KATU Investigates: The hidden homeless in rural Oregon

While the homelessness crisis continues to grip Portland, the same issues are taking root in rural Oregon.
KATU News is committed to staying on top of our region's most pressing concerns, and all this week we've brought you special coverage around the Rose City.
However, communities all over the state are wrestling with poverty and homelessness.
What started as a story about one shelter in Polk County, pulled back the curtain on concerns felt by many Oregon communities.
On Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., KATU’s Angelica Thornton takes you on a deep dive with the people scrambling to avoid the mistakes that left big cities like Portland and Salem where they are today.
You can read text of this full story here: katu.com/news/on-your-side/ka...
_______________
Stay up to date with our social media:
KATU on Facebook: / katunews
KATU on Twitter: / katunews
Subscribe to KATU on KZread: / @katunews
Daily News Playlist: • KATU Daily News Playlist
For more information, visit katu.com/
Have a news tip? Send it directly to us:
Email us: newstips@katu.com
Call the Newsroom: 503.231.4222
KATU is a OR based station and a ABC Television affiliate owned and operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group. Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. is one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies in the country today.
#KATU #news #Portland #homelessness

Пікірлер: 98

  • @FarmersField
    @FarmersField8 ай бұрын

    So a note on, "It's not just effecting Portland". Per the governor's EO 23-02 in which emergency funds were provided to address homelessness throughout Oregon, the average increase across the state was noted to be 62%. Portland Metro was included in this funding because the threshold to receive it was set at 50% rather than above the state average of increase, allowing Metro to qualify by 0.4%. Portland isn't hub of growth in the homeless population, but out of $79m, Metro got $30m for a below-average increase in homelessness from an emergency order; the next lowest was Central Oregon with an 86%. So a 62% statewide increase in homelessness, Metro almost 12 points below it, pulled funds from counties no less than 24 points above the state average and 36 points above Metro. The problem isn't that rural is experiencing something new with homelessness; we've been the afterthought of the state for decades now. I'm a city councilor in my home town, this' not that new. The high visibility comes with the failure of Oregon's mental health system, the drugs with the failure of Oregon's justice system, and the low services in rural counties come from the state's failure to manage our forests properly. Per a Linn County court, 13 timber counties have been shorted $1.1b owed under an agreement with the state involving timber management. To emphasize, these are not failures of effort on the part of the staff that do what they can with what they get in the mental health arena and the criminal justice system. The failure is on the part of state leadership and the disservice they have conveyed upon these departments.

  • @FarmersField

    @FarmersField

    8 ай бұрын

    As an aside, the counties experiencing the highest increase in homelessness are in the Salem area. Marion and Polk counties collectively experiences a 150% increase in homelessness. Ashland/Jackson, 132%. Lane County, 110%. For the Balance of State, fully left out from EO 23-02, we've been in poverty a long, long time, so no drastic increase to show; just the status quo.

  • @NachoMaMa16
    @NachoMaMa168 ай бұрын

    I want to use drugs everyday and not work…but I also don’t want to be homeless. Come on folks!

  • @Syl-Vee

    @Syl-Vee

    8 ай бұрын

    Hey did you know that many people use drugs everyday and do work and are not homeless? Drugs are their own problem. That woman was correct. Most people are closer to being homeless than they know. If your spouse attacks you or just disappears or dies, or your roommate gets you evicted, you could become homeless. As a newly single person, you may not have a credit rating. Good luck with those application fees.

  • @NachoMaMa16

    @NachoMaMa16

    8 ай бұрын

    @@Syl-Vee …you know…I have actually gone through all of that. At one time in my life I was using meth everyday and going to work and thought I was functioning until I got fired, and realized in the 6 months of almost daily use I wasn’t functioning. I couldn’t do both and made a decision to quit. That was 20 years ago. You know why I’m not a methed out junkie? Because I know…nobody would have rescue me from those decisions and being homeless and drug dependent didn’t really appeal to me. When I hear that some of these people spend close to $200 a day on drugs..I’m floored. I can barley afford to survive and make leas than that.

  • @r8chlletters

    @r8chlletters

    Ай бұрын

    “I’m not addicted I just use everyday” 😂

  • @NachoMaMa16

    @NachoMaMa16

    Ай бұрын

    @@Syl-Vee Yes, I did know that. I have actually experienced all of those minus the husband disappearing..I wish he would have, but I was never homeless because I don’t use drugs! See, when you’re not a burden on society and a drug addict most people will help you. By the time a user is homeless they have burned all their bridges by stealing and lying.

