Homelessness: Addressing Health Concerns - Ruth Kinyua

    The City of Portland boasts of a thriving economy buoyed by an entrepreneurial spirit characterized by an emphasis on sustainability. On the one hand, technological innovations are reshaping the City’s infrastructure; on the other hand, these innovations—and the investments they trigger—have impacted a significant portion of the City’s population. Government statistics hold that while the housing costs in Portland have increased by about 63 percent within the last three years, wages (in comparison) have increased by only 39 percent. While these figures help explain why the homeless population in Portland continues to grow, the reasons why many of the homeless continue as such, requires an analysis of their profiles. One such analysis reports that 57 percent of the homeless in Portland are disabled. Further, if this analysis included mental health concerns as a disability, this figure would be closer to 70 percent.

       Portland is regarded as a tolerant city with numerous nonprofit and governmental agencies that support homeless initiatives in various ways. However, although most of us who have lived in Portland express a deep compassion for the plight of the homeless, only about 64 percent of have verbally interacted with a homeless person within the last 12 months. Therefore, amid the mounting concerns regarding homelessness, the significance of the plight of the mentally (and physically) disabled among their ranks remains a largely unaddressed matter. Ralph Waldo Emerson once declared that “your first wealth is your health.” In this vein, to sustainably address the homelessness problem, we must first find ways to provide access to healthcare for this vulnerable population.

      While the government may not provide all the answers to solve this concern, they do provide resources identifying local partners who support the homeless population in various capacities. One such partner is Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare, a community health organization that provides services to cover addiction treatment and mental healthcare.

For more information on how you can help, please click here to find a list of organizations partnered with the City of Portland’s Homelessness Toolkit.