street roots
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May 9, 2014
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Knowing you’re not alone makes all the difference
Bold moves a good s ta r t to
V
prioritizing people
old. That’s the word We would use to describe
Multnomah County right now.
B
Multnomah County Chair Marissa Madrigal and
the County Commissioners are going big. A new $1.4
million mental health program to prevent people
experiencing mental health problems from being
warehoused in our county jails is just the start. Increased
support for housing, backfilling a recession-torn budget,
and getting outfront oh after-school programs is all a part
of the proposed budget package this year. We like it.
The idea of putting people first is an important step to
balancing a community on the brink of being overrun
with high housing costs and a lack of blue-collar jobs in
the
It’s region.
no secret that
Business as usual doesn't
get ns there. It doesn't cut , Portland and
it. It simply doesn't live sip Multnomah County are
changing, in many cases
to the dreams we
for the better. It’s also a
collectively share and
cold hard fact that
work toward as a
common Portlanders
community.
* continue to struggle.
Today, a minimum-
wage worker would have to work 71 hours per week in
Multnomah County to earn enough to afford a two-
bedroom apartment. T hat’s not counting basic health j
care, food and utilities. If our elected leaders aren’t
seriously considering a $15-art-hour minimum wage, they
should be. When we prioritize people, the rest will follow.
We commend Mayor Charlie Hales for prioritizing
additional money for housing and homeless services, but
it’s simply not enough. At times, the direction the city
appears to be going baffles* us. The bike share program
may be a good idea, but is it really what Portland needs
r ig h t now? S h o u ld P o rtla n d fam ilies, a lre a d y b a ttlin g a
-risMftg-eost of hvi«g, be saddled wi-th-a-Hew. moHiUny .tax -w.,,,
for transportation projects? Meanwhile, people of color
and other hard-working Portlanders have begged .for years
for signficant, ongoing investments for affordable housing,
only to see the issue languish by neglect, here and in
Salem. Hard questions still need to be asked and
answered.
T here’s no question that Portland is bn the rebound.
New companies are moving to town, the tourism industry
is booming and in the next few years we’re going to see a
lot more cranes in the sky.
What we need now more than ever is people power.
We’re talking about economic development to support
working people and housing prices that supports those
individuals and families living in our neighborhoods,
attending our schools, and creating the diverse
community we all deserve. Business as usual doesn’t get
us there. It doesn’t cut it. It simply doesn’t live up to the
dreams we collectively share and work toward as a
community.
We commend our elected leaders for a job well done,
but ask them to carefully think about how all of our
moving parts get us to a place where people of all colors
can thrive; where we don’t see thousands of people
sleeping on our streets; where both our elders and the
young can co-exist; where young families can afford to live
and play; where we are proud to be trailblazers on issues
that m atter. That’s a Portland we can all work towards r- a
Portland that works.
T t /T ik e kas kved a vefy kard S S '
| \ / | Challenges with mental health,
JL JLaddiction and living with
Tourette’s syndrome have for years
contributed to a life on and off the streets.
Mike has been a regular at Street Roots
for quite a while now. We’ve both seen
each other at our best,
and at times, our worst.
y?
Proud to call Mike
mY friend.
“I always feel like I
should be doing
By Israel Bayer
something more than I
am’ but the damage that
my mind and body has
gone through is real,”
Mike told me last September: “I’m going
to continue on, day-by-day, step-by-step. I
may fall down. I’ll have to get back up. My
; , progress isn’t going to happen at the pace
I assume it should happen. It certainly
isn’t going to happen at the pace that
someone wants it to happen. I can’t be
rushed. I feel like, right now, as long as I
try to be clean and sober and to be a
■ better person, that is all that matters.
Instead of walking up to a dope dealer and
socking him in the moutii, I’m writing
poetry, I watch the Seahawks, I sell Street
Roots. I’m doing the only thing I know
how to dp to survive and to stay sane. I’m
working to find God,”
Fast-forward nine months and Mike is
still hard at it.
Mike spent nearly seven months in local
shelters, something he said was one of the
biggest challenges of his life due to his
fllBlBCTOXl S
Isra el B a y er is the
execu tive d irector o)p ,
Street Roots. You can
reach h im a t
israel@ streetroots.org
o r fo llo w h im o n
Tw itter@ israelbayer.
