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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (June 10, 2011)
6 street roots June 10,2011 Bud Clark Commons grand opening eo Rhodes, Street Roots poet, vendor and board member, reads his poem » -J** the opening of the Bud Clark Commons on June 2. Below, Housing Commissioner Nick Fish, former mayor Bud Clark and Doreen Binder, executive director of Transitions Projects Inc., which will operate the 90-bed shelter and drop-in center in the new building, cut the ribbon on the new seven-story building. Poet Barry Sanders also read at the ceremony. His poem is below. The event broke the seal on the $47 million project that provides 130 units of low- or no-income permanent housing for people who are experiencing homelessness. It also has space for 90 . shelter beds. The first residents are expected to move in at the end of the. month. , The housing portion of the building will be managed by Home Forward, formerly the Housing Authority of Portland. Transition Projects, which is relocating to the building from it’s Glisan Street site, will manage the 90-bed shelter and day - center operations. The building, at the corner of Hoyt and Broadway, across from Union Station, is unique in combining permaneht housing with a shelter and drop-in shelter. With Transition Projects Inc. located in the building, it is hoped that people will be able to access more services through a single location. The $47 millioh project was first envisioned in the 10-year plan to end homelessness, drawn up by the city and Multnomah County in 2005. After some legal challenges on the use of urban renewal funds, the project broke ground last year and will begin housing people later this month. T |P * \ ' : t P H O T O S B Y (SR A EL B A Y E R Untitled By Barry Sanders An African proverb says, When an old man dies A library bums to the ground. And when an old woman dies, I say, »«»A-sehoof hum s to the ground. ** And when a child dies, Well,? A church, a synagogue, a mosque, All burn down to the ground. And when anyone utters the truth, Speaks out for the poor, the powerless, The forgotten, For those too tired, too tattered, to care (anymore) It’s a symphony, A great clap of thunder, A thousand voices chanting their own favorite word. And when justice gets tipped into balance, And the sky opens, So that even the rain feels so cool and pure, Then we all sigh Like birds of paradise, Our souls ablaze Our tongues on fire And no one dies. No one ever tweets true love No one cries in email time - No one faces the facts on Facebook. We sing, We enchant We touch each other. Like waiters doing the best they know, We say, justice is served - But what? A good meal? A rich dessert? She is blind, after all - What can she taste? School’s back in session A new mission opens its doors Justice can see again. We mean: Look - in the deep hollow of the dark Night, Through the fires. Justice extends a hand Singed and slightly'scarred, But a hand.clearly extended; Through the flames and the ashes A hand, And we can do nothing At tubes, Nothing But grab, Grab that oh so steady, Oh so blinded hand. We mean: Look closely in the smallest cracks In the meanest streets, Grass roots grow. We are alllost. We are all homeless. We all stand uncommon In the chat of the commons. We hold*outhands To hold out hope. Being Human? By Leo Rhodes I am the voice you never hear If I spoke would you listen? I am the ugly duckling Visible in your pretty little world I am the criminal when I try to sleep I am the nuisance Trying to keep dry out of the rain I am the homeless person Looking for dignity and a safe secure place Sometimes, Just sometimes Help is not a four-letter word But means what it means to say: Give Take Soul Gift Play Sing Care Feel Love Nick Fish. We mean: Look - the books, they’re back in the library Visitors mill about the dropin day center portion of the new Rud r i
