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Juliana: Welcome to They Are Us, where you’ll hear stories of resilience and hope from folks in recovery and insights from experts in the field. I’m your host, Juliana. A lot of work we do in housing, healthcare, and employment takes a village. In Portland, nonprofits are coming together for the greater good, and CityTeam is one of them. In this episode, we’ll hear from CityTeam’s executive director, Lance Orton, on how they help folks enter recovery and access the services they need. We’ll also be joined by Max Kinsella, a former CityTeam client who is now using his lived experience to help others. Let’s get started.
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Juliana: Lance Orton is the executive director of CityTeam Portland, a nonprofit providing food, clothing, shelter, and recovery services to Portlanders in need. He also is involved with Shelter Portland, founded by Mayor Keith Wilson. Welcome to the podcast, Lance.
Lance Orton: Glad to be here.
Juliana: You began your journey with CityTeam as a client. Tell me your story and how you ended up in your current role.
Lance Orton: I was living in Bend and had been managing an opioid addiction for many, many years, almost a decade. And that opioid went from pain pills to heroin. And so quickly, within six months of my very first time ever trying heroin, I knew it was going to be the end of me. And it just burned, I burned my life to the ground. And that included a move from Bend to Portland. I was running from my problems, running from drug dealers. One in particular drug dealer, we’ll just call him Crazy Cameron for the purposes of this story. And he wasn’t actually a drug dealer. He was the guy when you didn’t pay your drug dealer, he would show up to make sure you paid. Anyways, I got to Portland kind of trying to hide from this individual, but also ready. Like I wanted to be done. I was 42 years old. I, you know, college educated guy from a relatively good family. I didn’t want to live that life anymore, but I just didn’t know how to get out of it.
And so I packed up everything I owned living in the back of my 1999 white Jeep Cherokee. I had 50 bucks in my pocket and a half a tank of gas. I made it to the Walmart parking lot in Troutdale, Oregon, where you could live essentially in your car. Yeah, five days of trying to white knuckle self detox by myself in the back of that Jeep. I would use the Walmart bathroom, steal an apple, steal a plum, try to get it down and it didn’t work. It was just terrible. Day five, I’m literally laying back in there praying to a God I didn’t even believe in, just saying, “either take me or help me get out of this.” And I just didn’t see a way out. mean, the deck had been stacked at that point by my own actions so high against me. I had warrants for my arrest in three different counties. I had a 530 credit score, I had a mountain of debt, almost $100,000 of debt, and I just didn’t see a way out of that, and I didn’t want to live anymore. And so that prayer was quickly answered. Crazy Cameron found me in that parking lot and at gunpoint stole my Jeep, told me that he was taking everything I owned because I owed him some money and had upset him and drove off into the sunset. So that was October 1st, 2018.
I’m standing there going, in the heck did this, how does a college-educated guy from a decent family wind up in this situation? Because now I’m unsheltered. Now I’m actually homeless, which terrified me. So that led to a series of, I’ll just call them sort of divine interventions, and I wound up in the hospital, as many homeless do.
The nurses finally picked up on the fact that I was homeless and probably didn’t want to leave. And so they sent in a social worker. That social worker said, well, she asked if I had a place to go. And I said, no. was the first time I had admitted to anyone that I was homeless. And she brought in a shelter voucher to CityTeam Portland’s emergency shelter. That’s how I got into this, all of this, in the beginning.
Juliana: All right, wow. So, I mean, you really are the case study for this can happen to anyone.
Lance: Yes, it can.
Juliana: Yeah. Tell me about CityTeen.
Lance Orton: Yeah, so CityTeam, which I had never heard of, and many people at that point, 2018, had heard of CityTeam, think rescue mission, right? You got a homeless shelter, you’ve got a meal service, you would wait in line, you had your voucher, that voucher guaranteed you a mat and a congregate setting. I went through that process for three days, just waiting in line, you come in, you get a meal, got a shower, and I was, at that point I was so grateful just to not have to live in a tent.
I was, “thank you, thank you, thank you.” After about three days, it was not as grateful. was kind of like, what am I going to do? And there was the group of, so there was the homeless clients. And then there was this another group of guys that were kind of running the place. They were doing the check-ins, they were cooking the meals, they were flipping the mats. And I wondered, who are these guys? And they still looked a little rough around the edges, but they had nicer shoes and combed hair.
So I knew that they were a different, you know, that that was a different group. And finally, one of them came up to me when I was waiting in line and said, “hey, we’ve got this recovery residential program here. You can live here for free for a year. You help us with the shelter and the meals and run the place and, you know, we’ll help you with your disease.” And that was the first time I had even heard of my problem as a disease – addiction. And so really all I heard was you can live here for free for a year. And I said, where do I sign?