  • @Syl-Vee

    @Syl-Vee

    Ай бұрын

    @@NachoMaMa16 it's true that the majority of the homeless people you see are addicted -- but many people are homeless and you would never guess. They go to work and don't use drugs -- they just live in their cars, etc. and don't bother others with their problems. So carry on with your bitterness, accusations and disrespect. You are not omniscient.

  • @bimmjim
    @bimmjim8 ай бұрын

    The solution is ---> *Forced Cold Turkey*

  • @r8chlletters
    @r8chllettersАй бұрын

    This is comprehensive and excellent journalism. Dallas has a sad history of social problems associated with poverty. It’s a blight on the community and why it’s been held back from becoming a vibrant thriving area. The last time I was there was a little scary despite it being a historic area with a beautiful park and waterway. I really hope these towns can save themselves from this issue.

  • @kevinp.4891
    @kevinp.48916 ай бұрын

    Wow almost like if you never take care of the problem, you create MORE homeless peopoe. Crazy

  • @yeetmama

    @yeetmama

    2 күн бұрын

    ENABLING the problem, rather

  • @tpowell3776
    @tpowell37767 ай бұрын

    Stop doing drugs, get a job and do what the rest of us do, the way Oregon and California (Non-Profits $$$) enables these folks is horrific and it will only get worse, and this is why I left Oregon...

  • @jackiemorrison2661
    @jackiemorrison2661Ай бұрын

    Wow, so glad I left Portland

  • @alexcarter8807
    @alexcarter88077 ай бұрын

    There need to be state asylums again, and also 1930s type housing like in The Grapes Of Wrath chapter "The Government Camp".

  • @r8chlletters

    @r8chlletters

    Ай бұрын

    Being back the Poor Farms. They gave people work and dignity and were fully self sufficient!

  • @carolynevans8826
    @carolynevans8826Ай бұрын

    The lady's point is bang on. If you've not been there or staring it dead in the face being homeless then you don't understand. I've been there and also like her faced this and may face it again due to a situation out of my control. And here's an idea - why not do the shelter and create jobs and employ security guards there. It's a win win for everybody - the community is safer, you give much needed employment and the homeless get housed. Why are people putting there heads together creating positives instead of looking for all homeless people are useless, crimes etc

  • @yeetmama

    @yeetmama

    2 күн бұрын

    I've been there, and I know perfectly damn well how it really is. POOR LIFE CHOICES enabled by organizations that exploit people who make poor life choices to steal tax dollars and money launder it

  • @mrmja50
    @mrmja508 ай бұрын

    I can afford meth but cant work? cant afford rent? dont want to work?

  • @Jumex-xr5hf

    @Jumex-xr5hf

    8 ай бұрын

    Meth and fent is that cheap. Can you find 50 cans? Blame the cartels, not their victims.

  • @mrmja50

    @mrmja50

    8 ай бұрын

    If the Cartels are to blame not the individual, because we are never to blame for our choices, then how do we get the cartels to fix it? We dont, they will do what they do and take no responsibility. Its all about money. @@Jumex-xr5hf

  • @portlandaustin

    @portlandaustin

    8 ай бұрын

    Got people working not using can't get housing. The math just don't work.

  • @striker44

    @striker44

    Ай бұрын

    ​@@Jumex-xr5hfcartels will not exist if the demand is not there.

  • @Scorch1028

    @Scorch1028

    Ай бұрын

    @@Jumex-xr5hfNo. I blame the stupid American drug addicts who keep the foreign cartels in business.

  • @striker44
    @striker44Ай бұрын

    America going down fast and furious.

  • @HelloXiuXiu
    @HelloXiuXiuАй бұрын

    I miss Oregon and the PNW immensely. But, I feel fortunate that I moved out of state when I did. I am so thankful for the time I lived there. Bless the people running that shelter. Bless that program with all needs met.

  • @williamwelborn4555
    @williamwelborn45557 ай бұрын

    There is affordable housing and jobs in Kansas.

  • @nicholasthompson7690

    @nicholasthompson7690

    Ай бұрын

    And who the heck wants to live there? I wouldn't.

  • @williamwelborn4555

    @williamwelborn4555

    Ай бұрын

    Have you ever been? It's not bad and it is not crowded and right in the middle of the country so it is easy to travel.@@nicholasthompson7690

  • @Joce123

    @Joce123

    Ай бұрын

    ​@@nicholasthompson7690Who cares what you want oh my gosh survival is more important than preference

  • @raulsanchez9795
    @raulsanchez979529 күн бұрын

    Overcrowded houses is sooo common to have drugs or alcohol abuse... Some of these houses are eithet falling apart or not suitable to live on. It is crazy, how some peoole rather live outside because of the people inside.

