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CELEBRATING A D E C A D E f l B ^ ^ k
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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.
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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-