Portland Homeless Camps Proliferate, Turning Lawns into Public Bathrooms – One Even Charges Rent

Homeless camps are proliferating in Portland to the point that they’ve come to the lawns of residential neighborhoods – and at least one homeless camp has begun charging rent.

In Southeast Portland, homeless camps have reached the front doors of neighborhoods, bringing with them drugs, violence, and garbage, local KGW 8 news reports:

“Tents, broken-down cars, piles of garbage and RVs line the streets off Southeast 80th and Powell. It’s a residential neighborhood turned nightmare for families who live there.”

“I want to cry. I just want my house back. My lawn is now becoming a public bathroom,” resident Christina Hartnett told KGW 8.

Hartnett says there are “grown men meth-raging” in the neighborhood’s driveways.

For the week of July 11 – 17, 2022, the Portland government received 1,650 new campsite reports, including 186 reports of people living in vehicles, according to the city’s weekly street services report.

In North Portland, one homeless encampment, known as “Grace’s Oasis,” is charging homeless residents $200 a month to live there, KGW 8 reports:

“This is Grace’s Oasis,” said Joseph Juhala, one of the dozen people experiencing homelessness who live in the makeshift village. “It’s supposed to be an easy-going community.

“About three years ago, Angel Grace Brown moved her tent onto the city-owned land here. She describes it as a safe place, and over the years she invited others to camp there as well. Now she charges people $200 per month to camp there. Some of that money goes toward camp maintenance.”

“Brown acknowledges that the camp sits on city property but said she’s ‘taking over’ regardless,” according to KGB 8.

Able to deal with only about fifty homeless camps a week, Portland’s police force is overwhelmed by the crisis and struggling to keep pace with the rapidly-worsening problem.

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