My family is leaving Portland, Oregon after working here for the last quarter century with folks on the street. This month, I will be switching my focus to another city in Oregon, but I've been taking a time to reflect. I want to summarize the work we've done so those reading this blog understand a bit of the background that creates the thoughts that make this blog.
My family has been working for homeless folks in Portland and Gresham for 25 years. Beginning in 1999, Anawim Christian Community has been our official name. In that time, we housed more than 60 people in our apartments or house, from one night to more than ten years. We hosted approximately 1400 days of day shelters, serving more than 2000 meals and dozens of emergency night shelters. We gave away to poor individuals, families and camps approximately 300,000 pounds of food. We have given away thousands of sets of clothes, and hundreds of thousands pairs of socks. We had hundreds of volunteers, most of whom have been on the street at the time of their volunteering. We invited, trained and established a number of houseless folks into leadership positions. We helped build and organize many camps, and helped them move when they were dismantled. When our centers were taken away, we still delivered meals and boxes to camps where people lived outside.
What we have aimed for are places where people on the street could obtain services, wisdom and safety, with the respect due to them as children of God. We established eight of these centers, and supported a half dozen more. We wanted places for people to establish their stability, to work through their drama and to feel normal for a bit. Even if people were troubled or caused trouble, we tried to listen to them and to provide fair counsel and determinations.
In the midst of this work, we learned about mental illness, poverty, addiction, and classism. We learned about how the assumptions, disgust and hatred of the community around them kept houseless folks trapped. But we also found narrow paths of escape to stability and hope, led by people of good will and peace.
While we were doing this work, we tried to establish a home for our family among the houseless. We homeschooled our children until middle school, and found later that they all were on the autism spectrum, although high functioning. We watched our kids grow in friendship and independence in the midst of some of the best people of the Northwest.
It hurts us to leave this city which has been our whole lives. It hurts to leave folks whom we have worked beside, cried with, celebrated with.. We love them all.
My family has been working for homeless folks in Portland and Gresham for 25 years. Beginning in 1999, Anawim Christian Community has been our official name. In that time, we housed more than 60 people in our apartments or house, from one night to more than ten years. We hosted approximately 1400 days of day shelters, serving more than 2000 meals and dozens of emergency night shelters. We gave away to poor individuals, families and camps approximately 300,000 pounds of food. We have given away thousands of sets of clothes, and hundreds of thousands pairs of socks. We had hundreds of volunteers, most of whom have been on the street at the time of their volunteering. We invited, trained and established a number of houseless folks into leadership positions. We helped build and organize many camps, and helped them move when they were dismantled. When our centers were taken away, we still delivered meals and boxes to camps where people lived outside.
What we have aimed for are places where people on the street could obtain services, wisdom and safety, with the respect due to them as children of God. We established eight of these centers, and supported a half dozen more. We wanted places for people to establish their stability, to work through their drama and to feel normal for a bit. Even if people were troubled or caused trouble, we tried to listen to them and to provide fair counsel and determinations.
In the midst of this work, we learned about mental illness, poverty, addiction, and classism. We learned about how the assumptions, disgust and hatred of the community around them kept houseless folks trapped. But we also found narrow paths of escape to stability and hope, led by people of good will and peace.
While we were doing this work, we tried to establish a home for our family among the houseless. We homeschooled our children until middle school, and found later that they all were on the autism spectrum, although high functioning. We watched our kids grow in friendship and independence in the midst of some of the best people of the Northwest.
It hurts us to leave this city which has been our whole lives. It hurts to leave folks whom we have worked beside, cried with, celebrated with.. We love them all.
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