Street roots., March 18, 2011, Page 6, Image 6

6
street roots
March 18,2011
Service workers
union protests
US Bank
BY CASSANDRA KOSLEN
C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R
n Friday, March 18, Fair Economy
I 1 Oregon, a campaign of the SEIU,
V / ralhed to protest US Bank and thé
State of Oregon’s distribution of
unemployment insurance and child support
payments on debit Visa ReliaCards,
claiming that the fees the card comes with
are unfair and take advantage of those
already experiencing poverty.
Rallies were scheduled for between nooji
and 1 p.m. today at US Banks across the
country.
Cardholders face fees after two
withdrawals at a US Bank ATM and two
teller cash transactions per month, despite
that benefits are added on a weekly basis.
“We need to be sensitive to how terrible
the economy is and that it is Wall Street
and the big banks that caused the problem
in the first place,” says Maureen Crawford,
community organizer with the Service
Employees International Union..
ReliaCard is issued through US Bank
and was implemented in 2007. The
contract is publicly funded, and is one of
many in Oregon. According to the Fair
Economy Oregon Web site, the state has
$11 billion total in outsourced contracts,
and last year alone US Bank swarded $4.4
billion in company bonuses.
As of March 10, the Department of
Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics reported
Oregon’s unemployment rate at 10.4
percent of the labor force. J
“The contract is up fot negotiations this
year, so this is an opportunity to negotiate
a betterdeal with U SBanko^mdanotheir
vendor,” says Crawford.
ReliaCard Visa holders are charged
$1,50 after two ATM withdrawals and $3
for each teller transaction after two. A $17
overdraft fee also applies, should the t
cardholder opt into the offered US Bank
overdraft plan for the benefit debit card.
Objectors claim these and other fees are
turning what should be a social service info
a lucrative taxpayer-funded business deal
for the already large corporate bank. Such
fees are deemed unfair when they do not
apply to standard checking or savings
accounts with the bank.
“The state holds billions of dollars of
contracts with other entities,” adds
Crawford. “We think it is important to look
at all the contracts.”
Even a possible cut of 2-3 percent out of
these contracts could help build services
with money the state already has, the
organization claims.
“US Bank has (similar) contracts with a
lot of different states^ Out of all the states,
the State of Oregon has the worst deal and
we think that’s wrong in a time when banks
are making record profits,” says Crawford.
“It’s not right to take that money from fees
from thé people who need it the most.”
ReliaCard has the Visa signature.and
may be used to purchase and get cash back
from any merchant who accept? Visa.
Interlink Merchants who accept Visa can
also process the card. There is no fee or
limit on purchases made with ReliaCard.
The card may also be used at any non-
US Bank ATM bearing the Visa logo, but
fees do apply. In addition to $1.50 posed
by US Bank, the cardholder may incur a
surcharge from the other ATM owner.
The fees and restrictions ReliaCard Visa
presents can be avoided if the person
receiving benefits opts instead to have
funds go into a personal bank account via
direct deposit
However, “Not everybody has a regular
checking account for various reasons, so
they might not even have the option (for
direct deposit),” Crawford says.
Hard work, high energy means a ticket home
consent to a homophobic father resulted in one
of the worst beatings of his life. At that point,
ymar Blanton sells Street Roots outside
neither him nor his father wanted him to stay,
of Voodoo Donuts, a spacious corner on
so he left to live with an aunt, and eventually
Second Avenue and Burnside, a mini
went back with his grandmother, which brought
downtown center. Groups of people, mainly it’s own set of challenges.
tourists and Saturday Market goers, can» spend a
Despite the intensity with which he Is sharing
serious chunk of their Saturday in line for these
about himself, Dymar cuts himself off to make
famous donuts. For Dymar, this means that
sure he is approaching each new person in line
instead of people coming and going, maybe
before a panhandler does. If these folks are
stopping for a second to buy a Street Roots on
going to be in line for a while, they can only be
their way .to the grocery store, he sells to a
approached once or twice, so Dymar wants to
slowly creeping line of the same hungry, fried-
get there first
dessert-seeking faces. With a crowd this tough,
After a few more songs to the crowd, Dymar
he has to stay on his game, as people are likely
goes back to talking about his teen years. He
to hear him trying to sell a paper three or more
ended up on the streets after continuing to
times while they wait Luckily, Dymar is neither
bounce between living in a group home and at
short on energy nor information. He is slight in his grandmother’s. On the streets he was
stature, and wears thick glasses that he has
introduced to heroin. His boyfriend, Stitches,
needed since birth. Recently, he spent six
was a user and introduced Dymar to the drug.
