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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 2014)
6 street roots Feb. 28, 2014 <- J A Culinary Fundraiser for Transition Projects A smile goes a long way toward a better day BY ANN-DERRICK CAILLOT C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R Thursday, February 20 6:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Urban S tu d io 935 NW Davis-Street ~ Transition^ Projects áicfeetsavahaWe soupfortbesoulpdx.com CENTRAL CITY Ending homelessness and achieving self-sufficiency - / now roasting and distributing - craft coffee. - Available for purchase at: New Seasons Market Green Zebra Grocery Food Front Cooperative Grocery Chuck's Produce us To? oifice epife© cfccounts1B il S 60^-78^268, k CENTRAL CITY tCOFEEE -iaœdôokjcpHi^^ritïâaiti^ofieQ hen I first m eet William, downtown was shuttered by a snow storm . * - D espite having slept outside ip th e cold the night before, William is in a good mood. “Today is a, good day,” he says. “Sympathy day.” For William, it seem s bad w eather m akes for b etter sales; everyone’s tem porary discomfort, as they go to and ■ William Howard from hom e and Starbucks and work, sheds a small light on th e hardships William faces every day. “I’ll sell in th e rain, snow, windy w eather,” he says. “B ecause it beats doing nothing.” ■ Every m orning William com m utes from w here he stays n e ar th e airp o rt to his downtown selling spots. From 8 to 11 a.m. and th en from noon to 1:15 p.m., William sells at th e Starbucks at Southw est Third and Jefferson Street. In th e afternoons he serves as an alternate vendor at th e \ Safeway a t Southw est 10 th Avenue. W hen he is not smling pap'ers, William new spaper,” says William. “And it was for th e hom eless by th e hom eless.” William began selling th e paper a t its beginning and continued to do so for th e next th ree years, o utside of Penn Station, Grand Central Station, and on th e subway. “In New York th en you could go down in th e subway and sell on the subway and on the platform s. It was around for alm ost 10 years, and now it’s no m ore.” William arrived in Portland in O ctober W ar veteran has received since returning from w ar nearly 40 years ago. ■ E nlisted at age 17. an d off fighting in Vietnam at 18, William says th e w ar is no longer h ard for him to speak about. “It’s been over 40 years since I’ve been back, and I put it behind me. It’s w ater • > under the bridge, so I don’t dwell on that... I f s ju st a p a rt of my life th at was lived there. I left it there. I didn’t bring it back here, so l can keep on going o n w ith my Square Starbucks, The gift cards his loyal I ÇPUfrte Form ervendor profilée Michelle _ Sp noy/jit don’t bpther me ,to talk about it.” custom ers give him buy him coffee and a place to relax after a long day of selling. “I ain’t b een a t this long, b u t I do pretty good,” says William. He has been with S tre et Roots since Jan. 25 and says h e ’s already sold about 300 c o p ie so f th e paper. In th a t tim e he h a s also built up a loyal custom er base and support group. “If I w asn’t th ere the day before,” he recounts. “T he first thing they say is, ‘W here w ere s you?’ It was kind of cold and I had to take a day off. B ut they really m issed m e. Wow, th at m ade m e feel good.” ; Though William has only been with S treet Roots for the past few m onths, years ago \ the Bronx native was a p a rt of street new spaper history. In 1988 he began selling S treet News, one of th e first stre et new spapers in the country. “S treet News was th e first hom eless , Sapp first introduced him to S tre et Roots. “S h e brought m e. It took a couple tim es because I had o th e r things to do. B ut she brought m e and I stuck.” Now, oh th e verge of becom ing 61, William plans on making Portland his perm an en t hom e. “I kind of like it out in this p a rt of th e country,” he says; w ith a grin. “It’s a city with small town f e e l ... I’m getting old. I’m tired. I done traveled all over the United States hitchhiking, living oh th e street. It’s som ething I g o t out of my system and I’m ready to be done. I’m ready to stick now.” T he deciding factor on w hether William will stick here o r not is veterans and seniors housing downtown having an opening. Patiently he waits. Foe William, an openihg in veterans housing may be th e m ost concrete sign of acceptance th e Vietnam Indeed, William has an upbeat, optiniistic attitude th a t is as contagious as it is inspiring. T h at optim ism paid off on Feb. 25. A fter six m onths of waiting, living hom eless since Septem ber, William received th e keys to his new apartm ent. William got his apartm ent with the help of the V eterans Adm inistration. “S tre et Roots saved my life,” h e said. “By selling S tre e t Roots it kept m e away from d rugs and alcohol.” “T he type of p erson I am, smiling, outgoing - they’ll tell you th at,” says William, speaking of his much-loved custom ers. “W hen they see m e out th ere smiling and selling m y pap ers it m akes tiiem feel good.” And judging from th e overwhelmingly positive feedback h e receives from his custom ers, William has touched m ore h earts than he knows, i, P H O T O BY Ç P LE MERKEL VENDOR W ORK ADS Bicycle delivery by Farmer Shaun Small packages $2/mile Large packages $5/mile Extreme feats and impossible tasks on a case-by-case basis. Bicycle detailing $25/bike. 971-222-9938. 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