homeless

The House Health Committee is pushing two simple but possibly life-changing bills for the state’s neediest residents, allowing homeless people to get free copies of their birth certificates and steering Oregon State Hospital officials to sign up patients for federal assistance as they leave the mental hospital.

A bipartisan pair of lawmakers plans to fight to keep a critical program for getting disabled, homeless people into housing after the initiative was defunded in the governor’s proposed budget, released earlier this month.

A large number of homeless individuals have severe disabilities that make them eligible for federal support, but their conditions can deteriorate as they navigate the bureaucracy. HB 4042 would provide state funding to get these people into housing while the Department of Human Services helps them get approved federally.

Many of the state’s homeless people have disabilities that make them eligible for federal Social Security Insurance, but they have nowhere to live while they await approval, causing their condition to worsen. The Human Services Committee plans to reintroduce legislation that would establish a state program to help bring these individuals indoors until federal funding kicks in.

At 17, Nadya Okamoto’s organization supplies menstrual needs to homeless women throughout the Portland area, internationally

December 2, 2011 -- When Central City Concern opens its downtown clinic on December 12, teams of doctors and alternative medicine professionals will help hundreds of people whose drug addictions or mental illnesses threaten to keep them on the streets. At a time when funding for such services is drying up, the Old Town Recovery Center will become a reality. The more than $20 million center stands on the corner of NW Broadway and NW Burnside -- the previous site of an abandoned Burger King.

November 29, 2011 -- On Thursday, December 15, the public is invited to an open house from 4-6 p.m. at Central City Concern’s new healthcare facility located at 33 NW Broadway. The event celebrates the integration of primary healthcare with behavioral care under one roof. Guided and self-directed tours will be available.