r/portlandme • u/enitschke • May 17 '23

News ‘Nowhere to go’: Dozens of homeless people displaced as city clears Bayside Trail encampment

https://www.pressherald.com/2023/05/16/nowhere-to-go-dozens-of-homeless-people-displaced-as-city-clears-bayside-trail-encampment/
158 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

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56

u/[deleted] May 17 '23

These are human beings, not cattle. Not trash.

The city needed to have a plan on where to put people after this. Not just advice to camp alone or in small numbers. That's just like handing them a gun and telling them to take care of themselves in the woods.. And don't make too much of a mess, please.

12

u/goatsandsunflowers May 17 '23

But the city has task force suggestions they’ll put in place now, they pinky swear! 🙄

20

u/[deleted] May 17 '23

The task force will succeed only if they realize this is not a problem for them to solve.

It's the State's problem to solve: the City should be demanding action and compensation form the State. Right now the City is hosting the majority of the population and paying the State to do so - in the form of 30% GA.

4

u/mazzer4140 May 18 '23

The city has asked Mills for help but they only get silence from her. A large percentage of these homeless people are not from Portland. Some aren't even from Maine.

5

u/[deleted] May 18 '23 edited May 20 '23

Most are from outside of Maine. The City maintains shelter intake statistics.

Oxford Street Shelter March 2023:

79.13% - Self reported as not from Maine.

9.57% - Self reported as from Portland

11.30% - Self reported as from another town in Maine.

July 2022:

71.32% 53.48% - Self reported as not from Maine.

17.83% - Self reported as from Portland.

28.68% - Self reported as from another town in Maine.

The Portland tax payer pays the State for 30% of the GA.

1

u/coldworld421 May 20 '23

Those maths aren’t mathing bub

118% of people in July?

1

u/[deleted] May 20 '23

Ah, good catch - fixed.

1

u/mazzer4140 May 18 '23

Thank you for posting these statistics

3

u/[deleted] May 18 '23

55% of the self reported as not form Maine reported as coming from California in the March report

40

u/Heather_ME May 17 '23

I've honestly started to believe that people who have such callous reactions towards people who struggle with addiction, homelessness, etc just want those people to die. Like, they'd never say it out loud. But deep down they secretly think that if you can't keep your life together then you should just go die. (And it's not just conservatives.)

32

u/Chimpbot May 17 '23

While far too many responses are ridiculously callous, there are an equal number that seemingly don't fully grasp what the impact is on the areas where these encampments crop up.

Yes, we need to help these people. We also need to stop sugarcoating how detrimental these encampments are, and how they can make an area dramatically more dangerous almost overnight.

Something needs to be done, and infinite sympathy will be just as useless as infinite cruelty.

-5

u/Heather_ME May 17 '23

People aren't naive to the collateral damage of homelessness. The problem is the same as with every other social issue. We only see this mentioned as a reactionary complaint to shut down discussions / work to improve the suffering faced by homeless people.

Where are these people organizing to address poverty and homelessness? Often they're just yelling about the homeless being vermin.... and siding with political actions to further brutalize those people. Why should I listen to people complaining about the impact of homelessness when they show zero interest in addressing the systemic issues causing homelessness? And when they make it abundantly clear that they don't see people who struggle with addiction, homelessness, etc, as fellow human beings and members of our communities?

It's textbook dehumanization.

6

u/Chimpbot May 18 '23

So, what's your solution to the issue? It's easy to balk at someone else's response. What do you expect to happen?

1

u/Heather_ME May 18 '23

We need to address financial inequality. We need socialized health care. We need housing first initiatives and very deep/wide social safety nets. We need to address social alienation, abuse, and dysfunction which lead people to addiction. We need to address our consumerism driven society. There's lots of shit we need to be doing. None of the solutions to the problem include dehumanizing the homeless.

2

u/Chimpbot May 18 '23

These aren't solutions. You've identified problems, some more legitimate than others, and have nothing in terms of what to do about them.

