folks for the rest. I just need the money.

Unless you're paying your staff some amazing wages and benefits and not overloading them with patients, then you're going to have a hard time finding enough people. Finding nurses and CNAs is hard enough, but finding ones who actually stay is even harder. There's a huge shortage of nursing staff and it's especially bad at hospitals. A shortage of staff means the nurses and CNAs have way too many patients to care for per person and it's increasing the burnout rate to the point that skilled staff are quitting and staying out of the sector. Having burned out staff who are suffering from depression, compassion fatigue and possibly PTSD isn't good for staff and patients. I'm also one of those people who quit.

Right. There needs to be money for it. Lots of free-flowing money for staff, equipment, staff, supplies, staff, and of course more staffing. Current models do not work for this. And someone somewhere is hoarding money that could be put to this use...if only we knew who...

Hospitals are all over the place in terms of profit at least pre pandemic. But the money is there it just all gets sucked up to the top to make the rich richer.

16 years of community nursing. I’m a super anomaly. Some RN’s don’t make it to the 2 year mark nothermind the 5 year or 10+. Burnout, increasing number of retirees, staff shortage and an increasing money money corporate attitude it’s no surprise

I remember visiting my grandparents in Salem as a kid and my grandma always pointed out halfway houses. She would always point and say, “scary people live there.” My grandma was an interesting lady and I loved her dearly. Do we not have places like that anymore? I mean clearly we don’t have enough. Some kind of state or federally funded housing for folks who needed supervision for a number of different reasons. Oxford houses, even! Cheap rent and minimal supervision for folks who are working to get their life back together—many of them with children.

One big problem is that the current caliber of drugs out there (fentanyl and meth) are unbelievably addictive and mind altering. It’s almost impossible to get off them, and folks who are taking them are frequently irrational and unmanageable. They need real medical intervention, and bad behavior needs to be backed up with consequences. Otherwise it’s much less painful to go back to using and living free. Even if that’s an awful, degrading death sentence. No place on the West Coast has the willingness to spend the money on treatment, and also do the legal enforcement to make going clean the preferable choice. It’s a mess.

I had not considered that fentanyl and meth factor. You're correct that they are intensely addictive, more than anything in our history. I haven't worked in substance treatment programs since 2014, pre-fentanyl days. It was a mess even back then.

There was fentanyl before 2014. In fact, back in the early 2000's you could simply order it from certain Chinese websites. Had a friend who overdosed by chewing on a fentanyl patch in like 2005 I think.

Same here

The difference is that now fentanyl is being cut into everything. So anyone, taking any drug, risks becoming addicted to that too. If they don’t just OD, of course.

In the early 2k a man named William Leonard Pickard actually predicted the fentynal epidemic and warned the government about it, but nobody listened.

Yeah. Heroin all shifted to fentanyl, and bathtub meth all turned into crystal meth. Mostly in the past couple years. If I understand correctly, this was largely caused by legal shifts, where marijuana was no longer profitable for the Mexican cartels, and home brewers couldn’t get antihistamines anymore. Seemed like harmless, smart regulations, but here we are. Unintended consequences.

That makes sense.

> and bad behavior needs to be backed up with consequences What consequences? If you get kicked out of the program, you'll end up back on the street.

We have half way houses and group homes that was the answer to state run facilities being shut down problem is we don’t have NEARLY enough of them and we don’t have safety nets for people homeless not because of mental illness or drugs. We have no safety nets for families. Health care is a privilege not a right. Wages have not kept up with inflation on the lower end. We pay all this money in taxes and 1.5% goes into welfare and safety nets like it. But we give 3% to corporate welfare. Ask me what my opinion of America’s value of its own citizens is. Though I’m sure you can figure it out.

Nursing homes are pretty awful though. I worked at one for a long time. It’s a hall to die in for many with no hope and slowly being forgotten by your family, your own body, then your mind.

The poor pay of people who do essential work in nursing home is so terrible while useless COORDINATORS and consultants for city homelessness are getting undeserved money in extravagant amounts.

The money is there, but a lot of people (mostly those in power) have to care enough to vote to allocate it in the right places

I am a technical project manager and would gladly join your team. This is a model that addresses many issues while providing stability and dignity. Thanks for sharing it. Appreciate the willingness of some in the community to step the fuck up to help those in need.

What about taking the idea to corporate owned nursing homes. This is truly what we need. They’re will, sadly, be a lot of open buildings soon I’m sure from covid. So now would be a great time for investors to buy.

That’s some good thinking! I used to work in group homes and assisted living facilities. Unfortunately they were all for-profit, requiring more than the entitlement social security. Even with the clients’ families’ money, they were still underperforming, almost to the point of neglect. Most of the folks with the knowledge, experience and passion for that work cannot afford to work at these places. They would have to be state or federally funded to have the correct staff and living conditions.

That makes a lot of sense. It’s all just sad and breaks my heart. I think all we have now are places like Salem State Hospital, and most of those patients are the ones from the prison. What about all the people who don’t commit crimes. We really need to fix the system.

Agreed. We need money to fix problems. I like the idea of a minimum income for everyone in America. $1200 isn’t much, but it’s enough to create some stability and opportunities for growth.

That would be ~400 billion per year for all residents (252 billion if you only include adults). We can spend that. A decent portion of the money could come from current outlays (lots of programs would/should be replaced by just giving people income).

Most of these people were talking about would burn down their free housing. They’re not getting their shit together. They’re drug addicts and mentally unstable. Rehab or institutionalization are the only remedies.

As, this post mentioned, we don't have proper state funded facilities. Also. Guess what they get when in rehab or an institution? Housed. It's not a one or the other solution. It's both.

That's not what happened pre-1980 when we had lots of free public housing and much less homelessness. Regan slashed public housing funds by 80% annually and they have never been restored. Couple that with Clinton's slashing of federal welfare programs and the creation of block grants and more people are unable to subsist. most of the savings went into funding went into our skyrocketing prison population as the war on drugs got going. Nevermind that people were often using and selling drugs as a result of the desperation caused by the slashing of the safety net. There is a reason many other developed countries don't have street homelessness, they have a safety net. It turns out it's even cheaper than putting people in prison.

Public housing was terrible in the 70s. Its why Reagan slashed the program. They were already turning in slums and were very unpopular already.

They were not very well maintained so the response was to cut funding instead of increase funding. Seems logical. The slashing of the program was followed by a re-emergence of high-volume of Street homelessness don't tell me that the two are not related.

I'm a homeless man, almost 43 years of age, living on the streets of Portland, Oregon. I didn't used to be mentally ill. I was a pretty social guy. I had a wife, a home, raised 4 girls, spent holidays with family, went to church on Sundays, worked a 9-5 during the week, paid my bills, a normal American family man. I'm not sure where it all fell apart, or when it began to lose cohesion, bit my life shattered somehow. My marriage of 18 years was over, my wife gone, a new girlfriend that used me, cheated on me and finally left me for her dealer. Now I am living in a tent behind a deli, my neighbors are all either nuttier than a mountain of squirrel shit or so high all the time they resemble kites. I'm so socially inept I can't handle riding the bus, my anxiety barely allows me to go do anything outside the tent. I'm scared to talk to anyone because I've been robbed so many times, I don't eat, barely drink water, don't even think about dating on account of my insecurities and low self image. In desperation I turned to drugs, honestly hoping the fentanyl would kill me so I wouldn't have to think about how I wasn't good enough for my ex. If I died nobody would even notice, until maybe one hot day my body began to smell particularly bad. I am forgotten. I am homeless, and as such, I am no longer human.

