Homeless Advocate Has Walked More Than A Mile In Their Shoes

Lynn McPherson, formerly homeless herself, is a homelessness advocacy champion and volunteer at Portland Rescue Mission.  Lynn provided cupcakes for our Birthday Party for the Homeless and walked last summer to raise awareness about homelessness.  She was recently interviewed by Second Act to talk about her passion for helping people in need.

From Second Act:

Lynn McPherson walks with residents
from Shepherd's Door,
the women and children's recovery ministry
of Portland Rescue Mission.

[Lynn] McPherson ran her own pastry business for more than 20 years. But her life changed dramatically after she left an abusive relationship and found herself living in her car with her three children. Eventually a family member helped McPherson move into an apartment and, after getting back on her feet and finding work, she decided she wanted to give back to the community that had helped her through hard times. She began volunteering at local homeless shelters and taking in street kids who needed a place to sleep. But she still wanted to do more. 

In 2010, McPherson started Change-for-Life, a project aimed at raising awareness about the plight of the nation's homeless population. She took her mission on the road last year, walking from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Tijuana, Mexico, and asking the people she met to donate money to local homeless shelters. 

During her five-month journey, she says she volunteered at 54 shelters and interviewed more than 1,000 homeless people. While living on a food budget of $200 per month (the average food stamp benefit), she slept in the front seat of a minivan (which her traveling companion drove behind her for safety), at rest stops, and on the beach. 

Now McPherson, who manages a Portland apartment complex, is planning another trek for 2012. "Walking from Canada to Mexico was all well and good, but there are so many homeless out there who need to know that someone has their back," says the grandmother of five. 

In an interview with SecondAct.com, McPherson talks about her role as a homeless advocate, what she learned on the road, and her plans for the future.

>> Read the rest of the interview

What Recovery Means To Them - Graduation Spring 2011

Thanks to friends like you, 18 men and women from our New Life Recovery Ministry celebrated graduations / transitions last month.

What Recovery Means To Them - Graduation Spring 2011 (Quicktime Version)



These courageous men and women are so grateful for the help they've received. Some have achieved their GED. Many are entering the workforce. They stand tall, embracing a healthy new life.

Several of our recent graduates are moms. Your support keeps families like theirs together, breaking the generational cycle of homelessness, addiction and abuse.

Donate online at www.PortlandRescueMission.org or call 503-MISSION (647-7466).

Homeless and addicted: On the street or off?

In a two-part series, the Portland Tribune looks at the new Bud Clark Commons, a $47-million government-funded building that will provide housing for 130 of Portland's most vulnerable homeless men and women.  The first article provides an overview of the project and raises certain concerns.

In the second article, the Tribune tackles the question of "wet" versus "dry" housing -- should Bud Clark Commons residents be allowed to use alcohol and illegal drugs without consequences?

Eric Bauer, executive director of Portland Rescue Mission, is attributed in the article:

Tribune Photo: 

Christopher Onstott

On a daily basis, Eric Bauer sees as many homeless, addicted people as anybody in Portland as executive director of the Portland Rescue Mission in Old Town. Bauer says wet housing is necessary and humane for what he estimates might be 30 percent of the homeless. Those include the homeless with severe mental illness, chronic diseases and people older than 60. 

The rest, Bauer says, have a better chance at recovery if they are in buildings where they have to try, and can't be seduced by buildings where they don't have to. 

"Recovery is hard work," Bauer says. "There are going to be moments when you say you can't do this. If free wet housing is available to you immediately, you're going to take it at some point. 

Bauer says that the idea of Housing First has changed from when it was first proposed locally, when the idea of harm reduction prevailed. 

"When this first came out, it was the 10-year plan to end chronic homelessness and every city had a few guys or gals who were million-dollar guys. The argument was a solid argument for the million-dollar wonders but they aren't the norm," Bauer says.

For clarification, neither Eric Bauer nor Portland Rescue Mission stand in favor of wet housing.  The reference, "Bauer says wet housing is necessary and humane..." should have more accurately stated, "Bauer says subsidized housing is preferred and humane..."

He adds that subsidized housing and the "wet vs. dry" issue is complex. The core question is, should taxpayer dollars provide permanent subsidized housing, and if so, to whom?  Then the discussion can lead to "wet vs. dry," and, within that context, where illegal drug use should fall.

As the article stated, executive directors of faith-based and secular organizations with significant experience in addictions recovery agree that dry housing yields much better outcomes for people walking through the challenging journey of recovery.

>> Read the full article
>> Read comments on the article

Employment Opportunities at Portland Rescue Mission

Looking for a job? Join our team of passionate staff as we work to provide emergency care and long-term recovery for homeless men, women and children in the Portland, Oregon area.

