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Homeless
Posted inNews

Commissioners Introduce Dueling Homeless Ordinances; Experts Say None Get to the Root of the Problem

Mayoral candidates Gonzalez, Mapps, and Rubio have unveiled starkly different ordinances for regulating camping in Portland, as the city tries to fix legal issues with its prior rules.
Avatar photo Courtney Vaughn

Updated: 12:02 pm April 22. This story has been updated to include new information about another proposed policy amendment and to correct the name of the case before the Supreme Court this week. Two weeks after Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office unveiled a heavily revised ordinance to address restrictions on homeless camping in Portland, other commissioners […]

Posted inHomeless

Unhoused and Unaided

Despite ADA laws, Portland-area shelters struggle to accommodate people with disabilities.
Avatar photo Abe Asher

Despite a legal requirement that shelters be accessible to people with disabilities, many homeless services providers and unhoused Portlanders say shelters aren’t equipped to assist those who need the most help.

Posted inHomeless

At Least 193 Homeless People Died in Multnomah County in 2021

It’s the highest number of houseless deaths ever recorded in a single year in Multnomah County since data collection began in 2011.
Avatar photo Abe Asher

At least 193 people who died in Multnomah County in 2021 were homeless at the time of their death, the highest number of houseless deaths ever recorded in a single year in Multnomah County. The county’s annual Domicile Unknown report, released Wednesday, found that nearly 80 percent of those deaths were not due to natural […]

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On Longest Night of the Year, Portlanders Remember Homeless Neighbors Who Died in 2022

Avatar photo Alex Zielinski

As temperatures dipped below freezing Wednesday night, dozens of Portlanders huddled under a canopy on NW Davis Street to share stories about homeless neighbors who passed away in 2022.  “We’re here tonight to remember those we lost this year,” said Barbra Weber, who emceed the evening memorial hosted by Sisters of the Road. “There’s always […]

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Mayor Proposes First Round of Funding to Run Sanctioned Homeless Encampments

The complete proposal will need significantly more funding—and the buy-in of skeptical neighborhood groups—to be realized.
Avatar photo Alex Zielinski

Mayor Ted Wheeler has outlined the preliminary costs of City Council’s plan to build sanctioned camping sites across the city in conjunction with a citywide ban on unsheltered homelessness.  At a council work session Thursday, he put a $27 million price tag on the start-up costs of the sweeping proposal, which pledges to create up […]

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Uprooted and Unhoused

Portland’s homeless camp sweeps undermine the efforts of people seeking permanent housing.
Avatar photo Alex Zielinski

Becky Lange had spent months building and maintaining the community vegetable garden at NE Dekum and 33rd Ave. Neighbors had donated planting containers and vegetable starts at the beginning of spring, and the late-June heatwave meant the garden was finally producing enough bounty to share. That’s why, on June 27, Lange held back tears as […]

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