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This is what community can look like.

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I hope this message finds you well – physically and mentally - in this unprecedented moment. I am writing to share with you some impacts we are feeling from COVID-19 and how we are handling them. We have been working very closely with Multnomah County’s public health and homeless services teams and other local service providers to determine the best path forward to protect and meet the needs of our staff, program participants, housing and shelter residents and our community at large.

At Human Solutions we often say "this is what community looks like" when we see our community come together to support each other. It is that same empathy, strength and sense of one-ness that we are drawing on as we face this global pandemic together.

Update on Our Services

Many in the community depend on Human Solutions to meet their needs, including emergency shelter, housing, rent assistance, after-school learning, and much more. We are working around the clock to keep our essential services available (and identify those we can put on hold), while also adjusting our programming and administration to meet local and state public health requirements to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Top on our minds is how to balance the urgent needs of our neighbors with very low incomes and insecure or no housing with the also urgent need to practice social distancing. As you know, this is a rapidly evolving situation, so our response is likely to evolve, too, over the coming weeks and months.

If you need to reach our staff, please know that any whose jobs allow it will be working remotely, so business may not be "as usual" but it is continuing. Our leadership team is mostly working remotely and participating in virtual meetings.

Our Emergency Shelters

Both our shelters for people experiencing homelessness remain open at this time, though we have stopped taking in new residents for the moment to create space for social distancing among beds and in daily living. Our women’s shelter is a congregate setting, where people share close sleeping quarters, while our family shelter is a former motel, so families have private rooms, requiring less adjustment in this moment. Our goal is the same as yours, I bet: to support our community when it needs us most. And sometimes supporting each other looks like staying six feet apart!

How You Can Help Now

  • Donate funds. Our biggest fundraiser of the year, our annual auction and gala, was planned for May 2, so we have postponed it (stay tuned for a new date soon). To make up for that critical funding loss, we are asking our community to step in now as they are able and make a gift – maybe the one you would have made had you been able to attend. Just click here to help us reach the $25,000 goal that will earn us an equal match. Contact Sherri with ideas to help: sphillips@humansolutions.org or 503.548.0224. We are turning lemons into lemonade.
  • Donate key items. We rely on community donations to ensure shelter residents have what they need to feel at home while staying with us, including food. Delivering hot dinners or sack lunches right now is most welcome. You can also shop this Amazon Wishlist while maintaining social distance; whatever you order will, be delivered to our 24/7 shelter.
  • Got Other Ideas? Great, we’re all ears. This is very much a team effort!
  • Get in touch to help! Contact Shawna, our terrific volunteer & donations coordinator, to get the details and dive in (maybe you are home from work with some unexpected time on your hands?): 503.278.1637 or volunteer@humansolutions.org.

However you can support our work and our community as a whole at this time, we are grateful. Thank you, thank you for being part of the Human Solutions extended family: together, WE are what community looks like.

In solidarity,

 

 

Andy Miller, Executive Director, and the whole team at Human Solutions

Paying it forward, 25 years later…

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This fall I was able to pay it forward to Human Solutions - after 25 years! Back then, I was in no position to write $500 checks to support their work with others in need, but I knew I wanted to and now I am. Here’s my story:

As a young mother with two young children, I became homeless after separating from my partner. I had a part-time job, but not enough money to make it all work. Thankfully, that’s when I learned about Human Solutions.

A little help at the right time made all the difference.

When I reached out, Human Solutions' assistance was just what I needed to get back on my feet. Their kind and understanding staff helped me move into transitional housing and pay for childcare, which was essential to being able to earn enough money to support the three of us. After three months in transitional housing, I found a more permanent place that met our needs. With Human Solutions providing rent and childcare assistance for another three critical months, I was able to maintain stability and start earning what I needed to support my little family.

Helping others when I could was always my goal.

