HOMELESS PEOPLE HOPING to barter for a meal or get connected
to services at Sisters of the Road Café in Old Town will be
greeted by a sign on the door saying the café is closed for the
next three weeks. Management at the nonprofit decided to close the
café on Friday, July 24, until Friday, August 21, after a
four-year-old girl pricked her hand on a used syringe inside the
building on Tuesday, July 21.
“This can’t ever happen again,” says Sisters founder Genny Nelson.
“I mean, this was devastating for everybody.”
A partner of a café employee was babysitting the child when
the girl stuck her hand on the needle underneath a dining counter, says
Nelson. The child was taken to Providence hospital and given
immunizations but will continue to undergo tests for infection over the
next six months—Sisters of the Road is paying for her care.
The café has experienced a growth in the number of used
needles found on the premises and outside on the sidewalk over the last
two years. There have also been increasing numbers of complaints about
drug use, sidewalk obstructions, and aggressive dogs outside the
café, says Central Precinct Commander Mike Reese—with 287
calls to the location in the last six months. “The feeling on Sisters’
sidewalk is some days great and other days run for the hills,” reads a
notice posted in the café’s window last week.
The City of Portland’s chronic nuisance ordinance requires landlords
of properties to be notified if more than three calls of a specific
nature are received within a 30-day period, and Reese has discussed the
possibility of giving Sisters a nuisance order with management at the
café, whose landlord is nonprofit Central City Concern.
“We’ve probably reached that level a long time ago,” says Reese,
adding that he hopes the café can solve its problems without a
chronic nuisance order, using similar techniques to those already
employed by the Portland Rescue Mission on W Burnside and Transition
Projects, Inc.—a homeless men’s shelter at NW 5th and Glisan.
“Our goal is to work with the staff at Sisters,” says Reese, who has
instructed street crime officers to work with mounted patrol and
bicycle police to begin enforcing the city’s disorderly conduct statute
against folks blocking the sidewalk outside the café.
Sisters of the Road was one of the most outspoken critics of the
city’s now-defunct sidewalk obstruction or sit-lie ordinance, and
Sisters Executive Director Monica Beemer posted a printed email in the
window of the café last week hinting that the police may now be
employing a “be careful what you ask for strategy” when it comes to the
sidewalk outside the café.
“The sidewalk obstruction ordinance was a much better tool,” says
Reese, adding that he is reluctant to escalate enforcement against the
café. “They provide a very worthwhile and necessary service,” he
says. “And we want to do everything we can so that people who are there
for a legitimate purpose can keep coming in safety.”
Sisters staff met with customers to brainstorm about the problem and
potential solutions last week, says Nelson, adding that forming
relationships with drug dealers outside the building could be one way
to reduce the problems.
“I think some people would say that’s pie in the sky,” Nelson says.
“But we do have something to go on. When Mexican drug dealers were
selling and using in the doorway, we literally served Mexican chocolate
and got a mariachi band in one night. They weren’t all willing to come
in, but that had a huge impact—the point we made was not that
you’re bad, as a person. It’s the behavior. And in fact those dealers
left and did not come back.”
Nelson says the closure of the café is in keeping with its
history since she founded it in 1979. In the 1980s, Nelson stopped
serving Sunday breakfasts after customers began using crack on Saturday
nights, she says.
“Crack is a pretty mean drug when you come off it, and people were
coming into the café and being belligerent, so again, we closed
the café to take stock,” she says. “Our process requires that we
not just keep looking at it and going ‘wow.’ We have to look at these
issues.”
Nelson adds that there are systemic issues in Old Town that Sisters
of the Road itself is not necessarily going to be able to solve. “Old
Town is the grocery market for drugs for the whole metropolitan area
and it has been for a long time,” she says.
Some customers have been frustrated by the closure, Nelson says.
“But once they learned what was happening they were like, ‘Oh, I get
it,'” she continues. “People, I must say, have been really generous to
us.”
Here’s an easy lesson I’ve posted seven gazillion times on articles like this – when you encourage something, you get more of it.
“The café has experienced a growth in the number of used needles found on the premises and outside on the sidewalk over the last two years.”
Don’t forget Portland homeless advocates –
WE’RE NUMBER ONE!
WE’RE NUMBER ONE!
D educate yourself rather than ranting from the PBA’s office windows you sell out.
A few things,
What Mike Reese neglected to mention is that when they were using the sit/lie law to push people out of other areas, the only place they did not push people out of was in front of Sisters of the Roads. Mike Reese and friends created the bulk of the sidewalk problem in front of Sisters of the Roads.
Needles are found all over Chinatown. that aint Sisters fault, that is the police’ and our society’s fault for putting very little effort in to honest methods of confronting drug problems. Finding one in Sisters is something that was going to happen, much akin to finding one anywhere else in the neighborhood. Jenny was right on that.
Sisters big problem is that they heard the rumblings of this happening and did not respond to it. I must say, if I was a customer there, I would be disappointed at being locked outside with the crime.
Sisters of the Road has a long term policy of gentle personalism and non violence. They are inclusive rather than exclusive encouraging volunteers and customers to engage using these principles. Sisters also encourages homeless and low income community members to become part of the solution rather than just complaining. Projects encouraging community members to become more engaged have included crossroads, cLot and Civic Action Group.
Drug and alcohol use is not allowed at Sisters, but as demonstrated, some community members have much room for growth and learning. Violators are excluded until they complete a conflict resolution and agree to abide with the rules.
