Reading Local: Portland

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Where I Slept: Being Homeless in Portland is the culmination of a project organized by Transition Projects, a social service agency whose mission is to serve people’s basic needs as they transition from homelessness to housing.

Where I Slept “confronts homelessness by asking formerly homeless persons a simple question: Where did you sleep?”  Transition Projects describes the project as such:

In the spring of 2007, we asked the residents of Transition Projects shelters to show us the places they slept while living on the streets. Equipped with just disposable cameras and the willingness to show us their truth, they delivered the photographs in this book in a matter of days. The project was intended as a temporary exhibit, but we quickly realized that this project needed to be memorialized for a wider audience. And we heard from the public—even from people who have long been associated with homeless issues—that these photographs tell, in a way that words cannot, about the need for a safe place to sleep for everyone. We determined then that the photos must live on in a permanent form, and so this book was born.

In addition to the photographs, Where I Slept features contributions from some of Portland and Oregon’s most well known citizens, including:

• Portland Mayor Sam Adams
• Hon. Jeff Cogen
• The Rev. Chuck Currie
• Hon. Nick Fish
• Hon. Deborah Kafoury
• Gretchen Kafoury
• Governor Ted Kulongoski
• Hon. Randy Leonard
• Erik Sten
• Hon. Ted Wheeler
• And many others

You can see a few of the photos in the book, as well as pieces from some of the contributions over on Oregonlive.

Author: Gabe Barber

Founder and publisher of Reading Local. I am an avid reader, primarily of non-fiction, and am ever curious to discover how local literature fits into the increasingly volatile literary landscape.

Gabe Barber has written 1023 articles for us.