During that time, I always thought that when I got back on my feet, I would give back to the organizations that helped me. I knew there were other mothers experiencing the fear of not knowing how to provide for their children. It was my goal to extend to them the same support that was extended to me. I kept telling myself “when I win the lottery I will make my gift.” I haven’t won the lottery (lol), but this year I made my second $500 gift to Human Solutions to support others facing the kind of challenges I did. I know they are out there, and I know that Human Solutions has the skills and experience to work successfully and kindly with those who find themselves, for various reasons, unable to make ends meet.

Can you join me in this important work? Together we can do so much!

I’m writing you now because I want you to know that the services Human Solutions offers can really lift someone up. They helped me during a rough patch, and now I get to cherish the good times. My daughters (in the photo) have grown into wonderful women who have now started their own families - and I get to spend this holiday season holding my grandson.

I invite you to join me in paying it forward by making a gift to Human Solutions as soon as possible – any amount helps.

It’s easy to give – just click here to make an online donation (or pop it in the mail to: 12350 SE Powell Blvd., Portland, OR 97236).

Any amount helps – trust me. The generosity of others made a difference in my life. I know that your gift will make a difference in another family’s life!

Gratefully,

Cara

P.S. From someone who knows firsthand the impact your gift has, thank you for your compassion and generosity. It means the world. https://humansolutions.org/payitforward/

From Housed to Homeless – and Back!

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They say a picture is worth 1,000 words. To which I’d add: stories are how we make sense of the world. Here at Human Solutions, we have the honor of being a partner to many people's stories as they seek our help along their way.

When I recently met Jesse and Tanya and their three wonderful children (ages 2, 6 & 14) at Lilac Meadows, our new emergency shelter for families in SE Portland, I was struck by both the speed and magnitude of their spiral into poverty and homelessness and by their hard work to put it all back together. You’ve probably seen this, too – how quickly folks are being pulled from calm to crisis by the forces causing homelessness at record rates in our community. And like us, I bet you want a solution so all families in our community have a place to call home and a real chance to thrive.

From Housed To Homeless In 6 Months

While each family we work with is unique, we see some trends: people are working hard to survive and overcome poverty and homelessness, facing systemic barriers at every turn – racism, misogyny, low wages, no way to save, and high childcare costs, among others. Jesse and Tanya’s experience going from a stable home and job to unhoused with nothing took a mere six months, precipitated by a layoff. Tragically, when Jesse lost his job the family lost their housing, too, because their landlord was also Jesse’s employer. Without income, they couldn’t afford their car payments, so those are gone, too, along with the money they had invested in them.

One thing about poverty in America is that once that starter event happens – an unexpected medical (or other) bill, a rent increase or a high-needs child – it’s like the dam is broken and a flood of additional blows push people further from stability. But we can rebuild the dams and push back on the floodwaters.

With your continued help, families like Tanya and Jesse’s can have what everyone in our community deserves: a place to call home that they love and can afford.

An Important Partner

While Jesse, Tanya and the kids are living at Lilac Meadows, our on-site shelter team supports them by meeting them where they are and working forward from there. All 39 resident families at Lilac Meadows have a warm and dry place to sleep and store their belongings, three meals a day, one-on-one rehousing support, and, importantly, empathy and encouragement. With their immediate needs met, families can focus on their futures. Speaking of which, Jesse is already back at work in a new job!

Something Jesse and Tanya really love at Human Solutions is the orga- nized field trips we make available for the kids – OMSI, the pumpkin patch, the Children’s Museum and more!

As Jesse told me, their littles wake up and ask to go right to the shelter office so they can hang out with staff, whom they adore. As we like to say at Human Solutions: this is what community looks like.

Can you help families like Jesse and Tanya’s have the housing and economic security they are working so hard for? Your gift will make a world of difference for Jesse, Tanya, and the kids – and for Human Solutions’ work to ensure that everyone in our community has a safe and stable place to call home.