  • @tripstrickstickstips4442
    @tripstrickstickstips44428 ай бұрын

    I'd love to hear Micky Garus's statistics that he gathered on the amount of homeless in Polk County...

  • @tripstrickstickstips4442

    @tripstrickstickstips4442

    8 ай бұрын

    We need to have support systems in place for people in this community. 40ish% of people who go to Dallas schools are below the poverty line. How many missed paychecks or unexpected expenses away are Dallas families from living in a car or on the street? Just walking around you can tell how many people live in RVs parked in a friend or relatives driveway. It's fucked out here and we need to have measures in place to help people get back on their feet.

  • @KaiserSchuldig

    @KaiserSchuldig

    8 ай бұрын

    I’m still waiting on the evidence of fraud or whatever he was allegedly looking for from that FOIA request a few months ago.

  • @5Otree

    @5Otree

    7 ай бұрын

    ​@@KaiserSchuldigthere was none, which is why he has ignored questions asked about it.

  • @r8chlletters

    @r8chlletters

    Ай бұрын

    Dallas has been steadily turning into a sad backwater for some years now. It would have become a haven for stay at home workers if not for the endemic poverty and social problems that are a blight. A shame as it is an old and esteemed town with a gorgeous park and waterway. Someone could come in and completely change this if they had the ability to heavily invest.

  • @tripstrickstickstips4442

    @tripstrickstickstips4442

    Ай бұрын

    @@r8chlletters agreed. It's pretty sad.

  • @lancemiles9462
    @lancemiles946213 күн бұрын

    Resource some shipping containers and covert them into dwellings for the homeless . Build a small neighborhood outta those things. Can't get any cheaper than that and it would help the ones who needs a roof

  • @Scorch1028
    @Scorch1028Ай бұрын

    How in the hell is a woman going to have “6 kids” in this day and age?

  • @raulsanchez9795
    @raulsanchez979529 күн бұрын

    Homeless peoole need places like small garages places where they can showers, food and resources. Visible to the citizens so they can see a progress.

  • @sonicleaves
    @sonicleaves8 ай бұрын

    Homeless people should stay in the city, where they get more help with food, shelter, etc. There's nothing for them in rural Oregon towns and also the temperature dips into the negatives so it's not a place to be outdoors.

  • @jimk8520

    @jimk8520

    8 ай бұрын

    We’ve found our rural nimby.

  • @portlandaustin

    @portlandaustin

    8 ай бұрын

    Clown shoes it doesn't get cold in the city.

  • @portlandaustin

    @portlandaustin

    8 ай бұрын

    Also rural communities hate the poor. Very anti Christian.

  • @KaiserSchuldig

    @KaiserSchuldig

    8 ай бұрын

    The homeless people in Polk County are from Polk County. Trust me, no homeless person is going to immigrate to Dallas of all places from Salem or Portland.

  • @yeetmama

    @yeetmama

    2 күн бұрын

    ​@@jimk8520YEAH, NOT IN MY BACKYARD. Progressive idiots created this mess, we aren't cleaning it up.

  • @W7Mike5150
    @W7Mike51507 ай бұрын

    Love GS style stuff, but those shirts are 25 bucks a pop and up....

  • @eriegirl9007
    @eriegirl9007Ай бұрын

    Maybe if they worked on economic development d creating better paying jobs in their community and affordable housing that people buy. they would solve a lot of problems.

  • @Chris4Bama
    @Chris4Bama4 ай бұрын

    Shes dependent but not addicted.... Da fuq????

  • @connieclark7495
    @connieclark7495Ай бұрын

    As long as the first woman's mentality about Meth as a "medicine" for pain n mental health doesn't change, She'll never be ready for help which in turn She'll always be homeless....Who's fault is it really??!!

  • @Scorch1028

    @Scorch1028

    Ай бұрын

    Yeah. Meth is not medicine. She is definitely an addict.

  • @dreamsofturtles1828

    @dreamsofturtles1828

    28 күн бұрын

    She will never help herslf , she just wants help to keep doing drugs in a taxpayer funded home.

  • @user-ue4pg6ro8p
    @user-ue4pg6ro8p7 ай бұрын

    Micky's efforts to fight the situation aren't being used to solve it.