We're currently hiring for the following positions. (See full descriptions here.)

• Gift Processing Associate
• Staff Ministry (Human Resources) Specialist
• Men's Ministry Part-Time Night Manager
  
• Next Step Men's House / Case Manager
• Manager of Shepherd's Door
• Women's Life Skills Manager
  
• Women's Discovery Program Specialist
  
• Women's Part-Time Overnight Pastoral Care

To apply, submit a cover letter and resume to:

Alissa Goble

Portland Rescue Mission

1507 NE 122nd Ave.

Portland, OR 97230

alissag@pdxmission.org
Fax: 503-227-1226

When A Pet's Love Is All You Have Left

When a pet owner becomes homeless, what happens to their beloved animal?  Portland Rescue Mission, like most shelters, can accept only service animals due to health and safety concerns.  The choice of keeping a pet while homeless can be a difficult one.

From CNN:

James has an unlikely reaction when he watches his gangly black puppy Bigera chow down on a can of dog food: His stomach rumbles. 

"Sometimes there's not enough for the both of us that day," he said. "But I make sure she always eats. She has to. She's what keeps me sane out here." 

"Out here" are the streets where James -- who asked that his last name not be used -- lives with Bigera. 

They have been together for a little more than four months. At night they sleep on a doorstep.
As each day ends, James said Bigera runs back to the stoop and lies down as if she knows she's returning home. 

"I wish we didn't have a doorway," he said. "I wish we had a house to go into, but it's what we call home for now." 

More and more, people who until only recently had somewhere to live are out on the streets of Portland with their pets, said Amy Sacks, who runs the Pixie Project, a nonprofit pet store and shelter for animals. 

She tracks down homeless people in alleys and under bridges and makes her pitch as to why they should make sure their pets get proper care. 

"It's the economy. I am taking so many animals that are family pets," said Sacks. "I just took in a 9-year-old dog, and these people were besides themselves. They had the dog since it was 7 weeks old, and they lost their home." 

Sacks said she knows that no matter how much she helps, the animals will still live on the streets since Portland -- like many cities -- does not usually allow homeless people to bring pets into shelters. 

"It's gut-wrenching," she said, describing her work.

>> Read the rest of the article

Life and Death Lottery

Portland's most vulnerable homeless men and women have a shot a free housing.  The new Bud Clark Center will house 130 people -- but will it work?

From the Portland Tribune:

Tribune Photo:
Christopher Onstott 

John hasn’t had a place to live in four years. Being in and out of jail is the closest he’s come to that. 

A longtime methamphetamine addict, John (not his real name) says he mostly uses marijuana now. John also suffers from severe mental illness, including depression. 

John, in his 40s, is articulate and resourceful. After years of on-and-off homelessness, he has learned where to go for a hot meal or a shower. That resourcefulness is about to cost him a place to live. 

As the Housing Authority of Portland prepares to open its $47 million Bud Clark Commons near Union Station in Old Town, workers at four community health care clinics have administered Vulnerability Index tests to the city’s homeless. The 130 people with the highest scores — basically those most likely to die or get assaulted if left out on the street — will be offered apartments in the LEED-certified building. 

The 130 apartments in the commons represent one of the more dramatic housing experiments that the city and the housing authority have attempted. Because of the way the tests measure vulnerability, tenants will include people who are trying out recovery living next to those still using drugs and alcohol, and those prone to violence next to longtime assault victims. 

Two weeks ago John took the test. So did Cindy.

>> Read the rest of the article
>> Read the second article in this series

Artist Draws Portraits of Homeless Youth

From OregonLive.com:

Every Wednesday for the past two years, [N. Scrantz] Lersch, a trained artist, has come to p:ear to draw for and teach art to the young adults who go there.

"I just come in and start drawing," Lersch said. "I'm trying to give them a voice."

P:ear, now in its ninth year, offers mentoring, meals, a library, art supplies, the use of phones and computers to youth ages 15 to 24. The art they create is displayed and sold out of a studio inside p:ear that is open to the public on First Thursday. P:ear also provides a housing program and a barista-training program, which teaches the young people the business of serving coffee.

Pippa Arend, spokeswoman for p:ear, said the center is different from most other homeless service centers in Portland.

"P:ear is outside of the continuum of homeless services; we work privately," Arend said. "A lot of the people who can't or won't access services can come here."

Arend said Lersch is a valuable volunteer because of how she can connect with the youth through her portraits of them.

"Where Scrantz comes in, she's an artist, and art is one of our main tools that we use," Arend said. "Doing art with someone creates a common bond with some people. It's a way to get positive attention, it's a way to feel nurtured."

