PORTLAND HOMELESS ADVICE FROM AN OLD LADY

The big news for Portland homeless? No home.

It’s not good news for the chronically homeless who’ve been sleeping on public land.

If that ends, where does everyone go?

I spoke to someone with the sort of history background you won’t find in books, on the street, or in college.

I call it Real Life.

My ninety year old Mother In Law knows a few things about people because she’s been around a while.

She saw homelessness after WWII. As a young English woman she joined the war effort early, then toured a crushed Europe after the war.

She saw broken cities and broken people and it never left her.

She sees parallels between then and now.

One Portland Homeless Review:

“These men are homeless because the don’t have a job. If they had a job they’d have a home. But where are the jobs?

“People don’t have factory jobs anymore where you show up and pull a lever or push a button on a machine for eight hours a day. Those jobs are in China. If we want America to do better, we need those jobs back to put people to work.

“Once you get on a schedule, you see, it all becomes automatic. You work hard, get to bed early after a good dinner, get up and do it all again. It’s that simple.

“Yes, I’ve heard some of the homeless in Portland have other problems like drugs and alcohol and violence, but not all of them. Why not find a way to reach those who want to work, and get therapy for those who can’t work, who can’t show up on time, who can’t show up sober.

“All of the homeless in Portland aren’t there because they choose homelessness. Anyone could make the wrong choice, take the wrong turn, and end up homeless. You. Me. Anyone. Those are the people who need help first, and a job would be a great start.

“A job gives self esteem, it makes you accountable, part of the team. You earn pride for your work, and a pay check. You find a place to live, then a better place.

“The important thing is getting on the right track.”

Is The Right Track Peer Pressure

What’s an old lady know about Portland homeless?

Plenty. My mother in law was evacuated from her southern England coast town where the military was practicing for D-Day.

A dummy artillery round landed on their house and destroyed the bathroom.

She was a country girl who wanted a bigger world for herself so she went to college, got married to an English navy man, and came to America.

With $1000. And dreams of a better life than the one she left. Even her father told her the town she grew up in wasn’t big enough for her.

Los Angeles turned out to be a good fit.

That’s where I met her and noticed something different about her. She wasn’t about keeping up with the Jones, or the neighbors, but keeping up with the standards she was raised with.

Of course we’re talking about another generation, but I think the standards are the same.

And maybe that’s what’s lost in a view of Portland homeless and the homeless population in general.

If peer pressure mattered, the homeless camps would have less garbage strewn everywhere.

Further, if peer pressure existed between cities, wouldn’t you think a better approach would emerge?

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For a reality check on what it might feel like living outside, I remember a chilling camping trip.

Frog Lake.

The weather was warm, the forecast said more of the same.

Then a freak cold front hit.

With lessons from Boy Scout snow camp, I pulled my sleeping bag over my head and stayed warm from my breath.

It worked until my wife said she was freezing and needed my body warmth. It worked until I had to get up and take a pee.

‘I’m so cold I’ve never been colder. I should just pee the sleeping bag,’ I thought.

Then peer reassure reminded me I’d never live it down as long as I was married to the icy woman stealing my warmth.

I got up, barely, and went outside the tent. Getting up was hard. Getting outside harder. It crossed my mind that, ‘I could freeze to death without much help.’

But I couldn’t do that to my wife.

She wouldn’t do it to me. And that’s the basis of peer pressure. Be good enough with the other person to the point of helping them.

Portland Homeless Deaths

After my mother in law passed I’ve faced what more than a few baby boomers face: health challenges.

My check engine light has gone on a few times.

It turns out I’m not invulnerable. And neither is anyone else.

Data show disparities among various demographics. Four times more men died than women, and 75% of the people who died were older than 45. Only one juvenile was reported. Less than half of the deaths happened in a medical or care facility.

Are you older than 45? Me, too.

How would I do on the street? Not well. How about you?

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P.S. About the ‘old lady’ reference? We all turn into old ladies. If you need proof, take a look at your grandpa.