On Thursday, May 19th, our SHIFT group held a forum for our high school's students with the goal of raising awareness about the realities of the homeless population in Portland. We were very fortunate to have a variety of speakers join us Thursday evening. Here are the highlights:
The Portland Police gave us an overview about some of the legal aspects to homelessness. In particular, they spoke about the implementation of a program within their team that helped with outreach. Now, they have built more positive relationships with homeless individuals and have found an increase level of trust between the homeless and their team. Students got to view a presentation that showed some statistics, including how crime rates have gone down since the program began.
Next, members from Janus Youth Program talked about volunteering and outreach. One program they spoke about is called Yellow Brick Road. They target youth by sending volunteers out at night to hand out necessary hygiene items. More important than these items, they said, are the relationships they can create through personal contact.
A representative from Central City Concern followed. He had been previously homeless, and spoke about how one overall, homelessness cannot be caused by solely one reason. Despite this, he said that it is common that some sort of trauma can be found in the homeless persona. While trauma can vary per person, often it involves a rough childhood or family life, time spent serving in the military, or certain involvement with drugs or crime. He also added that homelessness itself is traumatic. When thinking about the homeless, it is important to remember that they are human and have dealt with sometime unimaginable things in their lives. Compassion and understanding are the best ways to approach a conversation with a homeless individual.
Finally, we were lucky to have members from JOIN speak to us. They brought in a currently homeless man who gave a thought-provoking speech. He spoke about how he went from having it all to suddenly having it all taken away and his life as a homeless man. Something he mentioned that was especially enlightening was that homelessness had become more comfortable than living in housing, to the point that a month ago he left housing that JOIN put him in and made the conscious choice to become homeless again. He also spoke about remaining a genuine and respectful human being no matter our lot in life. He came to the conclusion that we must be the best version of ourselves at all times, and to never be self-centered. He said that since he was homeless, he would be the best homeless man he could be. This reminder is important to carry with us throughout life.
Thanks to all the students who came to learn more about this very important local issue and the members of our SHIFT group who helped make this forum happen!
-Samantha
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