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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2009)
4 CELEBRATING A D E C A D E f l B ^ ^ k street ro o tsllB h Education ♦ Dialogue ♦ Independence n e w s b r ie fs ! Vance: Embracing the Portland state of mind BY ELIZABETH SCHWARTZ C O N T R IB U T IN G W R ITE R Request for assistance on the rise on Oregon's service hotline Oregon's assistance hotline has experienced a 47 percent increase in requests for basic services in the past six months. 21 llnfo reports that the requests for rent assistance, food, utility assistance and lowDcost health care are increasing in the Portland metro area. 2-1-1 Info recorded 62,000 calls for basic needs between October 2008 and March 2009. The nonprofit referral service cites the unemployment rate of more than 12 percent across the state with the rise in demand for assistance. 211 info provides health and human service information at no cost to anyone who dials 2D101 or 5030 22205555 if 20101 is not available on the caller's phone. On April 1, in response to growing demand for information resources and a recognized need for a single state wide referral network, 21 llnfo and OR211 merged Police shooting of homeless man raises allegations of profiling The killing of a homeless man by a Vancouver, B.C. police officer has raised questions from family and legal advocates over whether Vancouver police officers profile homeless people. On March 13th, two police officers stopped 58-year-old Michael vann Hubbard because they believed he was a suspect in a nearby auto break-in. When vann Hubbard took an X-Acto knife out of his bag, one of the officers shot and killed him. The police department claims vann Hubbard advanced on the officers with the knife, but eyewitness accounts say he was standing still. Police confirmed that vann Hubbard did not commit the theft he w as stopped for. ■ ■■■■wpuiiiy iilihjyiuu mm i wuuujiu j wpuii because they believed his black backpack had been stolen from the car. However, David Eby, the acting executive director of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA), said the police could have stopped dozens of white men with black knapsacks, but they targeted vann Hubbard because they thought he was homeless and thus guilty. "The fact that the police officers picked him out as a potential car thief as opposed to all the people with black bags who were walking around nearby this guy indicates how the police still view homeless people as aiminals/'he said in a phone interview. There have been a number of high-profile cases over the past decade in which Vancouver police officers have been accused of profiling homeless and low-income people and then using unnecessary force. Rose City Resource Call Eddy Barbosa at Street Roots at 503-228-5657 or write to pdxrosedtyresourcedhotmail.com "T Tance Schweigert described himself as \Z having been “stuck up" and driving a V Corvette when he was 18 years old. Life, and the kindness of Portlanders, hahumbled him. He doesn’t like to talk about it much, but 12 years ago his young wife died of congestive heart failure. “I lost it completely,” he said. He sold their house, quit his job, got in his car and drove VENDOR PROFILE aimlessly around the United States. Then his mother, who lived in Portland, became seriously ill. He came here to take care of her. It was like reliving the loss of his wife. Vance prefers to focus on positive things these days, like how wonderful people in Portland treat him and how grateful he is for Street Roots and the kindness of his customers. He is particularly glad that Street Roots provides him with a way to pay for a room at night, especially after the shelters close each spring. The economy makes it difficult to pay for nightly shelter. Vance told me that he used to get work through Labor Ready, which provides businesses with day laborers. He said that two years ago, everyone who showed up in the morning got work. Now, only about 20 percent of daily applicants get hired. “Working outside is killer, ” the former P H O T O B Y E L IZ A B E T H S C H W A R T Z Vance Schweigert surfer told me. “I love i t ” And Street Roots customers are “kind to me." He said that they “treat me like a real person. Not like a bum.” Vance especially likes to sell papers at the Farm ers’ Market because he is treated “just like any other vendor. They treat me with respect.“ Vance would love to have you stop by and ch at He’d like to hear about “who you are, what you are about, and what you are doing.” At one time, Vance drove a bus in Snohomish County, Wash. “Someone always sat up front and talked to me. I miss i t ” If you want to talk, you might find him at one of the doors at Powell’s, at Whole foods, or the Farm ers’ M arket He wants you to know that he is a good listener. He extends a special invitation to all surfers and bus drivers. “Stop by and say hi!” All the help and respect that Portlanders have given him has changed his attitude about life. “I don’t look at the world hard any more.” He had some difficulty expressing what this m eant to him, but eventually he said, “I’m willing to do whatever it takes n o w ... I can’t just walk by a person sitting in the gutter any more.” He said he now stops to see if there is anything he can do to help. Sometimes he’ll tell people where they can find free clothing or a place to spend the nig h t On a recent night he said, when it was cold and windy, he gave his coat to a young