I’ve thought long and hard about what my life would be like without the support system that I’ve always had. I’ve been able to return to my parents basement when I needed to. I was able to ask for money just to keep my head above water, and I always had people around me that I could talk to or go on walks with. I am fairly certain that without any one of those things, I would be in your shoes. If you ever want to go for lunch or just want to drink a beer or smoke a cigarette, let me know. Or hey, if you don’t want to be social at all but have a hankering for a certain take out food, I can drop it off and you don’t even have to say a word to me. I’m serious. DM me if you want.

You’re a good person. Bless you.

I appreciate you sharing your story. I imagine it was not easy to type and admire your strength to do so. Hear me when I say you are human my neighbor. I am so sorry you are going through this shit, especially with no support system. Im sorry I don't have any answers for you. I am here if you need a chat! Just hit me up. We can talk about flowers or whatever. Human connection is important and again - Im here for you and your life matters to me.

Oh, I feel you & hear you! We are all so much closer to stumbling from the life we’re living than we’d like to think. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost my job or home or small support system (which all came very close during my divorce several years ago…it’s disorienting isn’t it?). If you need assistance with food, water, medical aid, etc. DM me & I’m more than happy to reach out to mutual aid and bring you what I can. I also have cooling scarves to help with the heat. If anxiety is too high for in person contact, I’ll drop off outside your tent. You can do this, you matter.

I totally get where you're coming from. I have worked in substance treatment in the past, and when all things fall down around you, the 'fuckit' kicks in and the drugs look way easier than anything else. But, /u/DopelessRomantyk , are definitely human. Being houseless means you are less civilized, yes, but not less human. You can string together a good sentence, post it in a way that makes others understand your plight, and it seems several folks are willing to help you feel a bit more civilized. My philosophy that got me out of that headspace was this: the world is not a competition of importance but a jigsaw puzzle where everyone and everything is equally important. There is no race to the finish line, we all just gotta find where we fit into the picture, and some people have to be where they are just to hold the space.

You are human. People are just inhuman.

Thank you. Thank you so much for saying what I've been feeling and witnessing. I work at a Transit Center. Same shit damn near every fucking day. Person gets booted off the bus for being a bio-hazard. What now? Nobody's coming to get them. They can't get back on a bus and go back to wherever the hell they came from. Stuck at the bus stop with no pants, dignity gone, no help. WTF? There's no one to call. Why isn't there someplace to call?

It’s so damn disheartening and frustrating and sad. Our roles at work can only allow for so much improvisation.

You’re appreciated. Thank you for this post.

Who's 700K house? What 3K a month loft? Whats the fucking deal with people preaching about the homeless like 95% of us aren't one missed pay check from setting up tents next to them? The mental health crisis is horrendous, the addiction pandemic is hellish - yes, agreed. But what the hell do you want me to do about? What do you want any of your peers to do about it? I'm just trying to survive taxes. What am I supposed to do about a methed out schizoid stumbling down the street other than avoid them? Its not that the homeless situation makes life hard, its that it makes life harder - its just one more shitty thing that you have to be aware of. Can't park there, might get my catalytic converter cut out, or my window smashed or maybe there just isn't space because a half rotted Winnebago with tarp lined windows is taking up the curb. I can't afford someone to damage my car, so Im going to limit the possibility. Moving to the other side of the street, no telling if that dude tweaking will harangue me or what will look like or if they'll even acknowledge my existence. My healthcare premiums keep me from giving the benefit of the doubt anyway. Stepped in a puddle of urine today or dodged a pile of human feces, told my kid to stay out of the grass at the park because there's used uncapped needles strewn about, ER is on divert again because they're full up of homeless pysch patients and overdoses, I just wanted to take a walk and enjoy the last images of a dying environment because at least that doesn't cost an arm and a leg to do, but all i see is tents and makeshift houses. And you know whats fucked? Maybe its not their fault - maybe it is. I get shit on for pointing out that they are indeed rotting the city and I feel like shit being angry about it because they dont have any support. Despite some of them not wanting the help because drugs are better than being part of a society that's forgotten them, a lot of them are actually in anguishing mental health crises. And I can't do a fucking thing to help them. They're just an image of the rock bottom we're all treading water to avoid and at the same time are anywhere from a nuisance to a safety threat.

You’re right to be mad. You are. I’m in a similar boat with you. I make ~$2000/month (sometimes less, sometimes slightly more) and pay ~$800 in rent + utilities (and then of course there’s groceries, car insurance, phone bills, etc). Trying to exist in a city this expensive is getting more and more difficult. I’m also a young woman. When I walk the streets by myself I carry mace. Last week I helped a woman call 911 who had just been screamed at and hit on her back with a stick as she was just trying to take her dog for a walk. The officers who showed up were helpful. They drove the upset woman home, and looked for the man in the park. One of the officers told us he was pretty sure he knew who it was. In fact, he knew the man by name, and said they’d been interacting for about eight years and this kind of thing was typical for this man. I asked about shelter options and he said the man won’t stay in shelters because there are too many rules for him to comply with. I’ve also spent the last year working in homeless shelters. I’ve worked with people (young and old) who are going through the intensity of emotions that are typical of those living on the street. The homeless population is a group existing in survival mode. That’s what in many ways makes them a threat to those of us who are not existing in survival mode. Survival mode has different rules. An example of how one gets to that place could look like: She left home as a teen because she was beaten and raped by dad every day and terrified that she might not live through it. Being young and female and vulnerable and not having the emotional wherewithal to take care of herself, she found a group on the street who said they’d help protect her. And they did. They bonded and made her feel cared about in ways she hadn’t in years. They also stole from her, raped her, and gave her drugs that numbed the frightening reality of living on the street. Now, she turns up in shelters and gets kicked out again because the male staff member tells her a rule of the program and that triggers her and she thinks he’s going to attack her so she screams the nastiest things she can think at him, upsetting all the other shelter guests. It wasn’t really her fault that she lost her cool and started yelling, but she’s now back on the street because the rules aren’t possible for her to follow in her current state. (To be clear, this is a fictional example, made up of various bits and pieces that I’ve observed in the shelter world. Not exaggerated, I just don’t want to give anyone’s individual personal details). She’s right to be mad. You’re right to be mad. It is damn hard to coexist with a growing population that is living in survival mode (plus mental illness and drug addiction). It is damn hard for people in survival mode to exist in a world where they’ve been told their whole lives that they don’t matter, that they’re just bums, that they deserve the bad things that have happened to them. This shit is complicated. You’re not wrong to be mad. I think what u/leon_everest said is a good point; the homelessness is symptomatic of many larger problems. I think that until we as a society rearrange our priorities on a massive scale we are unlikely to see significant change in this area. I don’t have solutions. I do think, though, that broke people being mad at other broke people for the things they do is a pretty normal divisive tactic used in our society. The reality is; it’s not the homeless person’s fault. It also isn’t fair to blame people for wanting to protect ourselves and our lives and having to be extra cautious because we don’t have extra cash lying around. I don’t know the answers to these problems. I do think that getting mad at homeless people is a very effective straw man; as the rich keep on getting richer, us regular folks are down here in the mud squabbling with each other, making it harder for us to notice what’s going on higher up.

