After painful sweep of Laurelhurst Park, unhoused residents want a space to exist

For eight months, houseless Portlanders made the large curb strip around Laurelhurst Park home, building community and working together to address the challenges of life on the streets. Then, on Nov. 19, amid Oregon’s biggest COVID-19 surge to date, heavy rains and near-freezing nights, the city cleared it out.

“When I got here today, everyone was broken, dismayed, and packing up and leaving,” said Jeff Du Bois. Du Bois was born four blocks to the northeast of the park and lived at the camp on and off. He came to help friends living at the camp as soon as he heard about the 9 a.m. sweep.

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