Right 2 Survive has just co-sponsored our petition, as we gather more support before our presentation to City Council on Wednesday, Oct. 3rd at 9:30 am. 

The Montavilla Initiative group which is behind the “Enough is Enough” petition has been videotaping houseless people entering needle exchange sites in an effort to intimidate and shame them.  This group has organized an anti-homeless protest at City Hall on Wednesday at 2 pm, and another group will counter-protest this vigilante hate group. 

In the absence of leadership from our city leaders, Portland is becoming the Wild West where a bunch of self-appointed vigilantes have decided to go out to deal with the homeless people themselves. This is not how Portland is or should be.  We need to address homelessness with care, compassion and resources, not intimidation and hate.

 In this video, Kaia Sands, executive director of Street Roots, says, “A lot of things that are legal inside are illegal outside, in terms of sleeping, in terms of going to the bathroom, in terms of just those basic needs of human life. And when we don’t have the infrastructure in place, then people’s existences themselves are criminalized.”

Cheers,

Elliott Young