On Warmth
Growing up in Parkrose Heights, I remember a few harsh “cold snaps,” as my Dad would call them. He had installed a wood stove in our home (he was a really handy guy!), which meant that when the power went out from ice and wind a few times in the early 1980s, our home was the place neighbors could come to and be warm. To my toddler self, it felt like a neighborhood slumber party! Now I might use another term—mutual aid. I look back and am grateful to be part of a family that understands that being a good neighbor means sharing what you have when others need it. It’s not always easy to remember when things get hard, and I certainly forget sometimes. But events like these are a reminder of our interdependence, of what makes us a community.
I’m grateful for the maintenance crews, firefighters, shelter operators and volunteers, line crewpeople, staff and volunteer response teams, and neighbors who are checking in with housed and unhoused neighbors this weekend. That is not an exhaustive list! You are sharing your time, your expertise, your labor, your kindness at a critical moment. Thank you.
Last month, I joined the annual Houseless Day of Remembrance, to remember and mourn the 315 people without a home who died in Multnomah County during 2022. It was a chilly evening. After standing on the street for two hours, I was starting to lose feeling in my toes, and I shared that with my friend standing next to me.
That friend—who had experienced chronic homelessness for several years until recently getting into a wait-listed affordable housing unit (there was much rejoicing!)—made a response that I can’t forget: “Imagine being this cold or colder and not knowing when you could be warm again.”
This weekend, one in four Portlanders have been without power, while line response crews struggle to deal with downed power lines and felled trees. Many people in homes have struggled to find ways to stay warm or find friends or family to stay with, an option made more complicated by the icy roads. What a relief when the power comes back on!
Thermostat
A friend whose home regained power after 25 hours without electricity shared this image of her thermostat
Meanwhile, people without housing are experiencing a critical state of emergency. Two people have been confirmed dead of hypothermia so far this weekend, and we are sure to learn of more. Choosing between finding a shelter bed and leaving important belongings behind, or trying to find ways to stay warm in a car or RV is a painful moment-to-moment situation that I can barely imagine. And I know that storms like this are only going to be more frequent owing to our climate crisis, exposing all our neighbors to even more extreme weather.
“Imagine being this cold or colder and not knowing when you could be warm again.”
When we talk about our housing crisis, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed. Whenever I start to succumb to this, I remember a conversation I had with Israel Bayer, Jes Larson, and our dearly departed friend Justin Buri on the Why Isn’t Anyone Talking About This? Podcast. In the podcast episode, Israel reminds us that our current crisis is the accumulation of many policy and funding choices over the last few decades at all levels of government. But we can make different choices. We must make different choices. Losing 315 people to homelessness is unacceptable. Losing two this weekend is two too many.
Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. As I think of his legacy in context of this weekend, I think of the Poor People’s Campaign he helped initiate during his life, which the coalition continued after his assassination. A 1968 CBS special demonstrated how poverty and hunger in America show up in different communities across this land.
The needs and challenges endure. More than half of Portland’s homeless families are unsheltered. We must make different policy and funding choices. I join you and others with the powerful will to ensure that all our neighbors have access to warm, safe shelter. It will not be easy, but we can do it.
I hope you are staying warm and safe this weekend. If you have time and are safely able to get to a warming shelter, please know Multnomah County is looking for volunteers. You can sign up for a warming shelter shift here. Thank you for all the ways you show up.