Solutions Now And For The Future

Our staff does a great job working with families like Jesse and Tanya’s to overcome the challenges our economic and housing systems throw in their way. But too many of our neighbors are facing the same barriers. At Human Solutions, we believe that these systems must work better, so fewer families endure the trauma and lasting impacts of poverty and homelessness – and more have a real opportunity to thrive. To that end, we’re not just helping people find housing today – we’re also working for a more just society tomorrow.

Together We Are The Solution

For the sake of Jesse and Tanya and the many unhoused families across our area who need help right now (there are hundreds on waitlists for shelter), I invite you to be part of the solution by making a generous gift this season. Together we can help our community today and work to address the root causes of poverty and homelessness to prevent more crises tomorrow. We know there’s a better way, and we’re working every day to get there.

With gratitude,

 

 

Andy Miller, Executive Director

PS – BE PART OF THE SOLUTION! Thank you for renewing your support – it does a world of good. And our community needs us right now!

Give here today: humansolutions.org/back2home

Our kids adore the staff here at Lilac Meadows. They were comfortable from the 1st day we arrived. When our kids are happy, we’re more able to focus on the future.

-Jesse B, shelter resident and father of 3

Toy drive, holiday volunteering, advice for cold nights

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What an amazing streak of gorgeous fall weather we are fortunate to have. Makes raking all those leaves more enjoyable! That said, we are on the cusp of chillier nights when sleeping outside will be even harder than usual.

We appreciate and are glad to share advice for all of us during the cold weather from 211.info, our local social service coordinator: Community members are asked to be vigilant watching out for their neighbors in need. Anyone who has concerns about someone they observe who appears to be unprepared for the cold weather and does not seem to be capable of caring for themselves should call Police Non-Emergency, 503-823-3333, and request a “welfare check.” If it appears that the person’s situation is mental health-related, the Mental Health Crisis Line can be reached 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at 503-988-4888. If the situation appears to present an imminent risk to the person’s health or safety, dial 911. Every one of us can help out in these situations, and with accurate information we are better able to step up and do the right thing. Human Solutions supports the most compassionate response to people on the street and has endorsed Portland Street Response, a developing program spearheaded by Street Roots.

In other news, the team at Human Solutions has been busy as ever this fall. I’m sharing some highlights here that I think may interest you.

Your Help Needed! ‘Tis the Season for Human Solutions’ Holiday Toy Drive!

This event is a joyful tradition at Human Solutions! Every year, we partner with volunteers and organizations across our community to collect gifts for kids who need them and invite their parents to “shop” (for free, of course!) for the holidays. Shoppers are families with low/no incomes who live in our affordable housing communities or are participating in our programs. You can help by hosting a collection bin in your community, church or office space, delivering gifts to our two office locations (12350 SE Powell Blvd. and 124 NE 181st Ave.), shopping for gifts on our Amazon Wish List (they send things right to us!), volunteering, or sponsoring the event. Details and volunteer sign-ups are on our web page. Let’s put a little shine in the holidays, shall we?!?

2nd Community Conversation on Homelessness | December in the Pearl

We had such a strong turnout this summer for our first Community Conversation on Homelessness that we’re doing it again! This time in the Pearl District in downtown Portland. Join us – you can RSVP here.

Event Details:

  • Who: Anyone interested in understanding and solving homelessness in our community.
  • Where: CENTRL Office Pearl - 1355 NW Everett Street, Portland, OR 97209 (here’s a map)
  • When: Tuesday, December 3rd from 5:30 to 7:30 PM (program begins at 6:00 PM, settle in and grab food from 5:30-6:00).
  • Food/Drink: Light snacks and beverages available – or BYO if you prefer!

Questions? Contact Lisa Frack, Human Solutions: 503.548.0282 or lfrack@humansolutions.org. For CENTRL Office, contact Madeline at madeline@centrloffice.com

Help Out by Cooking & Serving Meals in our Emergency Shelters

Human Solutions operates two emergency shelters for people who are unhoused: one for families with dependent children and another for women (all who identify). Approximately 230 people (80 of them children) stay with us every night. Of course we provide meals (three per day for every shelter resident, which adds up to about 250,000 meals a year!)