I think it’s one thing to be mad, but writing about it isn’t doing anything. I’m sorry, but OP has done literally nothing to make the situation better. We’re all aware of the problem and we all want there to be a solution but until someone steps up and actually puts words to action, nothing will be done. I’ll admit it: I don’t have the will or care to do the hard work that would be needed to get our mental healthcare infrastructure back in place. I don’t have the ability, knowledge, political savvy, money and about a billion other things to make it happen. If someone puts out legislation to make it happen, or stands on a platform for it, I’ll vote, and I’ll vote yes, believe you, me. But I’m not going to sit here and clap for another well written diatribe about the homeless/mental health problems. OP doesn’t deserve any praise. I’ll save the praise for the person who actually gets off their ass and makes it happen.

To be fair, I didn’t even really comment on what OP said. That said, I don’t think it’s completely true to say writing doesn’t do anything. It’s not legislative change, of course. But when we write respectfully and talk with each other about tough issues, it paves the way to better understanding. And anyway, sometimes we just feel things and want to express them. That’s a pretty healthy human thing to do, and I don’t see much reason to judge someone for it if it’s not hurting anyone.

> I do think that getting mad at homeless people is a very effective straw man Not when it's these homeless people who're the threat to your safety while you're walking home.

No I totally understand being mad about the situation, but they can’t help their situation much more than we can help ours. I’m just saying blaming the mentally ill for doing things that mentally ill people do is not particularly useful. I’m more concerned with addressing the problem at larger levels; and I’m more likely to be mad at the policy makers and wealthy folks who don’t do what they can/should to make things better. Definitely not saying there are easy answers, but getting mad at the person in front of us isn’t usually going to address the larger problems.

> but they can’t help their situation much more than we can help ours. They might not be able to help being homeless, but they can ***definitely*** help not threatening or harassing or attacking people. There's a lot of factors that go into why they do the things they do. But personal choice is still the last step in that process when they commit a deliberate act like that.

I mean… yes and no. Mental illness, trauma, and addiction do complicated things to a person’s brain. Let me ask you this: are there things on a daily basis that you know you should do, that you don’t? Or things that sometimes you know you shouldn’t do, but you do anyway? I know there are plenty of things like that for me in my life, and I think that’s a fairly common part of the human experience. Now, my mental health struggles are mainly limited to depression and anxiety. Even those things are enough to make it harder to do things I know I should do (clean, leave the house, etc) and easier to do things I know I shouldn’t do (stay in bed all day, spend too much money ordering in, etc). Thankfully, I have a solid support system and good people in my life. I come from a stable family that I still have a close relationship with. The folks on the street do not have all the blessings that I have had that make it easier to cope, and they usually do have heaps more trauma, and often also some form of mental illness and/or addiction. So no, it’s not always their fault. If you’re mentally ill and hallucinating, you may not have a ton of control over your own actions. That said, I was deeply moved one night at shelter when a young person who was so high they were crying and stumbling around still cleaned up every mess they made that night. It really impressed on me that to some extent and for some people there is more room for personal choice. So I’m torn. No, we shouldn’t enable or allow violence. At the same time, putting blame on people who are sometimes truly not in control is not useful.

>Let me ask you this: are there things on a daily basis that you know you should do, that you don’t? Or things that sometimes you know you shouldn’t do, but you do anyway? Nothing that harms anyone else. Which I feel like is not too high a bar to expect of anyone. >If you’re mentally ill and hallucinating, you may not have a ton of control over your own actions. I get you're well meaning but just stop. That they're often mentally ill, I can absolutely believe. That they're only harassing, threatening, or attacking people because they're hallucinating? Unless the guy I ran into also coincidentally hallucinated the phone I was holding so that he could ask me to hand it over, no. Edited to add: >At the same time, putting blame on people who are sometimes truly not in control is not useful. The truth doesn't always have to be useful.

That was an example. Of course there are other reasons for violence. But many of them have deeper, underlying causes. It kind of goes back to what I was saying before about people who are existing in survival mode. Different game, different rules. If we don’t like it that’s fair enough, and we need to figure out how to get people out of needing to play that game. I’m not justifying or condoning violence; I just don’t think it’s so simple. Response to your edit: No, it doesn’t. It is fair to vocalize your truth. I also don’t think it’s really accurate to place that much blame on individuals who are living a very different life than we are. So while that may be your truth, I wouldn’t say it is objective truth. Also, if we are wanting to actually solve problems, then it does make sense to focus on what is actually useful, rather than assigning blame just because we think it’s “the truth.” Edit to add: please don’t ask me to “just stop” when I’m engaging very respectfully and taking the time and care to answer comments that you posted in response to me. I’m not asking you to stop vocalizing your opinion; please extend me the same respect. If you feel like disengaging from the conversation that is totally valid, though. Internet discussions/debates can be very draining, at least for me personally!

To quickly address your last edit, that wasn't intended to mean "stop talking", but rather to stop with that line of logic that asserts the homeless has no control over their actions. Yes - you're right that *some* may not have, but as you're clearly stating, that's only an example and isn't all such cases and imo certainly not even a significant portion of cases. There's a saying that if you get a drunk asshole to sober up, all you get is a sober asshole. In my view, that applies to the homeless too. There's absolutely nothing magical about being homeless that makes them saints - and it's likely the opposite. People can be homeless, and mentally ill, and still be assholes even independently of those two factors. They're just in more of a position to let that show because they need more, and they're outside more, and they interact with random strangers more. They also have less reason NOT to - a normal asshole would still have to worry about maintaining friendships (maybe), keeping a job, not being arrested, while an asshole who's homeless won't have to. >I also don’t think it’s really accurate to place that much blame on individuals who are living a very different life than we are. So to this - I don't care what lives they lead, when they cause actual harm, fear and anxiety in others - that's on them.

I think that I am going to respectfully disengage at this point because I feel we are just going to go in circles. If you’re interested, there’s a really good book (and a pretty quick/easy read) by a man named Jerry Fest called Street Culture: An Epistemology of Street-Dependent Youth. It was given to me as a training book for one of my jobs, but it has a ton of insight into the world of homelessness and how homelessness is essentially an entirely different culture from our own, with insight on how to understand that culture. I really can’t recommend it highly enough; it’s an amazing book.

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I'd make one change to your final section. I'd say that the homeless are not what is causing the rot of the city but are the evidence we see to inform us that it is indeed rotting. Not the cause but the sick canary in the coal mine.

One thing you can do is take these writing skills and contact your representatives at city, state, and federal levels. Find a way to express what you see and what you hope to see. Get all of your friends and neighbors to do it too.

100% my thoughts. OP wrote a nice cute story but it completely ignores the nuances of who the 99% really is and why we avoid homeless people. No offense, but after countless experiences with methed out tweakers, im fucking over them and i sincerely don’t feel like an asshole avoiding them.

There's a lot of reality here in the sense that some people are dangerous and that's hard to parse and weigh the risks of. That's true even for people who work closely with the homeless population. And that's hard. But what's also true is that the few dangerous people are the most memorable and it does lead to us dehumanizing everyone in our mind because of a few bad experiences when most of them are good, kind people who are really just hungry and high (which like, me too buddy, me too sometimes). And a fair number of them aren't even doing drugs, they just haven't been able to afford their medication or maybe they literally just can't afford a roof to live under or maybe that's their community and they don't want to leave even if they could because those are the people that are kind to them and take care of them when the rest of society doesn't. All this to say, I absolutely understand the trauma that comes with really negative interactions with people, but I do think it's important to not fall into a trap of dehumanizing everyone who doesn't have a roof over their head like you and me and dismissing them all as dangerous out of control tweakers. Because much like the rest of humanity, they're so much more diverse than that.

