Protest at City Hall
The police have recently stepped up their harassment of our friends without houses in Downtown. They are sweeping the habitual squats, kicking people out, and sometimes giving criminal tresspass tickets. No provision is made for alternatives. Last night, according to reports, about 30-40 of our friends were there at City Hall in protest and said they wouldn’t leave until provisions were made for safe sleeping space.
Steven (The Leather Guy) and I went to a city counsel meeting earlier this winter and talked to the people there. Words of encouragement, but no action. Something about “feasibility studies” being under way. In a couple of years they will have a plan nailed down…they say. “What about tonight?,” we asked. Mayor Potter took down my contact info…he’d get back to me. So far, my phone isn’t ringing off the hook from city hall.
The measure of a society is not they treat the rich. Shit, the rich always take really good care of themselves. How we treat those that have less (less employment, housing, money, food; whatever the dominant culture has more of) actually measures who we are as a society.
America fares poorly among the industrialized nations when it comes to treatment of those left out of the mainstream. Portland seems minutely better than other American cities in this area, but, in the last few years, I’ve seen our city fathers give with one hand and take more back with the other.
The city formed a committee a while back to look into a new sit/lie ordinance. Their report came back: OK (reluctlantly), but the city must at the same time provide, more public restrooms. benches and an adequate drop in. Well, total mindfuck here, the city council said thanks for the input; enacted the sit/lie, reduced the number of benches, and created “feasibility studies” for the shitters and drop ins. Thanks for caring.
Spring is here and with it comes the tourists. Lets clear out the bums. Where do they go? We haven’t gotten that far in our thinking. Let them figure it out.
WE’RE OUTDOORS AGAIN!
Sometimes I think that heaven is being outside, under a bridge, with my friends without houses on a warm spring day. Well, it happened on Sunday, and it was indeed heaven.
On Sunday April, 27th we headed back under the Hawthorne Bridge (actually, beside the bridge (Downtown side), in the sun. Kate and I got there before noon wondering if anyone would actually follow us thirteen blocks down the hill from where we had wintered at St. Stephen’s. When we arrived there were about forty of our friends just hanging out. They unloaded all our crap and we set up. The coffee got there exactly on schedule at 12:30. By lunchtime at 1:00 there were about eighty men and women, young and old and in between chatting peacefully in line. Eventually at least hundred and ten beautiful people stopped by. Most hung out, basking in the beautiful weather, well into the afternoon.
The lawn was dotted with small groups playing cards, doing art stuff, talking or sleeping. I stopped at each mini-gathering and gave out socks, razors or other toiletries. That was my excuse to be there and drink in the multifaceted beauty of these amazing people.
We’re out for the summer!
HomePDX on YouTube
Nathan Willard created this video detailing HomePDX and posted it on YouTube. We thought it a good idea to have it on the site.
The Dishmeister
My first conversation with Chris was in the Square…me, sitting on a garbage can, him, on some stairs a few feet away. Neither of us were brilliant conversationalists at the time, so after fifteen minutes of uncomfortable silence, he got up and walked away. That was about five years ago. He was in his late teens then.We talk more now.
These days , Chris manages our dishwashing operation at HOMEpdx on Sunday afternoons. The ancient machine looks like something out of the bar scene in the first Star Wars movie, but he can make that sucker sing. Over the course of four hours or so, his entire front side becomes drenched with soapy water punctuated with food chunks. Kind of a special sauce.
Chris is intelligent, articulate and funny. He has the language skills of the highly educated and puts them to excellent use in the tough field of competitive sarcasm. The guy’s a Grand Master. He’s also one of the kindest and giving men I’ve ever met. He has some expertise in a sport known as “Space Bagging.” He’s quite good at it, actually.
Chris is my friend.