We use cookies to improve user experience, and analyze website traffic. For these reasons, we may share your site usage data with our analytics partners. By clicking “Accept” you consent to store on your device all the technologies described in our Privacy Policy.
JULIANA: Welcome to the very first episode of They Are Us. This podcast will address the root causes of homelessness and addiction. You’ll hear stories of resilience and hope from folks in recovery. You’ll also hear from experts in the field as they challenge misconceptions and explain what communities need to do to heal and recover. I’m your host, Juliana Lukasik, Senior Director of Public Affairs for Central City Concern, also known as CCC.
JULIANA: Based in Portland, Oregon, CCC is a nonprofit offering housing, healthcare, and employment services all under one roof. The title of the podcast, They Are Us, comes from a community health outreach worker who said, “when you see someone on the street, you notice their living conditions. Think about who they really are. Could this happen to your grandparents or to your children? The answer is yes, they are us.”
JULIANA: In today’s episode, I’ll be talking with Bryant, someone who went from homelessness and addiction to housing and employment. We’ll also hear from Dr. Andy Mendenhall, Central City Concern’s President and CEO, about supporting folks like Bryant on their road to recovery. Let’s get started.
JULIANA: Bryant began his journey with Central City Concern at Hooper Detoxification Stabilization Center, often a first stop for folks in recovery in Portland, Oregon. Through a combination of personal determination and the assistance he received, Bryant regained his health and got back on his feet. I am excited to have him on the show. Welcome, Bryant.
BRYANT: Hi, glad to be here.
JULIANA: We’re going to just run through sort of your story, sort of how you came to Portland and how you came to Central City Concern. So, let’s start at the beginning.
BRYANT: Okay, so I’m from a town, Portales, New Mexico. It’s on the West Texas border. It’s about 12 to 14,000 people. I left about four years ago. I was just deep into opiate addiction, meth addiction, alcoholism, and I was just desperate for change. So, I heard Oregon was the place to find some support in that. So, I got to Portland and instead of finding the support that I was looking for, I actually found out that the drugs were cheaper. They were more potent and more available. And so that got me deeper into my addiction. And then when I was introduced to fentanyl, it was the most potent thing I’ve ever done in my entire life. And it really grabbed me. I would go and get off the bus and people would just run up to me with pocketfulls of the stuff, you know. And I mean, I could have $5 in my pocket and they would give me enough to get high for days. I mean, it was, it was an everyday deal. So, they, you know, they were familiar with me and they would see me and they would just run up to me and it was an everyday thing.
JULIANA: And there was no police there and it wasn’t illegal. So, talk about that. How did that affect it?
BRYANT: Yeah, I was kind of, I was shell shocked. You know, where I come from, from a little small town, if you pulled over, all the cops in town show up, you know. So, I realized when I seen, you know, like the activity downtown, was, it reminded me of like Gotham City, you know, like kind of lawless, you know. Where are the cops at? Like, where are the people at, you know, to get you in trouble? And that wasn’t, that wasn’t present then.
JULIANA: Yeah. So, okay. So thank you for getting me to this point. That’s really important and I’m really glad you shared it. Now tell me about what happened. What was that trauma that led you to saying, “this is it, I’m making a change”?
BRYANT: I was mentally exhausted, I was physically exhausted, I was sick from not having drugs. And I remember thinking of myself that day, like, man, I was just tired of living. And I remember asking myself, like, “God, if you’re real, show me a sign.” And I said that out loud to myself. And moments later, to my surprise, I heard a real loud thud. And I looked over and a gentleman had jumped off out of his window and killed himself. And I remember, it was the most traumatic thing I’ve ever been a part of. And I remember thinking to myself, like, I want to live. Like, you know. The whole dying thing, that’s out the window. I really want to live. And I remember I went, I was living at a shelter, Market Street shelter. I had a case worker there. I was on my little cot and she’d seen me really upset. She was like, “what’s wrong, Bryant?” And I explained to her and she was like, “what can we do?” And I was like, “I just want help. I’m desperate.” And so she got my referral to Hooper.
JULIANA: Hooper Detoxification.
BRYANT: Hooper Detoxification, yes. And what a blessing. Like seriously, what a blessing. The whole thing was so very comfortable. So, I was at Hooper for six days and then they had an opportunity for me for an intensive outpatient with supportive housing. And that was a blessing. I just, I couldn’t believe it, you know? Being living in a, from the streets and living in a shelter to having my own place, that sounded like almost too good to be true, you know? And then also, you know, to start the journey of battling this addiction problem, you know? And so, yeah, I remember signing a lease there, an actual lease, which was really cool, which I thought at the time was, I was really nervous, you know? I was like, I’m just going to sign up for this, you know, this program, know, I’m signing my life away. But no, they made me feel like a human being, you know, going in there and signing an actual lease, you know, I felt very comfortable. was a really wonderful experience.
