Vendors
Page 6
VENDOR PROFILE
Loretta H.
o
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through bankruptcy, Loretta and Andy
found a job co-managing a business in
Vancouver, Wash. But the 96-hour
workweeks became too stressful, and they
went back to Redding. They were taken in
by friends and Loretta’s sister but left both
BY LEONORA KO
places, not wanting to overstay their
S T A F F W R IT E R
welcome.
“We decided that we would travel to
ompassion is a basic value for Loretta
figure out where we would go, but neither
H. And now that Loretta is facing
of us thought it would be nine months,”
struggles herself, some of that
compassion is returning to her through Loretta said. “I say we were homeless. My
husband says we were ‘on the road.’”
friends, her sister and Street Roots.
They traveled up and down the Interstate
“We’ve had people live with us for
months when they were in a difficult
5 corridor from Mexico to Canada. Most
situation,” Loretta said. “That was a value
nights were spent at rest stops, and they
growing up and in our family.”
slept in their Toyota van, which also carried
Loretta and her husband, Andy, lived a
their remaining possessions.
comfortable life in Los Angeles for 25 years.
“It was very obvious to look in the van
“We are both from middle-class families,”
and know that there was more
Loretta said. “My husband is an aerospace
going on than just
engineer, retired. I have my degree in .
driving,” Loretta said
nursing. I was a registered nurse, but I
with a laugh. “It’s
haven’t done that in decades.
been a good van. I call
“But then 10 years ago, my husband
her Esperanza - it
got cancer. We did a lot of alternative
means ‘hope.’”
medicine, which was not covered by
Loretta and Andy
insurance. So we put thousands of
practice both
dollars in alternative medicine,
Christian and Jewish
and he’s alive.”
They moved to
Redding, Calif., to
be near a
treatment center.
Medical bills
were put on
credit cards.
The credit
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paid out of
got to know each other as a
couple, after kids. Our lives
have been difficult, but I feel
like a stronger person.”
Loretta says her next step is
figuring out what positive impact
she can have for her new
community.
their 401(k)
retirement
plans.
“We lost a
lot of money,”
she said.
After going
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rituals. While on the road, they made a
special effort to observe Shabbat on Friday
evenings, the beginning of Judaism’s day of
rest.
“It’s a way of keeping faith that things
will get better,” Loretta said. “That we’re
not ‘under’ our circumstances, no matter
what. The way I see it, I’m a spiritual being,
I have a soul, and I live in a body. And it is
well on the inside - no matter what’s going
on on the outside.”
Loretta’s first brush with Street Roots
was meeting vendor Marlon Crump.
“I had just a five-minute conversation
with him,” Loretta said. “He talked about
Street Roots as a possible job. He told me a
little bit about his life. But I just remember
his compassion.
“He was the face of Portland’s
compassion to me.”
Since then, Loretta and Andy have found
a caretaking job that comes with an
apartment to live in.
And recently, Loretta began selling Street
Roots and has been mentored by Marlon
and another vendor, Saoirse.
Selling papers is “very, very humbling,”
Loretta said. “Some people look down at
you with their eyes and body language. And
it’s OK. It really is OK because it doesn’t
define me. Then there are other
people who are so kind. And those
are the ones I choose to
remember.”
Loretta also chooses to look at
the positive aspects of her life.
She said: “We’ve been
married 32 years, and I would
say that on the road, we really
S h e e p tO d S t
2 2 £ 8
Street Roots • April 21-27, 2017
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b y E liz a b e th C o n s id in e