Portland Housing Crisis

Perhaps, like me, you have been reading in the news how many people are being evicted from their homes with no cause, and having real difficulty in finding new homes. Perhaps you are one of the people who has been caught in the housing crisis in Portland, or you know someone who has been evicted, or is having trouble finding an apartment to rent. Jan Bindas-Tenney is the Advocacy Coordinator at Preble Street, and she told me about one person, a disabled person who uses a wheelchair, who had been homeless several years ago, but then was in a stable apartment for the past several years. Suddenly they were caught in these evictions, and now they are back at the shelter.

Seeing the shelter numbers go up after some years of going down, Jan and others decided that rather than just “picking up the pieces,” they would organize to address some of the causes, and look for policy solutions that might address the underlying problems. So the Portland Coalition for Housing Justice was formed. At a initial meeting on April 14, more than 100 people showed up, and on April 27^th, the group spoke to the Housing Committee of the Portland City Council. She also told me that they are hoping to form a faith advocacy network for clergy and lay leaders to offer a faith voice on housing.

I invited Jan to come speak to our church about these issues in a worship service on May 15. I am wondering if those in our congregation who are facing housing challenges, or who have recently faced them, might want to share their stories with the congregation as part of this worship service. The stories would need to be rather short—maybe 3 minutes at most, and I could help you with crafting or editing something, if you wish. And, please know that you are always welcome to come have a chat if these or other issues are a burden in your life.

For some good news, you may know that this year I have been mentoring a first-year seminary student who is preparing for UU ministry. Israel Buffardi is now completing his first year, and next year starting in September he will become a half-time Intern Minister at our church. He will be exploring all aspects of ministry and church life, or at least as much as one can do in 20 hours per week. (Last year, our Intern Minister Lyn Marshall was full-time.) One of the commitments of the congregation toward his learning is that we form an Intern Committee with folks who will meet monthly with Israel, giving him support and feedback on his ministry at our church. If you'd like to be a part of that group, please contact me. We will try to have a group that represents various parts of church life. Serving on this committee becomes a chance to get closer to other members of our church, learn more about your own spiritual journey, and offer a great gift to our UU movement as we help to train a future leader.