Everyone should get behind the People’s Plan
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would Portland be like if instead of reacting
y 1/ to social problems, we intentionally planned for
V V social success? What if we worked to ensure
social and economic equity with each step forward,
rather than scrambling to backfill the scars of
gentrification?
I _______
Members of Portland’s black
™ community are asking similar
questions as they compile the
People’s Plan. It’s a forward-
thinking agenda of what
communities would look like if they
were envisioned with black people in mind — and then
addressing how we make that happen.
They should have the support of the entire
community - with a sense of urgency. The fact is that
Portland’s African-American population is on the front
lines of this city’s paralyzing income stagnation and
housing crisis.
Median household income in Portland has moved
little since 2000, and even weakened among renters.
Meanwhile, housing costs, particularly rents, have
skyrocketed beyond affordability, according to thè
Portland Housing Bureau’s inaugural State of Housing
Report, the first phase of which was released this week.
“The rebounding of post-recessionary wages among
white households has not been shared, and inflation-
adjusted incomes of communities of color continue to
fall,” the report states. “Communities of color
experience a disproportionately low homeownership
rate when compared to white households, and the
population as a whole. Although African American and
Native American households showed increases in
homeownership rates, corresponding income,
affordability, and population trends suggest a decline in
the number of renter households in these confimnnifies
as they are priced out of the city, rather than true
increases in homeownership.”
There’s a saying that if you’re not part of the solution
you’re part of the problem: In the absence of an
inclusive agenda of equity and economic opportunity,
our city is promoting economic and social segregation.
So the black community decided they were going to
be part of the solution. Individuals, along with
businesses, community leaders and nonprofits are
coming together to craft a landscape that works for all —
with the support of City Hall. It’s not about where
people were, but where they are now, and where they
want to be. And then it’s targeting efforts to make it
happen, right down to creating a neighborhood where
everyone is welcome, where people know each other,
and where black lives matter. We take that for granted
at our own peril.
‘Weekly has made my life so much better’
!
t would be easy for Street Roots to play it safe and to
not take on some of the most complex issues of our
time. We could walk the straight and narrow," and
simply focus on one aspect of poverty and choose to not
rock the boat when it comes to thinking about issues of
race, gender and class. The path of lea st resistance
would mean not providing Portland with investigative
journalism and a platform for social justice. It would
mean not standing upland speaking
truth to power in an intelligent
manner.
Saying that, it would also be very
easy for Street Roots to use our
pages to simply rage against the
B y Israel Bayer
machine and not offer tangible
solutions to the problems we face
in our community. After all, Street
Roots is engulfed by the
circumstances of poverty. We understand at a very raw
level the harsh realities of a broken system. It’s hard to
watch people die on the streets, literally, without having
access to a roof over their heads and still offer a
productive voice in policy discussions and in the
community. It would be easy to simply say, down with
the man, regardless of the context.
Obviously, it’s our goal to create the best publication
possiblelor new and old readers alike to support
vendors making money. We believe by providing
investigative journalism coupled with arts and culture .
and voices from the community and people in poverty,
we are helping provide important perspectives for the
larger community.
Without focusing on the relationships between
vendors and the general public through the sales of the
newspaper, none of this would be possible.
People ask me, “How much do vendors selling the
newspaper make?” It all depends. Vendors typically
make between $200 and $1,500 monthly depending on
their own personal circumstances. The newspaper
offers a place for people, regardless of their past, to
begin again. Street Roots offers people a chance
improve their quality of life, while being a part of a
larger community.
As many of you know, Street Roots launched weekly
DIRECTOR'S
V
Israel Bayer is the
executive director o f
Street Roots. You can
reach him at
israel@streetroots.org
or follow him on
Twitter @israelbayer.
W ritein
that you’ve
written published ,
in our pages, or would
like lo get involved as a
member of our reporting s ta ff,'
contact Managing Editor Joanne Zuhl at
503-228-5657, joanne@streetroots.org.
We ask that all submissions include the
if available.
. .
.
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. M o rvF ri, 7:30
a.m.-2 p.m., Sat., and 7:30-11 a.m. Sun.
Interested in advertising in Street
Contact Israel Bayer at i:
Staff
Street Roots unveiled a public campaign asking readers
and foundations to support giving vendors a stable
income week in and week out. It was a risky campaign.
If we were successful, it would be amazing. If We failed,
we would fail publicly, and we would have mud op pur
face. Some thought it couldn’t be done. Others cheered
us on. Most fans of Street Roots held their breath,
hoping for the best.
We did it. Together.
During the first few weeks of weekly publication,
Street Roots ran on adrenaline alone. Then came the,
oh my goodness moment. We have to produce a
newspaper and provide basic services for more than 100
people every week. Finally, we have settled in. Today,
we have found our groove.
We hope you are enjoying the new format, the
newspaper and, most of all your relationships with
yeiidors.
“Weekly has made my life so much better. I used to
have to save my money the first week to spend it the
second,” says Tony, a Street Roots vendor. “I used to
have to struggle every day. Now I look forward to the
new paper every Friday. So do my customers.”
It’s your support, readers, that makes Tony’s story
possible.
We are happy to report that this spring a generous
donor will be matching all recurring donations to Street
Roots in the month of May. By giving a monthly
donation you are supporting the work of the day-to-day
needs of the vendor program and the newspaper,
including providing a safe place for people on the
streets to gather daily. You can give a one-time or a
recurring donation online at www.streetroots.org. It
means the world to us.
When Street Roots started out some 15 years ago,
Street Roots was a ragtag monthly publication with
about 1,000 readers. Today, with supporters like you,
we are a weekly publication with a readership of nearly
15,000. That’s amazing. Thank you.
israel@streetroots.org
Managing Editor
J
1 4
Executive Directer Israel Bayer
publication this year. Since going weekly in January,
p ap er s a le s h aye increased by 56 percent. We have been
flooredby the community’s support.
Going weekly has been an amazing experience for
everyone involved. A year prior to launching weekly
I 1
I i
J
Joanne Zuhl
joanne@streetroots.org
Vendor Coordinator Cole M erkel
cole@streetroots.org
Operations Director Sarah Beecroft
Program Assistant Grace Badik, Jesuit
Volunteer, grace@streetroots.org
Development D ire c to r Sarah Cloud
Development Assistant Ann-Derrick
Galliot
Reporters Emily Green, Sue Zalokar,
Christen McCurdy, Sarah Hansell, Sam
Bouman, Jacques Von Lunen, Jared Paben
Photographers Diego Diaz, Joe Glode
Canvasser Desmond Hardison
Board of Directors
Chairman Bruce Anderson
Vice-Chairman Brad Taylor
Treasurer Heather Stadick
Secretary Amber Bielman
Directors Rich Rodgers, Michael Anderson,
Leo Rhodes, Nora Coon, Darren Alexander,
Eddie Barbosa, Rachel Langford
Volunteers
Jan Bayer, Rob Shyrpck, Stacey Heath, John
Barker, Sarah Hansell, Aaron Von Reyn, Chere
Cobb, Audrey Cerchiara, Jade Maniscalco,
Anjali Rathore, Eliese Baker, Doug Spangle,.
Susannah Kamala, Susan Gallagher, Tom Ray,
Lee Ko, Dan Jones, Lisa Waldo, James Yu, Sam
Bouman, Cherie Vedal
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. ‘