Blogtown, PDX: Meet the Contenders - Question #8

The Portland Mercury's Blogtown, PDX site has been producing a weekly series of questions for the various candidates running in the Portland mayor and city council races. This series is a great way to meet the candidates and learn about the issues affecting the public and Portland city government. We're reproducing (with permission) Chris's responses here, while also providing links to the original Blogtown posts.

Question #8:

(Original Post from Feb. 7, 2008)

Portland is in year three of the 10-year plan to end homelessness, and the city council is about to lose that plan’s biggest advocate, Erik Sten. Can homelessness actually be ended, and is the 10-year-plan on track to accomplish that goal?

Chris's Response:

The last major project I undertook before starting my Council campaign was helping set up the first Transportation area at Project Homeless Connect. Homeless Connect is a one day event, held twice per year in Portland, that puts a range of services for homeless individuals and families in one location.

This was a great opportunity for me to experience some of the varying faces of homelessness. I think a lot of us have preconceptions about what homelessness looks like, but in reality I saw people in a wide range of situations that ranged from people who were employed, but had temporary housing problems to folks with life-long issues who would be much more successful in coping with their challenges if housed.

The 10-year plan recognizes this range and works to re-focus resources as effectively (and cost-effectively) as possible. For example, it’s much more effective to provide transitional service to a family with short-term financial problems but which is otherwise stable than to allow them to fall into homelessness. Equally, we can provide services much more cost effectively to someone with permanent needs if they are housed than when they are on the street.

The plan has already demonstrated its effectiveness by getting people with some of the most severe needs into permanent housing where they can be served more effectively, freeing up resources to address other aspects of the problem. We may never be completely free of homelessness, but it should always be our goal. The plan is working and we need to stay committed to it.