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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 2012)
2 street roots D ec. 7, 2012 m p i » f t ® » a » New projects to engage, enlighten this holiday season S Invest in Portland from the grassroots up xperiencing a city like Portland doesn’t just happen by accident. From our creative neighborhoods to our lush urban forests, we are proud of the environment in which we live. We have some of the best music and arts on earth. We are humane and care for one another. We ride bikes and offer random acts of kindness to strangers. We love animals. Portland is an ever-changing city made up of immigrants and innovators, entrepreneurs and freaks, geeks and truth seekers — all collectively working to make the city and the world we live in a better place. We live in E neighborhoods that connect to one another, The reasons for giving doing the best we can back the community are to take on some of the many. Hundreds of toughest issues that nonprofits are doing make up a great society. amazing work on any M any of these issues are taken up by number of important Portland’s robust issues. nonprofit sector. Is all of this enough to be content? Absolutely not. We have miles and miles to go on a long journey to achieve real greatness and equality. We will continue, one generation to the next, seeking justice and a better quality of life. Thousands upon thousands of individuals contribute in small ways to make Portland what it is. Possibly, you work or give to a good cause yourself. Possibly, you have a friend or family m ember dedicated to improving the world around us and you support them by giving a donation to something they work so hard towards. Maybe it’s political, or a feeling of social responsibility. The reasons for giving back the community are many. Hundreds of nonprofits are doing amazing work on any number of important issues. According to a recent report from the Oregon Community Foundation, individual giving by Oregonians shows signs of recovery from the recession. Oregonians, across income levels, are giving more generously than national averages. Oregon continues to rank in the top 20 states for charitable giving. In 2010, Multnomah County residents gave nearly $765 million to nonprofits. That’s impressive. If you are a longtime philanthropist, or this is the first year you have given a donation, thank you. Your amazing efforts continue to inspire. If you have never given before, or are on the fence this holiday season, we challenge you to step up to the plate this year and give a donation to your favorite cause. Even a modest figure makes a real and concrete difference to the city you live and the peers you admire. Engagem ent and support doesn’t always mean money. It can begin by simply paying attention to your peer network’s social media posts or having a conversation over beers with friends about their favorite groups. You can check out local foundations website or tune into projects like Willamette Week GivelGuide where more than a hundred nonprofits are highlighted. The reality is that giving is fun. It’s easy, and there’s not a person alive who doesn’t feel good after giving a donation to a group they are connected too. More importantly, it’s contributing to making the city we love a better place. believe the vendor program is a great perk. treet Roots will be experimenting next One supporter recently told me he actually week with a new way of giving hates the newspaper, yet loves the idea of Portlanders and others a look inside the issue of homelessness. On Thursday, people doing something for themselves. Regardless of why you arrive around the Dec. 13, Street Roots proverbial campfire that is Street Roots - will have a group of ■■■■■■■■■■■■■ reporters out for a we are glad to have you. 24-hour period We work hard to present stories and jy I » « w o w covering narratives that spark provoking S B B Ä homelessness on conversations for readers. We aren’t shy Twitter. We hope to about tackling tough issues and giving By Israel Bayer bring Portlanders a readers a look inside a world they may or look at what’s may not completely understand. We believe happening on the in providing a roadmap for important social ground through justice issues, focusing on solutions instead interviewing people on the streets, policy of engaging in sensationalist journalism that makers and people working on the front will sell more newspapers. lines. Tune in next week to the coverage on This holiday season we ask you to dig Twitter @StreetRoots with hashtag #SR24. deep for Street Roots. Maybe you’re a Also look for extensive coverage in the next regular donor, or give once in a while. edition of Street Roots. Maybe you’ve never given to Street Roots The following week, Street Roots will be before, or to any nonprofit. At the end of launching our long-awaited news website. In the day it doesn’t matter why you give to the next year, Street Roots will be creating Street Roots. What matters is that people more of presence online. The goal is know that we are working hard to give continue to educate people on social justice people an income, hope and dignity. We are issues while having a conversation about also creating real change in our community. important issues affecting our community It’s not easy putting together a newspaper and highlighting the voices and stories you that pound for pound competes with any simply aren’t going to find anywhere else in media outlet in Portland. It’s your support the city or state. that will keep Street Roots fresh and People support Street Roots for different moving forward, unafraid of risk or change, reasons. Many people support the idea of giving vendors experiencing homelessness but instead embracing new ways to engage and poverty a hand up through the sales of the community. It’s your support that the newspaper. Others love the journalism, makes Street Roots, plain and simple. We and/or the commentary and poetry, and thank you! Israel Bayer is the executive director o f Street Roots. You can reach him at israel@streetroots. org Fond memories of Ted Jack Several o f you wrote in response to o u r memoriam on Ted Jack, a vendor, volunteer and frien d to Street Roots. Ted passed away in November. ot many people have made such an impression on me as Ted did. My name is Marty. I work for PG E and I so looked forward to visiting with Ted on my daily ’Sounding the deeps of his nature’ walks. Always Remembering Ted Jack a smile, a warm hello and a lively conversation, even if brief, Ted always displayed such a positive attitude. I found myself going out for a walk, if nothing else, to visit with Ted. His wide array of figurines that he displayed so proudly brought many conversations, to the point that I brought him one of my treasured ones. I worried, as I didn’t see him for a few N days, but w hen he returned h e was so delighted with the figurines I gave him! We laughed together, shared some stories and generally had me smiling all the time. I heard recently that he moved to Alaska in search of his dream. I understand that his dream was short lived, but I know with the positive attitude that Ted had, it was a wonderful time. He will always remain in my heart as a dear friend. -MARTY hat a wonderful writing! 1 feel 1 ve been honored with the privilege of reading it. Thank you so much for telling us, the readers, about Mr. Ted Jack’s short, tumultuous, inspiring and extraordinary life. It couldn’t have been told in a better way. Somehow here I will also be paying my respects to someone that has left a legacy. — JAIRO VARGAS W just finished your article on Ted Jack, and I must say how comprehensive and well- written it was. Very fine work. Congratulations. I -CHUCK Oar mission Street Roots creates income opportunities for people experiencing homelessness and poverty by 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 211 NW Davis S t Portland, OR 97209 503-228-5657 Fax:503-227-3117 www.streetroots.org www.streetroots.wordpress.com joanne@streetroots.org Vendor Coordinator Cole Merkel cole@streetroots.org Operations Director Sara Beecroft Program Assistant Kara Dimitruk, Jesuit Volunteer AmeriCorps Member kara@streetroots.org Grant Writer Sarah Cloud Development Assistant Cynthia Kiehl Reporters Jake Thomas, Alex Zielinski, Robert Britt, Sue Zalokar Photographers Leah Nash, Ken Hawkins, Kristina Wright, Christopher Onstott Stay connected with us online through Facebook and Twitter J l Mary Pacios, Leo Rhodes, Jan Bayer, Sue Zalokar, Robert Britt, Shannon Lattin, Jim Quinlan, Ann Ereline, Vinnie Kinseila, Sharron Thompson, Ann- Derrick Gaillot, Art Garcia, Joe Thick e nt i m » si, oi id Street Roots Rose City Resoui 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 C i Resource for distribution, please write to pdxrosecityresource@gmail.com. Resources are a available online at www.rosecityresource.org. goes directly to the vendor who sold you the paper Vendor orientations are at 1 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the Street Roots office.