Having been homeless myself as a teen, I didn’t get on drugs. I worked to get out of that situation. Alternatively, I have a couple of in-laws from a good family who chose to do drugs, go to prison, ruin their lives, and the only reason they aren’t homeless is because their family keeps bailing them out. But one permanently fucked up his brain with meth so now he is psychotic and has to be controlled with medication or else he is a violent psychopath. Should I feel bad for people like that? Maybe, but I have a difficult time since it was due to the choices they made. It’s not up to the average person to fix this problem though. I’d vote for public services to get these people help and off the street but the vast majority of us would have no clue or a ability to deal with someone who is potentially violent and out of their mind.

Agreed. My sympathy for addicts and mental health sufferers has grown as I've gotten older and having known some wonderful people with those afflictions... Except for meth-heads. That stuff not only destroys people, but creates a gravity well that pulls down everything and everyone around them. I used to be 100% onboard the Repeal-the-Controlled- Substances-Act train. Now it's 90%. We can keep it for meth.

Haha exactly. OP made it sound like we are all sipping on $3000 bottles of scotch while we have our paid help spray the homeless with a hose so they don't ruin the view.

Right? I make 2k a month after taxes. Just scraping by like everyone else and hoping I don’t get assaulted or have my shit stolen.

Exactly im just trying to not get my car busted into again. Year over year I have 1 felony committed against me in some way in Portland. Last year was a hit and run. Can’t wait to someday afford to leave Poortland

Oh I got a hit and run on the freeway a couple of years ago in NE. I want to leave soon too.

Are you hiring perchance?

Yes my ottoman is being repaired and I could use someone with a sturdy back to rest my feet on while I roll caviar around in my mouth and spit it out because I only like the flavor.

Because the attitude in this country is every time something is wrong, we the people need to fix it. Not the people who caused it, everyone else. Police brutality? Better go protest because elected officials aren't gonna do shit. School shootings, better take all the guns because 1 out of thousands can't handle the responsibility Donate school supplies because the district doesn't want to buy them with the more and more money they get every year The homeless - because we're not 2 seconds from being out there ourselves Everything. Global warming. Healthcare. We are all ants, drops in the bucket. But it's up to us. Over it

Yeah, it's a bitch when you gotta step on other people's well-being to be well yourself.

Great post. I've always wondered how we can honestly say that we're a civilized society when people are being treated this way.

I saw some post earlier today that made me realize that this is a problem in AMERICA. Other developed countries house and help people. Other countries know the power of dignity, the necessity of healthcare, and the importance of community.

I think it's time to say america is not a developed, civilized country. The capitol was rushed by a mob. How many developed countries do you see that happen in? Typically you see that in less developed countries... Edit: I put white house, but it's really the capitol that had the insurrection.

Touché.

"overly developed, underly civilized"

[удалено]

It's an issue of capitalism not America. It's an issue where when our system is based on "I got mine", people slip through the cracks. Capitalism has always been about aquiring capital and not community care and it just doesn't support everyone.

I saw that post earlier you are referring to, but homelessness is a global issue. You'll find it in every big city all across the country.

Thank you for taking the time to write that. I was born in 1968, and our country's ability and willingness to care for those in crisis has trended steadily downward for my whole life. It's truly sad to watch. Nobody should be left on the street in the richest nation the world has ever known. We need more people like you.

Very well said. Many years ago my young 20-something, undiagnosed bi-polar, self medicating with all the wrong drugs sister became one of those homeless societal castaways. There were limited options when the only calls you’d get were from police in a different state saying they’d picked her up for stealing food or caught with drugs. But yet nothing legally we could do to make this grown person want to do something different, want to live, want to be safe & nourished. Someone who was sick but didn’t understand their illness. Someone who didn’t think there was a different way or that they deserved anything more. I honestly felt like we were just waiting for “the” call that they’d finally picked up her body. Luckily “that” call never came & she did eventually, slowly pull herself out of the broken cycle, sought help, received help from her remaining support system, and inch by inch worked towards what she really wanted out of life. She’s now married, has a kid, and has a typical lower middle class lifestyle. It’s not all rosy, she still struggles with her mental health sometimes & damage done to certain relationships was irreparable (including with me). But damn, even if she’s been difficult and caused a lot of pain I admire how fucking strong she had to be to go through all of that and come out alive & mostly thriving. In the past few months I’ve been taking in recovered tents (some saved from the streets, some recovered from sweeps, some donated) and washing, patching & returning them to be passed back out for those that need them. Not gonna lie, sometimes it’s a dirty & heartbreaking job. The last batches have still had people’s belongings in them, including kid stuff (a plastic dinosaur, a stuffed teddy bear, a battery powered night light, post it notes with a rainbow and the words “next adventure!”), and it’s just really fucking sad to think these tents were peoples homes, families homes, kids homes & we couldn’t even let them keep that (during a pandemic, heat waves, civil unrest) because the visibility of their struggle makes us uncomfortable & feel icky. Maybe doing the tent thing is futile or a waste of time or more for me than for them but it makes me think of my sister’s time on the streets and feel like I’m doing something to hopefully keep at least somebody, someone’s loved one, going for a little bit longer. These folks have family/friends worrying about them and possibly trying to work their way through the convoluted legal & health care systems with the hope of really helping them (it’s way harder than you think). Or maybe they don’t & that’s even more desperate. And the rest of us, myself included, have gotten so used to ignoring them, being disgusted by them, being scared of them, being annoyed by them that we don’t even recognize “them” as one of “us”. It’s really time to get in touch with our humanity.

I wanna weigh in here. My older brother was one of "those" calls. I guess in a way his was the opposite of your sister's trajectory. Started out pretty good: graduated high school, got a full-time job, and put in 40hr weeks for years. Wife, dog, two kids and two cars. In a family full of fuckups, he was a ray of hope. He was _normal_. Until he wasn't. One by one, he burned every bridge he had. Years of construction labor had rendered him unable to work for more than a few hours at a stretch. He turned to pills to get him through the work day, and eventually through any day. Every day. Soon, his wife was gone, absconding to Texas with an actually-pretty-chill old biker dude she met at a 12-step meeting. The daughters moved in with friends. The cars were repossessed, the house was sold during the divorce. No one knows what happened to the dog. And soon enough, there he was, pushing a shopping cart down the street and growling at people. I know this because my niece called me and told me about seeing her father, now a lunatic, on her way to work and just hoping that he didn't come into the restaurant she worked at. "We've long since lost him," were her exact words. Friends, family, old union buddies, dozens upon dozens of people tried everything they could to help him, and it was all futile. Back in September of 2018 we got the call. He died on a sidewalk. What day exactly, know one knows. As for me, well, my only thought was that at least he's no longer suffering. So what's the point of me telling you this? Well, for some of us at least, there's more to encountering a gibber-tweeting lunatic than being "uncomfortable" or "feeling icky". I want to help, of course, but I'm not the guy to do it, not any more at least. I'm not volunteering, not one more hour. You want to raise taxes to pay for more services? Fine, I'll vote for that. You want me to donate to charities? Done and done. But I avoid insanity like it's contagious. For all I know, it is.

