6
street roots
Jan. 3, 2014
A dosed
concern mouth’s not
gonna get fed
Changing Lives
CENTRAL CITY
Building Communities
Creating Opportunities
w w w .c e n tr c d c itY c o n c e m .o r g
5 0 3 -2 9 4 -1 6 8 1
BY ANN-DERRICK GAILLOT
C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R .
hen I meet with Louis (pronounced
loo-ey, not loo-iss) at the Street
Roots office .on a Saturday morning,
he can hardly keep his tired, red eyes open.
Late night partiers kept him up, and when
the streets were empty, what he called the
"road noises” began.
■
“I’d iove to take a nap, but you know,
that’s par for the course.”
Born and raised in Vancouver, Wash.,
Louis spent his time between Vancouver
and Portland growing up. Currently out of
w
r o o i r a o F tti
Louis Adams
Kristina Wright | Real Estate Agent
Bellmoore Realty
503/4795764
K ristin a ^ortla n d H o m e G a lxo m
Tikhon Facebook ©Portland Home Gal
Thank you Street Roots
|readers for all your support.
Happy New Year!
CORI
■ H B * PI
In the Dec. 6 edition of Street Roots, an
interview with Bob Sallinger with the
Audubon Society incorrectly identified the
title of the Portland Public Water District
ballot initiative. It was incorrectly identified
as another ballot measure called the
Portland Peoples Water Trust,
Please report any errors to our
managing editor, Joanne Zuhl, at
503-228-5657, or write to
joanne@streetroots.org
work, Louis has worked as a fisherman and
a processor on boats in Alaska and as an
auto-body technician in Northern California.
Once he was laid off from that job, he
returned to Portland to be with his mother
ahd grandmother before they passed away.
Ever since Louis became homeless a few
years ago, he has sported an impressive
Santa-like beard to help keep him warm. “I
used to only have a mustache, That’s what
I’d prefer to have, but gotta have that beard
now,” he said. “Not only that, it’s not always
easy to get a place to shave every day, you
know?”
Louis sells Street Roots everyday,
working from The moment he wakes up until
either it’s time to go to sleep or the cold
outside hecomes unbearable. Even then, his
warmest refuge at the end of the day is his ?.
sleeping bag, which a kind stranger left by
his head as he was sleeping one night.
Louis credits the sleeping bag with keeping
him from perishing this winter. “I woke up
with snow on me theother day,” he said, “I
opened my mummy bag and all of a sudden
snow fell all over my ,face.” Over and over „
again as we talk, Louis emphasizes just bow
important Street Roots has been to his well
being. “Thank god for this paper, man. If I
P H O T O BY COLE M ER K EL
didn’t have this paper I’d probably perish.
This paper’s a big help, let me tell you. A
big help,” he said, adding that he and his
customers cannot wait for the paper to go
weekly.
Due to a motorcycle injury that causes
his leg to painfully stiffen up, Louis prefers
selling the paper around Portland at any
place he can. And though he has only been
selling Street Roots for a few months he has
already become one of the top vendors
owing to his ability to talk to people and his
mobility around the city. "A closed mouth’s
not gonna get fed is how I se’e it.”
When I ask Louis how he maintains his
positive attitude he replies, “How do I
maintain a positive attitude? Thinking to
myself that one day L’mgonna be .able
call my daughter up and say come over to ,
Dad’s house for dinner. That’s the only
reason I can keep a positive attitude. If I |
didn’t have my daughter I probably would
have gave up a long time ago.” In the near
future, Louis hopes to get service hooked
back up to his cell phone So he can keep ip
touch with his daughter more easily.
Though even that, he admits, will be a
challenge. In the meantime, he will continue
selling Street Roots to customers all over
Portland. Their support, he tells me, is what
allows him to keep going.
VENDOR W ORK ADS
A helping hand, inside or out,
reasonable rates. Larry Montgomery.
503-875-6487
Need a worker? Can do almost
anything, light or heavy. References
supplied. $10 an hour, four-hour min.
Ask for Cassidy Morse, 503-228-5657
(SR office), or 503-875-6504 (cell).
Answers to puzzles on page 15
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lf you want to learn more about your favorite
vendor, check out the past year of Street Roots
profiles at news.streetroots.org