It’s time to embrace the idea of organized camping and the Tiny House Movement in Portland for people experiencing poverty.
We are now three decades into to the rise of massive homelessness in the United States. During that time we’ve seen tens of billions of dollars decrease from our housing stock — only to see wave after wave of hard working individuals and families end up on the streets. The story has been told a million and one times over.
We’ve heard from the politicians that we can do better than tent cities. We’ve heard from the political insiders to hold on — we’re getting there. We can end chronic homelessness. We can end homelessness for families. We can end veteran’s homelessness.
The policies all look the same to the outsider. It really doesn’t matter what kind of bow you put on it. It all looks the same to me and I’m a so-called “expert.”
The plan to end family, veterans, and chronic, women’s homelessness goes something like this. Create a community wide process, follow a data driven system, adopt changing policies, tweak those policies 20 degrees in one direction or another, make nonprofits and people experiencing homelessness jump through hoop after hoop and break out the yellow ribbons just in time for campaign and fundraising season.
The most important part to the entire equation will be that organizations around the country will be asked to end homelessness with little to nothing, scraps in fact, all while having right-wing editorial boards and the public remind us that we’re failing at every step along the way. It’s the reason we shouldn’t fund the poor, don’t you know. Send them to the island!
Here’s the thing. We actually can end homelessness if both local and federal governments prioritized the issue. It’s not so much the plans or the political will that is lacking, it’s having the resources and tools in the toolbox to get the job done. It’s really that simple.
Through it all, local governments and law enforcement will claim to have to pick up the pieces through the criminal justice system with campsite cleanups, sidewalk ordinances, trespassing agreements, on and on. Never mind that all of these strategies lead to people having a criminal record that ends up being a barrier to get into the housing they were criminalized for not having in the first place. Did I mention the overcrowding of our jails and an enormous tax burden?
The cold, hard reality is we have more than 2,000 people on the streets of Portland at any one time. Nearly one-million nationwide. Until we receive adequate government support, that’s not going to change.
Regardless of your reasoning, no one wants people on the streets, especially people living the trauma of homelessness itself.
Which leads me back to the point of having safe rest areas, like the Tiny House Movement and tent cities, for people experiencing homelessness. It’s a no-brainer. Right 2 Dream Too specifically has shown that it can be done in an organized, non-violent fashion that gives people both dignity and shelter from the storm. It’s time we embraced this idea and worked towards creating organized camps and alternative housing options that are given resources to thrive. It’s time to cut through the red tape, and give people without a home something to believe in.