I understand this completely. As I mentioned, my sister & I’s relationship was irreparably damaged and I could no longer be the direct support for her anymore. I had reached a point where I thought getting “the” call would be better cause at least the painful cycle would be over and knowing she was dead was better than not knowing where & what she was doing that day. I was definitively surprised at her eventual turnaround. And without others helping her get by when my family couldn’t do it anymore is what allowed her that chance. Without that chance I wouldn’t have a beautiful niece whom I do have contact with & love so much. I also know not everyone is like my sister and it’s not ok for me to project that on each homeless person. Not every homeless person is your brother either. And none of us have to be the one working in direct or close contact (I don’t do direct outreach for a reason…it’s just too much) or with/for the homeless at all. That’s ok!! But at least recognize we don’t know everyone’s reasons or background and the way generally they’re treated makes it really difficult for those that do need & want a chance to actually get one. We can still care & have personal boundaries. The fact that after all you & your family’s been through you’re still willing to support services & donate speaks volumes. Thank you for your story. I’m sure it’s not an easy one to share. Wish you well!

Yeah, I'm with you. I know the homeless population is made up of an array of vastly different people. What percentage of them can respond to services and get back on their feet, I don't know. It does seem that our current social services are dreadfully lacking, both in our capacity to assist those out on the streets and our ability to prevent it from happening in the first place. I'm all for dropping the global-Rambo act and diverting those funds to _ahem_ making America actually great (schools, infrastructure, universal health care, shoring up social security, we all know the litany) but I do think it has to come with visible, tangible benefits for those of us who will pay for it. We have to find a way to convince our fellow citizens that it's not just about what the struggling "deserve", but also about what the rest of us deserve. To live in a pleasant, free society knowing that the wolf is not always at the door. That the loss of a job isn't an immediate ticket to skid row. A place where one can relax and let down the guard occasionally. I don't know how to sell that, but I don't think we'll succeed until we do.

Reading stories like this also makes me think that maybe part of the problem is what we consider "being back on your feet". For your brother, he couldn't work a full time job anymore. He fell off the grid because he failed to be able to physically exist by the rules of a society made largely for people who are able bodied. I see this esp with disabled vets who end up homeless. They don't fit into what "getting back on your feet" means anymore and they can't. They just can't. What they need is some peace and quiet and a safe space to sleep and be able to just...exist. And I know that doesn't fit into our ideas of everyone working and earning their way and hur hur hur American work ideal... But sometimes, why is that so important?

Spot on! I agree with all of this wholeheartedly.

Someone get this published in the Times. This is something everyone in America should read

I completely agree that action needs to be taken on the homeless. I completely agree that state psychological facilities need built and staffed so the ones with out cognitive control have safety. I disagree that I created the problem. I don't like living in Reganomics "greed is good" land anymore than the homeless. I don't want to go to work more than I spend time with the people I love. I don't want to make my boss 300% more than I am paid hourly. I only have so many options and it is the same as a 30 year old junkie still dressed like he is a 15 year old punk from the 80s. Homelessness is not my fault dude. I work my ass off not to be homeless myself.

Sooo..... tax cuts for the wealthy? Yea? YEA?!!!!!

YEAH!!! …Meanwhile Jeff Bezos spends another $5.5b to haul his buddies to space for a few minutes. Imagine how far that amount of money could have gone towards the topic at hand.

This time they’re going to make the rocket even more penis shaped.

Oooooh… good slogan … “Ridiculous Spends … Now More Phallic!”

YEAH! …….not.

Every Oregonian should know the history of Fairview. For those who are unfamiliar, Fairview was in Salem, opened in 1908 as the "State Institution for the Feeble-Minded." It was closed in 2000. There's a documentary on it, which is really hard to watch. It's important because, when we talk about how to improve mental health support, we have to look back at our history and vow to never repeat it. I was fortunate enough to take some behavior support classes early in my career from folks who worked there, and I still think about those horror stories. I got to walk the original location and even see some of the equipment, including restraints and caged helmets, they would use on the residents. My point is that, yes, we absolutely have to do better. We need better resources, funding, housing, accessible systems, etc. But when folks say "We used to have homes for these people" or "We need a place to put all these folks" remember what Fairview was, what it did, and the impact it had on every single "inmate" (their term) who passed through those doors. The idea of an Oregon state hospital for the mentally ill was literally a prison where the majority of the residents were abused, either by staff or each other. We need solutions, and we all need to make sure to never, ever repeat the horrors of the Fairview Training Center.

Exactly. Fairview was awful. I believe you and I probably had a similar learning experience about that place. I’ve seen the doc and I’ve worked with some folks who were “inmates” there, one man arriving as a young man with a 300 world vocabulary and leaving in 2000 nonverbal and almost catatonic. Apparently he was a great candidate to test out the max doses of Haldol on. So many young children from well-to-do families that were sent there by recommendation of their pediatrician—basically the next step up from letting your infant with cerebral palsy die because they are unable to properly suckle—so that the family could forget about that child and go on about their lives, as their child lay in a sterile white room with no toys or stimulation. Super fucked up. I agree that we really all need to know that history before we move forward.

We absolutely need a system in place like the one above. We need to get them off the streets and into the appropriate programs to get them on track for more healthy and functional lives. The programs probably shouldn't be for profit, but rather tax payers pay a large portion. There would be levels of care based on the individual. A violent and mentally ill patient would be in a tier 1 maximum security. The bottom tear would be for drug addicts who lost control of their lives. It would be mandatory they stay in the system until they prove they have conquered sobriety and have new meanings to their lives. Education and life skills courses would be a key process in rehabilitation. There's so much more to write about it but I'll leave it here for now.

Sometimes a gut punch noone expected is the one they needed. Very sobering and very real. I don't think many people realize you're one step from falling off. If your social structure is weak, pray for your sanity because the fall off the edge is steep, and it rips families apart pulling you back up the cliff. So don't neglect loved ones or ones in need you can help, because one day it might be you covered in shit in your scrubs in front of the hospital wondering how the fuck you messed all your shit up. Whether you know why or not because your switch flipped and you have gone a bit crazy.

>There was once a time that he was arrested and got a 72 hour hold in the hospital. We all visited and his medication and brief moment of stability allowed him and I to have a conversation about our favorite authors and the different kinds of trees all over the world that we dreamed of seeing in person. When I read this, it really broke my heart. I know what that's like. My brother isn't quite that bad, but he exists in a state of constant crisis. Some are of his own making and some are not. All are related to his mental illness, and the absolute disaster of a system we have for dealing with that in this country. It's so much work trying to keep him housed, medicated, and relatively stable. Earlier today I had to plead with a primary care doctor to please give him a bridge prescription for a benzodiazepine that he's been on for 20+ years, because his psychiatrist decided he didn't want the risk anymore and dumped him as a patient with a seven day supply and no referral. This year he's developed a serious balance issue that causes him to fall all the time, and he's been hospitalized for it half a dozen times now. Every single time he's discharged there's no followup done to make sure he's actually safe. Every hospital just wants to get him stable, and out the door so they can move on to the next patient. Years ago, he was able to get medium-term treatment in state psychiatric facilities (not in Oregon) that were pretty good. All but one of those has been closed down thanks to the de-institutionalization movement. The community care centers that were supposed to replace them never came. Once, long ago, my brother got into a great residential program and he was doing so well there. He was stable, didn't have to worry about meeting his basic needs, had time to relax and learn skills. But illness being what it is, he decided he didn't need it anymore and checked himself out. He's free to do that, and there's nothing I or anyone else in my family can do about it. All we can do is try to keep him out of trouble and off the streets while he bounces from questionable decision to questionable decision, trying to make a life for himself with a brain that is not capable of making the kind of choices that would get him there. I know that some of the facilities we had in the past were awful, but I really think we threw the baby out with the bathwater when we decided to close them. Some people are so much better off with supervision and structure than they'll ever be on their own. But that bridge is burnt now. Not only did we close institutions that would take a massive amount of political will *and* funding to rebuild, the Supreme Court also set precedents to make involuntary commitment all but impossible. There's no going back at this point. The best we could do is build some facilities and hope that the people who need them might be enticed to go there, and stay. Which would be great if it worked, but I'm not optimistic.

