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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 2011)
6 street roots April 15, 2011 S k y M usic .Speechless Poems. A symphony in the sky Stars twinkling Quietly ringing Thousands of tiny silver bells Midnight cloudless night Making each day better than the ones before Lightning flashing Timing is everything Silently keeping measure A symphony in the sky Thunder booming Drumming frantically Clash of cymbals fills the air Trees sway angrily Wind rushing Noisily singing As clarinets, flutes and horns A symphony in the sky Rain pattering Softly joining in Rainsticks adding tempo Moonlit fields awaken A cry from bird and beast Insects humming restlessly Taking up the strings A symphony in the sky Look toward heaven Let its music fill you Let its music move you Hear the symphony in the sky good, local, food. ALBERTA COOPERATIVE GROCERY ! 1500 NE Alberta §t? Portland, OR 97211 5 0 3 .2 8 7 .4 3 3 3 ’ w w w . a I berta g rocery. coop open to everyone 9-10 dally. Changing Lives Building Communities Creating Opportunities BY KAISA MCCROW C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R t’s a sunny day on NE 15th Avenue and Broadway when Street Roots vendor Raymond Thornton and I sit down to chat outside of Peet’s Coffee. People are walking their dogs, enjoying coffee outside, and generally greeting the day with enthusiasm. Raymond is no exception; he thanks God for the day, for the evidence of spring, and for the good workday the sunshine is offering him. He loves working at this spot, and not just on the beautiful sunny days. Raymond has been selling putside of this Pete’s Coffee corner for roughly two months now, and he has become a part of this comer’s “circle of. friends.” A woman and her dog stop by for a hello and a pat, Raymond knows both of I VENDOR PROFILE * Raymond Thornton their names and greets them excitedly. An elderly man makes his way by our table and before he can speak Raymond beats him to it, “I owe you a paper, sir!” “Yes you do,” replies the man slowly as Raymond pulls orte of two remaining papers out of his bag to hand to. the gentlemen, who bought a paper in advance another day when Raymond had run o u t Raymond seems to not only know everyone’s name, but also where they like to hang when they come to Pete’s. He points -to where the cyclists sit, where the dog walkers sit, who buys papers, who makes regular donations. For those that he doesn’t know that walk by, he approaches them with an honest question, “Are you a fan of Street Roots?” He doesn’t want to be called a - “salesman,” although he does have an extensive background in sales. Rather, he is successful at selling papers because he is a part of the fabric of this corner. Raymond likes to tell people where their dollar goes, which they appreciate. Recently one of the Peet’s Coffee staff got in touch with Street Roots, asking that this location become Raymond’s permanent spot. He has been officially invited in, and he is ecstatic over i t Then again, Raymond comes off as a fairly ecstatic guy. He has good news to share with people about Street Roots, about where he has. been in life, and his road to recovery. And it is the turmoil of his past that has brought him to where he is now, seeking daily a state of grace and peace through his relationship with what he describes as, “the Divine.” Raymond’s faith and his daily practice of prayer^nd meditation is the evident well-spring of his joy, and his For just w w w .centrcilcdtyconcern.org 503-294-1681 $i positive attitude and spirit are his efforts to share this joy with others. Raymond describes finding his relationship to a higher power as a “big hug” that hit him in his mid-30s while he was in jail. Struggling for years with addictions, this experience was just the beginning of a much longer road torecovery. experienced hurdles and stumbling blocks, and turn them into steppingstones, as Raymond describes it. It is a program that believes in stability before recovery; they were able to get Raymond housing and on his feet He admits that it didn’t stick the first time, but Mary believed in him enough to give him a second chance, and he hit the Raymond moved from his home state of ground running. Washington to California at age 18. This is Now, Raymond is deeply invested in a when and where he began his “drinking community of people in recovery, and h e . career.” “It’s a big part of my life,” Raymond loves i t He recently received eight says about drinking. “I’m an alcoholic, I just certificates of course completion through don’t drink anymore.” There is a lot of pain CEP; his efforts are being recognized and in his past, and he talks about it with the celebrated daily. He is among a group of same levelof’genuine honesty that he would like-minded, spiritual people there.„He says tell a customer he needs a dollar for Bic they aren’t the religious sort who believe in razors for his clean-shaven head. God because they are afraid of going to hell, He was married for a time, but reflects because they have already been there. that “drunk boyfriends are cute, drunk Instead, they are looking to make amends husbands are not.” ; for their past mistakes and begin each day “Was there really room in my marriage living their lives more fully. This is what for a drunken life style? After a while, there, Raymond is all about, taking things day-by- wasn’t room in my drunken lifestyle for a day. In his prayer and meditation he asks.for marriage.” The marriage ended. Raymond “courage strength focus and enthusiasm, has suffered bouts of depression, from his and to do 1 percent better than yesterday.” addictions and from loneliness. The vigor with which Raymond praises He has nearly died of multiple drug the good things in his life give the overdoses, and recalls a doctor telling him impression that he is no longer stuck in that angrily, “Raymond, you need to learn to live broken down car. Of course this isn’t the well, because you don’t die well.” whole picture, the hurdles of recovery and Raymond describes addiction as a addiction will always be with him. And there dimension of. stunted emotional growth, and are still many parts of his past to make likens it to being locked in a car on the side amends for or put behind him. But the point of the road with no gas. Stuck, going for Raymond is to embrace the struggles as nowhere. part of life and to keep on. “You can only Recovery for Raymond was found last stumble when you are standing up, in * August at Hooper Detox. Mary, a motion and trying to move. I enjoy representative of the Central City Concerns stumbling. As long as I get up one more Community Engagement Program (CEP), time than I fall down.” asked Raymond if he was ready for recovery. The program helps people who have
