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Right now, there are more than 5,000 people experiencing homelessness in Portland. Thousands more experience housing instability. Many of these folks are students and/or people with disabilities.
In 2022, we lost 315 people on the streets of Portland. These deaths are entirely preventable.
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Every Portlander (past, present & future) should be able to find and keep a safe, stable home they can afford. Housing is a human right and there are practical steps we can take to make it more accessible to those who urgently need it.
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The most recent data available from the Joint Office on Homeless Services shows 93.7% of all shelters were utilized in November 2023. We need to build more day & night shelters for homeless people with mental health and drug treatment services, alternative shelters, and shelters for people during weather emergencies. Unhoused families with children specifically deserve services tailored to their unique needs.
A strong safety net means no one left behind. we must develop culturally specific treatment programs and expand in-patient care facilitates for portlanders who are significantly mentally ill.
We need more safe rest villages, more treatment and detox facilities, more low barrier supportive housing, and more shelters. Nationally and locally, we are beyond the peak of unsheltered addiction and suffering, and we are moving to better times. I will not push reactionary steps because they are largely counterproductive and unwise. I support key performance indicators for the Joint Office on Homelessness Services, the city's programs, and the city's contractors.
We cannot wait around for the housing market to fix itself. Streamlining the permitting process will accelerate the private sector plus revisiting zoning laws will incentivize multi-family buildings and correct historic, racial inequities, but we need to do more.