From The Oregonian:
Of the 4,000 people living on the streets in Multnomah County, more than half have serious mental illness and more than a third have physical disabilities.
You'd think many of these people could qualify for disability income help from the government.
The short answer is they probably could.
The reality is the more disabled they are, the harder it is for them to pursue benefits.
This is where Mellani Calvin comes in. In April 2010, she founded the nonprofit ASSIST, which stands for "Assertive Supplemental Security Income Service Team." From a small office in Southwest Portland, the five-member staff works with indigent or homeless clients seeking to qualify for disability benefits. ...
I think a lot of marginalized people flocked to Portland after hearing about how progressive, etc. it was.
ReplyDeletePrograms like this exist in many areas. They work off of grants and sometimes of off I&R (Information and Referral) services budgets. These budgets have been hacked across the board in the last few years.
ReplyDeleteThe median price of homes currently listed in Multnomah County is $409,000 while the median price of homes that sold is $364,691. The median rent price in Multnomah County is $1,895, which is higher than the Portland Metro median of $1,850. From Zillow records.
ReplyDeleteHarkens back to the SSI Outreach program which was too successful in finding eligible claimants among the homeless.
ReplyDeleteHow San Antonio helps the homeless:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-na-san-antonio-homeless-20170826-htmlstory.html
http://havenforhope.org/GetHelp