6
street roots
May 11, 2012
Q u ic k to J u d g e
Building real
relationships
with each sale
By Leo Rhodes
Homelessness is not simple
It’s a job in itself
Trying to stay out
Of non-homeless peoples’
Comfort zones
Heavy backpacks
And bags full of clothes
Blankets
And other personal belongings
Seeking a place to rest
BY COLE MERKEL
C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R
he morning rush hour traffic on
Northeast Broadway is almost
deafening. Automobiles accelerate
toward the 1-5 on-ramps at the Rose Quarter,
cyclists commute toward the Broadway
Bridge on their way downtown and
pedestrians move quickly into the Lloyd
Center Safeway on Northeast 11th Avenue.
Jim Dienes is not the first Street Roots
vendor to call this spot his own, but in recent
memory, he is one of the more consistent
T
Adjusting your daily schedules to
Meal times, appointments,
Jobs, transportation,
Shower and shelter times
Most people
Don’t realize the complexity
Of survival mode
Of homelessness
Under the thick skinned, calloused, stoic
And sometimes angered homeless person
There is a human being
But most people are quick to judge
A homeless person
Not knowing their story
CGNTRALCITY
t
f
Changing Lives
V E N D O R
R R O
H L E
Jim Dienes
ones. Dienes started selling at this Safeway in
January and is onsite most mornings by 7
a.m., building relationships with the
individuals who pass him coming in and out
of the store. He says he has twenty or more
regular customers and many others who buy
from him as they pass through the
neighborhood.
“You have a good day!” Jim says to
customers leaving the store several times
during our conversation. “Good morning!” he
says to another, establishing himself as the
friendly face outside of Safeway.
Next to the store’s entrance, Dienes
artfully arranges a transparent, plastic bag of
newspapers, Rose City Resource Guides and
a Street Roots bumper sticker on his bag. In
his hands,'he holds his “rain copy,” a single
issue of the paper, displayed in a plastic bag *
TTiaTT^e'TioesnT'nTindgeUUng'wetT^q like
Building Communities
Creating Opportunities
conversing with people,” he says.
That relationship-oriented attitude has kept
Dienes in the street paper business for a long
time. Before moving to Portland last summer,
Jim spent four years as a vendor at The
Denver Voice in Denver, Colo. He moved
P H O T O BY COLE M E R K E L
here to attend culinary school at the Culinary
Art Institute.
The crowd that frequents the Lloyd
Center Safeway is diverse, including a U.S.
Postal Service employee stopping for
flowers on her way to work, middle class
individuals waiting in line at Starbucks for
their morning caffeine fix, and people who
are homeless on their way downtown.
and the other Street Roots vendors in the
neighborhood. He and Raymond, the vendor
at Pete’s Coffee on 14th and Broadway, have
a routine morning conversation.
Perched next to a parking lot, Jim has the
advantage of being able to sell to people in
cars and trucks, though that’s rare. He does,
however, make a lot of sales to auto
commuters who drive to Safeway and walk in.
lunch h o u r w hen stu d e n ts and staffers at
p u t flying a sign. I don’t bum
money. I try to m ake my m oney honestly.”
Carrington College of Dental Hygiene, and
cooks at Buffalo Wild Wings are taking a
break.
Jim has formed friendly relationships not
only with the Safeway customers, but with
the panhandlers who often work next to him
Ideally, Jim would like to get his culinary
degree, a job and an apartment. If his dreams
come true, he would like to be a cook
somewhere tropical, either at a resort or on a
cruise ship. Until then, he is happy building
relationships while selling Street Roots.
Jim says he makes his best sales
the
Vendor Wish List
i
www.centralcityconcern.org
5 0 3 -2 9 4 -1 6 8 1
Answers to puzzles on page 15
Donations keep Street Roots and our vendors
working by keeping our operating costs low.
■ Paper cups
■ Hygiene items
■ Towels
■ First-aid supplies
■ TriMet bus
tickets/passes
■ Printer paper
CORRECTIONS
Street Roots strives for accuracy, but
we're human. So we also strive to correct
errors in our paper whenever possible.
Please report any errors to our managing
editor, Joanne Zuhl, at 503-228-5657, or
write to joanne@streetroots.org
BY LEAH NA SH
Leah Nash Photography Exhibit
A Different Kind of Normal: Stories of Asperger’s Syndrome
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«onSMi-iS ’hA f?stest 9rawin9 disability in the U.S. with an economic impact of more than
$90 bil on And according to the Autism Society of Oregon, Oregon state has one of the
highest rates of autistic diagnosis in the country.
Photographer Leah Nash spent more than a year focusing on five individuals with
i^Sthe 20rA ’ edX£ n nf th ! £ Versitytand c? ^ lexity that exist across the spectrum. However,
in the 2013 edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders the
diagnostic encyclopedia of American psychiatry, the term Asperger’s will be discarded
altogether, replaced with the broader diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.
For more information about i witness gallery or NCP visit
www.nwcenterforphotography.com
Leah Nash is available for interviews.