Every night, roughly 260 homeless shelter beds in Portland aren’t being used

“You have to sign in and sign out and do this and do that” Sounds like a job they don’t want either

If you're in a shelter they won't let you smoke drink or shoot up and they get a little upset when you start screaming and yelling and trying to fight your hallucinations

Portland isn't facing a "Homelessness"problem , it has a addiction, mental health,and crime problem but as long as Portland continues to receive millions in aid to fight homelessness with little to no transparency, nothing will change.

The people being interviewed are living proof that some of these folks do not deserve sympathy or empathy.

Why would they go to a shelter when Portland lets them squat in any neighborhood they want, or any vacant house they want?

When you sleep during the day and “shop” through the night, it’s hard to be told to stay in during prime shopping time and stay out when you need to sleep.

Helping the homeless has become a business itself or the money never goes to the people who need it. It just creates a bunch of jobs and agencies

"you have no idea who you're sleeping right next to" Yeah dude, this is EXACTLY how families feel like with tweakers living right outside their house.

Only people from the comfort of their homes think a shelter is the answer for the homeless. It isn't. It's only a helpful resource. If you don't understand the issue, you will never solve it.

My nephew had a drug problem. The state helped him to find a job and get a roof over his head. He was doing fine until he decided that he didn't want to follow the rules and that his drugs were more important and now he is back out in the streets by his own choice. So don't tell me that there are no organizations out there to help these people because there is they just have to want it.You can't help people who don't want to help themselves.

Dude sounds so lazy. He doesnt wanna sigh in and sigh out…

In some places homeless shelters are a big business, just like poverty pimps, I am looking at you politicians, clergy!

Inside the homeless shelter they cannot drink, smoke dope or shoot heroin. I was riding my bicycle on a bike path and went under a bridge, there was ten of them shooting heroin or smoking dope. They all looked like zombies of the living dead.

They don't like rules; they want to be free to do their drugs and booze.

I can only speak from my experience as helping run a salvation army men's homeless shelter. Meaning shelters are only as good as the staff running one. The guy with grey beard summed it up. He doesn't want to abide tve rules. We had a definite turnover rate average of 6 beds. We had 35 beds. 5 were people released from hospitals. We had a place for free meds. The mentally ill saw a Dr for meds. 0 tolerance for drugs or alcohol they could reapply in 30 days We referred them to another shelter. They had a chore each day. Curfew. Required to get a GED and or job training. They didn't get kicked out during certain times and then returned at night were fed 3x a day. We had a caring staff. They had lockers with locks. A place to store any food the bought. A guy who lived outside close to us,refused to stay for 12 years. He finally agreed to housing this year. Many dont want ANY rules or responsibilities so they stay on the streets its really hard to understand We rarely had any fights in the shelter the guys who were doing well helped the newbies and policed themselves It was the best job I ever had

The magic word in understanding a homeless person thought process to refused shelter is...Temporary.

Thank you for this realistic report! The majority homeless saying what they want and don't want . Mental illness drug addiction rule here! Now how does a city fix that?

This is normal. In the summer some homeless people would rather sleep outside, since the shelters can be unpleasant to stay in for a variety of reasons. But when the weather is bad like in the winter, they go back to the shelter to escape the cold. It happens all the time.

Wait what! Journalists doing their job? WOW! “Affordable housing” solves nothing. You think they can afford anything? Adding funding just confirms the “homeless” issue is now an industry in itself. Disgusting.

Whenever they show a Homeless encampment, there is always an abundance of bicycles, bicycle wheels and parts. Around here bicycle theft is rampant. I wonder how much of the property that Homeless people have is really just stolen property. Do the Homeless see any difference in my being a Degreed Health Care Professional, working in Intensive Care for a 12.5 hour shift saving lives and earning $500 minus $200 taxes for $300 take home and them simply stealing a $300 bike??? Are they just trying to bring us down to their level????? Maybe they don't see any difference between my $300 earnings and their $300 stolen bicycle. What I hear them saying is that they want Freedom, Security, Privacy and the Ability to travel. Most of us call that Retirement. I worked full-time, 60-80 hours a week, 52 weeks a year for 50 years to achieve that. I've worked full-time since I was 15 years old. At 18 I joined the Military during the Vietnam War Era, followed by Community College on the GI Bill. I'm a Comfortably Retired, Debt Free Homeowner with a DD214 and 2 College Degrees. I earned what I have.