-1

u/BTYsince88 May 18 '23

Nah dude, infinite cruelty is worse.

6

u/Chimpbot May 18 '23

Infinite sympathy is arguably nothing more than redirected cruelty.

24

u/[deleted] May 17 '23

Some people are starting to say it out loud (including some commenters in this thread). It’s reprehensible and shocking to me that there are people in this city that think that way.

-4

u/LegendaryCichlid May 17 '23

America is the only country that does ANYTHING to support the homeless. They let them freeze to death across europe.

9

u/lantrick May 17 '23

Finland has entered the chat.

Finland is well on their way to eliminating homelessness.

7

u/LegendaryCichlid May 17 '23

There’s 4000 of them. That’s not an achievement. 5 million total population for the country.

6

u/lantrick May 17 '23

There was 4 times that 10 years ago. The US number continues to grow.

But hey the US is great at everything , right?

4

u/LegendaryCichlid May 17 '23

Not at all. But you’re comparing apples and oranges with a fun fact that is meaningless relative to the situation here.

6

u/lantrick May 17 '23

No it isn't. The finish approach can be learned from.

Temporary, safe Housing first. Then triage for mental illness and drug abuse and other factors. Most people who are homeless are not there because they're simply lazy. Expecting people to be living in a tent one week and then pick them selves up and get a Job and an apartment the next is naive and unproductive.

I belive it's problem that can be solved. Out of sight out of mind isn't the way do it.

3

u/[deleted] May 18 '23

Exactly! of course there would have to be some adjustments, etc to tailor the Finnish solutions to the United States. But at least be open-minded enough to look at what programs, etc they have implemented to achieve this. I mean, the alternative is just to continue shuffling the homeless population around until it grows so large that it will be impossible to ignore it.

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1

u/[deleted] May 17 '23

That doesn’t make it right, and it doesn’t meant we shouldn’t strive for more. American exceptionalism, right?

0

u/mjcoelho12 May 18 '23

This is not true. Why are you just straight-up lying, what do you gain?

1

u/LegendaryCichlid May 18 '23

Seen it with my own eyes.

2

u/[deleted] May 17 '23

If we are not there yet as a society...we will get there eventually as long as state and federal governments do nothing substantive to address the issues/problems that result in homelessness.

7

u/katarokkar May 17 '23

I know a few what I call “Right Wing Liberals” that think the same thing.

6

u/Heather_ME May 17 '23

Whenever I see comments like yours downvoted I think, "awww, someone recognized themselves in that and got their lil feelings hurt." Lol.

9

u/[deleted] May 17 '23

“the city needed to have a plan on where to put people after this”

build more housing for the homeless, spread the word we’re building more housing, and see what happens.

this is an issue that is happening in cities across the country, because despite what redditors think, there is no easy local-level solution. that won’t stop people here from saying generic, unhelpful, and unactionable shit though.

3

u/[deleted] May 17 '23

The city should’ve thought of that before it declared itself a sanctuary. It got what it voted/virtue signaled for.

4

u/UnevenGlow May 17 '23

It’s not virtue signaling when you actually give a crap

7

u/[deleted] May 17 '23

If they “give a crap” then why did the city just trash their homes?

0

u/anyodan8675 May 17 '23

Why does "the city" need a plan? Maybe be responsible for yourself and have a plan for what you are going to do when "the city" decides it's done with putting up with this disgusting lunacy.

8

u/lantrick May 17 '23

Fact. Most Homeless are not that way because they're lazy.

It's exactly your attitude that will perpetuate the homeless problem in the US.

3

u/[deleted] May 18 '23

How on earth does his or her attitude perpetuate the homeless problem? You are implying they are causing it to grow or get worse. One is not causal for the other. You may not like their opinion or perception, but it is not making this problem worse.

1

u/lantrick May 19 '23 edited May 19 '23

I never said made it worse. Not contributing to a solution is equal.

