The realities of being homeless

 Being homeless is a constant uphill struggle.

Everyone close your eyes. We’re going to take a walk through downtown Portland. We’ve all seen the tents on sidewalks and people wrapped in blankets sleeping in doorways. 

I have been homeless since November. Since then, I have conducted informal interviews with other homeless people. What I’ve learned may surprise you. I am going to share with you some of the realities of being homeless: it’s illegal to sleep in public, the authorities can do anything they want to you, and the truth about the drug problem among the homeless.

Roshan Abraham, writing for the advocacy organization Shelterforce, tells us that the ruling in the case of Grant’s Pass versus Johnson makes it illegal to sleep in public.  (Abraham)

  Sleep is a biological necessity, so where are we supposed to sleep? Most long-term shelters require a referral from a caseworker, and most homeless people aren’t even in the system and don’t have a caseworker. Overnight shelters, where you can sleep for the night and they kick you out at five a.m., often run out of beds before midnight. If you are caught in a sweep, you can be fined $100 or spend seven days in jail. Since it is basically impossible to pay the fine, you wind up in the county lockup for a week and get tossed back out onto the street, where you still have nowhere to go and now you have nothing but the clothes on your back.

 Moving on to my second point: The authorities can do anything they want to you on top of sending you to jail.  My brother and two of our friends were rousted by Rapid Response Bio-Clean, which is a company tasked with cleaning up homeless encampments. They were forced to move and their tents were confiscated, leaving them with no shelter at all. They’re still sleeping outside, but now they have no protection from the elements.  Another friend, camping out in a state park, was asked by a park ranger to take down her tent. As she was doing so, the Rapid Response team showed up with two police officers. They took her to the ground, cuffed her, and charged her with assaulting an officer because he burned his hand on her lit cigarette, which she warned them about. Anna Bailey with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reported that the current administration is considering rounding up homeless people and either putting us in detention centers or involuntarily committing us to a mental hospital. (Bailey)

Now I’m going to share with you the truth about the drug problem among the homeless. One of the reasons so many Portlanders don’t care about homeless people is that they assume they deserve to be homeless because they are all junkies. 

According to Ryan Assaf, who writes for the LA Times, using drugs does not lead to homelessness. It’s actually the other way around: the stresses of being homeless will lead to drug use. (Assaf) The two most popular street drugs are crystal meth and fentanyl. This makes sense, as the use of these drugs is a survival strategy.

Crystal meth suppresses the appetite, gives you energy when you have no food, makes you feel warmer, and can be used as treatment for ADHD when you can’t get your hands on Ritalin.

Fentanyl also suppresses the appetite, helps you sleep, and is used to manage chronic pain, which a lot of homeless people suffer from, mainly from sleeping on hard surfaces.

 Most of those I interviewed told me that they would stop using drugs if they got into stable housing.

 In my weblog post Things you learn when you talk to people I state that the idea that people are homeless because of drugs is a security blanket for the housed. They believe that, as long as they never do drugs, they’ll never be homeless. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. You are never two good months away from being a millionaire, but you are two bad months away from joining us in tents and shelters.

To sum all this up, those of us who are homeless face challenges that those who are housed will never even have to think about.

  It is perfectly legal to sleep in your own home, the authorities only show up when you call them,

and you don’t have to turn to street drugs to make your life bearable.

Being homeless has opened my eyes. I hope reading about it has opened yours.

Bibliography:

Abraham, Roshan. “Criminalizing Homelessness Doesn’t Work, Study Finds.” Shelterforce, 3 July 2025, shelterforce.org/2025/07/03/criminalizing-homelessness-doesnt-work-study-finds/.

On June 28, 2024, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson, deciding that cities could sweep homeless encampments and implement other punitive measures even if there was no shelter for homeless people to go to. 

Assaf, Ryan D. “Opinion: People Think Drug Use Causes Homelessness. It’s Usually the Other Way Around.” Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2023, www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-10-04/homelessness-drugs-addiction-encampments-substance-abuse-unhoused-police.

Findings from the recent California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness encompassing more than 3,200 adults found that 50% have not used any drugs in the last six months.

“Portland Is Moving Fewer People from Shelters into Housing than in Previous Years.” Willamette Week, 16 Jan. 2026, www.wweek.com/news/city/2026/01/16/portland-is-putting-fewer-people-from-shelters-into-housing-than-in-previous-years/.

Bailey, Anna. “Trump Policies Would Worsen Homelessness, Attack Basic Freedoms of People Who Can’t Afford Rent.” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 8 Apr. 2026, www.cbpp.org/research/housing/trump-policies-would-worsen-homelessness-attack-basic-freedoms-of-people-who-cant.

In a nation as wealthy and innovative as ours, no one should be forced to sleep in a park, in a car, or in shelters.