Street Roots • January 2-8, 2015
E d it o r ia l
Page 3
A new year, a new paper and countless new opportunities
£
If you would like
to have
elcome to the inaugural weekly
edition o f Street Roots!
freelancers to bring you great coverage
every week. We’ve changed up our look and
shed some of the excess (Sorry, Soup Can
Many people have asked us how
Sam, but it was written in the stars.) and
going weekly would change our editorial
we’ve made interviews with entertainment,
content In a way, it won’t change at all. Our
sports and cultural figures a regular feature.
aspiration has always been to cover a wide
Simply being able to become a weekly .
' variety of issues
newspaper is indicative of the amazing crew
h h
impOftant
to
of reporters,
editorial contributors,
u
Oregonians — in depth
volunteers and supporters. They join many
and to represent the
other volunteers who keep our engines
" voices of people on
running, from the front desk to behind the
and near to the
lines. Everyone has stepped up and
streets. That has meant exposing the
committed to making each edition of the
catastrophic gaps in our Social Security
paper a great read and a great buy. Thank
Disability services, exploring the lax
you! |
oversight on our environmental resources,
These might be unlikely times for a print
and reporting on the now constant
newspaper to expand its publication
population of homeless students in Oregon
schedule, but with each passing year, our
schools. That means award-winning
circulation has increased, and so has the
coverage on not only homelessness, but
degree to which readers and vendors look
poverty at large, and the issues of health
to each edition for something new,
care, addiction, criminal and social justice
something out of the ordinary. And for the
and the concerns facing our communities of vendors, particularly, this new Street Roots
color.
■ will mean twice as many opportunities for
No - in many ways, we’re not changing a
success. We hope our new Page 2 helps
thing.
people better understand how a simple
And we’re changing a lot. As a weekly
thing like a newspaper sale can turn into a
publication, our news cycle has doubled.
lifelong investment.
We’ve hired a full-time reporter, Emily
Thank you, and we’ll see you next week!
Green, who will work alongside our team of
■
Writein •
that you’ve
written published
in our pages, or would
»J
Street Roots
211 NW Davis St.
Portland, OR 97209
503-228-5657
Fax:503-227-3117
www.streetroots.org
www.news.streetroots.org
Hours: 7:30 a.m,-3 p.m. Mon.-Fri,, 7:30
a.m.-2 p.m, Sat., and 7:30-1T a.m. Sun.
S taff
Executive Director Israel Bayer
Managing Editor Joanne Zuhf
joanne@streetroots.org
Vender Coordinator Cole Merkel
cole@streetroots.org
S
R
Israel Bayer is the
executive director o f
Street Roots. You can
reach him at
israel@streetroots. org
o r follou) him on
Twitter @israelbayer.
things Street Roots
By Israel Bayer
offers are self-
confidence and hope.
The self-confidence to
get up every single day
while experiencing the hell of
homelessness, and the hope that one day
there will be a brighter tomorrow. The idea
that people are able to earn an income
through the sales of the newspaper while
gaining that self-confidence and hope is
what makes it all come together.
Street Roots started a little more than 15
years ago with community volunteers an d .
five vendors. During that time we’ve helped
thousands of individuals and families
improve their quality of life. We helped
hundreds of people access housing and
helped maintain housing for hundreds
more.
Street Roots exists to give people a hand
up through the sales of the newspaper. The
money and friendships developed around
the city are priceless. The journalism that
Street Roots is producing speaks for itself..
Offering vendors the best newspapér we
can produce is always our highest goal. The
activism and voice Street Roots offers in the
commúnity will not only continue with a
weekly publication, but it will get stronger.
Not so long ago Street Roots set out to
go from a biweekly to a weekly publication.
It’s been a dream since the organization
started. That dream becomes a reality today
with the first edition of a weekly -
publication.
“Going weekly will bring more
customers, better dialogues, better
relationships and more money for vendors,”
says Betty Jo who sells the newspaper at
Alberta Food Cooperative.
Here’s how you can help:
■ Take a photo of you and the new
weekly paper and/or with a vendor and post
the pic on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram
using the hashtag #SRGoesWeekly
■ Purchase Street Roots on a weekly
basis
■ Share the paper with your friends,
family or coworkers. Telling people about
the quality of the newspaper and how the
vendor program works makes you a Street
Roots ambassador.
■ Tell businesses where Street Roots
vendors are located how much you
appreciate having a vendor ¿in the
neighborhood. It makes all the difference in
the world.
By doing one o r a ll of these simple steps
you are helping spread the Street Roots
love.
. The best years at Street Roots are ahead
of us and that has everything to do with
you. Everyone at Street Roots couldn’t be
more excited and looks forward to bringing
you a professional publication week-in and
week-out. Cheers. . .....
.
Operations Director Sarah Beecroft
Program Assistant Grace Badik, Jesuit
Join the celebration of our new weekly publication
ome of the best memories of my life
have been made with Street Roots. I
could write a book about the many
beautiful and tragic stories that I’ve
witnessed on the streets.
Honestly, there’s nothing more rewarding
than watching people
come together
l M O T f t ' t collectively to better
l i V > V » 81 themselves. Some of
D E SK
the most powerful
, "
like to get involved as a
,
member of our reporting staff,.
contact Managing Editor Joanne Zuhf at
503-228-5657, joanne@streetroots.
com. We ask that all submissions
include the author’s name and contact
information,-If available.
Street Roots is;
honored to have an
original work by
Northwest artist
Nikki McClure on
the cover of our
inaugural weekly
edition.
McClure, of
Olympia, Wash., is a
self-taught artist who
has been making
paper-cuts since
1996. She is known
for illustrating the
themes of
motherhood, nature,
community and
activism in intricate
and beautiful paper
cuts using an X-acto
knife and a single
sheet of paper.
“I wanted to show
light and eye
contact. Street
Roots brightens the
community by
making both
happen. This man’s
smile brightened my
days. I really
enjoyed hanging out
.with.him, T hank,
you.”
volunteer '
•
grate@ streetroot^.orq'’uw
Development Director Sarah Cloud
Development Assistant Ann-Derrick
Galliot
Reporters Emily Green, Sarah Hansell,
Sam Bouman, Jacques Von Lunen
Photographers Diego Diaz, Kristina
W right
Board of Directors
Chairman Bruce Anderson
Vice-Chairman Michael Anderson -
Treasurer Heather Stadick
Secretary Eddy Barbosa ;
Directors Rich Rodgers, Brad Taylor, Leo.
Rhodes, Ken Hawkins, Mora Coon, Darren
Alexander, Amber Bielman
Volunteers
Jan Bayer, Rob Shyrock, Stacey Heath, John
Barker, Dane NickJas, Kevin Glasei, Sarah
Hansell, Sam Bouman, Eliese Baker, Tom Ray,
Chérie Veda!, Jessie Carver, Mary Locke, James
Yu, Melissa Kahn, Vinnie Kinsella
If you are interested in volunteering with
Street Roots, please submit a volunteer
application at streetroots.org/volunteer. Or
call Volunteer Coordinator Grace Badik for
more information '
at 503-228-5657.