months without his glasses, living life on the
He overdosed the first time. “Ambulance,
streets virtually blind, which for most is an
hospital, everything,” Dymar explains with
unfathomable feat He circles the periphery of
animation, highlighting the drama of a scenario
the donut line offering tidbits about the paper,
that he himself does not remember. Citing a
singing songs, and good naturedly heckling
lack of familial support after his overdose,
people when appropriate.
Dymar felt that he had no chbice but to stay on "
“Street Roots, only a dollar. Help the
the streets.
homeless get off the
Dymar and Stitches continued their
streets and into the
relationship, and worked together to get clean.
W W I I 0 1 1 IhBCWftteLB
community. We have *
Stitches gave Dymar an engagement ring. They
were in love and Dymar even brought him home
P°etry» written by the
for Thanksgiving to meet his grandmother. Only
5
people, for the
a month later though, four days before
people,” calls out
Christmas, Stitches died of a drug overdose
Dymar. He is the self-proclaimed Most
right in front of Dymar. Dymar makes no move
Energetic Vendor, and he says that he never
to hide the pain that he still feels over the loss,
finishes a day ofwork until he has sold every
he says it is with him every moment ~
paper.
“You don’t need to be here, you don’t need to be
He has to. “Only 6.papers left to sell, and I
dead yet. Wake up,”, he hears them say to him.
can finally go home*, Ain’t no nation like a
“They’ve been there protecting me, they are my
do-nation. Get yours&f a Street Roots — it’s the
guardian angels, and I know every day that I’m
new e-dit-tion” he sings to the crowd. No one
out here, they are right next to me. I feel their
jumps to buy a paper this^time, but maybe they
presence.”
are wondering what he means by, “home.” At
Dymar is clean now, and he js focused on
the end of £He nigntTiomeio^uymal^ti^^™
continuing to stay this way. He works bard and
hostel, but only if he has sold enough papers.
isbent in a positive direction. Still, listening to
Otherwise, it is a shelter.
Dymar talk'about his past hits hard, and could
The path that led Dymar to where he is now
soften even the most focused of Voodoo .
is full of loss and abuses. When he was only 6
pilgrimagers.
.
years old, Dymar’s stepfather shot and killed his
Dymar wants to go back home to see his
mother. He makes armotion to explain this,
grandmother soon. He’s waiting on a family
rather than saying it but loud. It seems unreal,
member’s tax return to purchase a bus ticket to
•
So it takes a moment to sink in. After the death
her home in Colorado. When he makes the trip,
of his mother? the remainder of his youth was
the Voodoo Donuts corner, teeming with life
spent bounced between different homes and
and people, will miss his energetic presence and
family members; often the experiences were
funny quips. “Anybody have a chair they can give
traumatic, Dymar spent two years as a young
me?” he jokes to the crowd after mentioning
teen living with his biological father, which he
how exhausted he is. Then he gets a little more
says was abusive and horrific from start to
serious, “Or, give me enough money so I can go
finish.
buy a chair?” Some people laugh now, they are
Things reached a breaking point when Dymar
entertained by his sasS. What is lost on most of
began dating a boy at school. Letters passed ;
them is the reality of the joke- Dymar isn’t
between the boys were brought to the attention
looking for a chair, he’s out working, for a place
of a school counselor who in turn, told Dymar’s
to stay, foY a meal, for a trip home. “Street
father. The result of being outed without his
Roots, it’s only a dollar, folks.”
BY KAISA MCCROW
C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R
0
Dymar Blanton
stories’ ani
CENTRAL CITY
W W llw tîIll
Changing Lives
Building Communities
Creating Opportunities
www.centralcitYconcern.org
503-294-1681