BY SAM SACHS
Fining and jailing homeless people for camping in any city park is dehumanizing and criminalizes people who desperately need solutions rooted in compassion and understanding.
I feel qualified to offer my opinion regarding the Laurelhurst Neighborhood's recommendation to ban camping in the park and fine or jail homeless people. I served as park ranger for five years and a human rights commissioner for two years with the City of Portland.
In September 2016, I was one of three park rangers who organized and planned the relocation of homeless campers living on the Springwater Corridor. We worked very closely with many homeless advocates, outreach workers, counselors, probation and parole officers, police officers and the Mayor's office in an attempt to give everyone the chance to move to a hotel, treatment facility or housing. Unfortunately, whether it was by choice or a lack of resources, many of the homeless campers could not avail themselves of these options.
As you know, there are very few shelters for homeless people who need a place to live until they get back up on their feet or get the mental health or substance abuse treatment they need.
Fining or jailing homeless people for camping is not only dehumanizing, it's also unrealistic.
Portland Parks and Recreation has more than 200 properties, including parks and community centers, with approximately 20 park rangers to cover them all.
The city's 20 park rangers work daily to engage as ambassadors with the homeless community. And yes, on occasion they must write exclusions or even call the police to have someone arrested for a crime. But park rangers do not have the authority or the ability to arrest or fine anyone.
City leaders should embrace an idea I proposed two years ago: Designating an undeveloped property as a "village" for those community members who experience homelessness, similar to "Right to Dream Too."
The city should work to provide a property with tiny homes, restrooms and shower areas, a resource center focused on jobs, education, re-entry and treatment. It should include a community meeting area and a garden to grow vegetables. Before I lose you, all of this is achievable through agencies and partnerships already in place, unifying to create a five-year plan to assist people off the street.
Park rangers could team with advocates to determine what each homeless person's needs are and how they can best assist them to find housing and other services.
The greatest thing Portlanders can give to other Portlanders who are homeless is support and a sense of community, not a message of rejection that sends them away. We must acknowledge and accept that homeless people are still our neighbors, our friends, our family.
The problem is ours together. And together, we must lead with our hearts and the goal of protecting the humanity of those community members in need by restoring citizenship, participation and trust.
We do this through a welcoming back into community; by supporting rehabilitation and empowerment, and also by assuming collective responsibility.
Sam Sachs lives in Northeast Portland.