Street roots., February 03, 2017, Page 6, Image 6

Street Roots •
Trust & Hope
by Eileen Vizenor
Trust is a five-letter word that
means so much.
And, it SHOULD mean so
much!
I feel that trust is everything.
If we don’t have trust within
ourselves,
how can we trust others, I ask.
I admit that I lack trust, in
others and in myself.
This lack of trust started at a
very young age for me.
Now, in my mid-fifties, I still lack
tru s t
To get up every day to support
my corgi and me,
I have replaced trust with hope.
Hope is now what I possess in
my mid-fifties.
Hope is what I wish for all.
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YE1DÔB PROFILE
Kevin Robinson
BY LEONORA KO
STAFF WRITER
T T ^ ^ev in Robinson sells Street Roots
through rain, sleet and snow.
j L “When it snowed,” Kevin said, “It
was hard. I fell on the ice a couple times,
but I sold some papers. Didn’t make as
much money as I normally do, but I did
make a few bucks here and there.”
Customers told him he was courageous.
“I’m a responsible person, and want to
get out there and do my job,” he said.
Kevin sells the paper in front of th e Salt
& Straw ice cream store near Southeast
33rd Avenue and Division S treet In the
summer, staffers give him his favorite ice
cream, salty caramel. Lately, they have
given him hot tea.
“I’ve been there for about a year and a
half, and they really like me,” he said. “I’m a
friendly person and easy to get along with.
I’m very respectful towards customers, and
I like being around the public.”
Kevin grew up with his m other in
Longview, Wash. One of his proudest
moments was winning a gold medal in a
Special Olympics softball
\ event. After high school,
Kevin went to vocational
school in Astoria,
JL
1 becam e a certified
cook, and; worked in
fast food.
Kevin summed
up the next chapter
in his life this way:
“I’ve pretty much lived
a hard life for the last 16
years - ever since my mom
died. We were really close.”
He traveled to Tennessee to reconnect
and live with his father. When that didn’t
In the Jan. 13 edition of Street Roots, the
story “A taxing issue” incorrectly stated the
amount of money raised by political action
groups, Achieving the American Dream
Coalition and the Oregonians for Affordable
Housing PAC in 2016. They have raised
more than a half of million dollars, not half
a billion as stated in the article.
work out, he moved out on his own.
Kevin has been in Portland since 2013.
Although he receives Social Security
benefits, it was difficult for him to find
housing. He was on the street for about five
months.
“I had a sleeping bag,” he said. “And I’d
sleep right in front of the Portland Rescue
Mission. Or right there on the Burnside
Bridge. Just anywhere I could find a place to
lay my head. It wasn’t very comfortable.
“Being diabetic, it was hard for me to
take my (insulin) shots. When people see
you with syringes in public, people think
you’re a drug dealer. You know the
stereotype. There’s not really any place with
privacy you can
(inject insulin),
so I didn’t.
That’s what
caused my
blood sugar
to go over
a thousand,
and I ended
up losing
two toes
because
of i t ”
Feb. 3-9, 2017
After recuperating at the hospital and a
nursing care facility, Kevin found housing
through Transition Projects Inc., a nonprofit
that serves people experiencing
homelessness.
He rents one of 22 rooms in a two-story
house on Foster Road, which has two
bathrooms and a kitchen on each floor.
Each room comes with a bed, a dorm-size
refrigerator and a microwave.
“It costs me $460 a month, and it’s going
up to $480 here in a couple months,” Kevin
said. “I live on about $650 from Social
Security, so it doesn’t make it easy.”
Kevin would like to find a steady job and
get off of Social Security. He applied for and
is now in a vocational training program.
In the meantime, Kevin said, “I love
working for Street Roots. There are friendly
people. We march in the parades: the
Veterans Day Parade, the Gay Pride Parade.
And we have barbecues during thesum m er.
They’re like family to me now.” 7
Kevin also finds community at his church.
One of his pastors visited him at the
hospital and drove him home from the
nursing facility.
“I try to keep a positive attitude,” Kevin
said. “I go to church; that helps. I go to
the Liberation Street Church on
Second and Burnside. (There I
find) love, family.”
-
.
But the most important
member of his family lives
in Longview. He makes an
eight-hour round trip on
■the bus to see his
10-year-old daughter.
“I’m proud of
her,” he said.
’s my only kid.
’s not getting in
in school,
she’s growing up
be a big, girl.”
And in turn, Kevin
said, “I’ve become
more responsible. I want
accomplish something in life to
my daughter proud of me.”
o
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