This inaugural episode spends time with Doll Crain, the intern coordinator at Cultivate Initiatives. Doll oversees work at Cultivate that’s funded through the Joint Office and the Supportive Housing Services Measure. She shares her story of how she became homeless after growing up in Portland, what it was like living on the streets, and how she was able to find work and stable housing through Joint Office services.
We also spend time this episode with Salinda Mingo, a housing navigator with the Urban League of Portland, who talks about her daily work helping people leave tents for apartments. Mingo says that work — funded and supported by the Joint Office — doesn’t stop at moving day. Months after her clients are in housing, she visits them to make sure they have what they need to stay in their new homes.
That conversation is part of a tutorial on something called “Coordinated Access,” which refers to Multnomah County’s system for reaching and entering people onto a by-name list specifically for supportive housing. We interview Katie Dineen from the Joint Office to learn more about coordinated access — how it works, how to get on the list, and which organizations are involved.
Music used in this episode (from freemusicarchive.org):
Moonbeam Kelly – Live on KBOO Radio – 2017
Ketsa – Cartel de Funk