Street Roots • Oct. 21-27, 2016
E d it o r ia l
Page 3
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contact Managing Editor Joanne Zuhl at
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We ask that all submissions include the
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if available
Street Roots
211 NW Davis St.
Portland. OR 97209
503-228-5657
Fax: 503-227-3117
www.streetroots.org
Hours: 7:30e.nvSjp.m. Mon.*Frl, 7:30
a . m . - 2 a n d 7:3011
'/ '
Advertising
interested in advertising in Street Roots?
Ccittact Israel Bayer at israe^streetooteg •
Staff
Affordable homes campaign unites community
magine for a moment, just a moment, , .
It’s extraordinary To
.people experiencing
sleeping outside tonight with only a blanket
homelessness and poverty being engaged,
between your body and the cold, hard and
activated and motivated to get involved in
wet concrete. Now imagine sleeping outside with democracy, led by groups like Street Roots.
“When so many groups come together from
your child or with your grandmother.
the homeless and housing community to talk
Friends, it’s pure hell.
about this campaign — they are bringing live
The Yes for Affordable Homes campaign is
stories from the front lines about the housing
asking Portland homeowners to pay for no more
crisis,” said Jes Larson with the Welcome Home
than the price of two cups of coffee a month,
Coalition, which is made up of more than 140
$6.25 a month, to build
organizations. “They are delivering their own
affordable housing for
stories directly to the voters.”
3,000 seniors and families
That’s not all. People of color all over the city
living on our streets.
are organizing and engaging the larger
Who'among us would
community. For example, the Yes for Affordable
even remotely argue that
By Israel Bayer
Housing campaign has worked hard to deliver
being able to house one
multi-language outreach to the broader
family, much less
community with groups like the Immigrant and
hundreds of families, for
Refugee Community Organization (IRCO), Living
the price of two cups of
Cully, the Asian-Pacific American Network of
coffee a month is the wrong direction to go?
Oregon and the Coalition of Communities of
Believe it or not, there are some people in our
Color and more.
community that would stoop so low as to argue
The hope is people who traditionally haven’t
against a measure that would allow the city to
been engaged in a political campaign or voted in
build affordable housing that will serve up to
the past will be turning out for the November
60,000 people over the next 80 to 100 years. We
ballot.
can’t stand for th a t It’s nothing less than
The reality is renters in Portland are getting
heartless and cruel.
bombarded with rent increases, literally.
At Street Roots, we watch people who literally
In 2015, average rents in Portland increased
have nothing, homeless and alone, come together
$128 dollars each month in Portland. That’s
every single day to support one another.
insane.
Part of the beauty of the Yes for Affordable
The housing crisis and the lack of affordable
Homes campaign is it’s changing the way
housing units in 'Portland affects all of us,
campaigns are done. Dozens of house parties,
phone banks and canvasses are being activated in regardless of our circumstances. It’s one of the
many reasons you should cast a yes vote for the
the community led by local nonprofits and
Yes for Affordable Homes ballot measure.
activists.
Saying that, regardless of how you vote: Vote!
This grassroots effort is being driven not by
Don’t listen to those pesky cynics that sit on
your typical political party machine on the
the sidelines telling you your vote doesn’t matter.
ground, but instead by first-time volunteers to a
It does. So join the revolution and vote for your
political campaign. These efforts are resulting in
favorite candidates and ballot measures today.
hundreds of people new to the political process
The future of our city is depending on i t
in Portland this November.
I
BIRICTW S
DISK
Israel B ayer is the
executive director o f
Street Roots. You can
reach h im a t
israel@streetroots. org
or follow h im on
Tw itter @israelbayer.
Executive Director Israel Bayer
israei@streetroots,org
Managing Editor Joanne 2uhl
joanne@streetroots.org
Vendor
.... coleSstreetroots o rg z
Operations Director Sarah Beecroft -
Development Director Sarah Cloud
Program Assistant Meghann Van Pelt,
Jesuit Volunteer
Development Assistant Patricia Romero
Reporters Emily Green, Suzanne Zaiokar,
Sarah Hansell, Leonora Ko, Jared Paben,
Amanda Waldroupe, Stephen Quirke
Photographers Diego Diaz, Joe Glode
Editorial Assistant Monica Kwasnik
Canvasser Desmond Hardison
Board of Directors
Chairman Brad Taylor
Vice-Chairman Rachel Langford
Treasurer Heather Stadick
Secretary Marcus Swift
Directors Rich Rodgers, Michael Anderson,
Leo Rhodes, Sandra Hahn, John Brown, Dan
Jones
Volunteers
Jan Bayer, John Barker, Stacey Heath, Anjali
Rathore, Zoe Kiingmann, Haven Herrin, Dan
Jones, Dennis Hogan, Tom Wright, Judy Taylor,
Karen Allen, Monica McKune, Susan Wolfe,
Lucas Hawthorne, Thomas Buell Jr., Jeanie
Lunsford, Yasmin Amirsoleymani, Jason Cohen,
Tom Ray, Doug Spangle, Susannah Kamala, Jon
Raymond, Hilary Smith, Diana Richardson,
Cherie Manning, Paul and Madeline Gefroh,
Mary Anne Joyce and Faye Powell.
If you're interested in volunteering with Street
Roots, please submit a volunteer application at
streetroots.org/volunteer. Or you can call our
volunteer coordinator for more information at
503-228-5657. '