Street roots., January 06, 2012, Page 12, Image 12

Street roots
Jan. 6, 2012
Empowered Voices puts cameras in the hands of the homeless
BY MAX CHESTER, GARRETT
MUTCHLER, CHUCK LACHICA
C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R S
f you’ve never been homeless, how can
you tell the homeless what they
need?”asks Jason Kersten, tapping on
the table in rhythm with the words. A
41-year-old, formerly homeless veteran,
Kersten has so far made two videos for the
Empowered Voices Media Project (EVMP),
a personal documentary program where the
films are shot and edited by members of the
homeless community. Kersten believes the
program provides a powerful tool for
homeless individuals to discuss issues in
their communities and tell their stories in
their own words.
“EVMP allows anyone to tell their story,”
says Kersten. “It’s about changing the
housed perception of the homeless.”
The Empowered Voices Media Project
was started in 2010 by Sisters of the Road
and Portland Community Media, and
receives funding from the Multnomah
County Cultural Coalition and Neighbors
West Northwest. The project has it’s own
YouTube channel — Empowered-
VoicesMedia — with more than 20 videos
already uploaded. The videos are short films
which discuss a wide-range of issues that
affect people living in in the streets, and
gives people experiencing homelessness a
chance to discuss the issues in their own
words, while highlighting the issues
homeless people face living in Portland.
“Empowered Voices is a program that not
only educates the homeless, but educates
people about homelessness,” says Kersten,
who’s been working with the project for
I
■v
nearly a year. Kersten’s first video was
autobiographical, addressing his on-and-off
life on the streets and previous struggles
with drugs and alcohol. “I love it, it’s a
program I’ve supported from the
beginning.”
Those who wanted to work on the project
received digital training in videography from
Portland Community Media, which
consisted of classes on shooting techniques,
video-editing software, and other tools to
help produce films. Training took place over
the course of three weeks and served as a
crash-course in filmmaking.
Founded in 1979, Sisters of the Road has
fostered a reputation of not only serving
people who are homeless and living under
the poverty line, but functioning as a hub
for community organizing and
empowerment
Jeannie Lawer, a staff member of Sisters
of the Road, aims to record stories to
counter the misleading stereotypes and
misconceptions about individuals who
experience homelessness.
“None of us are professionals,” said
Lawer, who is a contributor and organizer
for the Empowered Voices project. “We’re
just figuring it out as we go along. ... Every
video we produced has a special quality
because individuals who have first-hand
experience with homelessness film it.”
Individuals new to the program are
expected to make at least one film vignette
after completing film training: either a
personal story of their own life, or a story
highlighting issues of social and economic
justice in their community. Some, such as
Kersten, choose to work on multiple films
(his second dealt with the 2010 Sidewalk
Management Plan in Portland). Kersten now
serves on the EVMP’s committee at Sisters
of the Road, which makes decisions on new
videos and organizes an annual film festival.
Check out their short films at
EmpoweredVoicesMedia on Youtube.
Jeannie Lawer
videotapes an
interviewee fo r the
Empowered Voices
Media Project.
P H O T O BY C H U C K
L A C H IC A
Legal Notice
If you worked for Labor Ready Northwest in Oregon on a repeat ticket
between 1997 and the present, you could receive up to $25 or $50 from
a class action.
Call 503-228-5657 to schedule a
pickup at the Street Roots office,
211 NW Davis St., Portland
‘T m trying to be in a position where I
can help other people and also make
an
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A wage and hour class action called Crawford v. Labor Ready Northwest, Inc.
has been filed on behalf of certain Oregon employees of Labor Ready Northwest.
The class consists of everyone who has worked for Labor Ready Northwest in the
state of Oregon at least once on a repeat ticket since June 27,1997. A “repeat
ticket” is an assignment by Labor Ready Northwest to the same job on the next
business day.
The worker who brought this class action and Labor Ready Northwest have
now reached a settlement which an arbitrator must approve. If you are a member
of the class, depending on when you first worked for the company, you may
receive up to either $25 or $50 from Labor Ready. If the arbitrator approves the
settlement, your rights will be affected unless you take yourself out of this case.
On November 28,2011 a Notice of Class Action Settlement was sent to the
last known address of many class members. That notice explains the settlement,
including how much will be paid to class members who file claims on time if the
settlement is approved; how to object to the settlement; and how to take yourself
out of the case. If you did not get this notice, you can obtain it by calling 1 -888-
226-8857, or writing:
Oregon Labor Ready Class Action
P.O. Box 26170
Santa Ana, CA 92799
and providing your name, current address, current daytime telephone number and
current email address. You may also obtain a copy of the notice at
www.lrnwsettlement.com.
Please act quickly. The deadline for filing a claim, for objecting to the
settlement and for asking not to be in the case is February 6,2012. If the
settlement is approved and you have not made a claim or asked to be taken out of
the class, you will not be paid anything but still will not be able to bring your own
suit.
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