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street roots
Aug. 17, 2012
Lose the filters and let the story be told
I
Women religious stand tall
with community’s support
ince the early 19th century in the Americab West it
was nuns, not the bishops that laid the foundation for
many of the institutions that make up the world we
live in. Built on the backs of these women were hospitals,
foundations and universities that exist to this day.
In this edition of the paper, we talked with local women
religious, priests, and others working in a different kind of
frontier, the one laden with poverty, homelessness and
conflict. It’s a grey world, fraught with challenging options
and no easy answers. In this world, there is birth control,
gay rights, even abortion — and almost as important, there is
community organization,
political empowerment,
and partnerships in
Fear is a challenge in any
advocacy and social
frontier, and the nuns
justice.
should be commended for
So when the Vatican
not letting that stand in the
issued the edict to reform
way of their work with
the progressive
people, one on one, amid
sisterhood of the
the reality on the streets.
Leadership Conference of
Women Religious, it
seems almost as if it’s coming from another world, far
removed from reality. It is a move by bishops in Rome to
clamp down and reverse the gears of the national
organization, its 1,500 members, and the 50,000 women
religious they represent.
Judging by the backlash from inside and outside the
Catholic Church, it will fail.
The bishops’ move to take over the organization has drawn
protests from Catholics across the country, and allied
organizations to speak out on behalf of the nuns, their work
and their message. The bishops themselves defend the
individuals, and say this action is only against the
organization. However, the nuns have come together in
solidarity around th e LCWR, speaking as one voice through
the organization that was created to provide leadership and
develop leaders on the ground. And on the ground, everyone
is in agreement: The work in the trenches will go
unimpeded.
In fact, the only visible support for the takeover is ultra
conservative commentators on websites seemingly dedicated
to the liberal purging of the church. It’s a landscape Street
Roots has traveled through before, having been targeted by
conservative Catholic watchdogs for our Rose City Resource,
a pocket guide of services and agencies for people
experiencing homelessness and poverty. As a result, Street
Roots was cut off from funding from the Catholic Campaign
for Human Development because the booklet listings include
Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest provider of medical
care for low-income women. For the same reason, that
booklet will no longer be distributed by Providence Hospital,
a Catholic institution, for fear of appearing to endorse
Planned Parenthood, an abortion provider.
Fear is a challenge in any frontier, and the nuns should be
commended for not letting that stand in the way of their
work with people, one on one, amid the reality on the
streets. Whether it fits religious doctrine or not, that reality
exists for thousands of people in Portland, deserving of both
a church and organizations that are brave enough to speak
out against injustice. We commend the nuns and
womenpriests for all of their hard work and courage.
S
Israel Bayer is the
executive director o f
Street Roots. You can
reach him at
israel @streetroots. org
Our mission
Executive Director Israel Bayer
producing a newspaper and other media that are
catalysts for individual and social change.
Street Roots publishes every two weeks, launching
on Fridays, and is available exclusively through our
street vendors or by subscription. W e are proud
members of the North American Street
Newspaper Association and the International
Network of Street Papers.
Street Roots
21! NW Davis St.
Portland, OR 97209
503-228-5657
Fax: 503-227-3117
www.streetroots.org
www.streetroots.wordpress.com
magine if social service workers were
allowed to Twitter, Facebook and
Instagram their experiences (with
permission) through the process of getting
someone into
housing. The systems
level approach to
social service work
that is so hard to
communicate to the
broader public would
be boiled down to
narratives and visuals
of people’s hardships
and successes. It
could change public opinion. It makes more
sense to Tweet 100 pictures of people
getting an apartment with a key in hand
over the course of six months than try to
explain to the public in one shot why $1
million dollars will house 100 people they
don’t have any connection with.
There is a generational and technology
gap between the leaders and the workers of
many nonprofits on the poverty front. Many
nonprofits and government institutions are
more concerned with controlling a specific
message than trusting their workers, or the
people they serve to use social media and
letting the narratives and visuals speak for
themselves.
By not allowing people to share their
experiences day-in and day-out, nonprofits
working on the poverty front are falling
woefully behind. It’s a disservice not only to
israel@streetroots.org
Managing Editor Joanne Zuhl
joanne@streetroots.org
Vendor Coordinator Cole Merkel
cole@streetroots.org
Operations Director Sarah Beecroft
Program Assistant Kara Dimitruk, Jesuit
Volunteer AmeriCorps Member
kara@streetroots.org
Grant Writer Sarah Cloud
Accountant Heather Stadick
Reporters Amanda Waldroupe, Jake Thomas,
Devan Schwartz, Robert Britt, Sue Zalokar
Photographers Leah Nash, Ken Hawkins, Kristina
W right
the people involved in doing the work, but
also to the broader public. Thousands of
people would instantly feel more connected
to helping fight homelessness and to the
work non-profits do by understanding the
experiences their peers have on the streets.
At the end of the day, what the general
public sees is not the stories of poor
people. They see the stories of poor people
filtered through through the lens of public
relations departments and press releases
that the media often times reprints
verbatim. Having a message is great, but if
people aren’t accessing that message and
are turned off by the statues quo, what good
is it? Our movement doesn’t have the
money to buy the message, and it’s illegal
for nonprofits to buy politicians. Open-
source technology and social media are
tools of social change. Being creative and
using these platforms can help level the
playing field, while offering people an
organic way to engage.
I cringe when some of the smartest
minds in our city tell me they can’t access
their organization’s social media, or can’t
blog about a successful experience on the
streets because of their organizational
policies. It’s time for non-profits to turn the
page and give their workers and people they
serve more of a voice in a larger community
vision to combat poverty. It’s time for
nonprofits on the poverty front to join the
21st century. If you listen closely, there’s a
story to be told.
My motivation
By Shima Haydarzadeh
I am an independent young lady
I ain’t a ho anymore.
“Oh no, ho”
Get it right, oh please
I’m just getting my life straight
Strictly for real
I feel I’m no thang without him
Things change, my days pass by
Each day with sadness
Then I sit on a ground
Leaning against the wall
Smoking my cigarette.
He told me never cry,
Keep my head up
My eyes filled with tears
Remembering his words
Then I yell, I ain’t gonna give up!
I’m going to embrace everything that I got
Dis is my motivation.
Board o f Directors
Vendors
Bruce Anderson (Chairman), Michael Anderson (Vice-
chairman), Heather Stadick (Treasurer), Eddy Barbosa
(Secretary), Rich Rodgers, Brad Taylor, Leo Rhodes,
Ken Hawkins, Nora Coon, Darren Alexander
Street Roots vendors buy the newspapers for 25 cents
each and sell them for $1, keeping the 75 cents in
profit for themselves. In order to keep the cost low to
our vendors, we receive additional support from
donations and in-kind contributions.
Volunteers
Mary Pacios, Leo Rhodes, Jan Bayer, Eliese Baker,
Sue Zalokar, Michael Moore, Robert Britt, Cynthia
Kiehl, Hannah Schultz, Robyn Wirkes, Shannon
Lattin, Jim Quinlan
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
available online at www.rosecityresource.org.
75
goes directly to the vendor
who sold you the paper
25c
goes toward
printing costs
Vendor orientations are at 1 p.m. every Monday,
Wednesday and Friday at the Street Roots office.