Stephanie's Story

I experienced addiction and homelessness as a single mother in Multnomah County. Even with the resources available to me, every day was a struggle to survive. It is extremely difficult to navigate social services while living on the streets, and I feel lucky that I was able to find the help I needed to turn my life around and keep my family together.

Today, I work at the largest county resource center, and every shift is a reminder of how far I’ve come. People come through our doors at their lowest moments. How we meet them in those moments matters. A kind word or a willingness to listen can mean the difference between someone walking out for good or choosing to try again.

My lived experience allows me to reach people in ways training alone cannot. I can intercept the person who storms out, convinced that another door is closing, and help them see that one is still open.

Never in my life did I think that the hardest and darkest days of my life would qualify me for a good job, but my union fought to include lived experience as a qualification for this work.

As much as I love what I do, this work is hard. We don’t get to leave it at the end of the day; it stays with us. Without strong support for workers, people burn out and leave.

If we want better outcomes, we have to invest in the workers who make that possible. Stable funding for public services and unionized staff is what allows us to create lasting change in our communities.