PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Every morning outreach workers from the Mental Health and Addiction Association of Oregon, like Brian Cooper and Ricco Mejia, get out of a van on the north side of Old Town and work their way south to the Behavioral Health Resource Center.
Along the way they interact with 200 to 300 people each day, either at their van or on the streets.
Both Cooper and Mejia have first-hand knowledge of life on the streets. Cooper slept on the streets years ago, while Mejia struggled with addiction.
“I was helped many years ago here in downtown Portland,” Mejia said. “Today I get to be someone to guide and give people the same direction that I was given.”
They’ve been doing outreach well before the 90-day fentanyl emergency was put in place to deal with the epidemic of addiction and homelessness. But how they do the outreach provides a framework for the how the City of Portland, Multnomah County and the state of Oregon can better coordinate their efforts.
What’s unique is they now have the Behavioral Health Resource Day Center available to bring people to begin their path to recovery. That means anyone who wants to connect or start a recovery plan can go right away — without waiting for an appointment days or weeks away.
The immediacy is the key for someone is ready for help overcoming addictions.
“We’re in the business of giving hope and instilling hope and sharing our experience and finding strength in that,” Mejia said.
“They meet up with peers like myself who motivational interview,” Cooper told KOIN 6 News. “They sit down and they find out, like, what’s their lifestyle like, where are their goals, where they’re at now? And through that process, we’re able to determine kind of where they want to be and where they’re at now and then helping them build up to that point, to get to that to where they want.”
“I don’t call Portland, Oregon ‘Portland, Oregon’. I call it ‘Supportland, Oregon.’ And with the businesses and the community partners coming together, attitude dictates altitude. Right? And if we come together, the harder we hit bottom, the higher we can bounce.”
— Ricco Mejia, outreach worker
“People believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself,” Mejia said. “And that’s really what we’re out here doing, is we’re establishing the human connection with people. We’re giving compassion and putting that in the action.”
There was not a person Cooper and Mejia passed up to chance to speak to on this day. Many people know their names.
“People need people they can trust in this community. You know, being out on the street and having these struggles, it’s, you know, having somebody that’s going to show up that they can count on is really crucial. A lot of people don’t have those,” Cooper said. “You remember their name, you’re showing up for them and building that rapport.”
It may take several visits for some to be ready for services. And sometimes, the “thank yous” are unexpected.
During the emergency period, providers can get an idea of who can handle referrals and when. And that’s the work Director John Karp Evans hopes can be improved and cemented once the emergency phase is over.
“We want them to be successful. You know, that’s the ultimate goal, I think, is success and do to to get out of the situation that they’re in,” Cooper said.
While Mejia thinks the city has hit an all-time low, he sees his work as a way for it to go forward
“But I don’t call Portland, Oregon ‘Portland, Oregon’. I call it ‘Supportland, Oregon.’ And with the businesses and the community partners coming together, attitude dictates altitude. Right? And if we come together, the harder we hit bottom, the higher we can bounce.”
