Every night, roughly 260 homeless shelter beds in Portland aren’t being used

“You have to sign in and sign out and do this and do that” Sounds like a job they don’t want either

Portland isn't facing a "Homelessness"problem , it has a addiction, mental health,and crime problem but as long as Portland continues to receive millions in aid to fight homelessness with little to no transparency, nothing will change.

If you're in a shelter they won't let you smoke drink or shoot up and they get a little upset when you start screaming and yelling and trying to fight your hallucinations

The people being interviewed are living proof that some of these folks do not deserve sympathy or empathy.

Why would they go to a shelter when Portland lets them squat in any neighborhood they want, or any vacant house they want?

"you have no idea who you're sleeping right next to" Yeah dude, this is EXACTLY how families feel like with tweakers living right outside their house.

When you sleep during the day and “shop” through the night, it’s hard to be told to stay in during prime shopping time and stay out when you need to sleep.

Helping the homeless has become a business itself or the money never goes to the people who need it. It just creates a bunch of jobs and agencies

My nephew had a drug problem. The state helped him to find a job and get a roof over his head. He was doing fine until he decided that he didn't want to follow the rules and that his drugs were more important and now he is back out in the streets by his own choice. So don't tell me that there are no organizations out there to help these people because there is they just have to want it.You can't help people who don't want to help themselves.

Dude sounds so lazy. He doesnt wanna sigh in and sigh out…

Only people from the comfort of their homes think a shelter is the answer for the homeless. It isn't. It's only a helpful resource. If you don't understand the issue, you will never solve it.

They don't like rules; they want to be free to do their drugs and booze.

0:50 “I prefer to be outside” There you have it. Save yourself some tax money and stop building additional beds.

I can only speak from my experience as helping run a salvation army men's homeless shelter. Meaning shelters are only as good as the staff running one. The guy with grey beard summed it up. He doesn't want to abide tve rules. We had a definite turnover rate average of 6 beds. We had 35 beds. 5 were people released from hospitals. We had a place for free meds. The mentally ill saw a Dr for meds. 0 tolerance for drugs or alcohol they could reapply in 30 days We referred them to another shelter. They had a chore each day. Curfew. Required to get a GED and or job training. They didn't get kicked out during certain times and then returned at night were fed 3x a day. We had a caring staff. They had lockers with locks. A place to store any food the bought. A guy who lived outside close to us,refused to stay for 12 years. He finally agreed to housing this year. Many dont want ANY rules or responsibilities so they stay on the streets its really hard to understand We rarely had any fights in the shelter the guys who were doing well helped the newbies and policed themselves It was the best job I ever had

The magic word in understanding a homeless person thought process to refused shelter is...Temporary.

Inside the homeless shelter they cannot drink, smoke dope or shoot heroin. I was riding my bicycle on a bike path and went under a bridge, there was ten of them shooting heroin or smoking dope. They all looked like zombies of the living dead.

In some places homeless shelters are a big business, just like poverty pimps, I am looking at you politicians, clergy!

I stayed in a shelter and it is a great place to get everything you have stolen.

I was homeless. Two years ago. I sheltered at the Portland Rescue Mission. Curfew, rules, they were part of the program. But I had a goal. To get out of homelessness. If I didn't have to worry about where I was going to spend the night, I was free to concentrate on what I needed to do, during the day to get my feet back under me. That alone, was worth putting up with snoring, farting, and somewhat smelly people... because I kept reminding myself... it was only temporary. I spent six years in prison, and I had NO CHOICE where I slept, or who was around me. And I was going to be there six years NO MATTER WHAT. If you choose to be homeless, then you have no place to complain about how bad it is. If you choose to sleep in a tent, then you have no place to complain about how bad it is. If you choose to use drugs and waste your life away, then you have no place to complain about how bad it is. And you'll ge no sympathy from me. because I've been there and done it. and I chose NOT to be homeless.

I was in a shelter for women with several felons on parole. They said they wanted to go back to prison, get more respect.