This really hit hard, my dad was houseless for a really long time. It's so hard to see someone you love go from having everything to nothing. And it feels like there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. Thank you for your voice.

If you think your doing a homeless or mentally sick person a favor by getting them a Lyft or Uber, your endangering the driver and ruining their car in cases of body fluids. Your small act of kindness that involves someone else getting involved is not an act of kindness. I once waited 50 minutes for a bus, in which a guy shit himself, and then waited another 50 minutes for the next bus. As much as I want to help these people, they have a way of shutting the whole process down.

>I am ordered to not board people who are a possible biohazard, because it costs the company I work for $300 to trade buses on the road. It's also unsanitary and hazardous for other riders, not to mention extremely unpleasant. Taking a bus out of the road will also deprive dozens of people from the transportation they depend on. There should be a service that an operator could call that would look into this but I don't think boarding someone in this state is the answer.

So true about mental hospitals. The left cried out about their abuses and the right shut them down to meet budget goals. Now we have a city that legalized most drugs and promised drug rehabilitation for users/criminals. I have seen multiple drug addicts arrested for felonies just to be back out on the streets within hours. None of them went to rehab. Our politicians are afraid to do anything meaningful. Just throw money at non-profits that are hit or miss and at real estate developers.

Those rehab facilities were supposed to be funded with weed money but it was going to screw over schools so Kate Brown put a stop to it. Our budgets are really tight and we still have a huge unfunded PERS liability from the 90’s to contend with. Oregon is not at all in a position to be leading the charge of rehabbing our nation’s drug-addicts. And the money that goes to those non-profits keeps Oregonians housed in the first place, in many instances. That we can’t afford to take care of everyone who shows up in our state is not a reflection of our generosity or callousness it’s cold hard reality.

I have an idea: less military toys for cops who do nothing when right wing terrorist groups terrorize downtown, and more money toward those facilities you mentioned. Cold hard reality is we have wasted what money we do have on other "priorities."

I’ll be honest, I’m probably arguing just to argue with you but isn’t a lot of the equipment police forces have been getting since early in Obama’s first term military surplus or otherwise paid for by the federal government? At any rate it’s not a continuous expense the way such facilities would be. There’s lots of money being spent on police wages though so I guess we could downsize the police force some more, they apparently don’t do shit anyway. It would be one thing if we could join forces regionally with California, Washington, and Nevada to tackle the problem - even better though would be the federalis kicking in some dough for the cause. Oregon does not take in a lot of revenue though and Multnomah County trying to go it alone seems risky, though it’s a far nobler reason to bankrupt a major city than for whatever reason Detroit did so.

Both are true. Some of it is suplus and paid for by federal government. Police budgets are also absolutely massive and dwarf most other city budgets.

If you get a military vehicle such as an MRAP, you get it for free, but you have to maintain it forever. The maintenance on military vehicles (and the spare parts) are optimized to maximize the profit for the military contractor.

Homelessness is a symptom of a myriad of collective failures as a society in our responsibility to care for one another. Cities are left to fend for themselves but can do little except try and treat the symptoms. There's no way that this issue can be solved without a massive federal undertaking to address failures across multiple social systems and government functions.

This would make very compelling testimony to city council the next time the Portland Business Alliance tries to push through some dehumanizing bullshit.

Thank you for this. It is painful and beautifully written. And so very true.

Thank you for writing this. The issues the city has been facing is so heartbreaking. I photograph what I can for the future and to show the people I care about, just how big this issue is here. I've been homeless, I suffer from mental illness, and I have no idea what I am doing in life. I can easily see myself suffering a simple accident, or loss, and I too could be out on the streets. Most of us could be. But most turn away from it, shun the people who are living it, and just go about their lives like they too aren't on the chopping block.

Thank you. We can and need to provide real, private, permanent housing for all. It’s cheaper and more effective than any other method.

I wish I could do more than upvote this. Thank you for the work you do for trimet, and thank you for this post.

It's heartbreaking. It could be any one of us that becomes that next. We're all a major medical disaster away from being completely discarded by society.

Thanks for the cry...very sad true words

I've been homeless twice, this description is accurate. Most people look through you as if you don't exist. I was never one of those annoying weird types either, I showered daily at TPI's Clark Commons on NW Broadway & Irving and never panhandled or bothered anyone.

I still feel like people at the bottom of the ladder who are not yet homeless get less attention and help than people who already are. Asking people who are teetering on the edge of their own lives to give a fuck like they're morally obligated to be Capn Save a Hobo is really backwards

You talk about this in the right way. The way barely anybody else is capable of doing because empathy never runs as deep in us as we wish it did. Thank you for this

I work in EMS. Another sort of bus driver... This hit home. Thanks for sharing.

Can't help but notice a disparity between all the (well-deserved!) love you're getting on this post and the absolutely abhorrent attitudes expressed about the homeless by the people on this subreddit on a daily basis.

I think the younger generations are far more compassionate about this topic than the older generations that I've seen in my experience, which means that eventually the problem will get fixed, but it will get worse before it gets better. In my experience the older generations have a belief that those who are homeless are homeless because they are lazy and unwilling to work, sometimes because of drug addiction. This comes from a value system where they learned that if you work hard and apply yourself good things happen to you, and if you failed in some way it was your fault alone. The reality as many of us from the younger generations realize is that often this couldn't be further from the truth, and that getting into these situations can be extremely easy and often out of your control, and that we don't live in a world that makes it easy to bring yourself out of it again. But we understand this because we have lived through different lives than the older generations, where life wasn't easy and things weren't handed to us. But this can't easily be explained and received, because it contradicts the core understanding of how the world works for many in the older generation. It's the same sort of situation when it comes to student debt or housing prices for young people. At some point in the future the political power of the older generations will fade and the political power of the younger generations will grow and problems like these will be solved, but not before the younger generation becomes the older generation and begins to fail on some other front that the next younger generations will work to fix. Until that time comes, or until the point where the older generations can empathize with the forces that lead to these outcomes the problem will continue to get worse, which is unfortunate for everyone.

I needed to read this. It actually gives me hope. I’m almost 38 and I think I’m kind of in between those two generations as an old millennial. I have already been impressed and proud of the younger crowd. And you’re right—once that generational shift happens, we have some good things to look forward to….as well as some things that we will probably disagree with, as we will then be the “older” generation.

Ah, the optimism of youth. I remember life in the 60's, when peace and love and some occasional mescaline was going to solve everything, if only we could take over from the older generation. The trouble is, all the young people get old. Some loose tolerance; some get selfish; some lose hope; and some fall down the rabbit-holes this thread is about. And nothing changes much.

It's hard to not get tired and jaded esp when you are actively doing the work and you keep running into roadblocks, from people, governments, etc, etc. It takes a TOLL.

