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Mayor Keith Wilson sent out an unusual email last week to Portlanders: He asked for their material help.
He asked for donations of food, hygiene kits, outdoor furniture, big fans, winter clothing, exercise equipment, laptops and printers, and lice treatment. He also asked citizens for their time and skills: for carpentry, painting, cooking, haircuts, résumé writing, pet care, financial literacy and event planning.
Wilson’s email begged Portlanders to help him stand up—and keep up—new shelters he’s opening in short order across the city.
“I’m reaching out to ask for your help. We’re delivering real change to Portland, and if you can contribute a bag of snacks, an hour of your time as an artist, teacher, or builder, or even a small show of financial support to our emergency shelter system, I want to connect,” Wilson wrote.
Wilson has opened two shelters in the past month in Northwest Portland, one of them much to the chagrin of the local neighborhood association, which has protested it vehemently.
Wilson framed the need as dire given the Trump administration’s threat to deploy federal law enforcement to crack down on homelessness in cities the president has portrayed as “lawless.”
“Recent events in Washington, D.C., show us what will happen to Portland if we don’t move with speed, purpose, and compassion to address the humanitarian crisis on our streets,” Wilson wrote. “The federal administration deploys bulldozers and mass arrests by masked agents; the opposite of our outreach worker and emergency shelter strategy. Let’s work together by volunteering and donating, and prove the administration’s heavy-handed tactics are not needed in our city.”
On Friday, Trump hinted in a press release that Portland could be on the short list of cities where he might deploy the National Guard.
“Portland, it’s unbelievable what’s going on in Portland. The destruction of the city. I’m going to look at it now,” Trump said.
Trump made a number of unverified claims about the protests near the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building on South Macadam Avenue, and in reference to the protests said, “We’ll be able to stop that very easily.”
Wilson and other local elected officials responded with a flood of statements rebuking Trump’s comments.
“Like other mayors across the country, I have not asked for—and do not need—federal intervention," Wilson said in a statement. “We are proud that Portland police have successfully protected freedom of expression while addressing occasional violence and property destruction that takes place during protests at the ICE facility in Portland.”