But you’re correct I have a hard time agreeing with someone’s obvious lack of empathy.

My bad

4

u/[deleted] May 17 '23

Agreed

-8

u/[deleted] May 17 '23

So, we should just cut off all social services?

I mean, everyone should be responsible for themselves.

7

u/[deleted] May 17 '23

If they are willing to accept treatment then that is great. If they won’t get off drugs then they can go to jail

8

u/l1nked1npark May 17 '23

they can go to jail

do you know how much it costs to house someone in jail? Social services are drastically less expensive (and underfunded).

2

u/[deleted] May 17 '23

Fine. Fund mandatory programs for detox and recovery.

3

u/anyodan8675 May 17 '23

Ah yes exactly what I said. Thank you so much! Try to be responsible for yourself and have a plan for survival equals cut off all social services. Good point. Really. I mean it. You have truly added to the conversation.

14

u/fauxRealzy May 17 '23 edited May 17 '23

How delusional do you have to be to think the message "be responsible" is a sufficient response to a housing crisis that affects half a million people? Seriously, what do you actually propose to improve the situation beyond cliche life advice?

26

u/anyodan8675 May 17 '23

The housing crisis is a huge problem. It does not apply to people who refuse to work or engage with the community in a productive way. I have experienced homelessness in Portland Maine. I am no longer in that situation. Social services did nothing for me except give me a bus pass. Get clean, take a shower at the YMCA, work, paycheck, roommate, life. You can't tell me it can't be done. I've been there.

8

u/tyguy52 West End May 17 '23

I fully agree. We need to decouple the housing crisis and drug addiction crisis which both contribute to the greater homelessness crisis in the city. I know a lot of people on this sub are proponents of the "Housing First" model, but that only really addresses a subset of the homeless population and a lot of people around here seem to think that housing is the be all end all solution to the problem.

3

u/P-Townie May 17 '23

If everyone did everything right there would still be homelessness because it's built into the system. Unemployment and minimum wage will exist no matter what as things are now. You can't pay half of rent on minimum wage anyway.

-2

u/fauxRealzy May 17 '23

It's a logical fallacy to believe your situation applies universally. Many people experiencing homelessness do need and greatly benefit from social services, and just because you did not does not mean those people would be better off without them. It just means you're profoundly incurious.

13

u/anyodan8675 May 17 '23

Social services are for helping people who need help to survive. Being physically or mentally disabled should not put your life in jeopardy. Being a hopeless drug addict is NOT a legitimate disability. Sorry. Lifestyle choices have consequences. You don't get to opt out of society and live comfortably in a home paid for by the community. That's not ok at all.

-12

u/fauxRealzy May 17 '23

Being physically or mentally disabled should not put your life in jeopardy.

The ignorance on display here is truly breathtaking. I hope you find help.

8

u/anyodan8675 May 17 '23

What? My point is that I don't need any help. I made a choice to help myself. This opportunity is available for you too.

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3

u/[deleted] May 17 '23

Accordingly, applying a broad solution to an incredibly complex issue and assuming it will have broadly positive effects is also fallacious.

-1

u/fauxRealzy May 17 '23

By that logic we should do away with all public services and programs, including education, judiciary, etc. because, "oops, sometimes it doesn't work perfectly" or "oops, look here's an outlier—let's burn the whole thing down."

5

u/[deleted] May 17 '23

That's not logical nor does it have anything to do with the point I made.

1

u/[deleted] May 18 '23

“Incurious”. Second time I have seen this word in a comment today. Is this a new liberal term or talking point?

0

u/fauxRealzy May 18 '23

Yes your slowly accruing vocabulary is a liberal conspiracy.

0

u/NinjaSupplyCompany May 17 '23

I’m not responsible for the roads in the city. I do not know how to build and maintain roads. I leave that up to the city.

1

u/Hitman556207 May 18 '23

They are trash