Year: 2020

Where: Portland, Oregon

Role: Researcher at and Supervisor of students (as part of PSU’s Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative)

Format: 3 ft x 6 ft boards

Partners: Street Roots

Award: PSU’s CERA grant

Graphic exhibited at: 

• Vanport Mosaic Festival, Portland (OR) 2020, Exhibitor.

Graphic credit: PSU’s students

In 2020, I had the opportunity to led HRAC’s Stories from the Outside: Wildfire Narratives project to investigate how the 2020 Oregon wildfires impacted people experiencing homelessness. September 2020 brough the most destructive wildfires in Oregon history. Fires spread across the state, burning roughly 1.1 million acres and 4,009 homes. At least 11 people died and 40,000 people were forced to evacuate, and an additional 500,000 people were in evacuation warning areas. The air quality was so hazardous in many parts of Oregon that the state declared a Public Health Emergency. All those seeking assistance were facing similarly circumstances: they were without homes, and all were in danger from the hazardous air quality. However, in some cases, the relief efforts distinguished between those who were unhoused prior to the wildfires, in some instances denying services.

The HRAC team was awarded a $5,000 CERA grant to work with Street Roots Ambassadors to conduct interviews with people experiencing homelessness. Outcomes of this effort included a journal article, an educational web page, and working with CPID‘s students to design boards for the Vanport Mosaic Festival and spread awareness to the wider Portland.