And yeah, it was free. I told them I didn’t have insurance. I didn’t have any money. And they were like, don’t worry about that. We will help you with all of that. And within 90 days, I had OHP. I had all my court, you know, the warrants taken care of. They helped me with all of that. And I just dove in with an open mind and wound up going through that whole program for a year.
Juliana: Wow. Yeah. So that’s an incredible story. Thank you for sharing that. That’s really meaningful. It’s getting towards what we like to talk about a lot, which is folks with lived experience helping others. So tell me how important that is to you.
Lance Orton: Yeah, I think as part of that experience, that journey for a year, I learned a lot about myself, but I also learned a lot about the continuum of care in Portland and the homeless crisis, addiction crisis, all the housing crisis, all the things. And the college education sort of kicked in towards the end there, and I just got fascinated by how is this thing funded? And I was the resident knocking on the executive director’s door going, what’s your annual budget and how do you pay for all this? And he would yell at me and tell me go back to my classes. But I just got really interested in how it all worked. And I also was fascinated that in my situation, when I was in the back of that Jeep, I didn’t see a way out. I mean, it seemed there was so many barriers to me getting back to any kind of what resembled a life. And CityTeam took me in the day I was ready, the day I was desperate enough to just surrender it all, and they helped me with everything, and it didn’t cost me a penny. And I thought, okay, here’s a model that works. I want to learn more about this model, other models, like what does the total, all the continuum of care look like? And I realized through my own experience, I needed an ID to get a job, right? Because part of the CityTeam residential program is you actually have to have a job to graduate, which I think is brilliant because it set me up for future success. And so, but in order to do that, you needed a social security card, you needed a driver’s license or an ID, and everything I owned was in that Jeep. I mean, literally, my birth certificate was in the glove box, and it drove off into the sunset. So, CityTeam helped me do all this, but they couldn’t do it all internally. So, for example, to get my ID, they sent me to TPI, Transitions Projects. And so I went there and waited in line, and they said they had this lottery where you sign up and then if you’re chosen, you get a check to the DMV and go get your ID. And after three days, if you don’t win the lottery, you automatically get the check. And so I went through that process, got my ID. And I thought, okay, that’s a great partnership collaboration. And so I quickly through that journey started to see how all the pieces were connected. The central east side where City Team has been located since 1998, there were people coming around cleaning the trash and they had these barrels in the carts and it would say CCC on the side and I thought, what is this? Who are these guys? And quickly learned about all the employment opportunities and programs and workforce development that you guys had. So, I just, I saw how everyone worked together to solve this crisis and help people like me get back to society.
Juliana: Yeah, that’s really beautiful. mean, it’s so important.
Lance Orton: So when I became the director, I quickly opened the door to partnerships and collaborations with organizations like Central City Concern and all the other different pieces to the continuum of care that come together to help us get back on track. I knew that workforce development and getting guys, men and women jobs when they graduated was really important. And so, I immediately went out and started building relationships with businesses in the community, twofold. I’ll give you an example. The Made in Old Town initiative, which is a group, as you probably know, for listeners that don’t know, a really cool, innovative revitalization effort to create a sustainable manufacturing facility for the footwear and apparel industry in Old Town. And they have this plan to acquire buildings and create a campus where innovators in that space can come and create and design footwear, which of course, Portland, we’re the global capital for sneakers, right? And their building, their initial headquarters building is backed up to our new building in Old Town. And so I went to them and just sort of a relationship building and what came of that is creating an internship program where the men and women in our residential programs, when they get ready to go to what we call work phase, they can go do a 16 week internship course, learn how to use a 3D printer, clean up the shop a little bit, get college credits, and then move job opportunities in that space.
Juliana: What you’re really highlighting is the importance of employment and income attainment and what that does for somebody in recovery. Central City Concern also does that work. It’s incredibly important. There are statistics out there that if you include employment in the process of recovery, you increase their chances of a successful recovery. It’s really, really important. It’s also one of the first things that’s on the block when budget cuts happen. And so like Central City Concern, I don’t know a few experiences, but we have a hard time fundraising for that. And it just makes no sense to me.
Lance Orton: No, because what you’re talking about is purpose. You’re giving people in recovery purpose and meaning, a chance to be a part of society. And I think when it comes to budget cuts, when a lot of funding sources at the county and the federal and the state level are drying up and going away, and I think it’s going to take collaborations and partnerships because we partner organizations need to step up to fill in those gaps.
