Welcome to Out of the Streets of Portland, a podcast focused on sharing the stories of people who are currently or formerly homeless in our community, and helping navigate the systems and services that the Joint Office of Homeless Services and its partners either have in place, or are developing, to help people move out of homelessness and back into stable, supportive housing. Today we have an exclusive interview with the Manager of the County’s new Behavioral Health Resource Center, Alexandra Appleton.

Alexandra was born in North Portland, struggled with homelessness for a decade starting as a teenager, and managed to get into services funded through the Joint Office and Multnomah County, from shelter to supportive housing, and go to college while raising her family. And now Alexandra is helping other people out of homelessness and into stable, supportive housing.

The Behavioral Health Resource Center provides a day center that’s run almost entirely by peers – people who have been through homelessness, addiction and mental health challenges themselves. They work one-on-one with people experiencing homelessness to identify and remove barriers, and offer immediate services including showers and respite. The Resource Center also includes shelter and bridge housing programs that focus on behavioral health services, in partnership with the Joint Office.

Music used in this episode (from freemusicarchive.org):

Moonbeam Kelly – Live on KBOO Radio – 2017

Ketsa – Cartel de Funk

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