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July 20, 2012
Right 2 Dream Too deserves city leadership
he city should find a way to offer
Right 2 Dream Too land to relocate
the tent city currently occupying
Southwest Fourth and Burnside. The
argument that people
shouldn’t be living in
■ m m m m s w í
tents as an alternative
to housing doesn’t
hold a whole lot of
weight when
thousands of people
By Israel Bayer
are living in unfair
iB—
B |B
conditions under
bridges and in
doorways every night.
Like Dignity Village, Right 2 Dream Too
is an asset to the community. Both groups
have found a way to work peer-to-peer with
some of the hardest brothers and sisters on
the streets, giving people the hope and
discipline to have something stable in their
lives.
The city subsidizes operating costs for
many different groups that work with
people experiencing homelessness and
poverty. Right 2 Dream Too should be not
be considered any different. The group has
proven to the community that they are
T
Trends in child welfare
project a tragic state ahead
regonians, and Portlanders in particular, enjoy a
quality of life that is the envy of much of the nation.
We count a bounty of natural, cultural and social
resources at our disposal. If we work at it, those resources
will be there for the next generation, and the ones to
follow.
However, it will take even more work if we want to ensure
that the next generation will be able to afford, or even
access the Oregon they inherit
As Street Roots went to press, the Annie E. Casey
____________________________ Foundation released its
2012 Kids Count Data
In terms of economic
Book, which charts
wellbeing, Oregon ranks
national and state trends
41 st, with all four
in child health and well
indicators in decline.
being. For more than two
decades, the private,
national philanthropy organization has compiled data on
children across the country. The data measured economic
well being, education, health and family and community.
It’s no surprise that across the country some indicators
have improved. But many have worsened. State by state,
Oregon ranked 33rd. We didn’t even break the top half.
In term s of economic wellbeing, Oregon ranks 41st, with
all four indicators in decline.
Economic wellbeing for this study is a measure of the
number of children in poverty, but also children living in
households with a high housing cost burden, and children
whose parents lack secure employment. It also includes
teens not in school and not working. Their future,
statistically speaking, comes with higher risks of poor
academic performance, poor physical and mental health,
unemployment and neglect than their middle-class
counterparts.
According to the data, 184,000 children (22 percent) live
in poverty and 315,000 (36 percent) have no stably
employed parents. Housing cost factor directly into Oregon
families’ economic strain, with 45 percent of Oregon
children living in families overburdened by housing costs.
This is an untenable situation, and yet we are watching it
gradually get worse. With each legislative budget cycle, it
has become standard operating procedure to sharpen the
axe on the programs aimed at stabilizing our poorest
neighbors. Over the years, we have chipped away at
Oregon’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
to the point of jeopardizing the process of training,
employment and stabilization the program is known for.
Before the children and families became statistics in this
study, they were the families in need of child care and
transportation assistance to get to and from job interviews,
school or work. They were the families that needed short
term rent assistance to avoid eviction during a rough patch
in their income - there were families who could make it,
with a little bit of support.
Oregon, on all levels of government and society, cannot
dismiss the slope we are sliding down.
The cliché that children are our future has some truth in
it, but more to the point is that we are theirs. We live in a
land of abundance, but a widening swath of our next
generation is falling beyond the reach of academic success,
gainful employment, a stable family, and physical and
mental health. For that, we all pay the price.
O
Israel Bayer is the
executive director o f
Street Roots. You can
reach him a t israel@
streetroots.org
organized and have what it takes to create a
safe and stable environment for people on
the streets.
Right now, the city and Right 2 Dream
Too are at loggerheads. The camp is caught
in a bitter dispute between the property
owner at Southwest Fourth Avenue and
Burnside and the city, ultimately leaving the
fate of the camp in the hands of
Commissioner Dan Saltzman and the
Bureau of Development Services.
Commissioner Nick Fish and the
Portland Housing Bureau should step in. If
Right 2 Dream Too is going to be
successful, it’s going to be the leadership of
the Portland Housing Bureau that makes it
happen.
Right 2 Dream Too has the support of
local foundations, organizations such as
Street Roots, and many other community
members. It’s time for the city to support
the group.
In a time of great need, when housing for
people experiencing homelessness
continues to be one of the biggest
challenges in our community, we’re looking
to both Right 2 Dream Too and the City of
Portland to find a way to do the right thing.
LETTER
Scary moment ended
by a kind vendor
nytime you lose your wallet, panic sets
in. It’s been felt by all of us at some
time. When I came out of Powell’s Books
and purchased a copy of Street Roots from a
vendor I didn’t know, I was carrying a vest, a
book and my wallet, and it all looked a little
clumsy. Nonetheless, I purchased a copy and
added it to my load. I fumbled with the
cargo as I raced to make the “Walk” signal to
the other side. While getting organized, I
realized I didn’t have my wallet anymore.
I panicked. I looked around but didn’t see
it. I figured it was gone, what with all the
people passing by. I returned to the store
counter to see if I had left it there. No. As I
turned to leave, the vendor I had just
purchased the paper from was on his way in
with my wallet. He had found it in the
street.
He didn’t have to do that. He could have
easily put it in his pocket and no one would
be the wiser.
Except him.
But he is an honest man, and chose to
return it.
I introduced myself and learned his name
was Bill. And I thanked him.
I just wanted to let you know about this,
and appreciate your publication and its
vendors. Especially Bill.
GARY BANEY
A
Look to the Future
By Wallace E. High
Look to the future, waiting, so far away
As yet just one notch before the next second,
Daring the present instant to longer stay
And draw upon the sweet moment that beckoned.
Imagine if you will, the excitement and the thrill___
Of the pregnant visions and dreams lo c k e d in p la c e
Waiting for fulfillment just over the hill
To carve a fulgent smile beaming on every face.
So many times, deceived, we fell hurt and lost
As we try to salvage mean segments of our lives
And finally direct our focus upon the cross
Where good folks’ faith still grows and thrives.
We speak so artfully into the wispy ether
To sculpt our radiant words like pearls to shine
Across the great span of endless time sparing
Neither passion nor purpose of grand design
Fear not the lurking pitfalls in shadows far ahead
And welcome the risk of romance in the venture
As golden dreams bring content to your warm bed
When you joyfully awaken and look to the future.
Staff
Executive Director Israel Bayer
Street Roots
211 NW Davis St.
Portland, OR 97209
503-228-5657
Fax: 503-227-3117
www.streetroots.org
www.streetroots.wordpress.com
israel@streetroots.org
Managing Editor Joanne Zuhl
joanne@streetroots.org
Operations Director Sarah Beecroft
Program Assistant Cole Merkel, Jesuit Volunteer
AmeriCorps Member
cole@streetroots.org
Sraat Writer Sarah Cloud
Accountant Heather Stadick
Reporters Amanda Waldroupe, Jake Thomas,
Devan Schwartz, Robert Britt, Sue Zalokar
Photographers Leah Nash, Ken Hawkins, Kristina
Wright
Volunteers
Mary Pacios, Leo Rhodes, Jan Bayer, Eliese Baker,
Sue Zalokar, Michael Moore, Robert Britt, Cynthia
Kiehl, Hannah Schultz, Robyn Wirkes, Shannon
Lattin
lues,
Street Roots Rose City Resource
Street Roots publishes the Rose City Resource, a
comprehensive booklet of services for people
experiencing homelessness and poverty.
To inquire about getting an order of the Rose City
Resource for distribution, please write to
pdxrosecityresource@gmail.com. Resources are also
I available online at www.rosecityresource.org.
Vendor orientations are at 1 p.m. every Monday,
Wednesday and Friday at the Street Roots office.