“If you have no place to go, you can always leave Portland.” If
only it were that simple. I find it very discouraging that people in our
community see homeless people as a problem. It is not the people, it is our
system. Yes, there are some who might have made the wrong decisions and that is
how they ended up on the streets; however, there are more people who simply
cannot afford housing and other everyday needs.
Ibrahim Mubarak is the co-founder
of Dignity Village (which was shut down awhile ago) and is now a spokesperson
for the homeless. There was a woman, Lisa Larson, who said Dignity Village
“rescued her from living on the streets, and cold, wet nights under
Portland-area overpasses. The nights, born from desperation, where she broke
into abandoned homes to rest. Nights that led to her criminal record.” This
small community that was created for the homeless helped her! Now how will it
help others if it has been closed? In 2011, another community was built in
downtown Portland called Right 2 Dream Too. Now, there is a debate about
whether this should be closed. I have been out, enjoying my night and walk
passed this. I understand the smell, the look of it being “dirty,” but I also
understand this is a home to some people. I respect that it is somewhere they
can come to safely at night and rest. Everyone deserves that. I even respect
that they are trying to come together to get off the streets.
So why
is it that lawmakers, tourists, citizens of Portland have such strong animosity
towards little communities such as Dignity Village and a Right 2 Dream Too? In
the video, Ibrahim Mubarak says because of Right 2 Dream Too, after one year of
being there, 30 people got housing and 27 people found work without any help!
This is amazing! Yet, we want to shut this down. The police man who told the
homeless man he could leave Portland if he had nowhere to go was a little
ignorant in saying this. We shut down communities of homeless people trying to
help themselves and then wonder why so many are panhandling and struggling
downtown. This is ridiculous. Businesses are so worried about the affect
panhandling has on tourism and overall money flow. Then why not support
homeless people who build communities AWAY from businesses and are trying to
improve. We should not see homeless people as a burden. I define society and
community as a network of people that come together for the common good to
support each other. We are too separated by class, gender roles, racial
background, etc. I believe that if we see each other as equals, build
relationships in positive ways, develop a system that encourages growth and
development in every individual then and only then will our society thrive.
Facts found from online article : Theen, Andrew.
"Dignity Village: Residents Fight 'complacency' as Right 2 Dream Too
Captures Portland's Attention." OregonLive.com. N.p., 10 Oct. 2013.
Web. 06 Aug. 2014.
