PORTLAND, Ore. — Winter time is especially dangerous for people living on the streets in Multnomah County.
On Wednesday, agencies from across the area explained what they're doing to make sure people have somewhere warm to stay during the colder months.
The homeless crisis can turn deadly as it temperatures drop; sicknesses become exacerbated by the cold, unsanitary and usually dangerous conditions.
Recent data shows 92 homeless people died last year, which is more than ever recorded. Drugs and alcohol are the biggest factors leading to death, but weather can be life-threatening too.
Dave Smith spent countless nights cold and alone in the winter months. Homeless for three and a half years, Smith knows winter's wrath - especially the one three years ago.
“It was brutal, you know, because we can put up with the rain and you get cold that way, your fingers get a little numb. But when it got to zero degrees and, with the wind chill, below zero… you can’t live out there like that, you know, it’s surviving but it was bad. I almost died,” smith said.
Some did die that winter; Smith says they froze to death during their sleep.
When he lived on the outskirts of Delta Park, Union Gospel Mission’s search and rescue team brought him and his neighbors food, prayers and companionship.
“That's important. Because you don't feel like you're alone anymore.”
Smith is now on the other end of it; he lives at Union Gospel Mission and is undergoing a treatment and recovery program. He spends his days going out to search and try to rescue others in camps.
“It’s hard to imagine that people actually live like that,” Smith added.
Courtney Dodds with Union Gospel Mission says their search and rescue program uses a specially equipped van that visits people in camps or tents scattered around the metro area.
"We go out there and, especially during the cold weather, we want to make sure people are equipped and have what they need to be able to survive in the cold weather. It really can be a life-threatening situation,” Dodds said in a press conference Wednesday.
“If we are full then we will refer folks to other shelters and really do what we can to find a place for them to be out of the cold and be safe.”
A helping hand saved Smith and he knows it can do the same for others, especially this time of year.
“These guys saved my life. I don't think I'd be here,” Smith told KGW. “There's always going to be a need.”
This year's homeless point-in-time count shows Multnomah County had about 4,000 homeless people on a single night in January 2019, which includes people living in emergency shelters and in transitional housing. That dropped four-percent from 2017.
But more people are living on our streets than ever in the past decade; the count tallied more than 2,000 unsheltered people on a single night, which was a 22-percent jump from 2017.
The Joint Office of Homeless Services said much of the spike is driven by the struggle to reach the chronically homeless, people who have been on the streets for more than a year and have issues with things like mental health or addiction.
In a press conference Wednesday morning, multiple nonprofit and government agencies explained how they're working together to respond in severe weather and add more emergency beds.
The Joint Office, Multnomah County, first responders, Transition Projects, Do Good Multnomah, Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare, Union Gospel Mission and other community groups collaborate year-round to address homelessness.
“Of the coldest nights of the year - our severe weather nights - we will open 300 additional beds across the county,” said Transition Projects director of residential services Matt Plguin.
If the weather is severe for an extended period of time, those extra beds will be at full capacity. Joint Office of Homeless Services Director Marc Jolin says they have a specialized plan in place for that as well, and are working with Multnomah County Emergency Management and the Portland Parks & Recreation Bureau to open community centers if it gets to that point.
But they need volunteers to help staff up those emergency shelters as well.
The goal is to not turn anyone away. They are calling on the community to help; that support could be in the form of donations of your time, money or gear like thick socks, water-proof gloves, jackets, hand warmers.
"We need the donations of cold weather gear, we need volunteers and we need your eyes on the street to take care of folks who are particularly vulnerable when the weather gets bad," Jolin said.
Those leading the charge are pushing everyone to call or visit 211info.org or call 211 for anything related to homelessness this winter. They say your help could mean the difference between life and death.