Vicky Smith is 60 years old. She gave us permission to tell her story. Smith says she's been homeless for ten years after spine surgery that left her unable to pay rent. She's been living just off the shoulder of I-5 in North Portland for five or six years.
"I got an infection in the bone in my foot," said Smith. "When I went to the hospital, they amputated it, and that's how they took care of it."
That surgery was in March. Smith told us she's only had one follow-up appointment with a doctor since then. That was in April. She has no other checkups scheduled and no plans for a prosthetic.
"I usually take the wheelchair and put it up here or take it up with me because it's been disappearing," said Smith. "The last two wheelchairs I had, somebody took them and took off."
Smith's wheelchair has been stolen twice. She says people who live in camps nearby are the ones who've replaced it both times. She has no income, no cell phone, and no plan. She told us she collects cans and finds food somehow.
We asked her if she'd been offered help. She told us people do stop and provide water, but she hasn't had much contact from the city or county. Smith said she does not have a case worker. She has stayed in a shelter a few times. We asked if she wanted to go back. She said she did but didn't seem to understand how to do that.
KATU called 211, the free service that provides referrals to social services and support organizations. They offered to give us information, but told us to call 311 for a welfare check. 311 is for government services in Multnomah County. They connected us to non-emergency. After 25 minutes on hold, the dispatcher told us she'd send someone out. A few minutes later, a Portland Police cruiser showed up, slowed down, and then took off down I-5.
It happened so fast we didn't have time to get video, but we followed up with the Portland Police Bureau. They told us they know Smith and they've offered services. They said she told the officer who drove past she was "fine." They didn't think Portland Street Response would come out because of Smith's proximity to the freeway, but we tried anyway. The Portland Fire Bureau, which manages Portland Street Response, told us the PSR team has interacted with Smith multiple times and tried to connect her with agencies that can get her off the roadway.
"I've called non-emergency. It looks like her foot that was amputated is infected, and they've told me there's nothing they can do at this point," said Pearcey. "There's no enforcement, there’s no reason to go out there unless she's really, you know, dying."
Smith is not dying, but she obviously needs help. At minimum, a checkup.
So, we also reached out to Portland Street Medicine, whose volunteers make rounds throughout the city several times a week. They told us they'll do everything they can to get to Smith.
When we asked the city and county to talk to us about why it's so hard to get Smith help, we got the following statement from the Joint Office of Homeless Services:
"Every one of us can agree that we want to provide something better for Vicky and help support her and offer stability. The conditions you’re describing are appalling. And many people in our system and around our system have engaged - and will continue to engage - to try to change things for Vicky.
"Vicky is known to our outreach workers, as well as teams who work with the city, all of whom have been attempting to provide services or engage for several weeks. At times, she has informed those teams that she has not been interested in care. But they continue to check in and try to work with her.
"That is also the nature of outreach in certain cases - it can take significant amounts of time to gain trust and build relationships and help someone overcome barriers, including barriers affecting their health.
FULL STATEMENT AND STORY HERE: katu.com/news/...
As of this morning, September 5, Smith was in the same spot. Not fine ... but still alive.
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26 сен 2024