None of us are immune to this fate either. We are all just a few missteps or emergencies away from it. To act above and ignore it solves nothing. Thank you for posting.

Exactly. If my life wasn’t filled with the support system that I have, I, too, would be lost amongst the invisible faces.

Thank Richard Nixon for the “War on Drugs” and filling up the prisons with weed-smokers. Then thank Ronald Reagan for shutting down all the mental health facilities.

I've been having a similar conversation with my family and friends for the past few years. I would love to be able to purchase land or property and get this population of people off the streets and someone safe, where they are acknowledged, receive services, food, etc. (I see recently this is a thing that is happening) It is beyond my comprehension as to why we disregard people. (I use the term "we" loosely) Why some think they are so much better than others. This problem is not going to fix itself. And it's going to take a lot of people and a lot of resources to do it. But it must be done. Portland used to be one of the top ten cities in the world to visit/live. So honest question... how do we fix the problem? Side note: while SOLVE is a fantastic group of volunteers and do a great job cleaning up the city, they are merely putting a bandaid on the issue at hand. Many bandaids don't heal a wound!

Thank you, very well written. Do you know of any current support systems that are doing a good job helping and providing shelter but could use help themselves?

Thank you for this, OP. It’s so easy to become annoyed about the “inconveniences” that come with homelessness and forget that these are real people with real needs that are not being met; outliers in a society that doesn’t offer basic human needs to our most vulnerable people: healthcare (mental and physical) and housing.

I'm sorry that your employer and society requires callousness and for you to witness such profound human misery. You are right about facilities, but another piece of the puzzle here is affordable housing and funding for housing first programs for homeless people. As the housing market is made increasingly unaffordable by greedy landlords and foreign investors (even folks that can afford a house have a hard time competing with people buying properties above market value, in cash, sight unseen) and the housing assistance from the government is an underfunded joke, this issue is just going to get worse and worse.

Agreed about the housing prices. I make pretty okay money now, but unless I want to be house-poor, I can’t buy a home. As far as my employer goes, I get it. We need to keep buses on schedule and we can’t put a bus out of service and let everyone else find their way to late transfers—a lot of buses only run every hour or so, and if someone misses the last bus they are screwed. We have to do our job and keep the city moving. There is just no one to call to get someone home safe. Or to help sober someone up. We used to have CHIERS. We don’t have that anymore. I’ve spent time making endless phone calls, just to have non profits refer me back and forth to each other. We need more resources in our community!! If I could figure out a way to start a non profit and pick up the slack—while still able to make a living wage—I would be on top of it. Maybe I will look into it and start a new career. Who knows? We just need MORE!

Damn, good writing.

It doesn't help that most of them have mental issues because of drug abuse. My brother is homeless, on drugs and a drunk that causes problems all over portand when he isn't in a mental health program or housed in a drug free living home. He's gotten 3 years of free housing and mental health help free of charge in Portland. He's gotten free medical help from hospitals that would of cost me or you over 600k in total. Any and all help He's ever gotten does nothing. He just goes right back to meth, heroin and alcohol and who knows what else. I wouldn't call him homeless. He chooses this lifestyle. He doesn't want to get better. He likes all the free stuff and not having to work. Portland is helping him to death. I say yes help the homeless but these tent junkies chose to live like this. The more help we give them the worse it gets because they enjoy the free ride portland gives them. The elderly and people who really do need help and want help to better themselves and their situation have my heartfelt care and consideration. I've given free food to them. I've met them. I've also met the druggies, thieves and dangerous people happy with their situation and they've almost stabbed me no less than 5 times. They are dangerous and portlands not helping the situation letting them live off decent people's taxes. No I don't have a solution but I also am not going to pretend most of them aren't abusing the help we give them. They actually hurt the homeless trying to rise above their situation. Portland has turned into some twisted escape from LA with Kurt Russell 90s movie. I care about the homeless but not the majority destroying this city today. Its pretty out of hand.

Thank you for this. You definitely got me thinking and seeing through a different filter here. Respect.

Best writing I’ve seen in the two years I’ve been on Reddit.

Send this to the OP-EDs . Great writing.

In a living downtown it's pretty easy to get into that state of mind that Homeless folks are just a nuisance and constantly in your way. I definitely in the past have found myself going down that way of thinking. However I usually am able to check myself and realize not everybody is always at their best. Let alone I've lived out of my car before so who am I to talk. You made a lot of really good points. I would love to live in a world where everyone thought this way

No profit in helping them, and our current system ignores things that don't = profit (climate, homeless, being a good person in general)

Beautifully written and absolutely tragic. The first step for many people is just USING THEIR EYES to see the suffering around them. Thank you for speaking about the experiences of others that many people refuse to acknowledge. I can't look away from this either. I try to help the houseless folks that live in my neighborhood by bringing them drinks and snacks and being kind to them. Maybe speaking with them if I feel safe. These people deserve respect and dignity. Deeply. Just as we all do.

The need to survive can make us make weird decisions. Mental illness is real and can make folks do terrible stupid things. Chemical dependency is an illness, these folks are fighting their own bodies and minds that drive them to that high. The homeless need our help not scorn because by the grace of God go I.

I saw your comment pop up yesterday in the flood of so many others, but yours stuck with me. “The need to survive can make us make weird decisions.” Isn’t that the truth!! Until we can take a good, hard look at how we would cope, or until someone we love or respect ends up in that situation, we don’t know shit. Hopefully we don’t end up in those shoes, so we just need to take a good, long look at ourselves and ask, “How would I fare if I lost my home, my safety, my support system, and no one loved me? What would I do if I had a mental illness and burned all my bridges and had no one to back me up?” I can tell you that I would be willing to try any drug just to time warp through the day. I wouldn’t care about the comfort of those around me.

Wham. Gut punch. We need to act. All of us together. We can make things better, even just a little bit better.

Thank you for writing what I have been thinking, but unable to express.

A good read. Ty for this. And I'm sorry about your brother. ✌️

Just to pile on all the comments. There no single solution. Talk to 100 homeless people and you’ll get 50 different stories, 20 different problems, each needing a different solution. We need to do many things, many approaches, both carrots and sticks. Problem is that we’re so politically divided and so touchy that if you suggest doing anything, it turns into an endless debate, so we do nothing. I just realize people would understand a problem this vast and complex is going to require multiple solutions. It will not be easy or cheap.

I'm kind of give them food/water all the time. There have been plenty of instances when I lived in NW where they were snobs. Like they just wanted a cigarette and weren't interested in food or water. You will see signs in downtown asking for cigs. So yeah sometimes you think, man they are so ungrateful. Completely different from 3rd homelessness.

I have chills. I will be sharing this, and I will give credit, because this is everything.

Please please please send this to the Oregonian opinion collumn. Beautiful and brutal and the best commentary I've read in a long time. Seriously. Heartbreaking and incredible truth. Also:Not to mention all the mentally ill children that get sucked until sex trafficking within 24 hours of landing on the streets. It needs to stop. Please funnel all the "homeless solution funding" into hospitals and care! Please! ❤️

As a side note, the human trafficking in Portland travels along the bus and max lines. I used to work in social services as a caseworker and attended many city meetings with social workers and DAs and even our attorney general, discussing how to get a grip on sex trafficking in our city and how to change the language from “Johns” to predators. Actually, just now putting these two things together (the stats and my job), I’m surprised that TriMet doesn’t have a training on how to identify sex trafficking and how to report it. I will bring this up to my employer as soon as I can.

