Feeding America

[Lamplighter]

PDX has it's share and there are a lot of people living (hidden camps) in the forests and high deserts between the coast and central Oregon.

TV reported for our first "Free Dental Clinic" people got in line early Sunday morning and they were still full up yesterday (Tues)afternoon

And as Glatt says, our local food banks are really stressed

Politically, Oregon is reported as "liberal" but that is because of just two large cities...the rest of the state is very "conservative". We've had Democratic Governors for quite a while, so there has been good use of state tax dollars being passed down to County Health Depts and food programs and school breakfast/lunch programs. etc. But those dollars have grown tighter and smaller now due to the recession.

PDX, like Seattle, has a migratory population of street-people during the summers, but they tend to go south when the cold/wet weather arrives. Publicly provided food and sleeping facilities for them are fair to good, but there is another interesting aspect to this. The liberal political tenor in Portland alloweds certain public areas to be used for "temporary" overnight stays, and the City Council negotiates with their self-appointed leaders about the facilities, safety, etc.

Our Hispanic community has done a lot to improve the agricultural migrant worker facilities throughout the state, and I think generally over the past 20 years the farm owners have greatly improved the living quarters for workers and their families. Ranchers (cattle) on the other hand seem to be very hard in their attitudes towards migrants, and so County governments in cattle country are too.

So Dana, YES, I do believe government has a major role to play. And over the 35 years we've lived in Oregon I believe there is a major difference between Democratic and Republican administrations in degree and quality of assistance given to the poor.