On Halloween, dressed as Mario, with a bright blue drink in hand, I was tired of losing at pool and ended up talking to the bouncer of the bar I was at. He was doodling flowers on a USPS sticker, and we ended up chatting about his passion for art, as well as his living situation, as he was working while also living out of his car. Since then, I’ve continuously thought about the fact that someone can be working full-time while still not being able to afford housing.
The city of Eugene estimates that over 3,000 people are affected by homelessness within the city. It’s a wide-reaching problem that requires further attention as well as compassion. I often hear overwhelmingly negative anti-homeless rhetoric when, in reality, these are our neighbors.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness did a study on the public perception of the root causes of homelessness. They found their polling to indicate many Americans believe that homelessness is primarily caused by personal issues and individual decisions. This viewpoint often overlooks the immense barriers people face in attaining stable housing, even when many are part of the local workforce…