WHAT DO
YOU THINK?
Send fetters to the
editor to the. Street
Roots office, 211
NW Davis St.,
Portland, OR 97209,
or e-mail to joanne®
streetroots.org
impatience with people and living with
Tourette’s. ;
“I’ve wanted to give up and use every
single day,” Mike says to, me. “But I
haven’t yet.”
Being an avid Seahawks fan,, Mike tells
me laughing, “Having the Seahawks win
the Super Bowl helped a lot.”
Today, with the help of the community
and a powerful determination, he is in
housing-and going strong.
Mike recently told me in front of Street
Roots, “I don’t know if I can do this. I have
this voice inside my head that’s constantly
pulling me back and tugging at me. It has
me doubting myself.”
I laughed and told Mike that he was an
amazing man and no one could ever take
that away, and to have faith that he wasn’t
alone. I told him I had just had a meeting
with some of the smartest people in
politics, and to be honest, they were just
making it up as they went along. We all
wake up hoping to just make it through
the day, doing the best we can. The only
difference is that some people have a
wealth of resources at their disposal and
some don’t. Hearing that voice tugging at
us, it’s part of the human experience.
What matters is community and knowing
you’re'not alone.
~“I like that,” Mike says.
“I just made that up,” I said, laughing.
“I know,” he said with a smile.
“One day at a time,” Mike says with a
fist bump.
True that.
Go Hawks!
The Why s of Youth
by Robert Strandlof
Dog ran over the freeway.
crying, why?
Rolling down mountain roads on bikes
passing cars on right, why?
Trying to understand fire, .
Striking matches behind couch, why?
Learning to drive on dirt road
Dad sitting on hood shooting beer cans, why?
Sitting in boat,
waiting for California to fall into ocean, why?
Maybe youth can be understood when I am older
or maybe youth is just what it is,
a time to be a giant, monster or Superman, why?
Our mission
Staff
Board of Directors
Vendors
Street Roots creates income opportunities for -
people experiencing homelessness and poverty by
producing, a newspaper and other media that are
catalysts for individual and soda! change.
Executive Director Israel Bayer
Bruce Anderson (Chairman), .Michael Anderson (Vice- :-
drairm anl Heather Stadrck (Treas.j, Eddy Barbosa (Sec),
Rich Rodgers, Brad Taylor, Leo Rhodes, Nora Coon,
Darren Alexander, Amber Bielman
Street Roots vendors buy the newspapers for 25 cents
each and sell them fopl-1, keeping the 75. cents- in ‘
' profit for themselves, in order to keep the tost low to
our vendors, w e receive additional support from
donations and in-kind contributions.
Street Roots publishes every two weeks,' launching
on Fridays, and is available exclusively through our
street vendors or' by subscription. We are proud
members of the International Network of Street'
Papers.
!
Street Roots
211 NW Davis St.
Portland, OR 97209
503-228-5657
Fax: 503-227-3117
streetroots.org
news.streetroots.org
israel@streetroots.org
Managing Editor Joanne Zuhl
joanne@streetroots.org
Vendor Coordinator Cole Merkel
cole@streetroots.org
Operations Director Sarah Seecroft
Program Assistant Grace Badik, Jesuit Volunteer,
grace@streetroots.org
Development Director Sarah Cloud
Office Assistant Amber Bielman
Reporters Jake Thomas, Alex Zielinski, Nathan
Gilles, Sue Zalokar, Ann-Derrick Gaillot
Photographers Kristina Wright, Christopher ..
Onstott
Volunteers
Jan Bayer, Elizabeth Tierney, Rob Shryock, Ann-
Derrick Gaillot, Stacey Heath, Vmnie Kinsella, Michelle
Breslau, Paula Craeas, John Barker, Mary Locke, Lucas
Manfield, Jessie Carver, Cherie Vedai, Sam Bouman,
John Yohe, Isaac Hastings Hauss,. Emily Green, Tom
Ray, Sarah Hansell, Alana Kansaku-Su rmiento
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.
75c
goes directly to the vendor
who sold you the paper
25c
goes toward
printing costs
Vendor orientations are at 1 p.m. every Monday,
Wednesday and Friday at the Street Roots office.
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