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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 2014)
street roots 6 April 25, 2014 'JL v A j J c j A compilation of facts, large and small, about ou r com munity • Number of volunteer hours contributed to Portland Parks & Recreation in 2013:475,324 • Number of community and art centers in Portland Parks & Recreation as of 2013:14 • Number of restroom buildings operated by Portland Parks & Recreation as of 2013:97 • Number of free, healthy lunches served by Portland Parks & Recreation and its partners during summer 2013:110,000 town in a big city Small heart BY S A M B O UM AN | efore we sat down at the cafe around the comer from the Street Roots office, I asked Robert how he was B doing. “Another day in paradise,” he said; without a hint of the irony or bitterness that usually colors that response. He has a friendly and open way of talking, and before we were served, he had already chatted up the proprietor, complimenting him on his watch and discussing the pros and cons of the nearby Chinatown shops. The same cheerful demeanor informs his selling style, which has worked well for him VENDOR PROHIJE • Number of Portland Parks & Recreation b a s k è M hoops as of - 2013:229 • Number of. part-time and seasonal. workers employed by Portland Park & Recreation in 2013:2,866 • Number of volunteers who worked with Habitat for Humanity Portland/ Metro East in 2013:7,569 • Percentage of Habitat for Humanity ♦Portland/MetroEasthQmeownerswho are families of color: 90.5 • Number of homes built and sold to Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East families in 2013:25 «Number of people in Multnomah County who received SNAP benefits in March: 161,105 • Percent of people in Multnomah County who received SNAP benefits in March who were under the age of , five: 10 - < / ' C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R Robert Egan at a handful of locations along lower Hawthorne Boulevard, primarily Grand Central Bakery. He figures that smiling and keeping an upbeat attitude helps lift up passersby as well as himself. “I just engage with everybody: Hi, How ya doin’. How’s it going today, whatever, and they pretty much engage with me the same way. If they want a paper they’ll come up and get o n e/ Robert has been selling Street Roots "’Siiw 1 uy ww'kwr’a't' the Arctic Glacier Ice plant through Labor. Ready, a temporary employment agency, where he loaded pallets, with hags of ice for shipment to supermarkets and convenience stores and chipped away accumulated ice from underneath the conveyor belt. It sounded like a tough gig, but he prides himself in having been part of a team that moved more ice with fewer people than in any previous year. When we spoke he had just finished a job at the Expo Center doing construction for the Cirque du Soleil show, and was preparing to reapply for the summer season at the ice factory. Despite this, he still plans to sell the paper on his • Number of caiis answered by 21Unfo and Oregon SafeNet in 2012- 2013:121,623 z ' Metropolitan ChamberpPartners far à Hunger Free Oregon; 2llinfo; Oregon Food Bank < ■ ' Robert lives at a men’s shelter in Southeast Portland, midway between his • selling turf on Hawthorne and the Street Roots office in Old Town. While he admits that his attitude hasn’t always been so positive, he has come to appreciate the ups and downs of his life as part of the same “box of gems”— though there may be flaws, it’s still a beautiful and mysterious thing. “Earlier you asked me how I was and I said it’s just another day in paradise. People sometimes look at me funny when I say that. And I say, you know, if I’ve got a roof over my head, food in my belly, good people to talk with and an income, I’m alright. Anything else is icing on the cake. If it wasn't paradise, where else would I be?” ¡re regular contributors to Street Roots’ content, as columnists, poets and artists. Look for your favorite «zewctor’s wnYmgs iw eacA edition o f the paper. • Pounds of food the Oregon Food Bank Network received in 2012-2013: 86:3 million . < Parks & Recreation; Habitat for Humanity Portland/Aietro East; Duncan and MurnGne; Hispanic P H O T O BY COLE M ER K EL days off. "Rsh&ftWiS'h6rn7ui S’^ eitt' arid raised in' the Mt. Tabor area of Portland, and has lived in Oregon his whole life, even as his family has dispersed to New York and southern California. “I’m a Duck,” he says, chuckling. “Quack quack.” He’s seen Portland go through a lot of changes, and feels like it might be getting too crowded for him. “My mom says I have a small-town heart living in a big city,” he said, though he still marvels at Portland’s small-world qualities and loves meeting people through selling the paper, part of the reason he plans to keep selling it on his days off. VENDOR WORK ADS Bicycle delivery by Farmer Shaun Small packages $2Zmile Large packages $5/mile Extreme feats and impossible tasks on a case-by-case basis. Bicycle detailing $25/bike. 971-222-9938. Answers to puzzles on page 15 V 8 9 6 9 Ÿ Z 3 8 Ÿ Z 9 8 8 9 6 Z 8 8 9 k 6 3 9 8 2 Ÿ k Z 9 8 3 Ï 8 8 9 Ÿ 8 Z 6 9 6 9 3 k Z Ÿ 8 3 Z 6 8 9 8 L 9 9 6 9 8 8 k 9 3 Ÿ 9 k 8 L 6 8 8 k 9 Z 6 9 fr Z
