Page 6
Vendors
VENDOR PROFILE
o
Maria D.
C E N T R A L C IT Y
CO FFEE
SMukaitU. S tij—4.
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 w ith us and we can help you
make tha t 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 yo ur espresso favorites .at Old Town's
newest spot (201 NW Davis Street), featuring
Central City Coffee!
Follow our Facebook page for updates and specials.
centraldtycoffee.org facebook.com/CentralCltyCoffee coffee@ccconcern.org
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BY ALEX GILLOW-WILES
STAFF WRITER
aria D. radiates human warmth
and openness. Talking with her,
it’s hard to feel you’re not right at
home, regardless of where your
conversation takes place. She speaks with a
self-effacing kindness that belies the years
of travel and hard work in her life.
Maria has lived in Portland for three
years. She was born on the West Coast but
spent many of her formative years in a
much different climate.
“I grew up Southern California til I was
12 and after that, Minnesota. It was a big,
huge culture shock,” she says, laughing.
Maria is in a transitional period of her
career. She’s spent her life working in many
industries - restaurant and service,
cleaning, construction, caretaking, to name
a few.
“I worked in a tool and die shop for a
year. That was cool. Waitressing, hosting,
dishwashing. I also worked
with a tree trimmer for a
year and lived in Apache
Junction. Gosh, it was
great. It was fun.”
Today, Maria is
reaching an age where
her body no longer
â’ppfëcTàtê§"siich:
physical jobs. She’s
trying to find work
that doesn’t
exacerbate the
kinds of medical
conditions that a
lifetime of labor can
give a person.
“I’m trying to figure out if
I can work, doing a different
kind of job. I have
fibromyalgia and à lot of
M
Street Roots • March 17-23, 2017
problems, and it seems like I get really
worn down when I put in a lot of effort
doing something. I know the physical’s out,
so this is my attempt at trying to work I’m
trying to find a job at two different places
and see if I can handle working or not.
“I’m involved with the employment
access center at Central City Concern. I
need something where I can sit down or
stand up, kind of fluctuate throughout the
day. I really don’t even know because I
haven’t done anything like this. I’ve always
done physical jobs, so it’s such a weird
thing to think about. I believe in God, and I
think that God has something planned for
me. It will happen when it’s supposed to.”
Maria says she also wants to continue
her education.
“I want to go back to
college - 1 really do. I
could be a counselor.
I’ve been through
everything with
relationships and
with drugs, all
the aspects of
homeless - all
that stuff. I
think I would
be able to
understand someone.
“I would like to be a deaf interpreter. I
have a deaf brother. I would really like to do
that at schools. I khow sign language, but
I’m pretty rusty. I know I’d enjoy that a lot
Throughout the interview, it’s a
challenge to keep Maria focused on herself.
She wants to talk about Street Roots.
“I want to say that the first time I came
to Street Roots, I needed a bus pass to get
to the hospital. I don’t remember what was
going on with me. I had only done the
orientation, and it was my very first day,
and I asked for a bus pass, and Cole didn’t
have one. And he took five bucks out of the
register to give me so I could get to the
hospital. That was my first memory of
Street Roots. They have always welcomed
me back regardless of how long it’s been.
“You can come there and get a job right
off the bat and start making a little
money. So that gives you an
independence that you don’t get
anywhere else,” she says. “And
there are a lot of people out there
that love Street Roots. So it’s
always nice to find those people,
just to connect with them. It’s
really cool.”
Maria sells the paper outside
Safeway on Hawthorne
Boulevard.
Forces
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risk of
becoming
homeless?
Transition
Projects
8
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Please call 855.425.5544
or visit 650 NW Irving Street