Housing crisis documentary ‘No Place to Grow Old’ screens at Granada Theater

Mid-Columbia Houseless Collaborative

MCHC offers a coordinated approach to expanding housing capacity in the Gorge, working with partners to ensure equitable opportunities where everyone who needs stable housing can find and afford it.

Kai Nichols, MCHC member and Oregon Older Adult Behavioral Health Coordinator at Greater Oregon Behavioral Health Inc. (GOBHI), introduced the film, sharing statistics to center its implications at a local level.

“I’m here tonight as an advocate and concerned community member hoping to raise awareness about a growing problem I see in my community,” Nichols said, mentioning her experiences as an unhoused individual during childhood and adulthood. “My hope is that as we watch this film tonight, you’ll be thinking about how you can be a part of the solution.”

According to Nichols, there are more people over the age of 65 than under 18 for the first time in American history. Consequently, the fastest-growing demographic suffering from houselessness is people over the age of 55.

Mirroring trends in other markets across the state and nationwide, housing costs in the Gorge have increased by 162% over the last 20 years. Many residents are one catastrophic event, whether an expensive health issue or a wildfire, from becoming unstably housed or unhoused.

Along with community health workers, Nichols conducted an informal study to survey the Gorge’s unhoused senior population, determining that the majority are natives to the area. “They weren’t bused here, they were born here. They’re children of the Gorge and we have to help them,” Nichols said. “We hope this film will bring a larger movement towards placing a priority on housing our elders.”

“No Place to Grow Old”

Directed by Davey Schaupp, “No Place to Grow Old” is a deeply affecting and revelatory experience that dares to introduce and empathize with its senior subjects, rather than gawk from afar or exploit their suffering to score political points.

Where your average on-the-street social media account or broadcast pundit assigns houselessness and street camping as an unsightly blemish, pointing fingers towards laziness, stupidity, substance abuse and personal choice, the documentary adopts a nuanced, research-based approach, assessing America’s housing shortage as a gradually developed systemic crisis rather than a result of individual shortcomings. The film humanizes its subjects, treating them as ordinary, vibrant beings sidelined by circumstances beyond their control.

Take Herbert Olive, who migrated to Portland from Jackson, Mississippi, during childhood. Olive is a hard worker, but he lost his home to a predatory loan, leaving him in-and-out of shelter, coping with substances. Now clean and housed, Olive is stuck with an aging body. Not only is it challenging to find and keep a steady job, but rent spikes have made life increasingly expensive and unpredictable.

Then there’s Bronwyn Carver, who grew up in poverty. After raising kids in Portland, she lost her husband, was priced out of housing and forced to live in a minivan, and later, in tents. “It’s hard to get out. It’s really hard to get out. You can’t just go and say, hey, I’m ready to be housed,” Carver said. “You think you’re okay, but you’re not.”

Finally, Jerry Vermillion, whose tumultuous childhood led to a life of temporary housing. Vermillion uses humor and books to stay positive, but as his body grows weaker, every day on the streets becomes more difficult. “I need a place so I can clean up,” Vermillion said. “But I need a job to get a place. It’s a catch-22.”

“No Place to Grow Old” makes it clear: no other crisis is more important than this one. Everyone, especially our eldest, deserves the basic human dignity to sleep safely and claim a space as their own. Oregon must accelerate affordable housing production in every corner of the state — approximately 550,000 units in the next 20 years — and develop more robust behavioral health and substance abuse treatment services. The best intervention is prevention.

Panel discussion

After the credits rolled, several community members took the stage to discuss local groups’ efforts to combat the housing crisis.

Josh Sendejas, a community health worker at Mid-Columbia Housing Authority, has been working with unhoused individuals for 12 years. “I’ve seen a lot of sorrow, a lot of misery, but I’ve also seen many success stories and happy moments,” Sendejas said. “What I saw up on that screen today was a testament to what we do.”

Yakama Nation tribal member and outreach case manager with Nch’i Wana Housing, Evelyn Ancheta, collaborates with partners throughout the Gorge to combat houselessness. “I don’t want to see people anywhere, any color, going cold or hungry,” Ancheta said. “I’ve been incarcerated, I’ve been in recovery…this is my home, this is where I want to help.”

Marie Parker, who works for the Mid-Columbia Community Action Council, became emotional as she described her experiences working with unhoused individuals in the region. “There’s no such thing as affordable housing here,” Parker said. “I wish I could house everybody. It breaks my heart.”

Finally, Mizti Mason, housing stabilization manager for the Mid-Columbia Community Action Council, acknowledged the Gorge’s shortage of affordable housing and shared her experiences living on the streets. “I’ve been that person on the street,” Mason said. “We, as a people who can offer social services and support this community, have an obligation to our elder population to help them in any way we can.”