WEI DOB JPBOFlt
Studied Vengeance
by Avendor
Amy Turco
A snake
slithers out from under the bush
you quickly move back,
but the Almighty says
“Sorry son,
but this here’s payback”.
And as you lie there
holding your leg
cringing on the ground.
Remember he’s the boss
he owns this joint
and lovingly runs this town.
BY HELEN HILL
C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R
pending an hour talking with Amy
Turco is like a breath of fresh air. Her
calm, essential kindness is contagious,
and her philosophy of living for others
refreshing. Amy doesn’t smoke or drink,
and she’s never done a drug in her life, she
said. Her advice on the matter is: “If
you’re trying to quit, don’t ever start.”
She sees the toll drugs and alcohol have
taken on people close to her and on
others who, like her, live on the
streets.
Amy wants most of all to be an
advocate for those in need. She would
like to return to school some day to
take classes in social services.
“I know how to listen, how to really
listen to people who aren’t
being listened to,” she
said. “Homeless
people need
someone who
cares, and they
need laughter
and smiles.
Everyone
needs
laughter and
smiles.
Amy said
listening is an
important part
of her work as
a Street Roots
vendor. She’s
been working
off and on as
a vendor for
five years.
S
Answers to Page 15 Puzzles
She sells papers at the Broadway Safeway,
across the street from Sean, her boyfriend,
who sells in front of Broadway Goodwill.
“How’s your day going?” she likes to ask
passers-by, and she really wants to know
the answer. She often wears her lucky
necklace, a round silver ring. People
comment on it; she said it’s a great
conversation starter. Amy likes working the
northeast part of town because people
seem friendlier, less rushed than they are
downtown. She said
she is proud to
work for Street
Roots, and she
would like to
always be a
part of the
organization.
“What
Street Roots
does for
Portland is
others.
you need to talk to
someone, I’m here,” she said.
A good listener with a
sincere heart can make a
tremendous difference in
this world.
Sheeptoast
by Elizabeth Considine
HAH!
NOT WHILE
8
1- L
£ 6
8
p I £ 9
ÿ 9 2 I
9 L 6 8
9 £
2 9 Ÿ L
I 9 8 £
2 9 6 L
£
9 2 9 t7
6 8
I
S L 2 6
9 £ fr 8 9 L 6
I- 2 9 t 7 ¿ £ 8
2
I-
9 6
L 6 £ 9 9 8 t7 I- 2
9 8 I- 2 6 £ L 9
unbelievable,” she said.
Sean and Amy spent the last four months
of a very hard winter and spring in a tent
under the Morrison Bridge. A few weeks
ago, their tent and all their belongings were
swept and dumped in a stream of gutter
water. Their things were ruined, but she
feels no ill will.
“Maybe it’s easier now,” she said. “We’re
more mobile. We can just wrap up and go. I
was starting to collect too many things
when we had a tent, and the less stuff you
have, the less you have to worry about,”
she said with a wise smile.
It’s harder on Sean, she said, because he
carries their sleeping bag and clothes on
his back all day. Every two weeks or so,
they like to save up for a motel room to
give Sean a rest, so he can lay down the
backpack and they can sleep in a real bed.
Amy is working at the airport Starbucks
now in addition to selling Street Roots, so
with their combined income, they can
afford a room once in a while, as well as a
cherished trip to Killer Burger on Third
Avenue.
Amy comes from a small town in Florida
called Wesley Chapel. She has been able to
visit in the past few years, but her love for
Portland and Sean always draws her
back. Sean and Amy have a few doable
dreams: They’d like a nice, affordable
place to live, and they’d like to visit
the coast. Amy has never seen the
Pacific Ocean. But the dream
closest to her heart is her goal
of finding a way to be a
positive, listening advocate for
W ar