Do Good Multnomah

Have you considered how difficult it might be for someone to get into housing, find employment, or stay in touch with loved ones without a place to receive important mail?

Access to mail services is critical to overcoming houselessness, but shelter sites cannot serve as mailing addresses, because it can establish "residency" for individuals sleeping there. So, our teams work with participants to access available mail services to receive critical documents. With the closing of the North Portland Drop-In Center, we are losing one of these valuable resources even as unsheltered houselessness reaches all-time highs. Thankfully, there are still several places for folks to receive mail across Portland.

Please spread the word and keep these handy!

Please remember this July 4th:

Fireworks can be unintentional reminders for Veterans or service members of traumatic experiences of combat, explosions or gun violence.

“Veterans may find themselves feeling blindsided by fireworks they weren’t expecting,” said Dr. Shawn Clark, the Serious Mental Illness Program Manager and Local Recovery Coordinator at the G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery VA Medical Center. “It’s not about a lack of patriotism—it’s about navigating deeply wired trauma responses and reclaiming a sense of calm in the face of distress.”

Fireworks can also cause distress to animals and some of our unhoused neighbors who may be dealing with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Keep these things in mind this weekend as you enjoy the holiday festivities — make sure to celebrate with care and check in on friends who might have adverse reactions to loud noises and bright lights.

Learn more: https://www.va.gov/jackson-health-care/stories/when-fireworks-dont-feel-like-freedom-ptsd-awareness-and-coping-during-independence-day/

Portland is expected to see a big heat wave this weekend, please make sure you and your neighbors are aware of cooling resources available via www.multco.us/hot. Heat waves that hit early in the summer can be the most dangerous, as our bodies haven't yet adjusted to the seasonal weather.

Heat can especially impact our most vulnerable community members who lack AC in their homes. Those at higher risk include:
- Men over 50
- Older adults who live alone
- People without access to air conditioning
- Pregnant people
- People on certain medications or with chronic medical conditions
- People who work in hot indoor or outdoor environments
- People engaging in strenuous or outdoor recreational activities (like children on turf fields)
- People who have consumed alcohol

Drink plenty of water, find a cool place to be, remove layers of clothing, seek medical attention if symptoms of exhaustion, elevated heartbeat, excessive sweating or dizziness last more than an hour.

Cool spaces like libraries and malls will be open during normal hours this weekend. If someone in Portland needs help finding a cool space this weekend, they can dial 311 between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. Visit www.multco.us/hot for more information!

Last week, Multnomah County Commissioners cut millions of dollars to houseless services, including defunding the North Portland Drop-In Center in St. Johns – the ONLY day center in North Portland. We now have just three months to wind down operations.

What people don’t know is that while the Board was voting on this budget, our staff at the Drop-In Center were busy saving a life.

On Thursday afternoon, participants who frequent the day center noticed an individual slumped on his side about a block away. Their first instinct was to alert staff at the Drop-In Center, who are trained in Narcan use and CPR. Do Good staff began helping the individual, shortly followed by a doctor and nurse from the Multnomah County Health Center next-door.

The incident is symbolic of what the Drop-In Center provides St. Johns and the greater North Portland area: a resource that people struggling with houselessness or behavioral issues know is a safe place to ask for help. It’s what we dreamed the facility could be.

We started the process of opening the North Portland Drop-In Center three years ago because it was essential to this community. Those needs haven’t changed. In the year it’s been open, the safe space we’ve created has only proven the need in North Portland is greater than we imagined. We now better understand the houseless population of North Portland because we made a place for them to be served for the first time.

Defunding the program before a new location is available will create a huge gap in resources in St. John’s and North Portland that there is currently no plan to address.

Email our Board of County Commissioners — [email protected] — today to let them know we need to expedite a replacement for this site ASAP!