man of about 20 because he looked so horribly cold. I’ve seen Vance standing outside Powell’s wearing a long coat for about the past month. He wasn’t wearing the coat today. He was wearing a white dress shirt under a dark blue sweater; black pants, and black boots that were pinching his fe e t He gets most of his clothing free from the Mission, but had gotten the boots just that morning at Street Roots. They seemed to fit fine then, but he’d been standing on concrete for more than six hours. I looked around. Vance didn’t have anything to sit on. I mentioned to him that Tony, who had sold papers outside Powell’s’ previously, used to bring a milk carton to sit on and take breaks. Vance never sits down on the job. COMMENTARY________________ A panhandler by any other name... B Y A R T GARCIA what you would find ol’ friend? “A person accosting another person and b eg ging for ello friend! I am calling this here money.” piece of literature, “Panhandling Moving along, I have in my searches 101” or 1-5 or Route 66. found other ways that people panhandle or Seriously though, I would like to address beg. For instance, I recall back a year ago this topic, panhandling, as so many people when I went into this coffee shop out on are now calling i t What follows is strictly my Division only to learn that the proprietor own opinion - Street Roots in no way thought that Street Roots was just a step influenced my thinking. Having said that, I above panhandling, all the while standing choose to call a carrot a carrot. I mean to behind a counter where a can marked “tips” say it is begging, I don’t care how you color stood. Sure, it’s all right for her to beg for it or what fancy “handle” (excuse the pun) money because she is selling you coffee. you put on i t it is still begging. However she is doing nothing else to Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not at all warrant anyone giving her extra money. The frugal or am I against helping a person who tip can was just there with invisible hands is down on his luck. I just believe there reaching out to someone who might be should be some guidelines, so to speak, or feeling a little guilty that day, or perhaps rules, if you wish. I mean, I always tip just there, and all those warmhearted, waitresses or carhops and I’m glad to do so. caring people who will help anyone because They work very hard for their money and I that is just their nature are going to drop don’t think they get paid enough anyway, so money in the can whether they buy a cup of they deserve to receive tips. Although now coffee or n o t It’s playing on their they get pooled, divided and taxed before generosity. reaching anyone’s pocket Now some of you might be thinking, well Let us get back to what people now call so does Street Roots, play on people’s “panhandling.” The term originated in the generous nature, I mean. Remember now 1890s when people used to carry a pan or that most Street Root vendors are homeless, tin cup with a few coins in the bottom to they don’t own their own business. They are rattle when they shook them asking for selling people a paper for a dollar that they money. first paid 25 cents for. That is a profit that If you were to look in the dictionary for they keep. They don’t also have a tip jar the definition of panhandling, do you know V E N D O R C O O R D IN A T O R H When it comes to your civil libertie you should hear wnat you're missin Wrth Alejandro Queral, Joanne Zuhl Linda Olson-Osterlund and Patrik Angstrom Tune in to We The People j on KBOO,90.7fm 6-7 p.m. the fourth Thursday of every month asking for more money. In another venue I have found a panhandler, and this one I find more offensive than the last one. This is where I shop every evening on the way home. Safeway! I Just can’t believe i t Oh sure, they don’t call it panhandling. They say it’s for cancer research or another cause, which I support and believe in wholeheartedly, but not while I am buying my groceries. Remember what Webster’s defines as panhandling: “Accosting a person and begging for money.” Well, when the cashier asks me would I like to round up my change, I find that aggressive. I mean, that really puts a customer on the spot. Nobody wants to be thought of as a tightwad. So there you are waiting to respond while someone else is waiting to hear, maybe a child. So most times I say, ‘sure,’ even though I really can’t afford i t In wrapping this up, I would ju st like you to ask yourself before you give money to someone with his hand out; Who would I rather give money to if he or she were to knock on my door while I was at home? A panhandler/beggar who says they need money and they ju st can’t find any work. Or would you buy a paper for a dollar from someone who chooses to work and earn his money. You make the call! Semper Fi. VENDOR WORK ADS Bruce Heino: Available for yard work, general assistance, four-hour minimum, wage negotiable. Please ca II the Street Roots office or contact New Seasons at 33rd and Killingsworth. Bill Atkinson: Yard work, moving, misc. Four-hour minimum, $10 an hour. Call Street Roots office at Vicki Sittinghawk: House cleaning, very thorough. References. Call 503-287-4174. Dan & Donna: Need odd jobs? Can do painting, yardwork, miscellaneous labor. Very dependable. Call the Street Roots office at 503-228-5657 503 267-4794. Handy man needs work: moving, painting, yard work, clean-up. If | can sweat and you can be doing something else, please call me at 503-803-
