COMMENTARY | The commissioner’s coalition-building style created lasting improvements in how we look at solving the crisis I remember the first time I met Nick Fish. He had an almost naive optimism about what he wanted to accomplish on the housing front. ...
10 Jan 2020 - Israel Bayer
The government needs to find a way to prioritize affordable housing in the Portland region Israel Bayer is the executive director of Street Roots. You can reach him at israel@streetroots.org or follow him on Twitter @israelbayer. On the morning of Jan. 31 ...
3 Nov 2017 - Israel Bayer
We could be utilizing people experiencing homelessness to help maintain our natural areas Curbing climate change, protecting our natural environment and ending homelessness. In a world gone mad, these challenges sometimes feel so enormous that people don’ ...
27 Oct 2017 - Israel Bayer
With the city about to start seeking funding proposals, the real work begins In November 2016, Portland voters overwhelmingly passed an affordable-housing bond for $258 million. The bond's purpose was to give thousands of people a safe place to call ...
13 Oct 2017 - Israel Bayer
Israel Bayer delivers some real talk about his experience fighting for people in poverty In the coming months, as I gear up for my departure from Street Roots, I’ll be writing about some reflections and lessons learned over the years. Some real talk. Isra ...
15 Sep 2017 - Israel Bayer
For every person the system finds housing for, there are more people becoming homeless Thinking about solving the issue of homelessness can feel almost impossible. For the general public it’s hard to understand the relationship that nonprofits and governm ...
1 Sep 2017 - Israel Bayer
In Portland, prisoners are cleaning up the camps of people who are being criminalized for sleeping outdoors. There's a better way. Street Roots has advocated for years for the city to expand the Clean and Safe program, which gives people who formerly ...
25 Aug 2017 - Israel Bayer
Pushing homeless people from one neighborhood to the next is not going to solve the poverty crisis Every summer it’s a different neighborhood or area of Portland being flooded with homeless people. One summer it was homeless punks with skateboards and t ...
21 Jul 2017 - Israel Bayer
The message sent to Oregonians is that their government cares about protecting corporations more than people The 2017 Oregon legislative session started with big promises. Both the business community and legislators said they would find a way to avoid mas ...
7 Jul 2017 - Israel Bayer
Oregon lawmakers have never prioritized housing in a substantial way On the same day Multnomah County announced a 10 percent increase in people experiencing homelessness, Oregon announced cuts to emergency rent assistance. If that didn’t add enough insul ...
23 Jun 2017 - Israel Bayer