JULIANA: So, now you’ve gone to Richard Harris, which is another one of our Central City Concern properties. And it’s often a first stop for folks coming out of Hooper.
BRYANT: Yeah. So, it’s a nine month program. So, while was there, I engaged in IOP, Intensive Outpatient, which I graduated, I also got a referral to the EAC, Employment Access Center. And while I was there, they helped me get a job, which was CCC actually, as an on-call. And I worked on-call for about seven months. And then I got hired full-time at the Shoreline Building, which I work at now.
JULIANA: Oh, that’s awesome.
BRYANT: Yeah. So, to be honest with you, I’ve been involved with Central City Concern from the first day of my sobriety and I am still involved today and that has been 16 months.
JULIANA: So, you’re going through and getting some higher credentials and licensing to become a peer mentor.
BRYANT: That’s my goal.
JULIANA: What does that feel like?
BRYANT: Oh, it’s fantastic. I couldn’t dream in a million years that I would be in this situation, have this opportunity, especially where I come from. When you’re addicted to drugs where I come from, it’s either prison or death. I mean, that’s the outcome normally, you know? Very few people are successful out of addiction. Yeah. You know, which is very sad.
JULIANA: Yeah, a lot of folks think that the problems that are facing urban centers like Portland are not happening in rural small towns, and it’s just not true.
BRYANT: No, absolutely not. So, I eventually want to take everything that was available here for me in Portland through Central City Concern, and I want to take that back home and make that available for my people back home.
JULIANA: That’s super cool.
BRYANT: That’s my ultimate goal.
JULIANA: So, Bryant, when you and I were talking, I shared with you a little bit of my history. I don’t consider myself a foster kid because I was only in the foster care program myself for about six months. But it is so true that being in foster care is one of the leading indicators of folks at risk of homelessness.
BRYANT: Sure.
JULIANA: So I think you said to me that you were in the foster program. Can you share a little bit of that with me?
BRYANT: Yeah, I have two biological sisters, Jayleana and Andrea. They are my everything. They’re my everything. Shout out to them. And so when we were, I was six years old. I’m the oldest of the three. got put in foster care system. I was probably, I would say, in over 100 homes, different homes, you know, throughout New Mexico. So, I remember being young and I remember seeing these kids come in, these young kids, and they were just so confused. I remember how bad it hurt me when I would see them wake up and just in confusion like, where am I? I get so emotionally involved that I would just, if that was the case, I would own the biggest, I would have the biggest family in the world.
JULIANA: I know what you mean. mean, it’s, there’s a real, there’s a reason why we’re in the foster program. For me, it was the death of my mother and my dad just couldn’t pull it together. So, we ended up in the foster program. And I also, just like you, I was about the same age, in fact, I was seven when I went in and I was so confused. I was just like, I don’t understand any of this.
BRYANT: Yeah. And I was lucky enough to be with my sisters throughout the whole process.
And yeah, me and my sister’s bond is unbreakable.
JULIANA: Yeah, when I think kids get into the foster program, we get real focused on surviving.
BRYANT: Well, yeah, yeah. We had to become grown up real quick.
JULIANA: Do you think that that has any impact on your success today? Because I feel like being able to survive really challenging stuff has been a really big part of why I’m here today.
BRYANT: Sure. Yeah. I think statistically, we weren’t supposed to make it, you know? That’s right. I think, yeah, it definitely made me resilient. There’s something in me that just can’t, I have been through it all and there’s something in me that just will not give up. And I think it’s working this time, thank goodness, you know?
JULIANA: Yeah. Hey Bryant, thank you so much for coming here today. I know it’s not always easy telling your story and I really appreciate that you were willing to do so. So thank you very much for being here.
BRYANT: Yeah, thanks for having me. It’s been a pleasure.
JULIANA: My next guest is Dr. Andy Mendenhall, President and CEO of Central City Concern. He’s board certified in addiction and family medicine. We’re going to talk about CCC’s role in helping folks end the cycle of homelessness and substance use. Welcome Dr. Andy.
ANDY: Thank you, Juliana. It’s great to be here.
JULIANA: We just heard from Brian about his struggles with homelessness and addiction. Can you share a few reflections about his story?