>> See more of Scrantz's portraits

Evarardo's Picture

From Darsey, a staff member of Portland Rescue Mission:

I walked out the front door of Burnside Shelter to a clear, bright evening. I volunteer with some women to wash the feet of homeless women on Monday nights at Liberation Street Church, just across the street from the Mission, and we were heading over.

As I got outside, I saw Evarardo standing at our door, waiting to come in for dinner.

“Evarardo! Did you get your pictures?” I asked, excited.

I waved the other women on so that I could talk to him. I’d taken Evarardo’s picture sometime last year. Since he’s only at the Mission sporadically, I hadn’t been able to get prints to him, so eventually I just mailed his prints to his sister in Beaverton.

“Yeah, yeah, my sister, she got them,” Evarardo confirmed, smiling and nodding shyly. “She got them at her house. See? I have one in my wallet.” He pulled out a crumpled photo of himself that he’d obviously carried around a while. “Thank you for sending them.”

“Well I’m glad you got them,” I finished. “Sorry I took so long.”

Evarardo did a half jump, as if something leapt in his stomach. “I was on TV,” he explained, “for the Mission.” He pointed to our logo at the front door of the shelter.

“You were? Recently?” I gulped, offered a smile, and tried to read his expression.

It’s a tough thing, taking a photo of a street guest at our Mission with the possibility of using the image for our fundraising. While it’s those pictures—the honest faces, the tired spirits, the dirty clothes—that connect our donors to the heartbeat of homelessness, I know I’m asking a lot of someone when I take a picture of them in such a low state. On the street with Evarardo, I feign positivity while I desperately hope he’s not upset about being on TV.

“Oh yeah,” I confirm, recalling our recent TV efforts. “We used you on some Spanish TV commercials. Was that it?”

“Yes,” he confirmed, “for the Mission.”

He paused. “My family saw it. And they found me.”

“In Beaverton?” I asked, assuming the rest of his family is near his sister, where I sent his pictures.

“Yes, Beaverton.”

I couldn’t read his mood. Happy? Sad? Frustrated? Embarrassed? I had no idea, but I couldn’t fake my positivity any more. We’ve had a few guests get upset over using their image in the past, some even asking for compensation, and I had to know that my relationship with Evarardo wouldn’t be spoiled by that.

“So, that’s a good thing?” I asked, sheepishly.

“Yeah!” he laughed. “It’s good! They found me, and now I get to go home.”

“You’re going to live with them in Beaverton?” I clarified.

“Yeah, they came to the Mission and picked me up, and now I get to go home.”

Evarardo didn’t explain more about his family, or why he was at our shelter still that night, but I could tell he was genuinely happy to reconnect to his community.

“And I got my Green Card!” he continued. He pointed over the Burnside Bridge behind me. “Someone took me to an office over the bridge to get my Green Card back!” He pulled out his temporary Green Card from his wallet. “They’ll mail the real one to me soon.”

“You got your Green Card?” I confirmed. “That’s great!”

“Yes! That’s why I was on the streets in the first place! Now I got it back! So thank you,” Evarardo repeated.

“And you know,” he looked at me. “You can take my picture any time, because good things happened when you did.”

I laughed and thank Evarardo for sharing his story.

It’s funny—we work so hard at the Mission to get people back on their feet, and more importantly, to offer them the love of Christ so that they can move forward with a hope and a joy that no other human can provide. As hard as we try, some people never seem to internalize the message. Some fervently resist it.

But every now and then, we hardly even have to do anything. God just does His work. He can use one small thing – a photo – that can turn a life back in a better direction.

Donate Your Car - Now In West Portland, Too!

Portland Rescue Mission Opens New Car Sales and Donations Site in Beaverton!

Help us turn wheels into meals!

Portland Rescue Mission's vehicle donation and sales program provides a win for everyone involved.

Donors feel great knowing that their vehicle donation helps provide meals, shelter and recovery care for hundreds of hurting men, women and children right here in Portland.

Buyers trust our qualified mechanics who carefully restore quality cars for sale on our lot.

Now, with two convenient locations in Portland and Beaverton, donating your car is even easier.

EAST PORTLAND           Map It 8301 NE Halsey Portland, OR 97220 Monday - Friday:  9:30 AM - 6:00 PM Saturday:  9:00 AM - 5:00 PM 503-906-7673
WEST PORTLAND           Map It 8555 SW Canyon Rd. Beaverton, OR 97225 Tuesday - Saturday:  9:00 AM - 5:00 PM 503-345-9811

► Donate a car.  Learn more or call either location (above) to get started.  

► Buy a car.  View our inventory online or stop by our car lot during business hours.