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Outside In (organization)
Outside In is a medical and youth service nonprofit organization in Portland, Oregon, United States that provides primary care and "wraparound services" for low income and homeless clients. It also has several other programs such as needle exchange program for drug users, and eligibility restricted tattoo removal service. The needle exchange has been the cause of community objection as well as cancellation of insurance policy and donors declining to give. It has reported that in fiscal year 2015–2016, it has given out 988,399 needles which was 20,962 more needles than what was returned. Founded in 1968 to serve youth, the organization has since continued to revise its services to meet the needs of its clients. Its services as described in October 2014 include medical care, mobile medical vans, tattoo removal, housing, education, counseling, and job training.
Three founders, Dr. Charles Spray, Arnold Goldberg, and Mary Lu Zurcher founded Outside In in June 1968 and it was one of the earliest free clinics on the west coast. The organization was founded to serve Portland's "alienated youth", some of whom were illegal drug users and most had mental health issues. At its beginning, it operated out of a rented space at First Unitarian Church of Portland in downtown Portland. Spray helped found the organization after learning that the Unitarian church's youth coffeehouse space, Charix, was in danger of being shut down by the city and a group that had successfully shut down the Crystal Ballroom music venue because of its association with the 1960s drug culture. Outside In was told by its insurance carrier that all of the organization's policies would be cancelled if they were to start a needle exchange. It took the clinic a few years to find a replacement insurance carrier. The needle exchange program is one of the earliest in the US. Although originally scheduled to open in July 1988, the actual opening was delayed until November 1989 over insurance issues. It was started as a pilot project involving 125 drug addicts. Bud Clark, the mayor at the time expressed concerns that it maybe seen by some as encouraging drug use. In September 2002, Portland Business Journal reported some prospective donors refuse to donate to Outside In, because of its needle exchange program.
Some of the group's early work involved staffing a 24-hour crisis hotline that was later spun off to form the Metro Crisis Intervention Service.
In November 2017, two staff members were stabbed on the job; as a result, in May 2018 the workers of Outside In voted to unionize, with Oregon AFSCME as their parent union.
Willamette Week reported in April 2019 that Outside In employees are members of AFSCME along with a handful of other private nonprofits heavily funded by government contracts.
In April 2019, Outside In announced the plan to add a second location in Gresham intended to provide services to "unique populations that are not well-served in other health care settings,". The location opened in September 2020.
By 2023, the street on which the organization is located on has become the point of encampment congregation by homeless youth who rely on Outside In services.
In 2024, the organization laid off employees twice.
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Outside In (organization)
Outside In is a medical and youth service nonprofit organization in Portland, Oregon, United States that provides primary care and "wraparound services" for low income and homeless clients. It also has several other programs such as needle exchange program for drug users, and eligibility restricted tattoo removal service. The needle exchange has been the cause of community objection as well as cancellation of insurance policy and donors declining to give. It has reported that in fiscal year 2015–2016, it has given out 988,399 needles which was 20,962 more needles than what was returned. Founded in 1968 to serve youth, the organization has since continued to revise its services to meet the needs of its clients. Its services as described in October 2014 include medical care, mobile medical vans, tattoo removal, housing, education, counseling, and job training.
Three founders, Dr. Charles Spray, Arnold Goldberg, and Mary Lu Zurcher founded Outside In in June 1968 and it was one of the earliest free clinics on the west coast. The organization was founded to serve Portland's "alienated youth", some of whom were illegal drug users and most had mental health issues. At its beginning, it operated out of a rented space at First Unitarian Church of Portland in downtown Portland. Spray helped found the organization after learning that the Unitarian church's youth coffeehouse space, Charix, was in danger of being shut down by the city and a group that had successfully shut down the Crystal Ballroom music venue because of its association with the 1960s drug culture. Outside In was told by its insurance carrier that all of the organization's policies would be cancelled if they were to start a needle exchange. It took the clinic a few years to find a replacement insurance carrier. The needle exchange program is one of the earliest in the US. Although originally scheduled to open in July 1988, the actual opening was delayed until November 1989 over insurance issues. It was started as a pilot project involving 125 drug addicts. Bud Clark, the mayor at the time expressed concerns that it maybe seen by some as encouraging drug use. In September 2002, Portland Business Journal reported some prospective donors refuse to donate to Outside In, because of its needle exchange program.
Some of the group's early work involved staffing a 24-hour crisis hotline that was later spun off to form the Metro Crisis Intervention Service.
In November 2017, two staff members were stabbed on the job; as a result, in May 2018 the workers of Outside In voted to unionize, with Oregon AFSCME as their parent union.
Willamette Week reported in April 2019 that Outside In employees are members of AFSCME along with a handful of other private nonprofits heavily funded by government contracts.
In April 2019, Outside In announced the plan to add a second location in Gresham intended to provide services to "unique populations that are not well-served in other health care settings,". The location opened in September 2020.
By 2023, the street on which the organization is located on has become the point of encampment congregation by homeless youth who rely on Outside In services.
In 2024, the organization laid off employees twice.