Sleeping Outside, Sleeping Safe

Right around the time I moved to the Portland area, William Kennedy published his Pulitzer winning novel Ironweed.  It is a sad story, fiction telling truth, which takes place in the Great Depression and covers addiction, mental illness, homelessness, and intense loss.  It is also a story about survival, connection and even hope.    Ironweed takes place over a few heartbreaking days and the scene I most remember reading (and then seeing when it was movie) has to do with a homeless camp and a violent attack against residents.  During the Great Depression, there were unsanctioned camps (known as Hoovervilles) all over America, filled with people who had no other place to live; unsurprisingly there was a housing crisis that was connected to the employment crisis.  And the inhabitants of the ramshackle camps were seen, by some, as responsible for their condition there.

It is an extreme version of what can happen when we don’t have places for people to even sleep.  While this is a difficult part of our history, it is not behind us.  People who are homeless are still  frequently victims of crime and are in unsafe situations.  And the recent ruling by the Supreme Court that allows jurisdictions to ban outdoor sleeping does not get us closer to a solution.   If we are just simply making it possible to ban sleeping outdoors, we are in fact jeopardizing the safety of vulnerable people.   Punishing people who have nowhere else to sleep will not end homelessness and will make it even more dangerous to be without housing.

In the wake of history, it is easier to see the external forces that move people and communities.  It is obvious to us that the economic realities of the Great Depression dramatically impacted the lives of many Americans, increasing homelessness and substance use and breaking up families.  In the future, what will people notice about how we solved our social injustices?   Did we recognize the sweeping forces of our own economy, the dramatic changes in climate and resulting displacement,  or the mental health challenges experienced by so many?  Or did we act as if homelessness was rooted only in personal choices on an individual level?  I urge us to see the larger patterns and to continue to find ways to support people who are homeless, not to make it harder for people to sleep in safety.

Instead of banning, communities need to be held accountable for there to be enough safe places for people to be.   In the state of Oregon we have a law that calls for adequate shelter connected to camping restrictions.  And in our regional community, we have manifested our own commitment through the Supportive Housing Services Levy, which provides resources to support people who have been living outside, including shelter and rent assistance  These are good choices, ways to acknowledge our mutual humanity and desire to assist people in having safety and ultimately a place to live.   CPAH is working, along with multiple other agencies in the community, to implement supportive services resources and to end homelessness.  We need to be sure that we continue to move in this direction, to help make real change in people’s lives, and to create the world we want for our loved ones, neighbors, and all community members.

Permanent supportive housing is a powerful way to address homelessness. But it cannot be the only way. We need housing, and we also need residential treatment options, places for people to stay when they can’t be successful in housing for a time, places where there are services and treatment, meals and relationships, and the opportunity to heal. We definitely need it much faster than it is being built.

Warmly –

Rachael Duke, Executive Director