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NEWS
Readers Reply, cont’d from page 3
Human services
Please, let’s get these people off the
streets and give them some human
services, some place to go the bathroom,
for God’s sake. Most of these
people are in trouble because life
has kicked them in the butt for
unknown reasons.
How can people here on the waterfront
not notice that two blocks
south of there are people existing
like unwanted animals.? Terminal
1 would allow us to organize
needs, services, etc.
Farralee Fuller
NW 16th Ave.
Jury is out
Regarding the September 2016 column
on the Terminal 1, there is
specific data contrary to some of
your assertions:
1. “San Antonio and Salt Lake City
are the two cities having some success
in addressing rampant homelessness.”
2. “A large centralized facility seems
like the most humane and efficient
way to meet the challenge.”
Let’s look at measurable outcomes
in San Antonio. Haven for Hope is
the large shelter/treatment facility
that is the model proposed for a
comprehensive campus at Terminal
1. (This data comes from Haven
for Hope’s own publications and
news articles.)
The San Antonio homeless count
was 3,580 in 2010, the year Haven
for Hope opened.
The homeless count was 2,904 in
2014, a drop of 19 percent over
the span of five years. Nearly $200
million had been spent by this
point. About 4,000 moved on from
staying in the Courtyard to some
form of housing and supportive
services.
Yet in the same year, they counted
only 2,000 as “transformational
graduates,” “those who have
exited to permanent housing and
after one year stayed sober and not
slipped back into homelessness.”
So what is their real success rate?
Do we have solid information to
show that San Antonio’s approach
is more successful than some of the
long-term projects here in Portland?
I have pored through their annual
reports, noted the absence of
peer reviewed publications on
their project and read newspaper
articles on the Haven for Hope.
I have simply not been able to
find published audited or unaudited
outcomes measurements or
comparisons with other treatment
approaches. In other words, the
jury is out as to success and as
to relative effectiveness of their
experimental concept.
Jonathan Blatt
NW Riverscape St.
Dehumanizing plan
As a longtime defender of the
industrial sanctuary of Northwest
Portland, I am surprised at your
180-degree turn regarding the proposed
transformation of Terminal
1 into a homeless shelter.
The rationale for spending upward
of $100 million on another Homer
Williams concept seems impractical
and unfundable.
We do have a homeless problem,
but should it not be vetted by Portland
citizens who for a variety of
reasons have been displaced? Our
first obligation is to these individuals
and families who I believe at
one time or even now are or were
taxpaying contributing members of
our community. Whether through
no fault of their own, abuse or
addiction, they are our own, and
we have an obligation to continue
to serve them.
We also have a growing population
of interlopers who have come
into our city with the knowledge
that this is the land of “milk and
honey.” To them, a return bus
ticket is the best we can do or
should do, considering our limited
resources should be for our citizens
alone.
Now we have the fix-all in the
form of T-1. How dehumanizing.
To crate our citizens in a warehouse
that has no existing capabilities
to offer a refuge to families
in need. I would suspect a strong
majority would opt to camp out on
the street.
I also challenge Salt Lake City and
San Antonio as success stories. San
Antonio’s Haven of Hope has very
limited use and extremely high
cost, even after a number of years
on the books.
Wapato Jail is “doors open” ready
today and is the effective option,
especially after the closure of the
Springwater Trail. We could run
24/7 bus service from there into the
core area for existing and needed
services within Portland for years
at a fraction of the cost of the permits
and the “grand plan.”
Jim Price
Emerson Hardwood Group
NW Front Ave.
No freedom
So far, the Harbor of Hope website
says absolutely nothing about
autonomy or freedom, and it seems
to confuse accountability with subservience.
There are many homeless
who can abide by safety/respect
rules who are currently being treated
like prisoners in missions or
being criminalized outside because
of the few bad apples or just because
people don’t like their presence.
Being without property is not a
crime, and natural rights supersede
constitutional based property
rights.
If this place is going to be fundamentally
any different than charity-based
missions, it should charge
rent, have secured access and
prescreening. These things help
assure autonomy and individual
accountability are upheld. In missions,
anyone can enter with limited
accountability or screening.
The end result is everyone pays
the price of a few bad apples; fullgrown
adults are given 7 p.m. curfews,
disrespected, told to shut up
or lie still and wait until 6 a.m. to
be kicked out. They are also kicked
out if they cannot abide by this.
Missions also lack an incentive to
respect individual autonomy and
human dignity, as they sustain
themselves off people who never
have to endure their treatment.
There are hundreds of homeless
day laborers in Portland. Many others
get checks but will tell you that
$800 is not enough to get their own
place, transportation and food. Peo-
Continued on page 6
Blind hiker completes
Wildwood Trail
Alex Schay and his guide dog, Clifton, cross a bridge on Lower Macleay Trail on their
way to their real mission—hiking the entire length of the Wildwood Trail.
Photo by Wesley Mahan
The August NW Examiner
featured Alex Schay, a
Southeast Portland resident
and business operator who regularly
hikes in Forest Park. Schay
explained why the introduction of
mountain bikers to pedestrian-only
paths such as the Wildwood Trail
would create hardships for blind
hikers, such as himself, who would
be in danger of being struck or
driven from the trail.
Last month, Schay accomplished
a longtime goal of walking the
entire length of the trail. This is
his story:
“On Sept. 4 and 5, my guide
dog, Clifton, and I made a successful
independent hike of Forest
Park’s Wildwood Trail. We began
at the Vietnam War Memorial near
the Oregon Zoo on Sunday morning,
and came out at Northwest
Newberry Road near Sauvie Island
Monday afternoon. At just over
30 miles in length, the Wildwood
Trail is the longest contiguous
urban trail in the United States,
crossing numerous watersheds.
“Many tools and techniques
enabled a successful hike. First,
I used textual descriptions about
present the third annual...
the Wildwood Trail, taken from
Marcy Cottrell Houle’s book, “One
City’s Wilderness,” to get a general
understanding of the trail, as well
as an understanding of some of
the trail crossings and connections.
Thank you to Marcy.
“Mike Yamada from the Oregon
Commission for the Blind
may also be gratified to learn that
BlindSquare, a GPS-based app that
helps blind people navigate and
understand their surroundings,
may be used to determine the proximity
of various trail crossings in
Forest Park. BlindSquare can also
announce upcoming trail crossings,
which can be quite helpful.
“I was also able to consult with
other hikers to confirm that I was
on the right track or to get back on
track. And of course, Clifton did
an amazing job focusing on details,
like washed-out bridges or sections
of trail, overhangs, and roots and
rocks too numerous to mention.
“I am revising Marcy’s textual
description of the Wildwood Trail
so that it can be an even more effective
tool for blind hikers, giving
more blind people access to Portland’s
remarkable Forest Park.”
Curse of the Haunted Curds
Brewery chefs compete for people’s choice
and judges’ choice award
October 27th, 6-8 p.m.
Portland Brewing Company Taproom , 2730 NW 31st Ave
$10 5-poutine sampler
$16 5-poutine sampler
with beer pairings
On the menu all day at Portland Brewing, cast your vote for your favorite
#CursedCurds
50% of proceeds from
pairings will benefit
Friendly House
nwexaminer.com / Northwest Examiner, October 2016 5