Street Roots • Jan. 1-7, 2016
Vendors
Page 6
Seasons
by Shawn Andrew Nelson
Early morning rain. A mist covers the
majestic mountains;
Off in the distance; shimmering and
beautiful
Death comes with the Age of Winter;
only to show,
How does Beauty grow? In the spring
of her step.
Blooming with exuberance as the great
sun brings a whisper,
“Wake up and and spread your petals
little one, summer is soon to come.”
In her twilight years slowly, dissipates
her fears; with the coming of a
serene fall; and finally when she
goes to close her eyes, a teardrop
cold on her cheek, she, oh so
solemnly smiles and knows that
after winter’s wink, she will shake
off the Chains of Death and prepare
herself deep in the ground so her
legacy will too, Wake U p ....
Answers to puzzles on page 15
VENDOR PROFIL:
Krystal Jordan
BY LEONORA KO
C O N TR IB U T IN G W R ITER
rystal Jordan has strong women in
her life and is becoming a strong and
wise woman herself.
It has been a long journey.
“I was born and raised in Portland,”
Krystal said. “I didn’t exactly have a good
childhood. There was a lot of abuse, so I
pretty much left home when I was 16.”
She and a boyfriend traveled east, and
three years later, Krystal returned to
Portland.
“I told everybody I was homeless,” she
said. “Even though I was able to go home, I
chose not to. JOIN and TPI (Transition
Projects) helped with my housing, addiction
and recovery.”
Krystal found an apartment, work and a
husband.
The birth of her first child changed her
perspective about her own mother.
“We didn’t really start getting along until
after I had my daughter,” Krystal said. “A
lot of it was me being naive - thinking I
know everything and she’s wrong and she
doesn’t know anything. I changed. I became
a mom, and I actually needed a lot of help.”
Her mother was there with Krystal’s first
newborn and is in Krystal’s life now.
“I was married for six years, and the last
2 1/2 years got pretty bad, got pretty
abusive,'” Krystal said. “I started drinking
again and started using. Not a pretty
picture.”
Krystal realized she wouldn’t get better
in an abusive environment. She placed
her daughter and son with her mother, .
found a foster home for her dog, and got a
sleeping mat for herself at SAFES
(Salvation Army Female Emergency
Shelter).
“My kids actually have some stability, and
they’re in a safe environment,” Krystal said.
“I just want to keep that going.”
Now, she is busy in the Providence
K
O ut of Luck?
Substance Abuse Treatment Program, gets
counseling and attends Narcotics
Anonymous meetings, Krystal also makes
commitments with her recovery sponsor,
sometimes speaking with her three times a
day.
“I just recently had to cut my ties with a
friend. She started using pretty heavily even
though I tried to help her,” Krystal said. “I
mean, I knew that she had used. Who am I
to judge? I have the same issue. But I had
gotten the impression that she was trying to
get sober. Like my sponsor said, ‘You try to
save them (and) you go back out (relapse).’
Which is true. Play with fire, get binned.
“It gave me a better understanding of
what I put other people through
when I was in that state,” Krystal
said. “When we’re in our addiction,
we don’t care about anybody else,
except for us - and our drugs.
So with me being sober and
having to deal with that, it gave
me more understanding.”
Krystal said she’s “bound and
determined” to complete her
outpatient program.
Street Roots is
another way for
Krystal to stay
clean.
“I’m
pretty
o
C EN TR A L C IT Y
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Start the new year right with an
extra dose of poetry! "Life is
Beautiful" a special Street Roots
poetry zine, is on sale now!
New Seasons Market, Whole Foods, Food Front
Cooperative Grocery, Green Zebra, Chuck's
Produce and Will Leather Goods. _•
AT YOUR OFFICE
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busy, but on weekends I have almost no
structure,” she said. “I’ve noticed the
pattern when I have nothing to do; that’s
usually the time I’m thinking about going
out and using and whatnot. And so with
selling Street Roots on the weekends, it’s
really helped me to keep my mind
occupied.”
Krystal uses the money she earns to buy
yarn and other things that keep her busy.
“I do crocheting, and I do a lot of
coloring. I actually went and bought a
coloring book of Celtic designs.”
Life is getting better with Krystal’s
recovery. She spent a recent holiday with
her mom, her two kids and her
sister.
“This was probably one of
the better Thanksgivings
that I’ve had in a while,”
Krystal said. “My kids were
actually pretty decent,
well-behaved. My son kind
of threw a fit because we
watched ‘Frozen.’ Again.
And he wanted to watch
Plaines.’ He’s 6. And then
the next thing you know,
, plus me,
ing along
‘Frozen.’”