Kevin Dahlgren takes a selfie in front of a homeless encampment in Portland, where he's conducted outreach and volunteered for years. He was recently hired by the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office. 

Kevin Dahlgren, a viral sensation known for his up-close depictions of homelessness in Portland and across the West Coast that have garnered millions of views online, has turned his attention to Deschutes County, thanks to the sheriff.

Dahlgren and Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson signed a contract in July that is worth more than $18,000, unbeknownst to some local leaders and the public until recently. Even before that contract was signed, Dahlgren, a Portland-based consultant, had been counting and assessing homeless people in Deschutes County.

“The sheriff’s office needs information about what specific needs these folks have and what resources they need so we can attempt to give them a hand up with appropriate resources instead of issuing a ticket they cannot possibly pay,” Nelson told The Bulletin in an email.

However, Dahlgren’s work, especially a recent report detailing his time in Deschutes County thus far, has drawn criticism and concern from some local social welfare service providers, advocates for the homeless community and elected leaders. They say Dahlgren and the sheriff’s office are at risk of undoing several years of hard work. They also say his report is inaccurate.

“I want to help end homelessness in Deschutes County,” Dahlgren told The Bulletin in an email. “I have done this work a long time and strongly believe Deschutes County has the best opportunity in doing this in Oregon, and when this happens it will be the model for all other communities to duplicate.”

The Dahlgren report

As a part of his agreement with the sheriff’s office, Dahlgren created a report of his outreach, mapping and counting efforts. The sheriff’s office said the purpose of Dahlgren’s work is to obtain information about homelessness that is not currently available, beginning with the China Hat Road area south of Bend.

“The goal is to hear from people living in these situations so we can understand and address their needs, and to develop a comprehensive list of resources and services available through local governments, non-profits and other service providers,” Nelson said in his email.

Dahlgren’s report estimates there are 700 people, spread across six areas of high concentrations, who are homeless in Deschutes County. That number differs from Central Oregon’s official point in time count, which is a one-night count of homeless populations that is utilized across the nation. The 2023 count, which was overseen by the Homeless Leadership Coalition, NeighborImpact and the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council, estimates there are 1,467 people who are homeless on a given night in Deschutes County. Just over 1,000 of those are not living in a shelter.

Dahlgren says roughly 68% of the people he has met are not from Deschutes County.

Dahlgren’s report also states that 7% of people he surveyed said they attribute drug addiction as the leading cause of their homelessness. In the same report, Dahlgren says, without explanation, that he believes that number ought to be 75%.

Both estimates differ from the point in time count, which does not focus only on Deschutes County. The count found that 8% of homeless people in Central Oregon have a substance use disorder.

“We encourage the community to use the point in time count data to answer information related to our unhoused neighbors,” said Eliza Wilson, chair of the Homeless Leadership Coalition. “While the PIT (point in time) count is not perfect, it is impartial and the best source of data on people living unhoused in Central Oregon.”

Wilson said she and the coalition are aware of Dahlgren but have never worked with or met him.

Rick Russell, a Redmond pastor who frequently opens a temporary homeless shelter in his church, said Dahlgren’s report was “riddled with inaccuracies.”

He said Dahlgren refers to the Lighthouse Navigation Center in his report as separate from Shepherd’s House Ministries when, in fact, Shepherd’s House operates the center.

“The report is full of assumptions, omissions and anecdotes,” Russell wrote in an email. “For the price of a cup of coffee, any service provider could have shared more reliable information on homelessness in Deschutes County.”

County Commissioner Phil Chang, who didn’t know about Dahlgren’s contract until weeks after it was signed, called the report problematic.

“In terms of procurement for needed services with an intended purpose, this is an incredibly shoddy public procurement,” Chang said.

However, Chang’s counterparts on the commission, Commissioners Tony DeBone and Patti Adair, don’t see the same issues.

“According to the report, he helped a couple of people, and the more people we can help the better it is for everyone,” Adair told The Bulletin.

The sheriff’s hire

Dahlgren began spending time in Deschutes County in late May, documenting his interactions with local homeless people on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In one post dated May 26, Dahlgren asked a man where he saw himself in a month or a year.

“In a grave,” the man replied. “I have no future for myself. I really don’t.”

The man talked about how he wanted a job and to stop doing fentanyl. That video received more than 52,000 views on X.

Afterward, Dahlgren bought the man sodas, he said in a subsequent post.

The majority of Dahlgren’s online content has focused on drug use, waste accumulation and violence among homeless populations. He’s offered money to people to appear on camera in the past.

“Sometimes I will give a homeless person a few dollars for food or whatever when I am talking to them,” Dahlgren wrote in an email. “It brightens their day for one and gives them the opportunity to spend their own money on something.”

The sheriff’s contract pays Dahlgren’s travel expenses, including lodging and food, as well as expenses associated with his outreach — fuel, car parts, food, clothing and cash that he gives to the homeless people he encounters.

Dahlgren, who said he is a certified drug and alcohol counselor and has spent decades volunteering, used to work for the city of Gresham. He was also president of the now defunct nonprofit We Heart Portland, a branch of We Heart Seattle. Both have reportedly used “tough love” tactics to combat homelessness through cleanups, payments and encouraging people to find housing, stay in shelters and managed camps or leave the city entirely.

Dahlgren’s mantra — “Ending homelessness by empowering not enabling” — also happens to be his X bio.

The sentiment aligns with DeBone’s, who received Dahlgren’s report on Aug. 9, according to records obtained by The Bulletin.

“It boils down to: We can’t stop at being philanthropic and loving and caring. We need compassion and accountability,” DeBone said.

DeBone attributes Deschutes County’s struggle to address homelessness to drugs and Measure 110, a ballot measure that decriminalized possession of small amounts of hard drugs.

“Some people are forgetting that when we have outreach providers providing stuff and substances are available — legal or illegal — people get lost,” he said.

DeBone’s counterpart, Chang, said they’ve been arguing about who homeless people really are for the past 2½ years.

“I think the raging debates we’re having about homelessness are stuck on who the homeless are,” Chang said.

He said settling that argument might be a path forward.