That’s where you come in! Our part-time kitchen manager, Chris, cooks a lot, but we depend on volunteers in the community to supplement her meals (like those pictured here who cooked and served lunch for 90 women few weeks back). Is that you? It is a joyful way to be a contributing member of our community. Our shelter volunteer and donations coordinator, Christina, awaits you: volunteer@humansolutions.org or 503.278.1637. ‘Tis the season to feed and break bread with others, right? If you’ve been thinking, “I want to do something, but I don’t quite know what,” get in touch with Christina – she’s friendly and can get you all set up! #thisiswhatcommunitylookslike

New Skills2Work Program

The group you see here are proud graduates of Skills2Work, a new program we created to support people experiencing housing insecurity and homelessness as they prepare to re-enter the job market. While we have long worked with folks with low/no incomes to increase their skills and find career-track employment, this program fills a gap by offering training and support for those with the most barriers to work so they can recover confidence, skills and self-awareness on the road to potential employment and a brighter future. Our incredible employment team worked to craft this unique series specifically for a cohort of women – including many who reside in our Gresham Women’s Shelter. After six weeks of inspiring hard work, the cohort of 13 graduates received their diplomas at an emotional ceremony. It was a morning filled with pride, accomplishment, tears, hugs and love – one of the most memorable celebrations I have attended in my 25 years of doing this work. Take a look at this recent article in the Gresham Outlook about this program.

Mia Birdsong Was So Inspiring!

We are still on cloud nine after hosting the incredible Mia Birdsong (pictured here with Human Solutions ED Andy Miller and our Board VP Jo Ann Hardesty) at APANO’s new space in SE PDX in October (we recorded her terrific presentation so you can watch it right here). Mia raises questions so relevant to our times, making clear that we can’t have a community that works for everyone if we don’t tackle head-on the root causes of inequity that create so much hardship today. She clearly called out structural racism, misogyny, classism, and our unique brand of aggressive capitalism that puts profits ahead of humanity. As Mia told us that night and shared again with our staff on Friday morning (lucky us!), our job is to put ALL the people into “We the People,” creating truth from fiction.

To keep the conversation going, we are sharing a few resources:

At Human Solutions we are working towards housing and economic security for all – and Mia’s approach really resonates with us. Hope to see you at another event soon!

Good listen about East Portland, our service area

This short segment on OPB shares historical background and current issues in East Portland through the lens of an artist working with the community. We’ve been here 31 years and even we learned something new! Enjoy.

“Portland artist Sabina Haque began exploring the history of Portland east of 82nd Avenue for an art project two years ago. Since then, she’s interviewed various residents about their history in East Portland and their hopes for its future. She joins us to talk about her project and what she hopes to do next.”

October was National Domestic Violence Awareness Month

On October 22nd Human Solutions staff participated in the City of Gresham’s annual candlelight vigil to raise awareness, support survivors and remember those we’ve lost. We know all too well from our day-to-day work that domestic violence is a 365-day-a-year issue. Nearly 70% of the residents at our Gresham Women’s Shelter report being survivors of domestic violence; it is a major contributor to homelessness for women. This powerful event is spearheaded by Rep. Carla Piluso, former Gresham Police Chief and current Human Solutions board secretary. We were glad to show our support this night and also appreciate the ongoing work of the Oregon Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence.

Thanks, as always, for your interest in our community – it needs us right now.

Warmly,

 

 

 

Andy Miller, Executive Director

PS – Inspired by what we’re doing? Please consider a donation to keep us going strong – we’re open 24/7 right here: https://www.humansolutions.org/giving (thank you!)

Update | Fall 2019

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I am so proud of all the great work our team is doing at Human Solutions that I just had to share three recent highlights with you. As someone who has supported our work in the community (thank you!), I hope you will be as energized by our progress and impact as I am.

