Take action now to end the criminalization of homelessness.

Portland’s lack of affordable housing has created a crisis that is forcing people in our communities into homelessness. Now Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Portland’s City Commission are threatening to criminalize people experiencing homelessness by jailing and fining them.

Tactics like these cave to political attacks of groups that spread fear and disinformation about our city, including groups like “People for Portland.” But criminalizing homelessness only adds barriers and makes people’s circumstances worse, not better.

Tell our elected officials: Stop criminalizing human suffering. Portland deserves real solutions to the housing crisis.

Together we have successfully passed groundbreaking public safety and criminal justice reforms.

• We overwhelmingly supported housing and wrap-around services as a solution to end homelessness.
• We decriminalized people struggling with addiction.
• We invested in community-based resources for people who have been victims of crime, suffered from addiction, and are rebuilding their lives after surviving other forms of trauma.

Real solutions like these promote healing, racial justice, and true community safety. Tell elected leaders that we cannot revert back to senseless tactics that stigmatize addiction, criminalize homelessness, and lead to racial disparities and mass incarceration.