I saw Santa today. He was homeless. It wouldn't cost very much to create temporary housing for everybody. It's already been done on a small scale. What would it take, for everybody to get a place to sleep by Christmas?

1. A Home with Dignity for Santa
Levin Nock December 2007 Copyleft CC-BY v2.0
I saw Santa today, but he wasn’t in his sleigh. He was pushing a
shopping cart of old sleeping bags.
I was enjoying a delicious lunch at Miso Happy, a trendy Viet/Thai
place near NW 23rd and Lovejoy, after a successful business meeting
at the Good Samaritan Hospital. I was seated alone in the middle of
the restaurant, with a panoramic view out through the large windows,
onto the sidewalk bustling with holiday shoppers and the usual lunch
crowd. Slowly, at a stately pace, enter stage left, the shopping cart
pushed by Santa moves across my view. He isn’t dressed like
Santa—no red coat or shiny black boots, and his hat’s not even red.
His white beard is a little scraggly, but it’s real. Mostly, he has the
face. Not quite as jolly as Norman Rockwell’s version, but not
grumpy either. It’s odd, most Christmas songs don’t mention how
chronic alcoholism might accentuate Santa’s round-faced, ruddy
complexion.
It takes a few moments to sink in, as he slowly walks past the long
window. I think, what food can I give him? I don’t have any milk
and cookies. I could order a Thai lunch special to go, and give it to
him. But he’ll be gone by the time it’s ready, unless I ask him to wait
outside the restaurant, which won’t make me popular with the host.
Bringing him inside probably isn’t a socially acceptable option either.
This place has nice décor, with beautiful inlaid tables. None of the
patrons are dressed scruffy, which is noteworthy since this is, after
all, the city of “Keep Portland Weird”. I usually carry granola bars to
give away, in my car and my backpack, but all of that is 2 blocks
away at the moment. Later, after he’s gone, I realize that I could
have asked for a take-out box for my half-eaten lunch, ran outside
with it, then ordered a new meal for myself. Or, I could have broken
my ‘no cash to bums’ habit, and rushed outside with a few dollars.
But he’s already gone before I think of that.

2. So I Google “Portland homelessness”. I’m grateful to read that the
Portland Tribune reported, in February 2007, that it’s not as bad as it
used to be. The number of Portlanders sleeping outside in December
2006 was around 1400, down from almost 2400 in December 2005.
The number of chronically homeless people in 2006 was less than
400, versus more than 1200 in 2005. Much of the progress is
connected to the “Home Again” 10-year plan to end Portland
homelessness by 2015. I didn’t find any numbers about the homeless
folks sleeping outside in the summertime, but I’ll bet it’s a lot more
than December’s 1400.
Then I think about Dignity Village, where 60 formerly-homeless
people live in homes that they helped build on city land for less than
$500/unit, using volunteer labor, salvaged materials, and
campground zoning regulations.
For the cost of one or two median-priced homes in Portland, plus
some vacant land, Dignity Village could expand by a factor of 10 or
20. Homelessness in Portland could end this year. What exactly
would it take to make that happen? Santa would have a warm, dry
place to sleep by next Christmas, while he waits for permanent
housing to arrive by 2015.