Delivering More Affordable Housing

Over the next two to three years, we will bring 168 new apartments to East Portland, where the housing crisis is increasingly acute. Two big pieces of news to share:

Golden shovels to break ground this September. Big moment with terrific partners!

  1. We broke ground in September on our most ambitious project yet: 75 new apartments with ground-floor retail and an anchor office/service center for Human Solutions, right next to Discovery Park in East Portland’s Gateway neighborhood. We look forward to moving into our new home 18 months from now, together with 75 families who will move into theirs. We sure hope you’ll join us for the grand opening! The site is at 106th & NE Halsey – you’ll see the cranes when you drive by.
  2. We are redeveloping our former family shelter site into 93 permanently affordable homes for families. Human Solutions was awarded $13.9 million from the City of Portland’s 2016 Affordable Housing Bond (thank you, voters!) to move this exciting project forward. We’re thrilled that 16 of the apartments will provide “permanent supportive housing” for families experiencing chronic homelessness. What makes these units different is the high level of supportive services available to families to end their ongoing struggle with homelessness. Permanent supportive housing is a national best-practice with a proven track record creating sustainable homes for those who have been unhoused for years. Human Solutions has been an Oregon leader in developing and providing this type of housing for families, and we are thrilled to expand options in East Portland for families who have been unhoused for too long.

Our New Family Shelter Is Open

Over the last few months, our hard-working shelter team began welcoming families to Lilac Meadows, our new emergency shelter for families. We are partnering with Multnomah County to operate this new site, a former motel that allows families the privacy and normalcy of family life with the on-site support they need to find stable housing. Our terrific team works one-on-one with every resident family to transition from homelessness to housing. With homelessness in our region continuing to grow and a hundreds-long waitlist for emergency shelter, we are proud to be part of the solution, providing a safe place to live and rapid rehousing support for 39 families – including about 80 kids - every night. Our track record is strong, too: last year 85% of the families who moved into housing from our shelter remained housed for at least one year. If you want to help out (we hope you do!), our shelter volunteer & donations coordinator, Christina, would love to hear from you: volunteer@humansolutions.org or 503.278.1637.

New Employment Programming

Proud Skills2Work graduates holding their certificates in our Gresham Women’s Shelter.

The group you see here are proud graduates of Skills2Work, a new program we created to support people experiencing housing insecurity and homelessness as they prepare to re-enter the job market. While we have long worked with low/no income folks to help them increase their skills and find career-track employment, this program fills a gap by offering training and support for those with the most barriers to work so they can recover confidence, skills and self-awareness on the road to potential employment and a brighter future. Our incredible Employment Team worked to craft this unique series specifically for a cohort of women – including many who reside in our Gresham Women’s Shelter. After many weeks of inspiring hard work, the cohort of 13 graduates received their diplomas at an emotional ceremony. It was a morning filled with pride, accomplishment, tears, hugs and love – one of the most memorable celebrations I have attended in my 25 years of doing this work. I’ve enclosed a recent article in the Gresham Outlook about this program – take a look!

Community Conversation on Homelessness

Marci Cartagena, Emergency Services Director, answers an audience question.

This summer we hosted a conversation about homelessness and enjoyed dialoging with the community about what’s happening in our city and what we are doing to help solve it. About 50 folks joined us at a coffee shop in the Mt. Tabor neighborhood, where we had a robust, productive conversation that moved us all toward greater understanding of homelessness and more empathy for the people trying to survive it. Folks had the chance to talk with our experts and each other about their personal beliefs about our economy, our housing markets, and how to help those left out of the prosperity we are seeing in Oregon. Thank to locally-owned office sharing company CENTRL Office for hosting another Community Conversation at their Pearl location on Tuesday, December 3rd from 5:30-7:30 PM - RSVP here. If you’d like us to bring this kind of dialog to your community, please reach out to our communications director Lisa at lfrack@humansolutions.org or 503.548.0282.

