BY ASHLEY HENRY



As the founding director of Portland's fastest growing business organization -- Business for a Better Portland -- I have had the opportunity to discuss our city's housing and homelessness crisis with many business leaders. Just last week, I met with one of our members who had hesitantly signed a new lease downtown for his growing company. Some of his employees have experienced intimidation and threats on the sidewalks around their office, and he recently encountered someone passed out in a downtown lobby. He, like most business leaders, expressed genuine concern for his employees' safety and the direction that our city has taken in regard to homelessness and addiction.

While nearly every conversation I have had with business leaders in the last 18 months has touched on the plight of those experiencing homelessness, very few have called out greater police presence as the most urgent and effective solution. Business leaders I've spoken with - whose industries span some of the fastest growing sectors of our economy -- understand that solving a complex problem like homelessness requires nuanced and broad-based solutions that bring elected officials, government agencies, businesses and advocates to the table.

That's why our organization focuses on how we can work together with our elected officials and community organizations to address the actual causes and effects of homelessness. We've taken time to listen and learn. We know that some of the specific strategies that end homelessness, such as supportive services and affordable housing, are the very same solutions that will dramatically improve community livability.

The forces driving more people into homelessness are systemic problems that require holistic and collaborative solutions. Growing income inequality, drug addiction and inadequate mental health services are magnifying the homeless crisis not just in Portland, but across the country. Simultaneously, years of discrimination in federal and local housing policy have combined with rapid population growth to make housing increasingly unaffordable. If we only offer increased police presence or temporary shelter while ignoring the root causes that disrupt lives and push people to the margins, the homeless crisis will continue to grow and our communities will continue to suffer.

Although we've existed for a short time, Business for a Better Portland has made a concerted effort to be part of the solution. For example, last year, we supported the affordable housing bond measure. Additionally, last legislative session, many of our members supported the limits on no-cause evictions contained in House Bill 2004. We know that the best way to address homelessness is to stop it from happening in the first place. It's time for our community conversation on homelessness to move past a knee-jerk crisis response and to a focus on the systems, causes and inequity that deny neighbors stability in the first place.

We are facing a humanitarian crisis that has serious consequences for those directly affected, as well as negative impacts on community safety and the region's business environment. I hope other business leaders calling for an increased police presence will join us in supporting comprehensive solutions that actually reduce homelessness -- strategies that focus on providing long-term housing affordability and supportive services that will create a true path forward for those who are most vulnerable.

Business for a Better Portland members recognize that in order to sustain a healthy business climate, we must first consider the well-being of our community as a whole. When Portland thrives, business thrives.

Ashley Henry is chief collaboration officer for Business for a Better Portland. She lives in Southeast Portland.

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