Juliana: Yeah, I agree. I think that when people say to me, what can I do as an average citizen? Advocate for employment is what I tell them because, you know, if you want folks to move through the continuum into non-subsidized housing so that it makes room for more folks, employment is the key. Tell me something that could be work, it could be in your personal life, something that gives you satisfaction or even joy. What is that in your life? What makes you get up?
Lance: I mean, for me, it’s that moment when you’re working with somebody one-on-one where you say something or they’ve experienced something that clicks for them and they get it. And you know in that moment, this person isn’t gonna go back out. Like they get it, they’re on the path and they’re not gonna fail. And then you get to watch those individuals move on and help others. And then the ripple effect of that person’s story, like my own affects so many people and that is a beautiful thing.
Juliana: I love it. I love it so much. So I just want to thank you very much for coming here today and sharing your story, the story of CityTeam. It was wonderful to speak with you and thanks again.
Lance Orton: Thank you, such an honor. mean, just working with you guys has been a joy and I look forward to doing much more of it.
Juliana: Now we’re going to hear from Max Kinsella, who was assisted by CityTeam when he sought a path to recovery from fentanyl addiction. Today he works at Central City Concern helping veterans receive housing, healthcare, and employment. Welcome to the podcast, Max.
Max Kinsella: Thank you, Juliana.
Juliana: All right. Give us an overview of your journey that led you to Portland and City Team.
Max Kinsella: So I was living up in North Idaho. I was arrested for possession. It was my first felony. And I was looking at my first prison sentence. And I was in a county jail there. And I had never tried to get sober before. And so they were like, if you can get a bed date at a treatment facility by certain time, then we’ll consider not sending you to prison.
In Idaho, you can imagine there’s not a lot of open beds for treatment or detox or anything like that. Not a lot of inpatients there.
Juliana: Not a lot of services.
Max Kinsella: Not at all. So I remember calling my dad. I called my dad from the jail phone. I was like, dad, look, I’m in trouble. You know, I’m going to go to prison if I can’t get into a treatment facility. Is there anything you do? And I mentioned to him, hey, I watched this YouTube video about this clip of this guy named Lance and this place called CityTeam. And he goes, yeah, CityTeam’s pretty rough, dude. I don’t think you’d like it there. And I was like, you don’t understand. This guy Lance, used to be an opiate addict like me, and now he runs the place. And he was like, I know Lance. I go to AA with Lance. And I was like, oh, trip.
Juliana: That’s pretty cool.
Max Kinsella: Yeah, and so like a week later, I had a bed date. It took me a few more weeks to get released. And they were like, yeah, you can go to Portland, but you know, you better stick to it.
Juliana: Did you have to report back to anybody, or?
Max Kinsella: Absolutely. Yeah, I had to go to that whole with the whole interstate compact process to like get released to another state.
Juliana: So tell us about how you got to Portland. You did get to City Team.
Max Kinsella: Yeah.
Juliana: All right, so take us through that.
Max Kinsella: So I got the CityTeam in November of 22. And so to be in the program, you have to engage in like this work therapy. So you basically help run a shelter. So, it’s kind of like the plus and the negative at the same time, because, you know, you’re just getting the crust out of your eyes and, you just are still recouping from detoxing. But at the same time, the minute you get there, you hit the ground running and all of a sudden you’re like helping people who have it way less, you know, have way less than you or maybe that you came from. And all of a sudden you’re scrubbing mats and mopping floors and kind of interfacing with the unhoused population right away. And so I’ve got guys that I’m bonding with and building community. And at the same time, it’s pretty good for your self-esteem, you know, when you’re early in recovery and you have burnt a lot of bridges and been so selfish for so long. It’s kind of cool to be able to just flip that right away and start helping and being a part of something, you know.
Juliana: That’s beautiful.
Max Kinsella: You know, I just kind of went all in with it and I started working in the kitchen. I became a kitchen lead. So I started cooking for, you know, 150 people a night. And then, you know, you get a little bit more freedom as you’re in this program. And they gave me this opportunity. They’re like, hey, do you want to, do you want to go to Night Strike? So, Night Strike is a social services fair under the Burnside Bridge. We’ve been going for 21 years now. So every Thursday night under the west side of the Burnside Bridge, we offer haircuts food, foot washing, clothing, resources, dignity, hygiene products, stuff like that. And most importantly, it’s just a great big community there. We probably average 100 to 150 people every Thursday night. Wow. A lot of people live in Central City Concern buildings who kind of descend on us and we all just have fun. There’s music and they have a sewing station, we have a popcorn machine.
