Street roots., November 21, 2014, Page 6, Image 6

6
street roots
Nov. 21, 2014
For the
Best friends,
¡1 DW»Jin. through thick
and thin
A compilation of facts, large and
small, about our community
• Percentage of children of color
BY SARAH HANSELL
graduating from high school on time in
Oregon; 64
■ '
• Percentage of children of color living In
families at or above 200 percent of the
poverty line in Oregon: 40
• Percentage of black children graduating
high school on time in Oregon: 57'
. • Number of uninsured children In
Oregon: 54,630
.
• Percentage of children in Oregon
experiencing food insecurity:' 27.3
. • Peiwita^oftfelldreneliglbfoin
' ,
, Oregon for free and reduced lunch
*
program: 51.5
D
VENDOR PBOFI1E /
• Total pounds of food collected by fee
DameUe and Charles
top ten food drives for fee Oregon Food
'
anielle Johnstone and Charles
Mitchell sell Street Roots the same
way they do everything else in their
lives — together.
“I wanted her to be able to do it with
me,” Charles said. “I wanted for us to do it
together.”
The couple have been together since they
met four years ago, and have gone through
a slew of hard times together, including
homelessness, health problems and
addiction.
“When I met him, my whole life changed,
because I’d never really had anybody be
nice.to me before,” Danielle said, looking at
-
.
Bank in October 2014:15,132'
ST A F F W R IT E R
•
'
• Number of libraries in a part of the
MultnomahCounty Library system: 10
• Book capacity of Central Library:
725,000
• Number of bocks In the Multnomah
County Library system: 2 million
. • Total number of year-round emergency
shelter beds in Portland/Multnomah-
County; 611
• Number of additional beds available ,
during severe weather in Portland/
Multnomah County: 150
• Additional winter shelter beds available
Nov. 1-March 31 In Portland/Multnomah
County: 297
Sources; Children First fo r Oregon ,
2014 Status o f Oregon's Children
Report; Oregon Food Bank;
M ultnom ah County Library; Portland
H ousing Bureau
Charles. “You’re going to make me cry.”
. “I’m not even saying anything,” replied
Charles with his arm around her.
But drug use put a huge strain on their
relationship, and after a doctor told Danielle
that she would die if she didn’t get clean,
she and Charles decided they needed to
make a change. They quit drugs, and were
able to move in with a friend in exchange
for helping around the house.
And after being clean for several months,
they started selling Street Roots, which
offered the sort of stability in their lives.
“People ask me all the time, ‘do you
make any money doing that?”’ Danielle said.
“And I say, ‘well yeah, we do make money.’
But I’m not just doing it to make money. I’m
doing it because it’s teaching me every day
that I can get up arid have a job.”
Before Street Roots, Danielle hadn’t
experienced much structure or stability.
Street Roots is helping her learn how to
take control of her own life.
“It’s teaching me that I can do things,”
she said. “I think a lot of the people stuck
on drugs, I don’t think they realize that they
can quit. They just think, ‘these are the
cards that are dealt. There is hope,”
Danielle said. “And I know, as a woman, if
you don’t have any self-esteem and you don’t
-have any g etfwoi-th , it’s- r ea Hy4tard-toget up
and do anything with yourself...but when
someone smiles at you and tells you that
you’re doing a good job, fpr me, that’s the
biggest reward ever.”
It’s the people who show them kindness
that makes the job so worthwhile to Charles
arid Danielle, like the man who asked them
if they were hungry, then proceeded to buy
Them lunch without even taking a paper. But
even just a smile or a word of
encouragement, Danielle said, is enough! to
make, her day.
“I thank more people, just for
acknowledging and smiling, more than
anything,” Charles said.
Street Roots also offers the two the
opportunity to b e with family again. Danielle
and Charles plan to save a portion of the
money they make e v ery day until Uiey uui ■—
afford two tickets to Alaska, where Danielle
will be reunited with her kids.
“My kids are excited to see me and see
me be healthy,” she said.
Despite the struggles the two have been
through and the unknowns they still face,
they seem optimistic. When I ask them what
keeps them positive, the answer, is, of
course^ each other.
“When you’re a little kid and you have
that best friend you want to hang out with
all the time, that’s him,” Danielle said.
The couple currrently sell Street Roots
outside of Food Front a t 23rd Avenue arid
Thurman.
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Thank you for giving a hand, up in Portland
and supporting your neighborhood vendor!