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street roots
Dec. 6, 2013
Join the conversation at #MyHomePDX
EDITORIAL
he campaign #MyHomePDX has
become wildly successful in Portland.
Haven’t heard of it? Check out the
hashtag #MyHomePDX on Twitter or link
through the Street
Roots Facebook site
and see for yourself.
The campaign is a
social media project
T
With your help,
we can do more
ick W. didn’t think he’d be sleeping on the
streets after arriving home from two tours as a
combat medic in Afghanistan. After
experiencing a traumatic brain injury and trauma in
the field, that’s exactly what happened.
After being homeless for two years, Rick is on the
verge of obtaining housing through the VA. If it
weren’t for Street Roots and customers like you,
Rick’s long journey might not be ending with
stability and housing.
Rick’s story isn’t unique. Street Roots works to
serve more than 400 individuals and families each
year. We partner with
more than 70 local
businesses to provide
Going weekly w ill give
vendors a stable income
a stable environment
week in and week out —
on sidewalks for
something that w ill no
vendors and
doubt change the lives of businesses alike.
people who sell the
Street Roots works
newspaper for the better.
with numerous
■ m m m h h h h h h m m m h
housing organizations
to get vendors the
necessary services and housing they deserve.
Besides giving people an income, we collectively
give individuals and families hope — something you
can’t put a price tag on.
Offering a newspaper in exchange for a dollar or
more gives people on the streets the opportunity for
dignity, to build important relationships and to stand
on their own two feet with the support of others.
Street Roots is working toward going weekly in the
fall/winter of 2014. We need your help. Vendors
R
DIRECTOR'S
By Israel Bayer
Israel Bayer is the
executive director o f
Street Roots. You can
reach h im at
israel @streetroots. org
or follow him on
Twitter @israelbayer.
own experiences of
poverty and to ask
people to share their
stories.
Launched by Street Roots and private
residents along with allies at JOIN,
Northwest Pilot Project, the Oregon Law
Center, the ACLU, the Oregon Opportunity
Network, 211info and more — the campaign
is meant to connect, educate, advocate, and
invest towards creating the political will to
combat poverty in our community.
How can you get involved?
The first step is connecting with people
experiencing homelessness and poverty in
the greater Portland area by having real
conversations. Look people experiencing
homelessness and poverty in the eyes, and
acknowledge they exist. Help meet people’s
basic needs. Research organizations that
you love and find out what they need. Give
to individuals on the streets or directly to
organizations.
Educate yourself and your peer network
LETTER
need your help.
We regularly ask the vendors what they want, what
they need, and the vast majority tell us a weekly
newspaper.
Going weekly will give vendors a stable income
week in and week out — something that will no
doubt change the lives of people who sell the
newspaper.
Going weekly will also allow Street Roots to
become a stronger voice in the community, giving
readers wider access to news and commentary. In
the long run, it will allow vendors to have a stable
income year in and year out.
We need your help!
If you’ve never given to the organization before,
now’s the time. If you’re a longtime donor, we need
your extra support now more than ever. We can’t do
it without you, plain and simple.
We’re asking you to dig deep. We’re actually
pleading with you. Please give generously at
whatever level fits your budget. Your donation will
make the difference.
There are several ways to give. You’ll find an
envelope in this edition of the newspaper. Think
about becoming a monthly recurring donor. Can’t do
that? Give a one-time donation or give to Street
Roots through the Willamette Week GivelGuide at
www.giveguide.org.
meant
t0 engage
Portlanders on their
Susan Emmons one of the city's seers
WHAT DO
YOU THINK?
Send letters to the
editor to the Street
Roots office, 211
NW Davis St.,
Portland, OR 97209,
or e-mail to joanne®
streetroots.org
Thanks for the interview with Susan
Emmons and for archiving online the
important talk she gave at First
Congregational Church. Better than
anyone in Portland, Emmons tells the story
of how this community contributed to the
numbers of homeless people by destroying
or repurposing the low-income rental
inventory she remembers when she first
took over as director for Northwest Pilot
Project. In her talk - and I hope everyone
gets a chance to read it - she tells the
story of one Mr. Christiansen, a dear old
man who was relocated repeatedly by
NWPP, just ahead of the wrecking ball’s
arrival at each of his “new” homes.
She does not tell the story, presumably
because it is so grim, about how NWPP
first began relocating tenants: it goes back
to the early 70s, when founder Peter
Paulsen was still directing the agency, and
one of their clients was found dead in a
freeway snowbank. She had come home to
her small room at the Freeway Hotel to
find nailed to her door a HUD notice
Vendor Coordinator Cole Merkel
Street Roots
211 NW Davis St
Portland, OR 97209
503-228-5657
Fax:503-227-3117
streetroots.org
news.streetroots.org
Operations Director Sarah Beecroft
Program Assistant Grace Badik, Jesuit Volunteer,
grace@streetroots.org
Development Director Sarah Cloud
University of Oregon Intern Jasmine Rockow
Office Assistant Amber Bielman
Reporters Jake Thomas, Alex Zielinski, Nathan
Gilles, Sue Zalokar, Ann-Derrick Caillot
Photographers Kristina Wright, Christopher
Onstott
advising her the building was to be
demolished. In her fear and confusion, she
ran away and died of exposure.
Susan Emmons has, for decades now,
argued that no amount of money allocated
for “services” and no “ten-year plan” can
solve this problem, if we continue to shuffle
people and funding around without building
more housing.
And now she is proposing some very
concrete things we could do to create that
replacement housing.
I’m amazed that, after three decades
doing this work, she still has the juice and
to come up with these ideas but one thing
is clear: we need to listen to her. She is
one of this city’s seers.
MARTHA GIES
Portland Oregon
You can read the complete Oliver Lecture
series presentation by Susan Em m ons,
along with the interview, a t news.streetroots.
org.
each and sell them for $1, keeping the 75 cents in
profit for th e ir e r t« ;* i order to keep the cost low to
our vendors, we receive additional support from
Managing Editor Joanne Zuhi
street vendors or by subscription. We are proud
members of the North American Street
Newspaper Association and the international
Network of Street Papers.
on the issues of homelessness and poverty
in the community. Read Street Roots, visit
www.wraphome.org and find out about the
history of homelessness and civil rights on
the streets. Serve dinner at a family shelter,
either as a family, community, workplace
and/or church. Have discussions around the
dinner table, with your children and friends.
Advocate for the rights of people
experiencing homelessness and poverty.
Speak up about the needs of people
struggling in our community. Tell politicians
and civic leaders in our community that we
need real solutions and commitment to end
homelessness. Visit your local neighborhood
association and tell them you care about the
issue of homelessness and ask what you can
do about it.
Invest time and resources in
organizations that are working to end
poverty. Donate to your favorite charity
working to end homelessness. Portland has
a wide range of non-profit organizations
working to address immediate needs,
helping people find stable housing and
organizing to build community and power
through advocacy work.
To check out the many stories
Portlanders have already shared, go to
#MyHomePDX on Twitter and FaceBook.
Share your stories and experiences and get
involved. We’re all in this together and
together we will make a real difference in
the community.
Volunteers
Mary Pados, Jan Bayer, Ann Ereline, Vinnie Kinsella, /
Ann-Derrick Galliot, Joe Thick, Stacey Heath, Taurin
Skinner-Macginnis, Bethany Hague, Michelle Holbert,
John Lisifka, Raven Canoles, Michelle Breslau, Paula
Cracas, Sharron Thompson, John Barker, M a y Locke
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 guides, call 503-228-5657.
Resources are also 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'