  • @dave9351
    @dave93518 ай бұрын

    Although much of the homelessness is caused by poor "life choices" and addiction issues (more poor choices to get high). Meanwhile some of the largest corporations and billionaires are paying ZERO taxes using loopholes created by Congress for these folks that never have enough. The word "unsustainable" is tossed around today and the way things are going, our country is on shaky ground (as far as I can see). Capitalism has become cannibalism !

  • @josephhubert4693

    @josephhubert4693

    8 ай бұрын

    Capitalism isn't the problem. Corruption is. True Capitalism doesn't allow for corruption. The corruption has been deeply engrained for years. True capitalism allows for self choice so we immediately know if you're on the that if you're on the streets then you chose those the streets.

  • @josephhubert4693

    @josephhubert4693

    8 ай бұрын

    Blatantly incorrect. More money you make the higher taxes you pay. Also why are hardworking affluent people responsible for taking care of people too stupid or lazy to do better for themselves?

  • @zeebest1004

    @zeebest1004

    8 ай бұрын

    @@josephhubert4693 The more money you make the more you EVADE taxes. Affluent people seldom work hard. Hard workers seldom become affluent!

  • @zeebest1004

    @zeebest1004

    8 ай бұрын

    @@josephhubert4693 ONE person may work hard and become affluent. But he then sires numerous progeny that mostly doesn’t work at all but spends away the money produced by his hard work!

  • @janetsecchi5070
    @janetsecchi5070Ай бұрын

    This is a humanity problem. 😢

  • @totheleftrightla
    @totheleftrightla2 ай бұрын

    Why be afraid to help your fellow man. When people write the premise of the future before the future, you build a wall against beauty.

  • @JeremyMcBane
    @JeremyMcBane7 ай бұрын

    Is Tina letting any homeless live at her place? (I doubt it.)

  • @mrmja50
    @mrmja508 ай бұрын

    Mother of 6? where is the Dads? child support?

  • @jimk8520

    @jimk8520

    8 ай бұрын

    Texas?

  • @drkimoni5011
    @drkimoni50117 ай бұрын

    THANK GOD THERE SERVICES TO HELP PEOPLE !

  • @user-fv1vf5hp9m
    @user-fv1vf5hp9m2 ай бұрын

    I'm watching this and know the facts. Not even half of homeless people are addicted to anything or criminals. There's a lot of assuming going on!

  • @yeetmama

    @yeetmama

    2 күн бұрын

    BULLSHIT

  • @eriegirl9007
    @eriegirl9007Ай бұрын

    I would fight that. They need to find another location for it

  • @eriegirl9007
    @eriegirl9007Ай бұрын

    Vets versus meth users. It’s a no brainer and no comparison.

  • @jimdandy4094
    @jimdandy4094Ай бұрын

    I need meth for my pain and mental health but I’m not addicted 😂😂😂😂😂

  • @essebug1066
    @essebug10665 ай бұрын

    They will continue to not work if we keep helping them so much.

  • @melanie7781
    @melanie7781Ай бұрын

    The rural areas should say no.

  • @levelrideconcepts
    @levelrideconcepts5 ай бұрын

    Solution = Stop doing drugs. Simple

  • @giovanna722

    @giovanna722

    Күн бұрын

    Drugs today are super powerful. Much harder to quit than they used to be, apparently.

  • @Over-for-now
    @Over-for-now19 сағат бұрын

    Come to Jesus time 😅

  • @Tollykimball
    @Tollykimball20 күн бұрын

    Drug testing?

  • @tpowell3776
    @tpowell37767 ай бұрын

    Interesting how this reporter is conflating the meth addicts story with the struggling nursing students story together when they are worlds apart, the nursing student like many of us has a temp hiccup and will get back on her feet, but the drug addicts are incapable until they get clean..This reporter is purposely attempting to intertwine working people who need help and will properly use that help with drug addicts who have chosen a lifestyle of being homeless, the reporter is doing this in order to gain our sympathy...

  • @Iworkwithnitwits
    @Iworkwithnitwits3 ай бұрын

    What is a point five receptionist? .5?

  • @jerusalemspeaks

    @jerusalemspeaks

    Ай бұрын

    Part-time?

  • @meganmclaughlin9056
    @meganmclaughlin90566 ай бұрын

    This is why there is such a lack of shelter beds.its called selfishness

  • @nicholasthompson7690

    @nicholasthompson7690

    Ай бұрын

    Nimbyism too

  • @richardoldfield286
    @richardoldfield2866 ай бұрын

    Liberal Comy news they should be embarrassed

  • @lysliepope3967
    @lysliepope39677 ай бұрын

    If this addict doesn't care,then why, in the hell,should I care about her?

Келесі