During the summer of 2016, a family friend, as well as a former resident of the beautiful city of Portland, became homeless and began the struggled life of a bum. The path he was taking in life was far from the correct one. He had no motivation or guidance, he was mentally unstable because of post- traumatic stress from his duty in the military, and obviously was not financially stable due to his felony ruining any job opportunity to create an income. The government did nothing. He was truly hopeless. Effort of the government needs to be expanded to make the land of the free and home of the brave, truly a home to live in.
The homeless population in Multnomah County alone has increased nearly 10 percent in the past two years. Latest surveys show there are now over 4,177 people without permanent homes on any given night in Portland. We need more financial support from City Government in order to decrease the rate of homelessness in Portland. Homeless shelters allow for people to have a safe environment to live in and temporarily gets them off the streets. Also, shelters give homeless people the opportunity to get back on their feet and work towards getting a job and ultimately a permanent home. Although some may argue that homeless shelters are expensive and do not change or prevent behavior that leads to living on the streets, we still need to step forward and help these poor people sleeping out in those cold winter nights. One of the fastest-growing demographics is