Changing the Narrative

This collaborative storytelling project changes the narrative around homelessness through comics focused on the experiences of Portland State University students. This project produced a series of ten short comics created through collaborations between PSU students, artists and the research team.

Stories from the Outside centers the voices of people experiencing homelessness during the 2020 Oregon wildfire season. HRAC, in partnership with the Street Roots Ambassadors program, surveyed 73 people in the Portland area in June 2021. These are their stories.

The Understanding Homelessness podcast with Dr. Marisa Zapata illuminates the underlying causes of homelessness, explains systems that perpetuate it, explores innovative solutions, and shares stories from those with lived experiences. 

Housing First is an approach to quickly connect people experiencing homelessness to permanent housing without preconditions or barriers such as sobriety, treatment, or service participation requirements, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. And research shows that it works.

Learn about the history of exclusionary zoning and how it was used in the United States to marginalize people of color. Director Marisa Zapata provides an overview in her testimony at the Oregon State Legislature's Senate Committee on Housing Feb. 2019.

We must determine how to produce the needed housing and services to end homelessness while supporting people who are experiencing homelessness right now. How do we balance the emergency response and the long-term planning? Center Director Marisa Zapata discusses solutions in her talk during Research Week.

Luke Robinowitz earned his bachelor's degree from Portland State University. He's now enrolled in a master's program. He also experienced homelessness as a teen. He shared his story with us in the hopes of helping others. He wants to fight the stigma of homelessness and advocate for more services.

Homelessness has become increasingly visible on our streets and in our media headlines. Everyone thinks they understand the issue, and many believe they know how to solve it. But they’re often wrong even about the most basic facts, and too often ignore the role that racism has played from the very beginning. 

University students do experience homelessness. We conducted Portland State University's first survey of students and employees on homelessness, housing insecurity and food insecurity. Nearly half of all students experienced housing insecurity and one in six experienced homelessness in the last 12 months.

Understanding the true scale and cost of homelessness is essential to fully addressing it. Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative found that nearly 38,000 people experienced homelessness in the Portland Tri-County area in 2017. The estimate includes those living doubled up and an annualized count.

Desmond Hardison has been with Street Roots newspaper from the beginning, raising money and selling papers. He has a big heart for the organization and those experiencing homelessness. It's important that everyone has a voice, he said.

This mythbusters page helps you identify what you think is true about homelessness and what is actually true. For example: How many more times likely is a person of color to experience homelessness? Do you think you know? Find out. 

Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative asked community members to share a message about homelessness. The responses blew us away.