Thank you, as always, for caring about our community and Human Solutions’ role in making it work for everyone. I am so glad that you are part of the Human Solutions family.

Warmly,

 

 

Andy Miller, Executive Director

PS – If you are inspired by our accomplishments, we’re open for gifts 24/7 right here (thank you!): humansolutions.org/giving.

BIG News! We broke ground on our most ambitious project yet!

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On Friday, September 20th we celebrated something BIG here at Human Solutions: we broke ground to build 75 units of rental housing and a new anchor office for our team alongside Portland’s newest greenspace – Discovery Park in East Portland’s Gateway neighborhood. This new development will provide homes for those in need, a place for local businesses to thrive and a new home for Human Solutions. We can’t wait to invite you to the Grand Opening in about 18 months!

I encourage you to check out the project details on our web site along with some of the architectural renderings. That way you’ll be able to envision the transformation of this empty lot where we will open this new community in Spring 2021. We hope you think it’s as beautiful as we do!

Project partners helped us break ground. Thanks to LMC Construction, our contractor, for the gold shovels!

In addition to adding 75 apartments affordable to a range of incomes, this new space will include an anchor office and service center for Human Solutions. We are thrilled to be building a home of our own in East Portland, where we have been part of the community for more than 30 years. We have outgrown our current leased space, which has long needed an upgrade. We’re ready for our amazing team and the people who seek our support to feel the warmth and sense of value a beautiful space conveys.

Project partners helped us break ground. Thanks to LMC Construction, our contractor, for the gold shovels!

We could not have put this project together without a host of incredible partners - some experts, others investors (and some both!). Our development team: Gerding Edlen, Holst Architecture and LMC Construction. Our investors: JP Morgan Chase, The Collins Foundation, Dudley Ventures, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Low Income Investment Fund, Metro, Meyer Memorial Trust, Multnomah County, On Semiconductor, Oregon Housing & Community Services, Portland Housing Bureau, PNC Bank, and (last but definitely not least!) Prosper Portland.

Among the many wonderful speakers at the groundbreaking celebration one really stood out. Laurie Palmer is not just an eloquent speaker (though she is definitely that). She is an incredible woman with a story to tell who happens to live in another housing community that Human Solutions developed and owns. Her message is perhaps the most important of all, because she represents the reason we do this work: to create a community where everyone can experience the dignity of a well-built, permanent home that they can afford. Our work at Human Solutions helps people overcome the barriers they face in our inequitable economic and social systems. Laurie sought Human Solutions’ help to bust through those barriers, but make no mistake: she is a survivor who got herself where she is today. We’re grateful that Laurie is using her voice to call for a better way. We invite you to take a few minutes (two and seven seconds, to be exact!) to hear her powerful and inspiring message.

Thank you for celebrating with us as we work to build a community that works for everyone,

 

 

 

 

Andy Miller, Executive Director

PS – Want to be part of the solution? We never turn down an offer of support – give here today. It’ll feel good!

Join Us! We’re Breaking Ground.

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Human Solutions is pleased to host this groundbreaking celebration as we begin construction on our newest project, including mixed-income affordable housing development and Human Solutions’ service center and office space. The project features ground-floor retail operated by Prosper Portland along Halsey Street and Discovery Park, a wonderful new urban park built by the folks at Portland Parks and Recreation. The project is located in East Portland's Gateway neighborhood, where we are excited to become a contributing neighbor.

We are developing this project with our terrific partner Gerding-Edlen.

You'll find tasty (and of course local) treats, inspiring words, golden shovels, and an important land acknowledgement. We’ll also reveal the building’s new name! And 20 or so months later, we'll invite you back for the Grand Opening 🙂

PLEASE JOIN US!

RSVP here.

August eNews: Lots happening @ Human Solutions!