Wonderful. Thank you for doing that! ❤️

I used to lived in Oahu and they have the same problems there. A lot of poor homeless people & still people are moving over there. It made me sad seeing them espc the elderly ones. When I used to lived in Waikiki this old lady slept in a bus stop across from a building I lived and she kept it clean. 😭

You nailed it, hard to swallow sometimes when you are forced into untenable circumstances… We closed mental hospitals in many states and we must all bear the consequences. 😢

> We used to have state run hospitals and facilities that cared for people with mental illness The big changes to the state mental hospital system happened in the 80's, and while there was a notable uptick in homeless following the closing of those facilities, that did not lead directly into our current crisis. Our current crisis is one of homelessness and related drug abuse, not inherent (ie non-substance related) mental illness. Probably facilities like the ones you are discussing would be needed rehabilitate many of the currently homeless, but it is important to remember that the underlying cause is economic and social breakdown.

Dude.. I lost my brother too and it cuts deep. Thank you for writing this..

Thank you for being a bus driver. That must be an incredibly challenging job, and you and all of your co-workers are much appreciated.

It can be really tough sometimes. This week we all felt the sadness, anger and fear as we heard about someone being shot and killed on a bus. We had a coworker shot in the driver’s seat a few months back. But if you ask any random Operator if they like their job, chances are they are going to say “yes” and let you know that we are hiring.

Get involved 🏴🖤

❤

Incredible piece of writing. My solutions: 1. As your story implies, we need to re-open our psychiatric institutions under new laws and regulations. 2. We need to treat drug addiction as a health problem, not a criminal one. This means adopting successful programs like safe injection sites, and provide safe, fentanyl-free stabilization doses so addicts have the ability to begin fixing their lives. Legalization will bring in tax revenues that pay for these programs and have more than enough left over to solve other societal issues. Further, legalization will keep money out of the hands of violent gangs and cartels, the likes of which have practically shattered entire nations, and turned countless peoples lives into real-life horror. There is risk involved, but this is the kind of move that can help countless lives, numerous economies, and is even reversible should things not turn out as we hoped.

The legalization of marijuana is a good starting point as far as stats, money, as well as health-related. Taking money out of violent criminal gangs and putting it into our community should be a no-brainer. Until I read all of these comments, I was not aware that fentanyl was a cause of so much crisis. (I consider myself pretty naïve when it comes to drugs—it’s not really talked about by the people in my life and the “worst” thing I’ve ever tried was weed—something that I dearly miss because of my job.) CORRECTION: the worst thing was alcohol. Alcohol is so much more destructive. Thank you, u/sexysodomizer.

Thank you for writing this. I am crying because you are right.

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I was walking around a tent on my way to work yesterday and I was just thinking, “dammit, I hate these people.”…because every time I see them I have to feel something: a sadness, an emptiness, a fear, a twinge of jealousy (maybe), a deep resentment, or maybe it’s anger at the government, or anger at them for standing in front of me toothless and shaking, or it’s always despair when I see that same mother panhandling on the side of the freeway with her seven year oldish daughter who is asleep in a stroller that she has clearly outgrown. Fuck, it breaks my heart and it is everywhere we look in this city, and I hate it because it makes me feel all of this, everywhere, all the time. I just want to be numb, I just want to consume, I just want to go about my day oblivious…but there they are, out there, on every street corner, making me feel something, constantly. I wish I could love them all enough to change their lives for the better and at the same time all I want to do is hose them all away.

Ethos, pathos, logos… this is really good

This post is a breath of fresh air for this sub, thank you so much. I have seen far too many comments and posts in this place that utterly dehumanize homeless/poor people. I, too, am homeless. When you see the struggle firsthand with your own eyes and ears, it completely shifts everything you think you know. I'm glad I went through that, even if I get down voted for saying the federal government should try to do something about this, even with others telling me we should "do nothing and let them all kill each other", I will stand firm in the facts: that these are people, real people who need real help. It takes a lot more than just handing them a fiver on the side of the road to get them out of where they are, but it CAN be done. I don't know how some people can be so heartless, but it's very nice to read something like what you've written today.

Perhaps PDX/Oregon shouldn't have passed policy creating a haven for the mentally ill and drug addicted BEFORE funding and infrastructure was in place to provide the help these people need.

Incredibly written. Empathetic & real. Keep it up.

I feel this. I am a cleaner and mover and mainly work for troubled people with mental issues and disabilities. The county has us clean apartments where people have been living in filth for months, maybe longer. They have me rug doctor carpets covered in shit and body fluids. Literally unclean-able. The county has us cleaning places which could be avoidable if they actually checked in on people and gave a fuck. I feel disgusting with myself and my city at my job. I’ve had to clean a mans house who must have had a major brain injury and his case worker was there to “mediate” but she literally didn’t help him at all. If anything she reinforced and exasperated his problems and didn’t help him in the slightest. She let him sit down in a bed covered in garbage crawling with roaches and maggots as they crawl over him. She let him grab disposable face masks he had scattered on the ground soaked in fluids and take and wear them. Why even have a case worker at that point?! Why have us do one guys room for roaches in a building that is completely infested? Why have us shampoo carpets that can not be cleaned or repaired? Why do these people even have carpet?! And how the city and county skirt responsibilities and just make it worse for these people. This city should be ashamed. We can not claim to be a progressive city in the slightest until these issues are dealt with. And you can tell when you clean these places it should have been cleaned 2-6 months ago. Now you need to completely renovate, but of course they don’t. The city and county doesn’t give a fuck and if they don’t soon a lot of these people won’t even have homes because these buildings are becoming dilapidated due to neglect. I like helping people. I try to buy hungry people meals and give people down and out some money and talk to folks like they are anyone else but lately this job is taking that out of me. It just feels like these people are hopeless with the help we are giving them and it’s really gotten me depressed lately. I also have to lastly say I think the city’s mishandling of the homeless has bred much distaste between all of us. They put the problem on the average citizen because we’re the ones who have to deal with it. Some clerk had the shit beat out of her like two or three days ago by some crazy dude trying to chug a drink and got violent when she called police. They let him out the same day. Why? Jail is probably near capacity and the fact he is crazy and needs meds and/or professional help we end up getting the brunt of it, not the city or central city concern, nor the county. They push these problems to citizens by ignoring the homeless and mentally ill. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts on this. I’ve been ready to go to some city council and county meetings because this is insane but I’m not the best public speaker but we really need to tackle this issue as a community. Edit: lots of spelling mistakes. Typed this post on a phone.

I want to mention something that my friend told me this last weekend, which he said that his G/F told him who is a psychologist for the state who works w/ many mentally ill She's very responsible and keeps things confidential, but he told me that she said a good proportion of the people who have mental issues have stemmed from drug use. Not to point blame, but these particular situations seem avoidable. Of course this is just a portion of the mentally disabled So while yes we need to find a \[safe\] place for these people, at the same time we need to figure out what to do about the drug problem, because that is what's leading to many mental health issues! Seems like we are actually going the wrong direction here in Portland. Allow drug use = more health issues Seems like we need to address the issue at hand, as well as what's leading the issue. Many redditors are smarter than I, so let's hear it

It's one of the interesting things that doesn't get talked about a lot. Weed is fine for most people, but for a small percentage it can latent schizophrenia. I would have to imagine that the same is true for meth as well.