Most drug users conceal their drug use so it can be difficult to address the behavior in every case. Closing the cafe was a step Sisters of the Road took because they are very concerned about the health and welfare of all community members.
Silly me, denying that the ‘police and society’ left the needles there to poke a 4-year-old.
I won’t deny there are too few free treatment options, but if you think that ‘gentle personalism and non violence’ will stop determined drug addicts on the street, you will be seeing more of it.
They have more room for ‘growth and learning.’
I know you all need to feel good about yourselves, and I’m not slamming compassion, Sisters had a good thing for awhile.
But until Portland drops the give them what they want attitude, it will only get worse. Look at what other cities have done – NOT what got us to ‘WE’RE NUMBER ONE!’
Concerned citizen, I’ve been ‘educating myself’ on the streets of Portland for almost 20 years watching cruel intentions-based solutions produce the opposite intended effect.
Try results-oriented solutions for a change.
Concerned Citizen, dismissing someone’s opinion by accusing them of alignment with an organization you may not agree with only serves to show that you are not interested in listening.
Needles are found all over Portland. Not just Chinatown, not just at Sisters of the Road. They are found in front of the Justice Center, they are found in front of the Lloyd Center. I know because I have found them there and many other places. Drug addiction is not the fault of the business but the permissive attitude of “helping” that they foster is more akin to enabling.
People who need help, need help. People who are going to be a burden on society and have no interest in changing because the welfare of the street is freely given and never applies standards to recive assistance are going to be a burden until they die.
Re read the parable of the Good Samaritan. It is not just about helping someone in need but also about that person getting back on their feet and repaying the debt.
Addicts and Alcoholics are not interested in getting better they are just interested in getting by. Those are not the kinds of people children of any age should be around for any reason. That 4 year old should not have been on the premises for any reason.
The Sit-Lie ordinance did not make this happen, Sisters of the Road did not make this happen. A nameless junkie and an thoughtless parent made this happen.
Maybe it makes you feel better to believe that people can be redeemed and in some rare cases that is true but for the most part the people who live to take do not give back and die unredeemed and remembered for the destruction they left behind.
Portland has no idea how to solve homlessness because Portland refuses to acknowledge the reasons many people are homeless. They do not want to participate in society they just want to take with out working.
I have been homeless, I have worked with the homeless here and in other states. They are not some noble cause to be championed. They are people to be weighed and measured like all others for worth of contribution to the society they ask to live in. If they are found wanting because they will not participate but insist on being kept at the expense of those who will work and contribute then they should not be welcome at the table where civilization eats.
Becoming part of the community is part of the solution. We all need to realize our interconnectedness if we are to work toward solutions.
Fear, and the resentments they build, are the root cause of most of the problems our society faces today. Hate begets fear which begets more hate. It is fear thats creates the isolation drug and alcohol addiction needs to develop.
I disagree that alcoholics and addicts are forever doomed to drink and use. Millions of members of AA and NA would support the idea of recovery. If you promote fear, hate or reject the concept of recovery you are part of the problem. I hope you find healing or move out of the state. We don’t need those opinions perpetuating the problem.
Jee whiz, I mean the nations WAR ON DRUGS is such a raging success that we might as well PUT EVEN MORE MONEY INTO POLICE AND just throw everybody we can into jail, this time for life!
We don’t tolerate this stuff in AMERICA, the land of FREEDOM and democracy.
I say JAIL FOR LIFE for all losers!
Keep Amerika FREE!
I will break this down into just why I think they have chosen this way to deal with the problem. I’m of the impression this choice was made to provide their customers a sense of “ownership”. This ownership concept already exists with the ability to volunteer in a number of capacities.
Exactly why the staff will not step up and deal with the problem is beyond logic if you ask me. They are placing themselves into a position where they do not have to make any kind of decisions that could be seen as unpopular. As best as I can see this makes them nothing more than food service workers. If this is the case Sisters should hire from within the homeless population since there are many with food service experience who could do the job just as well if not better.
How I would address the problem.
1. Those who have created the problem should be excluded from receiving services of ANY kind. Not all are deserving of the help being provided. There are plenty of other places to get a meal so nobody will starve.
2. Make those who choose to sell infront of the Cafe uncomfortable through the use of either digital cameras or cameras mounted to the building. The last thing a dealer wants is to be photographed.
3. Start calling the police about drug sales. Dealers and their customers will take their business elsewhere quickly.
See how easy that was? Three simple steps and they do not have to close their doors to the community they claim to be helping.
Does this make me a genius?
One difference between a charitable public accomodation for the homeless vs. say, a hospital or a jail, is that inmates suspected of carrying contraband into hospitals and jails are routinely searched, and any needles, weapons, and other dangerous articles that would be a threat to childrens’ safety and well-being are confiscated.
It would be unthinkable, however, for a charitable public accomodation for the homeless to undertake to search visitors and seize articles. Therefore it is inevitable that needles and other dangerous articles will show up on the premises from time to time.
The question then becomes: is a premises on which homeless persons congregate, among whom will be those who bring and discard needles, and no reasonable remedy for said bringing and discarding of needles exists, a reasonable place for young children to visit?
Maybe what needs to happen is that there is maintained a small, private room, off-limits to general visitors, for use by mothers and children. Either that, or maybe children are not allowed – for their own safety – into the cafe.