‘Cycle of survival’: Portland woman finds permanent housing after safe rest village stay
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — One woman’s struggle to survive living on Portland streets was turned around after a safe rest village successfully transitioned her to permanent housing.
Southeast Portland’s Reedway Safe Rest Village proved to be the key stepping stone for Sarah Hjelm after she struggled with homelessness for over a decade. Now she’s telling her story.
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“I was tired of living like that,” Hjelm told KOIN 6 News. “You want a better life.”
Hjelm was a steelworker before she lost her job as a result of a work injury.
“I ended up not being able to pay my rent, I couldn’t find a job and I was living in my car. And next thing you know, I was on the streets,” she said. ”You get stuck in that cycle when you’re out, that cycle of survival.”
Hjelm was on the streets of Portland for the next 13 years. In that time, she said she learned the value of having a place to call home, of not having to carry everything you own on your back, 24/7. She said that’s “no way for anybody to live.”
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“If I got shoved into an apartment, I don’t think I would have been successful without something like this,” she said.
Hjelm recently stayed at the Reedway Safe Rest Village for several months while she looked for permanent housing. This site, operated by Urban Alchemy, offers 60 temporary shelter beds, with mental and behavioral health services in Southeast Portland.
Hjelm is just one person for whom Urban Alchemy has helped find housing — but there are still hundreds of homeless on Portland streets.
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“It’s just hard to find the right resources and find the right data, the right direction to go to to figure out like how to get off the streets. It’s not that easy to navigate,” she said.
In just seven months, Hjelm has now applied for disability and secured permanent housing.
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