During a recent town hall meeting, a resident of Sandy told Clackamas County Commissioners that her mother was homeless for two years.

"The trauma and damage of homelessness is real. It can take years to dissipate, if it ever dissipates," said Nina, describing her mother's experience in the shelter system during a virtual meeting about affordable housing and homelessness on Wednesday, April 7. "She was terrified. There was open sex among residents, schizophrenics in crisis, and theft was rampant. Women's shelters, forget about it. She was 70, and women with small children are prioritized. My mother was too ashamed to tell her two adult children she was homeless, so she just kind of sucked it up."