PORTLAND, Ore. — A recent DHM Research poll shows homelessness remains the biggest concern for people around the Portland metro area. People also listed drug use and addiction as a top issue.
On this week’s episode of "Straight Talk," Laural Porter looked at some of the reasons behind those issues and possible solutions. She spoke with Central City Concern (CCC) President and CEO, Dr. Andy Mendenhall, and Sarah Holland, CCC's senior director of Supportive Housing and Employment Services. CCC is a nonprofit that helps homeless people by providing services including primary health care and mental health services, drug addiction treatment and job training. The organization has been serving the city for 45 years.
Mendenhall pointed to two factors for the city's homelessness crisis and drug addiction issue.
"We’ve had an inadequate strategy of building enough shelter just to get folks into a place that’s warm, that’s dry and that’s sanitary," Mendenhall said. "In parallel, we have, for a couple of decades, not built enough housing. We literally don’t have enough housing supply, and as a result, rent costs have gone up which drives an increased risk of folks becoming (homeless).”
He also said the behavioral health system of care has been under-invested, causing a lack of access for people.
Holland added that many people struggle to deal with the symptoms of their addiction while trying to get help.
"Not being able to navigate in real time when they’re ready to take the steps to address their addiction, to address their mental health needs, that there’s a place that they can go to immediately; that’s a real challenge within the system that makes it problematic for folks to actually start recovery," Holland said.
Watch the full interview to listen to Andy Mendenhall and Sarah Holland discuss Portland's homelessness crisis and issues surrounding drug use and addiction. They also discuss solutions for those problems. Straight Talk airs Saturday and Sunday at 6:30 p.m., and Monday at 7 p.m. Straight Talk is also available as a podcast.