Street Roots • Oct. 30-Nov. 5, 2015
Write 1
1
If you would like
w »
- : t
that you’ve
written published
member of our reporting staff,
author’s name and contact information,
if available.
Street Roots
211 NW Davis St.
Portland, OR 97209
503-228-5657
Fax:503-227-3117
www.streetroofs.org
www.news.streetroots.org
Hours: 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Mori-Fn., 7:30
a.m.-2 p.m., Sat. and 7;30-11 a'm. Sun.
Israel Bayer a n d
Rebekah, outside
o f the Street Roots
office.
Finding a way to heal by helping others
t >
i ebekah s story, like those of so many people that
come through the door of Street Roots, is a story
rertamntinn against
awwnof a «» backdrop ■£
X . V ■of
of trying to find redemption
of
poverty and tragedy. Abuse. Trauma. Human suffering.
i \ cc
Death. It can be overwhelming.
T he ugly circum stances of
poverty often are both cruel and
BIRRCTOR^ S
DESK
Israel Bayer is the
executive director o f
Street Roots. You can
reach him a t
israel@streetroots.org
or follow him on
Twitter @israelbayer.
unforgiving. Witnessing people
continue on, against all odds, blows
me away.
At 59, Rebekah, a diabetic,
By Israel Bayer
survives monthly on $650 disability
assistance plus $115 in food stamps.
After rent, paying for utilities and
purchasing food for herself and her two cats, she has
little to nothing to survive on.
“My cats are my soulmates,” Rebekah said.
Besides chronic pain in her spine from a skydiving
accident and her diabetes, Rebekah deals with severe
depression. “I just find a way to keep going.”
Rebekah said that being a diabetic and surviving on a
fixed income has been almost impossible. “I can’t
provide myself with a healthy diet with food stamps.
Living on things that many poor people are forced to
survive bn, like ramen and macaroni and cheese, would
kill me, literally.”
Rebekah said finding Street Roots has given her the
opportunity to-find both a community and money to
help her balance her diet
Paulette, another vendor living on a fixed income in
Rebekah’s building, introduced her to Street Roots. “We
are a team out there. We talk to one another and
support each other. We are friends, something I don’t
take for granted.”
After reading my column this month about the death
of James Michael Bostick, who died homeless in
Portland earlier this year, Rebekah came to me with
tears in her eyes. “My only son, Shawn, also died
homeless on the streets,” she said, showing me a
picture of her son. Rebekah said she carries the photo
with her everywhere she goes.
“The truth is, both my life and my son’s life was
horrific,” said Rebekah. “I wasn’t able to give my son
the life I dreamed of. I grew up in an abusive home. My
mother was an addict and never had more than a
seventh grade education. We had nothing. I was a
latchkey kid that had little to hope for. I became an
addict at 12 years old and then a teenage mother. I wish
I could go back and do it all over again.”
* With tears rolling down her face, Rebekah continued.
“My entire life I was told I was stupid and not going to
amount to anything. It wasn’t until I found, recovery and
got clean in 1988 that I realized that I was a human
being and could contribute to the world.”
A fter getting clean and sober, R ebekah started talcing
classes at a community college. Over the next decade,
Rebekah pieced life together, one day and one week at a
time.
Working any job she could find, while going to
college, eventually she would earn both a bachelor’s
degree and then a master’s degree in conflict
resolution.
“It was all for naught,” she said. “It was too late for
my baby boy. I did everything I could, but in the end it
was too late. His death haunts.me every single day of
my life.”
* Shawn died homeless of a heroin overdose in
Portland in his early 20s after struggling with
homelessness and addiction.
“He was a beautiful boy,” says Rebekah, “It’s just that
we never had a lot and he was hard to handle. I did the
best I could to provide for him, but in the end, that
wasn’t enough.”
Pausing, Rebekah told me the only way to continue
on was to try to help other people. “I began getting in
touch with my native roots and learning about providing
care for the sick and the dying. I also made a vow to
stay clean and sober. It’s not been easy,” she said.
Today, Rebekah sells Street Roots at the corner of
Southwest Ninth Avenue and Taylor Street outside k
Starbucks every Friday, where she said the store
manager, employees and customers have adopted her.
“They are so good to me.”
“I suppose our jobs in life are to find our own
purpose and to do the best we can regardless of all the
pain we might go through,” says Rebekah. “My goal in
life today is to continue to help others, even if that’s as
simple as sharing a hot meal with someone on the
streets. I try to see the goodness in all people,
regardless of the pain. We can never completely heal
from all of the tragedy in oúr lives, but we can connect
with one another and do right by our fellow human
beings when possible.”
True that, Rebekah. Thank you for sharing your story
and giving us all hope. Despite all of our triumphs and
failures, both big and smajl, in the end, it’s the best we
cando.
Advertising
Interested in advertising in Street Roots?
Contact Israel Bayer at israeKstreetroots.org
S ta ff
Executive Director
Israel Bayer
israel@streelroots.org
M anaging Editor Joanne Zuhl
ioanne@stceetroots.org
Vendor Coordinator Cole M6rke1""^ ~
cole@streetroots.org
Operations Director Sarah Beecroft
Development Director Sarah Cloud
Program Assistant Scott Jackson, Jesuit
Volunteer
Deveiopment Assistant Ann-Derrick
Gaillot
Reporters Emily Green, SueZalokar,
Ann-Derrick Gaillot, Sarah Hansell, Lenora
Ko, Sam Bouman, 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, Marcus Swift
Volunteers
Jan Bayer, John Barker, Stacey Heath, Brian
Ritchie, Anders Frederickson, Stephanie
Holum, Anjali Rathore, Sam Bouman, Joanna
Chase, Zoe Klingmann, Haven Herrin, Eliese
Baker, Dan Jones, Rob Shyrock, Tom Ray,
Doug Spangle, Susannah Kamala, Jessica
Pollard, Lee Ko, Diana Richardson, Cherie
Manning
If you are interested in volunteering with
Street Roots, please submit a volunteer
application at streetroots.org/volunteer. Or
call our volunteer coordinator for more
information at 503-228-5657.