Another website won’t solve the issues behind homelessness in our community
For last week’s story, “Spare Some Change,” we sent reporter Chris Miller out to talk to the panhandlers who some say are causing problems in downtown Bend. Hearing from the population in question was an important facet of the story, we thought.
It took him three tries to find a single houseless person sitting on the street.
The one Miller found said he doesn’t ask people for money.
At least on the days we trolled downtown, the problem appeared to be an invisible one. Yet the “problem” of panhandlers is big enough for some downtown advocates that they’re going to the trouble of creating a website that allows people to donate to local organizations instead of giving people money on the street.
To be sure, some business owners do experience problems with loitering individuals—but the problem isn’t necessarily rooted in panhandling. Whether a person downtown elects to give money directly to a panhandler, decides instead to donate to that yet-to-be-created website or donates directly to an organization feeding and housing those in need, they’re all band-aids that don’t strike at the heart of the problems we face in Central Oregon. One of the biggest: housing is too expensive and there’s not enough of it.
Some of the people asking for money or loitering on the streets may elect to live a street lifestyle. Others we have interviewed in past stories tell a similar story: They experienced an illness or other setback that caused them to lose their housing. Were people downtown willing to speak to a person asking for money or loitering, they may hear a story that would humanize the struggle that so many are experiencing in the shadows of our community.
What the problem is, really, is an issue of connection. We don’t fault the Downtown Bend Business Association for making an attempt to address an issue reported to them by some downtown business owners, but in the case of a new website intended to deflect from panhandling, we see it as yet another method of decreasing connection and understanding among people in our community.
Instead of taking a moment to speak to a person who may be asking for money on the street, people downtown would simply be able to visit this website. The message: Go tap around on your phone instead of talking to someone. That decreases connection, and what we need is more connection and understanding.
But another tool in the toolbox, in the interest of communication and understanding: de-escalation and conflict resolution techniques people could use to defuse potentially volatile situations. When confronted with someone using foul language or otherwise being disruptive, too few of us possess the tools to usher that situation from tense to mellow. Many counselors and organizations offer trainings and resources in this realm. While some situations won’t be alleviated through basic non-verbal de-escalation techniques, such as maintaining calm, keeping a neutral facial expression and avoiding threats and defensiveness, some can. The same basic tools recommended by mental health professionals to defuse incidents in school settings can also be employed on the street.
Many of us have lost our ability to speak to one another respectfully and to attempt to understand—and that’s not going to be solved by pushing people to yet another website.
This article appears in May 30 – Jun 6, 2018.
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I know eventually someone will come up with the obvious solution of “why don’t these people get jobs?” If only it were that easy. Places won’t hire you without a home address. Homeless people are everywhere. It’s not a phenomenon and just throwing money at organizations isn’t going to solve anything.
People move to Bend because it’s beautiful and the people are nice, but they bring their shitty attitudes and sense of entitlement. The people are no longer the multi-generational Oregonians that made Bend a nice place, now it’s a bunch of self-centered, rich assholes who never use their turn signals and always want to speak to the manager. White privilege at its finest.
Absolutely. Many homeless here have TWO jobs and still can’t afford to get out of their cars or tents into an apartment. Requiring your income to be 3X the rent to get applications from property management companies is a violation of humanity and should be outlawed and fines set.
I am a blind and disabled mother with small children in my family. The local shelter threw me out with my children into the street because I filed a civil rights complaint when they refused to make the shelter safe and accessible while I was trying to participate in the transitional housing program. They did not care that there is not a shelter within 3 hours, there is no shelter for children or about my serious chronic health conditions or the health and well-being of my disabled child. What they cared about is that I was not intimidated and I expected them to use the federal funding they receive properly and accommodate all persons who are homeless and not discriminate against the elderly or disabled and that I had the education and ability to advocate for myself. They knew our family had no place to store medication that needed to be refrigerated, that there is no affordable hotel for families in the area and no shelter within 3 hours so when you see somebody panhandling on the street remember this person may have children health issues and other problems that cannot be resolved by just giving them something to eat and that food does not help to pay for hotel room for people with children when the local shelter refuses to serve them or the staff has become abusive and used the police department to put the person out of the shelter without allowing them the opportunity to appeal or defend themselves. It is very easy to get a gift card from Visa or provide a little money for the person to be able to pay for a place to sleep for the night and remember these people were working dective members of society at some point in their life as well. Our family was displaced after natural disaster and treat it as if we were criminals because we were made homeless when the landlord could not make the structure safe and code enforcement stated it was too dangerous for us to live there. The shelter is privately owned they can discriminate based on race color religion disability and family status and unfortunately because it is on private property when the police are called they have two choices put the person on the street with their children or arrest a person for trespassing which is what the shelter tried to have done to me knowing that I am blind disabled have small children including a child with disabilities and that I don’t pose a threat to anyone except the fact that I filed a civil rights complaint against the shelter with the state and chose to try and make the shelter a better and safer place for people with disabilities the correct way
The attitude of the individual who wrote this op-Ed is the problem.
I encounter panhandlers on a daily basis commuting to work or anywhere else in Bend for that matter. They may not be on Bond or Wall St, but there are plenty.
And if you ask them where they are from it is NEVER from Central Oregon, whether or not they have a background story of how they became homeless…its not like people are born homeless here.
Jen Weld: Would you care to elaborate on what you mean by the “attitude” you referenced here? I’m trying to understand what you meant by your comment but it’s not entirely clear from what you wrote how that ties into the argument expressed in the piece — that human connection is at the heart of the issue discussed. Thanks for reading!