'Harm Reduction,' a Church, and a Car-Camp

What was Homelessness Inc. thinking when it concocted this project.

Here’s how the mystery kicks off…

An item in local media reports a bright, shiny new program that will, somehow, do something about the city’s nagging homelessness disaster. Here’s how KOIN described it in March, 2023…

…along with a friendly interview with the non-profit, Straightway Services, selected by the county’s Joint Office of Homeless Services (hereinafter referred to as the Joint, since we’re anti-acronyms) to run it.

It seemed pretty simple at the time: the Joint had purchased a derelict used-RV lot at 333 SE 82d Ave., on the city’s used-car strip, and would turn it into a kicky new entry in their homelessness archipelago: a place for car-campers to spend the night. (And, lost in the fine print, just one night.)

The Joint took pains to reassure neighborhood residents—already edgy about the proliferation of homeless projects being dropped (just by coincidence!!!) into the neighborhood—that the car-campers would be “referred,” and there would be no partying or drugs or alcohol allowed. The car-campers would snooze and leave.

No worries!

The announcement was in March. As it turned out, the Joint Office had scooped up the property back in August, 2022. Maybe this post on Instagram had something to do with Family Fun RV’s decision to cash out…

In December, the neighborhood’s micro-news site, Montavilla News, got wind of the project and passed along word that…

County staff anticipates a summer 2023 opening for the first location near SE Stark Street.

We followed up with a January,2023 post, Caught in the Middle, which offered this little tidbit, in which Montavilla News publisher Jacob Loeb revealed that…

…the [former] owner told him that the county paid $2,250,000….

…for a property that, according to Portland Maps, was purchased in 2008 for $1,075,000. Weirdly, the Maps app lists what the county paid for the property at a mere $575,000.¹

(Whatever the actual number, it’s clear someone got a hell of a deal.)

The first of many mysteries. It gets weirder.

So, now it’s summer; people are broiling in the heat (or so the climate change gang assures us) and…no camp. No campers. There’s a new chain-link fence (for whose protection? don’t ask). It looks pretty forlorn…

…so what’s going on?

No one seems to know.

Emails to the Joint’s press contact have gone unacknowledged and unanswered. (You might want to drop Denis Theriault a line at xdenis.theriault@multco.us. You’ll probably have a long wait.)

The new district three lady on the Multnomah county board, Julia Brim-Edwards, also seems a bit in the dark. We corresponded and one of her staffers, Vikki Payne, responded…

Thanks for reaching out. The Commissioner cares very deeply about this project and the County being a 'good neighbor'.

But after the boilerplate, she made a remarkable confession…

The Joint Office is in charge of this and unfortunately the new Chair hasn't really decided how she wants to run or change how things are run at the County, so I suggest writing to her office and asking why the JOHS isn't giving community outreach...

I'm not sure if you paid attention to the County Chair race, but these are all the same issues Commissioner Meieran said she has been running into when she asks questions of the various departments as well. The Chair is in charge and the departments defer to how she wants things run / information disseminated.

…the “Chair” being Ms. Jessica Vega Pederson, who OKd the “Harm Reducation” program’s nutty idea to dole out tin foil and sniffers for fentanyl addicts, and who then did a semi-skinback and paused the program (probably until local media gets distracted by some other shiny thing). She is not quite a ferocious and creepy as former chair Deborah Kafoury, but then she’s new to the job.

Back to the response from Ms. Payne, and a new jaw-dropper…

The Joint Office owns every facet of this project, but the Commissioner is trying to interject herself as best as she can because this is obviously one of the top concerns in her district right now. By 'cares deeply' I mean she is very concerned that the County be a good neighbor, and right now with the Church on 82nd not keeping the perimeter area clean but asking for more County funds to run more programs, she is very concerned and will not vote to do that unless the County can prove they can be a good neighbor to this community.

Ahhh, yes!

The church!

It is called St. Peter and Paul Episcopal Church, and it is, to put it plainly, the neighborhood’s problem-child. People may pray there, but it is really a political player, long concerned with ultra-lefty stuff and a fixation on ministering to that shifting cast of people we benevolently classify as “homeless.” It’s a house of worship, if god comes with a crack pipe, since this is also one of the “Harm Reduction” dispensaries that caused a ruckus about distributing gear to hard-core addicts—media and politicians missing the point that this has been going on for years.

I stopped by on Friday delivery-day, and worshippers were already at the gates and on the sidewalk, early arrivals waiting for the goodies; whereupon white vans (it takes two to haul the gear) from the county pulled up and people (in masks, no less) popped out and opened what might be called a bazaar for dopers.²

Another Montavilla resident who has watched prior proceedings told me that dopers (or their merchants) come from miles around to score their gear—some drive big, black, jacked-up pickups with that gangsta look; some have Washington state plates; other late-model BMWs and Mercedes and monster SUV’s come ‘n’ go. Less well-to-do customers set up tents; others simply do that weird little dope-dance as they wait, while a security guard gives the stink-eye to anyone who wants to watch. If you want to see your tax dollars at work, one of the Harm Reducers will come over and ask, with exaggerated courtesy, what you’re doing there. One of the tenters-in-waiting will get in your face…

And, of course, everything is surrounded by the usual scrum of trash…

And—golly! It’s right across the street from the car-camp!

