Vendors
Page 6
No Longer Hom eless
by Maddy Brown-Clark
early” and began cutting classes and lying to
V E N D *
his mom, who was working at a halfway
house. By 2003, he was living on the
streets. He got by, but struggled with
depression, drinking and overeating. He
never considered leaving Portland, though.
“I love it here,” he said. “Portland s just
BY HELEN HILL
C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R
my kind of town.”
There came a time when DeMario
eMario was born in San Francisco,
couldn’t live with himself anymore, he said.
the oldest of four children and part
Through strength of will and heart, he
of a large extended family that
began to get back in shape, losing the extra
stretches across the country. His family weight he’d gained. He started by running
owned a barbecue restaurant in San
to build up his stamina. He stopped
Francisco called Blackburn’s Barbecue Pit.
drinking, holding himself to no more than
Some of his earliest memories are of
one beer. “More than one is trouble.”
chopping wood for the barbecue, cooking
He began doing push-ups and discovered
with his family, and visiting the candy store
working out restored his energy, faith and
next door. He did well in school and was “a
natural optimism. One Friday night, on a
good kid,’’optimistic and a strong basketball
Burnside sidewalk, he did 500 push
player. Friends and family told him his
ups, in sets of 20, with the
warm, friendly smile would take him far.
encouragement and cheers of
In 1998, when he was 14, he moved to
passersby. Working out brings him
Portland with his mother. At first
he was excited to be in a new city,
home of the famous Nike
company, but he wasn’t prepared
for the rain and the
intimidating challenge of a
new school where he had no
friends or allies. He
remembers his early days
in Portland as very dark,
literally. He left for school
before daylight at 6 a.m., in
the rain, and by late afternoon,
when it was time to go home, it
was dark again. He felt unprepared
and unsupported, and he couldn’t
find the help he needed. The other
parents “had money,” he said, and
he “wasn’t getting enough one-on-one
help in school. There was no one to
turn to.”
DeMario eventually ended up in an
alternative school, where he began to
make friends, but said he “gave up too
s
DeMario
A time ago I had no home
I slept in cardboard castles
I roamed the street
For something to eat
And I was often hassled
On lonely nights
I slept alone with no way
To keep warm
And after dark in Lilac Park
I slept on a bed of grass
There were clouds in my head
And voices too
I didn’t know what to do
But I finally got some help
And I’m no longer homeless
I didn’t lose hope
And even though I’m low income
It’s so much better
Than the street
In my shared housing safe,
Clean kingdom.
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Street Roots • August 11-17, 2017
well as a daily challenge he thrives on.
Street Roots provides a similar challenge,
he said.
DeMario heard about Street Roots from a
friend. He attended an orientation, and it
felt right. At the very least, he thought, he
would be gaining knowledge. He said he
likes that people can say yes or no and leave
it at that. He feels good when people who
have been searching for the new edition find
him and are able to buy from him.
DeMario is in a shelter now, and he
enjoys working out in the basement - stair
stepping, running in place, and doing pull-
ups on a bar in the doorway. As well as
being a Street Roots vendor, he works for a
landscaping company from time to time.
DeMario would like to thank Street
Roots - for making a difference in
his life, for giving him a place
to be, and for helping to show
him he is “not alone in the
world.”
“You can’t have
everything you want, but
you still try, and you know
you better get it somehow,
any way you can,” he said.
by Elizabeth Considine