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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 2, 2016)
Vendors Page 6 The Abyss of E m ptiness WlSMOOit IF It Cl < JJUEi Where did the love go Relationships were the goal Then love turned to pain Then came the thoughts, I’ll never gain Hate, rage and discontent is what it’s become. And I’m stuck not knowing how to get it undone The emptiness in me I’ve named the abyss of emptiness I try so hard I’m careless With every rejection my soul drifts deeper into the Abyss For a long time my soul has been dying Then I find myself alone somewhere crying S J À s s 0 1 a a 3 N a 3 ; 1 T 0 V 3 3 1 V 0 ± L 3 J 0 H S a V H 3 a 0 IN i V 1 d N i a a | 3 Ì M a N O Í IN V 1 c o! ÍN 1 3 NY 1 n 0 a 1 T a i 3 1 1 i N 0 1 ■1 3 i n V Ì IN n n H S s o a 0 V V 1 3 3 s 1 ■ À 1 N 0 3 3 d V 2 6 8 Z I 8 9 I > 1 0 1 1 \M d V 0 3 0 i a 1 3 1 F 3 9 a 3 d jo d £ 1 a 1 T VI 0 i 1 V 0 0 IN = 9 3 IN V 9 3 9 V 1/II N "1 n 1 3 d V 0 «i □ a V 8 a 0 1 a vl 1 1 0 i ■ 1 f V i V a Z 9 2 9 9 P 6 8 8 Z 9 2 6 8 6 8 Z I I 9 8 8 8 P 2 9 2 6 8 9 Z 8 I P 0 I 8 9 P 9 2 6 Z 8 Wllbi jHHs Answers to Page 15 Puzzles 0 graveyard shift at Wal-Mart” A relationship brought him to Portland, but when that didn’t work out, Shawn was out on the street. “Before coming to Portland, I’d never BY LEONORA KO been homeless,” he said. “My mom and my STAFF W RITER stepdad have a huge respect for what I’m doing.” hawn Knight is smart as a whip and He said he can’t go back to where he taking steady steps to get off the was. street. “I lived next door to where I was He was born in Ohio and grew up in physically and sexually abused for half my Texas. “I’ve been an electronics geek since I was life,” he explained. He said he would drive past the school where he was assaulted. “I a kid,” Shawn said. “When I was 8 years old, mean, the last thing you want to do with I was tearing apart little motorized cars and PTSD is think about the past. building robots.” Life on the street has been an eye- As an adult, he went to college for a opener. couple of years and worked in the tech “It’s been unbelievably industry. difficult,” Shawn said. “I worked for Dell for 2 1/2 years,” i ~ TWHlifr. “People say. ‘Oh you’re Shawn said. “I created the online service on the streets - just go program for the original Xbox system. If ^et a ^amn J°h!’ And you called in and you had a question J| they don’t realize that that their normal tech support couldn’t H before you can get a handle, you went to my department. I ' job, first you have hand-picked the department, I to go and secure a trained them from the ground up, storage unit and I created the entire program. because no job is In three months, we going to take handled 4,000 cases. you carrying When the dot-com everything industry went bust, I Shawn moved to various cities and ended up back in his hometown. “Up until August, I’d been working in Texas,” he said. “I had my own place, I had a car, and I 1 was working full time. I was working the overnight, Shawn Knight b y B ria n N y e 3 Street Roots • s 3 a 1 n Dec. 2-8, 2016 you own with you. Then you’ve got to figure out a way to get yourself a phone because no amount of resume writing skills are going to eliminate the need for a contact point There’s this months-long process of things you have to figure out how to do, just to take that second step.” He has found that simple acts like taking a shower, washing clothes and getting a sack lunch for work take careful planning and hours of waiting in line. To pay for storage and phone costs, Shawn has sold Street Roots, but more often he works full time through Labor Works. As Shawn deals with PTSD, he focuses on the positive and has applied for a permit to work at marijuana dispensaries. “I am extremely knowledgeable about it,” Shawn said. “For me, it’s not only about a product that works for (customers), but also helping to educate them. So if they go into a different dispensary, they know what all these goofy numbers mean. “People ask me all the time, ‘Shawn if you had a time machine and you could go back and change anything in your life, would you?’ And I always answer the same: No. Because I have been able to turn those experiences into healing for other people.” He has been an abuse and relationship counselor through his church and on the street. To defend himself and others, he has trained in the martial arts. “I’ve studied the old Arthurian knights and the Samurai my whole life,” Shawn said. “And I’ve always tried to pattern myself after that: To serve the people, keep people safe and be a protector.” S S =3 9 9 8 P L 8 6 9 8 6 Z 2 9 9 I 9 2 8 P Z 8 P 8 2 6 9 o CENTRA L C ITY C O FFE E Holistic * Self-Empowerment Physical & Emotional Well-Being Curiosity • Engagement «Choice Sourcing & roasting craft coffee to benefit programs at Central City Concern. IN STORES New Seasons Market, Whole Foods, Food Front Cooperative Grocery, Green Zebra, Chuck's Produce and Will Leather Goods. AT YOUR OFFICE Interested in serving Central City Coffee at your office? Get in touch with us and we can help you make that happen. 503.226.7387 ON OUR WEBSITE Buy Central City Coffee online and have it shipped directly to you or a friend. AT KASBAH MOROCCAN CAFE Get your espresso favorites at Old Town's newest spot (201 NW Davis Street), featuring Central City Coffee! "Nothing happens until something moves." - Albert Einstein Intentergy (888) 391-5059 SE Portland Office cgnscious-intent@outlook.cOTn Follow our Facebook page for updates and specials. centralcitycoffee.org facebook.com/CentralCityCoffee coffee@ccconcem.org Veterans/fcBlltary/EMS personnel Sliding scale (first session, free)
