[Got an anonymous confession or rant you just have to share with the world? Submit it to I, Anonymous HERE!—eds]
Chair Vega Pederson and Commissioner Singleton,
I have a question that needs to be asked.
I became a Peer Support Specialist because, about 20 years ago, I was a homeless person struggling with addiction. At that time, we did not have many options for shelter or treatment. I would not necessarily call getting out of it a victory—I got out bruised and exhausted. But I survived, and I am still here.
I am asking: what the fuck is going on with the Do Good Multnomah site at 82nd and Harrison?
You held an open house in April, and clients were supposed to begin moving in during June. I have a client who was scheduled to move in on the first of this month. It is now the 10th, and the only explanation I have received is that construction is still being completed. Were we not led to believe that construction had been completed months ago? I have not seen any significant activity there recently, yet the property remains empty.
The people I support are doing everything expected of them in order to move in—attending intensive outpatient treatment and setting goals for a stable future. They are following every requirement to the letter, while you are dragging your feet.
Do you have any idea what it does to someone who was promised by DGM that there would be a place for them, only to receive no clear explanation or timeline? They are losing hope at the same time shelters are closing during a crucial period in Portland. I understand that, as a professional, I must maintain boundaries with my clients. But I cannot help taking on some of their worries when they have been let down by vague and inadequate explanations.
So, again: what the fuck is going on at that property? Can you please give us a clear and honest answer?—Anonymous