A Place to Sleep

Goodnight!

The Albany Democrat-Herald reporters sign off and put A Place to Sleep to bed.

We take a last look at the very weird and very serious way policy and rest overlap for thousands of folks in Oregon.

Also, hear the entire theme song, "Safe Shelter": https://youtu.be/7KEVw1WWXks?si=WqJm4jIBnY5r2J-O

This podcast is called “A Place to Sleep,” and so far, we’ve put a big emphasis on the word place. In this episode we focus on sleep and the consequences of a lousy night's rest. 

New episodes every Tuesday.

Does it matter that Portland has the national spotlight for visible tent encampments and open drug use?

Probably not for the people most affected by public sleeping rules in PDX.

This city in Southern Oregon was sued for its local laws that prevented people from camping anywhere on public property. Now people without housing can stay at almost any park in Grants Pass, but they have to move every three days. 

The tiny city in Oregon raises some big constitutional questions about where to allow people without housing to sleep (Brownsville put them on Main Street to make them a spectacle).

A look at how we got here, from Martin v. Boise, Johnson v.Grants Pass and the 8th Amendment to Oregon HB 3115.

How did the last couple of elections change the way East Linn County interacts with its unhoused residents?

Well, a Capitol insurrection attendee is on the city council in Sweet Home. And in Lebanon, three elected officials ran with Constitutional conservative branding for non-partisan positions.

Does anyone know where they're supposed to be?

Corvallis, Oregon, is trying to get through to the folks sleeping in public with colorful brochures that show where they're not supposed to be: near creeks, rivers, wetlands, sidewalks or within 20 feet of trees.

We'll be back next week to learn what happens when you lose your housing in Corvallis.

It’s the most rent-burdened city in Oregon — which is one of the most rent-burdened states in the Country.

We’re really excited about it and we think you will be, too. Until then, our reporters are still visiting overnight in cities around Oregon.

What's Dusty Bryant been up to?

He's due in court. And he's back to a nomadic way of life after Albany, Oregon, police removed him from Marvin's Garden — the city-designated site for legal overnight camping.

What is it like to be kicked out of a designated sleeping site?

Cities across Oregon in July 2023 designated places where someone legally can sleep.

Police evicted Dusty Bryant after he couldn't fit his belongings in his tent at Marvin's Garden, a gravel-covered property near the county jail with room for 15 residents and the city of Albany's response to a state law that took effect in July.

Then Bryant overdosed.

Reporters at the Albany Democrat-Herald have explored the constitutional right to a night's rest across Oregon for A Place to Sleep.

New episodes every Tuesday.

Do people without housing have a constitutional right to rest? The controlling court for nine Western states said yes, so now Oregon requires cities to set aside places to sleep. We sent reporters across the state to see what it’s like to sleep in these sanctioned spaces. Our series, A Place to Sleep, launches September 26.