With this so-called "Housing State of Emergency" that has caused the allowance of open homeless camps being extended, I'm having trouble understanding the end goal. According to the city, the reason why there are so many homeless is because of the rise in rent and/or prices of homes. Let's swallow the city's tripe for just a moment:

People are homeless due to not being able to afford housing. We are expected to believe that these people had jobs and homes a year or so ago, and through no fault of their own, they've lost their jobs and were evicted, causing them to be homeless. That's the storyline, right?

That being said, how is letting these people camp out in the open (which I am against) and opening more homeless shelters (which I am for) going to get these people jobs and somehow allow them to afford rents that they couldn't before?

Seriously, how is this supposed to work? I keep hearing about the camps and potential new shelters being proposed in neighborhoods that don't want them (never in the neighborhoods the city council lives in), but I'm not hearing any ideas on how to get these people back into the work force and earning enough income to now be able to afford to live in Portland.

With the ever-rising rents in Portland, can anyone explain to me how the end goal is supposed to work?

I'm not opposed to helping the homeless, it just seems that the city's not being honest with the public and isn't proposing any realistic solutions.