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This month has been a whirlwind of activity here at Human Solutions - including a visit from Mayor Wheeler to our awesome after-school program, planning for our inspiring fall speaker, and a robust community conversation about homelessness – among much else! Happily, we were still able to find time to gather for an all-staff picnic last week to connect with each other in a beautiful place and honor our team for their tremendous work every day. Here’s the full scoop:

Come Listen to Mia Birdsong Reframe Poverty

We’re very excited to open registration for our fall speaker event. Be sure to save the date! Mia Birdsong gave a TED Talk in 2015 that went viral. We’re bringing her to Portland to address a topic that is at the heart of what we do and who we are: poverty and how people view those who experience it. This is an opportunity to open our minds, explore our biases and learn to see things in new ways. Plus: it’s free and there’s food! What are you waiting for!?! Register here (it's free but space is limited). Spread the word on Facebook here.

 

We’re Concerned About the Proposed Change in the Public Charge Rule

As you may be aware, the Trump Administration has been moving a policy change through the rulemaking process that could go into effect this fall related to how we determine when an immigrant is considered a “public charge” and denied entry (here’s a nice overview of the concept). Human Solutions does NOT support the shift and believes it to be harmful to our immigrant neighbors – whom we welcome with open arms. We rely on expert organizations like the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) to guide us, and want to share their tools to help others understand what’s at stake and how to respond. A quick overview from them:

“On August 14, 2019, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a final rule related to public charge in the Federal Register. The rule will not take effect until October 15, 2019. Additionally, many organizations have indicated they will file lawsuits challenging the legality of the rule. Thus, even after publication, legal challenges could delay implementation.

The new rule has created confusion and fear in our communities. Because it is very difficult to understand who might be impacted, many immigrant families have decided to disenroll or refuse enrolling in programs that are necessary to survive and thrive. Many immigrants remain exempt from this public charge rule and many immigrants continue to be eligible for various programs.” 

We encourage you to learn more from the ILRC here and share where needed. Human Solutions believes that this kind of anti-immigrant fear mongering is neither good for our community nor true to our values as a nation. We oppose this new policy.

We Hosted a Community Conversation on Homelessness

Earlier this month we hosted a gathering for members of our community to learn, ask questions and share their thoughts about the humanitarian crisis of homelessness in our area. We welcomed 55 people into a productive discussion where we shared personal experiences, considered how our humanity works in this moment, and tried to grasp the enormity of the causes that led us here – and how we might solve them. Our goal is to discuss both the practical how-tos and the big picture questions that we’re all grappling with. We are considering where to host our next one – stay tuned!

Homelessness Isn’t the Crisis You Think It Is

This is a powerful opinion piece by Marisa Zapata, an associate professor at PSU who directs the Homeless Research and Action Collaborative. What resonates with us is her focus on the underlying systems that are broken and her insistence that if we don’t turn our attention to those systems we won’t – can’t - end homelessness.

“To truly stop homelessness, we need to fix the long-term systemic issues that lead to it in the first place. We need universal rights to safe and quality housing and universal health care so no one is forced to choose between buying insulin and making rent. We need major criminal justice reform that does not sentence people to life on the streets and an overhaul of how we support those with addiction and major mental illnesses so recovery is possible for everyone. We need stronger protections for historically marginalized communities so your ZIP code, gender identity or skin color doesn't dictate your future.”

Hear, hear

Mayor Wheeler Shopped at Our Young Entrepreneur’s Market

Home-made stress balls, snow cones and ice-cream sundaes are just the start of the fastest-growing farmers market in Portland --hosted by youth in Human Solutions’ LearnLinks after-school and summer program! After conducting market research on a field trip to Saturday Market in downtown Portland, the students opened their own stands at Lincoln Woods, one of our 17 affordable housing communities. Together they earned almost $200, Portland Mayor Wheeler was among the shoppers! Human Solutions aims to level the playing field for youth from low-income families, and our LearnLinks program is one way we are doing that.

