Alix Rabbas was on her feet all day. From dropping off heavy bags at a storage facility to making it to a day center in time for lunch, she had been running errands across town since dawn. At 7 p.m. on a recent Tuesday, the 58-year-old stood in line with a dozen other women outside a downtown Portland shelter.
“I’m exhausted,” said Rabbas, who has slept nearly every night at the Salvation Army Female Emergency Shelter, or SAFES, for six weeks.
“We all are. This life wears you out,” she said, leaning on a wobbly, three-wheeled cart packed with her possessions. “But the consistency of having a place to come to every night that’s safe. I find myself thinking, ‘I can’t wait to get to my bed.’”…