And No, It Ain’t For Sale
By Michael Vance
From a tucked away trailer park
To an apartment zone
In a flat desert town then
Onto a bigger stretch of hell
In Portland.
Through the tears, the parties,
The trainwrecks. Onto,
Almost through to the other
Side. I understand little,
Having been through much-
In one piece! Reeling or not.
-^ 9
I discover that Earth is home.
One huge high-arched roof.
Plenty of gorgeous non-clusterfuck
Inbetween all else, that is.
So explore! Live On!
Forgive, get rockin.
Street Biography
PHOTO BY KENDALL
Keith
BY KENDALL
eith, who is turning 35 this
summer, left an abusive home
when he was 16 and spent years
on the streets, first in his hometown of
Klamath Falls and then in Portland.
“When I got to Portland, I was 18 and I
didn’t look for services. My mom always
said I’d never be able to live on my own
and I wanted to prove her wrong. So I
started hanging out in the North Park
Blocks looking for other kids my age. I’m
a good listener, and I found people would
confide in me. Everybody needs someone
who’ll listen to them, and if the person
who’s listening can also understand and
care, that fills a major need.”
Keith has a mentor who has trained
him in listening skills. He has a therapist
and he is taking classes to help others
overcome sexual abuse and domestic
violence. He now lives in subsidized
housing and has some self-taught
computer skills that come in handy for
himself and others.
“I’m making it. I don’t have a lot of
money but I have resources. I have
emotional support and I’m doing what my
mother predicted I couldn’t do.” Now at
any given time he has 20 to 25 teenagers
he’s mentoring.
Keith facilitates a support group for
young people in the North Park Blocks
every Thursday evening. He volunteers at
Sisters of the Road and he makes his cell
phone number available for those who
need a listener. “There’s a lot of sexual
exploitation that goes on, especially with
LGBTQ kids, and of course there’s racial
profiling and discrimination. My worst
fear is for kids to get caught up in the
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so-called criminal justice system because
once they’re caught up in that, their
whole lives are screwed. If I get a call
from a kid in crisis, I’ll go to them
directly. A lot of kids I work with are out
in Gresham and I’ll just jump on the MAX
and go.”
Keith has a dream to secure funding
for a youth home. “I’m not talking about a
shelter or a day center, but a home for a
dozen or so kids, where they can get
some stability and one-on-one attention
from someone specifically trained to help
with their issues and support them. My
vision is to give them a base until they’re
ready to be on their own, and I want it to
be the kind of place where, for three or
four years, they have a place to come
back to. I want some slack, some
forgiveness built in.”
Keith says there are kids who aren’t
ready to take on adult responsibility and
that’s fine. “I’ve had kids say to me,
‘Keith, I can’t do it,’ and I say ‘OK, fine,
go fly a sign, and when you’re ready,
come back and see me.’ Every one of
these kids deserves respect, deserves to
be seen and heard, and they’re all more
than the worst thing they ever did.”
Kendall is a
photographer, writer,
listener, and retired
college professor. Her
work includes stories o f
people on the margins
o f society who prevail.
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