Annual Staff Picnic @ Blue Lake Regional Park

Every summer we gather our whole 130-person team for an afternoon of connection, celebration and thanks. Human Solutions staff work hard every day in often challenging circumstances, so making time to honor their work and eat a meal together is gratifying. We work out of six locations, so bringing everyone together is tricky but really important to foster teamwork and create a workplace where we know each other as whole people. Plus, it’s way more fun and effective to work with folks you know. We shared a LOT of photos on Facebook (which you can peruse here). ‘Til next year!

2019 Point-In Time Homelessness Count Was Released

Every other year the US Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) requires communities that receive its funds to conduct a one-night count of people the department defines as homeless. Multnomah County completed its count in January and released the findings this summer. You’ll find the report here, including a new online dashboard. We invite you to get our (short) take here. Key caution: the data is useful, but typically results in undercounts and does not produce a full picture of homelessness in our community.

THANK YOU for your ongoing interest in and support of our work in the community. If you have any questions for us or would like to learn more about what we are doing, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Our main line is 503.548.0200 or you can email our Communications & Development Director, Lisa Frack.

On Homelessness: 2019 Point-In-Time Count

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Every other year the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires communities that receive its funding, which we do here in Multnomah County - to conduct a count of people experiencing homelessness according to its definition (in short, people living on the street, in shelters, or transitional housing). It is not a perfect tool to understand the state of homelessness in our community, but it does generate useful data that we can learn from. The 2019 count was conducted in January and released in early August. You'll find the report here. We reviewed it and have some thoughts about what it says: 

  • Families are homeless in unique (hard to count) ways. We work with mostly with families, so the fact that homelessness among families with dependent children is down in this year’s count is of course great news. However, the data is limited in a variety of ways, so while we find it useful, we rely more on our day-to-day experience working with families who are either experiencing homelessness or on the verge of it. The demand for our services among those two groups remains very high. The 211 wait list is a fair indicator of need for services among families, and it is hovering around 600 right now. And with families in particular, they tend to double up with friends and family when they are homeless, which makes them very hard to count in a count like this. When a report like this comes out, it’s important to remember how hard it is for so many families to stay afloat with housing costs so high and wages not keeping up. They may not show up in a count like this, but they are struggling.
  • People of Color are over-represented. In many ways this report proves what we know, especially when it comes to the demographics of who is experiencing homelessness in our community. People of Color have been and continue to be over-represented among those experiencing homelessness, for reasons we know all too well: historic (and ongoing) racism, sky-high wealth inequality, long-term barriers to housing, unequal pay, and the list goes on. Many providers, like Human Solutions, are (and have been) very aware of this and, as a result, tailor our programs and staffing to meet the specific needs of marginalized, historically oppressed communities. We’re also focusing on policy change that removes barriers, like updating rental screening barriers and enabling more justice record expungement.
  • What you see on the streets. Those of us working in this area have long known that our community lacks enough permanent supportive housing for people experiencing chronic homelessness, which translates to the many people we all see every day living in places unfit for human habitation. The good news is that voters and our local governments have recently prioritized this type of housing, so in time we think fewer of our neighbors will be unsheltered. This investment comes too late, but we’re hopeful about its impact.
  • Programs are working, but aren’t sufficient. Human Solutions’ programs to help people find housing security are working, but to solve the problem we need more funding to meet the current need (we routinely turn people away for assistance due to insufficient funds) AND we need to stop the inflow of NEW people becoming homeless by addressing the region’s housing affordability crisis.
  • Heartbreak and triumph. On this issue, it’s important to remember that there is both heartbreak AND triumph. What you see everyday as you go about your business may seem only like heartbreak. But in our line of work, we see a lot of triumph, too, where people who are homeless find a path back to housing security, and people who are at risk of homelessness hang onto their housing. Human Solutions’ role is to help folks through crisis moments and, increasingly, to fix the broken systems that send them there in the first place.

This report is both limited in its methodology and scope, but also rich with useful data. If you are interested in getting involved in our work to help people avoid and move past homelessness, please reach out to Christina, our Shelter Donations & Volunteer Coordinator: 503.278.1637 or via email.