ANDY: What a remarkable man with just like a big, big gigantic heart. He’s a fellow traveler who has had challenges in his life and that led to him experiencing a substance use disorder. And it’s important to know that, you know, more than 10% of Americans will have a substance use disorder that’s significant, significant in impacting their lives. So, he, as a human being, is a person who is suffering from a very dangerous, potentially fatal condition that had led him to basically living outside, living on the edge, living in shelter. And I think the most powerful aspect of Bryant’s story is his story of recovery. First, that it’s possible to recover. Second, that it’s possible to maintain recovery.
JULIANA: Yeah, I agree. I also was really interested in sort of his comments around he came to Portland thinking he was going to get help and he found himself in a situation where not only were there a lot of drugs but they were very strong and they were easy to get. So, let’s talk a little bit about Portland and sort of that environment that we’re in.
ANDY: The heroin supply was replaced with fentanyl. And by weight, we’re talking multipliers, 10 to 50 times by weight more potent, if not even more strong, and or cut with other substances like xylazine. And so our colleagues at Hooper Detox Center have been using buprenorphine for maintenance and stabilization since 2017 at Hooper. But also, we’ve created access thanks to our opioid treatment partners at Hooper for folks to maintain and or start methadone treatment. And we’ve needed to have both tools available to give patients choice. And that’s a really important principle, is giving people the choice of the tools that they want to utilize to help support their recovery, has been such an important and transformative response since 2017, but in particular since we saw the opioid supply change in 2021.
JULIANA: Yeah. Let’s talk about one of the things that really made a big impact in Bryant’s life, which is employment access. So tell me about employment, why it’s important, and is it a good investment for our community to make in people?
ANDY: Employment is so critical. So, working with a supportive employment counselor, somebody who is there to help coach them and give them that sense of hope, give them that sense of belief in themselves that they’ll be successful. And most of our employment case managers are folks that have their own lived experience. And so there’s that peer connection of, hey I’ve been there. I know what it’s like. The services that our employment specialists are providing go well beyond just job placement. It’s a type of meaningful client-based connection that helps people believe in themselves.
JULIANA: So Andy, how does an organization like Central City Concern operate in times of uncertainty relating to sort of things that are outside of our control?
ANDY: First and foremost, we stay focused on our mission and we respond to the information as it comes in and with focus in ensuring that we are doing as much as we can to maximize the value of the dollars that are invested in our services, to maximize the impact for the clients that we’re serving and for our community. Our mission has not changed even though the environment that we’re operating within feels more uncertain now than it has in quite a few years.
JULIANA: Yeah, I mean, we are focused on Portland for this podcast because that’s where Central City Concern is located. But talk to me about sort of broader than Portland. Are the problems that Portland are facing, problems that are being faced by other places?
ANDY: Absolutely, both urban and rural areas. We know that about a quarter of the folks that are homeless in the United States live in Washington, California or Oregon. So, it’s historically been a West Coast challenge, but every state now is dealing with lack of housing affordability, wage stagnation. And as we know, if housing costs go up and people are spending more and more of their disposable income on housing, their risk of becoming homeless goes up along with it. Add people aging into homelessness being the fastest growing segment of people becoming houseless in the United States, and that’s across the nation for the last five years now and running. We have a housing and housing affordability crisis along with a behavioral health and substance use disorder crisis that continues to be a nationwide challenge.
JULIANA: Yeah, all right. So, you’ve got a magic wand. You’ve got three things you can do to make a huge difference in the people that we serve. What are the three things that you’re going to change to make sure that we can help folks?
ANDY: In this region, I would build 10,000 deeply affordable housing units last night and staff half of those with supportive services and make a quarter of those transitional units that are focused on helping people in recovery. That’s bucket number one. Bucket number two is I would build more acute inpatient psychiatric beds to close the gap in this region for people who need to be civilly committed or at least held for 14 days and to have that group of people receive the psychiatric medication and the stabilization that they need. And those folks are most often chronically homeless and most difficult to actually keep in a housing intervention. And then number three, I would make sure that we have the workforce to do all of the above that I just said. We literally need thousands of folks to work in those housing programs and to staff those behavioral health treatment facilities for the most vulnerable and the most ill members of our community.
JULIANA: So, in summary, more housing, more mental health support, and more people helping people.
ANDY: That’s exactly right.
JULIANA: All right, I like that. I have to say, it was so incredible talking with you today. I mean, it gives me hope that there are experts like you that are helping us figure out what we need to do next to help people. So, thank you for being here today.
ANDY: Thank you so much, Juliana. It was a pleasure.
JULIANA: Thank you for tuning in to They Are Us. Email us at podcast@ccconcern.org with questions and topics you’d like us to address in future episodes. You can also visit centralcityconcern.org to learn more about the solutions you heard in this episode. Until next time, I’m Juliana Lukasik.