Juliana: Is it an opportunity for people in the public to volunteer?
Max Kinsella: 100%. Yeah. We have, I think, 85 volunteer slots every week. Last week we had 79 out of 85. So yeah, it’s a really, really good opportunity. And we get people from all walks of life. Like we get kids from school groups that want to come down. We get school groups doing like outward bound type stuff. Like we’ve had groups of kids come from Colorado just to do Night Strike. A plethora of local churches come and give their time and their resources and things like that.
Juliana: Beautiful, that’s really cool. So you completed City Teams recovery program and received housing and a job from Central City Concern. Tell me more about that.
Max Kinsella: So, yeah, I moved from city team into central city housing. Nice. And that was actually how I got hooked up with the job. So, the resident services coordinator actually suggested that I apply for a role, like, within the company. So, I am a case manager in the Veterans Grant perdiem program. And I just kind of knew the minute I was interviewing, it was just like, it was really clicking. Yeah. I was like, my gosh, these people, 80% of my coworkers are in recovery. They understand how I think. You know what I mean? They’ve a lot of them been through a lot of the same junk that I’ve been through. So yeah, it was, was a real blessing. Yeah. Still is.
Juliana: That’s really cool.
Max Kinsella: Yeah. So basically we work with unhoused vets and we work, we’re a transitional housing program under the umbrella of supportive housing. So, we help unhoused vets get into permanent housing. Like a lot of the local entities that are working with veterans, they’ll refer them over to us. A lot of the local shelters as well. They’ll kind of comb through who’s staying in the shelter and they’ll find the veterans and they’ll send the vets over to us.
Juliana: And so what happens to them when they get to you?
Max Kinsella: So we sit down we do a we do a pre-screening we we check for You know if they’re eligible for VA housing services and stuff like that But basically we sit down we look at what their needs are we assess them Okay, so like maybe this guy doesn’t have a social security card or an ID card So we’re gonna start there, you know, maybe he’s not engaging or maybe he’s not VA eligible boom We’re gonna get him hooked up with OHP and we’re gonna get him over to Old Town Clinic right away. Maybe they have all that those things but they have no income, but they’re employable. So like hey referral to the EAC.
Juliana: Employment Access Center.
Max Kinsella: Yeah, they’re great. They sit down, start building them resumes, you know? And the EAC has job fairs and stuff that offer these guys just amazing job opportunities and stuff. There are so many resources that people are willing to kind of show up places and maybe do a little, you know, advocating for themselves just slightly, you know? So yeah, jobs, income, we work on all that, just kind of like check the boxes off, you know, and then maybe they’re 60, right? Maybe they’re 60 and they’ve already got a small social security award, you know? So then, you know, maybe there’s not a lot of space for us to wiggle that. So now we’re gonna start talking about subsidies. Like, okay, what do we have available for this guy to make his permanent housing affordable for him, right? So, I mean, I can only speak for Central City Concern, but our veterans have like a 92% placement rate.
Juliana: Wow, that makes me really proud.
Max Kinsella: A lot of that’s moving into permanent affordable housing, like sustainable housing. It’s been pretty cool. It’s cool to watch.
Juliana: That’s incredible. Yeah. Tell me what gives you maybe some joy in your life that makes you get up in the morning. What is that thing that you love?
Max Kinsella: I love being a part of something that is bigger than me, right? Because I’m in recovery, right? And when we’re addicts, know, speaking for me at least, I kind of was my own higher power. I was my own, star of this movie that only I was the only actor in, right? And so it feels really good to be part of something bigger than myself and knowing that we have a real mission. So, whether it’s my job at CCC or whether it’s night strike, right? I mean, it just feels good to be part of something that’s doing good in the world. I also love to fly drones and I snowboard in the winter, but I mean…
Juliana: Those are two good things as well.
Max Kinsella: But yeah, what wakes me up in the morning is just knowing that my efforts aren’t just going to profit and this and that. My efforts are actually going to try to improve people’s lives. At least that’s how I look at it, you know.
Juliana: That’s great. Thank you so much for sharing your story. I know how hard that can be, but you give hope to people. So thank you for being here.
Max Kinsella: Thank you for having me.
Juliana: Thank you for tuning in to They Are Us. Visit the volunteer page at centralcityconcern.org to find out ways you can get involved with CityTeam and other nonprofits in Portland. Email us at podcast at ccconcern.org with questions or suggestions for future topics. Until next time, I’m Juliana.