If a county commissioner who lives in the same neighborhood as the car-camp doesn’t know what’s going on, and the Joint is on media lock-down…who else might?

More mystery.

The Joint hired—sorta—a local non-profit and—sorta—church called Straightway Services, as noted above, to run the car-camp. This was back in December, 2022.

In April 2023, before Mr. Theriault at the Joint stopped answering emails, he passed along Straightway’s application—basically a fill-in-the-blanks form—and added that any discussion of what the non-profit would be paid or metrics for measuring their success were still being “negotiated.”

The form is a fascinating peek into how the Joint does business. And its priorities.

Here are the first few questions, upon which the spending of your tax dollars rests…

1. Values - (10 Points)

2. Low Barrier - (10 Points)

3. Equity - (15 Points)

…and, finally…

4. Staff - (10 Points)

…but then it’s back to La-La Land…

5. Lived Experience - (10 Points)

6. Community Engagement - (15 Points)

7. Coordination & Partnerships - (10 Points)

8. Contract Management - (10 Points)

9. Budget - (10 Points)

Needless to say, the folks at Straightway know how the game is played, so here was their entirely predictable response to the first question…

At the forefront of our organization’s values is the principle of Respect. For our staff, partners, and especially community members we serve, we want to uphold and honor that everyone deserves respect and dignity.

We also believe in Social Justice, which we define as the belief in the creation of systems that are equitable when it comes to the allocation of resources and opportunities. We believe in Social Equity and Providing Equal Opportunities, because we prioritize celebrating everyone’s differences, no matter where they have come from, and prioritize “fairness” over “sameness.”

…which leaves one to wonder: what does this have to do with acting as the custodian for car-campers across the street from drug addicts (and their associates) waiting twice a week for clean gear?³

In the same response, Straightway made this startling proposal…

Straightway Services prioritizes Community Involvement and Oversight through planning, as we fundamentally believe that people who benefit from our services should be able to direct resources and planning.

…without commenting on the fact that their clients will be people who obviously have had tons of trouble planning their own lives, much less the spending of many $-thousands in esoteric jargon-benumbed programs. And who have a built-in conflict of interest in deciding about “directing resources.” Beyond: more!!!

Straightway also mentions a long list of their current services, and it’s pretty impressive…

We have an accessible clothing closet, a food pantry, family mentorship programs, drug addiction mentorship programs, spiritual guidance, holiday gift assistance for 500 families per year, re-entry assistance for the workforce and housing, weekly walks through houseless communities to feed and converse, and many other forms of assistance.

What they do not have is anything close to a 24/7 custodial service for people living in their cars—a population with a high probability of serious drug, mental health, and other lifestyle problems.

Which they, and the Joint, finally mention on the final page of the pitch, where things get—sorta—real…

We intend to hire a full-time on-site or on-call mental and behavioral health counselor. Having quick, safe access to mental and behavioral health support should be possible for everyone. This person will make about $41 hourly, which totals just under $79,000 annually…

…which means the “on call” counselor will be a very busy person, since the car-camp is staffed 24/7. But wait; there’s more:

• $300 (weekly? not defined) for translation in English and Spanish

• $7,500 for “blankets, tarps, pens, paper, shower rentals, clothing, food, boots, toys and so much more.”

• $4,000 to expand their program for “training and workshops for Community and Peer Health Workers.”

• Plus: $3,000 to support phone service for counselors and health workers, $3,000 for utilities, $600 for printing, flyers and signage, and $3,000 for workman’s compensation and other related insurance.

And so, on the basis of this bid, the Joint gave Straightway the green light.

So who is Straightway Services?

Tracking down Straightway Services in any of the standard online non-profit search engines is a challenge. The IRS’s search site is only current up to 2019 and lists Straightway’s gross receipts at $50,000 yearly. ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer updates to 2020 and lists contributions of $353,553. Board members were listed as Dwight Minnieweather and his wife, Cassandra; together they earned $69,919.

In terms of typical Portland non-profits, this is chump change. By contrast, in tax-year 2020-2021, the Coalition of Communities of Color had revenues of $3,794,829 and paid its executive director, Marcus Mundy $95,624.

Straightway operates out of an unassuming space—no signage—at 8900 NE Vancouver Way, where Rev. Minnieweather presides over a warren of offices and a colorful “sanctuary” where he estimates twenty or so people gather on an average Sunday…

As for the contract, the reverend isn’t quite sure when it’ll be wrapped up; the car-camp (which he is quick to correct is a “shelter”) might open sometime next year.

Spend some time with Rev. Minnieweather and you’ll come away with a feeling that he is sincere and talks the talk, and does, indeed, have old clothes to give away, and big boxes of food for distribution and place for youth to go and hang out and rousing Sunday services, and good intentions.

As for riding herd on feral, desperate, possibly addicted, odds-are mentally ill, maybe just unlucky people living in cars—only overnight—across from a doper’s paradise? Well, we left with this parting thought…

God help Rev. Minnieweather. He’ll need it.

1. The county actually did a twofer deal, also buying a lot at 1818 SE 82d for $2,015,000. The Joint has no actual plans for that lot and is leasing it back to the owner. Just one of former chair Kafoury’s dodgy property deals.

2. You can watch the show—from a respectful distance; 7-9 PM each Wednesday and Friday.

3. In fact, issues with the church/ dispensary aren’t mentioned in Straightway’s application.