The Bud Clark homeless shelter opens tomorrow amid much fanfare and hopes of curing homelessness. Oh, would that it were true.
It’s a noble mission. The trouble is there are no time limits for those living in the center’s studio apartment units. The job training, GED courses and writing classes that the center will offer will be entirely optional. The center’s taxpayer-funded yoga sessions and nutrition classes, meanwhile, will be available to anybody who shows up. 
The concerns are justified. Over the past two decades, government and nonprofits in the city have built over a thousand shelter beds and provided numerous services, including transition programs, to the homeless. Yet the homeless population continues to rise. A 2009 report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development found that Oregon has the highest rate of homeless people in the country. No doubt some of this is due to the recession, which hit Oregon harder than most states. But Portland has become a real destination for homeless people.
The Portland freelance writer who wrote the piece found here forgot one thing: the covered parking complex for the stolen shopping carts used by many homeless.