Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 24, 2017)
Street Roots • Nov. 24-Dec. 1, 2017 Vendors Page 6 let me.” One of the bright spots in her childhood was when she was sent to live with her grandparents in Oklahoma. They were her best friends. Her grandfather, Abe Mulkey, was a famous country western songwriter BY HELEN HILL and singer who performed with Lefty S T A F F W R IT E R Frizzell, Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. He gave her a guitar and taught her to play. elanie Mulkey has been through The guitar was a precious possession, but it some very hard times in her 30 was stolen when she returned to Oregon. years. Growing up, her parents were alcoholics and her mother was also a Melanie is currently staying at a shelter with her fiancé Aaron. After 12 years of meth addict. At age 7 she was sexually being homeless, she has a deep knowledge abused by adults in the home. When she of what it takes. “Safety is the biggest issue couldn’t get anyone to believe her, Melanie on the streets, that and having enough began roaming the streets, smoking blankets. Any person is at risk. There are so cigarettes and going down every wrong path many homeless people in Portland, and she could think of in pain and confusion. we all get judged. People assume we Eventually Melanie was taken out of her are all addicts, but don’t judge me mother’s home and sent to live with her unless you know my story.” father. Her life improved when he started Melanie and her fiancée playing drums at the Assembly of God, a found out about Street Roots a Christian church on Alberta Street. “Church few years ago, but she wanted was fun,” she recalled, “but school was still to wait until she was clean and tough.” sober. “You have an image to At age 10, she tried to tell the school uphold when you sell Street nurse she was beaten at home, she had the welts to prove it, but there was no intervention. By fifth grade she was labeled ADHD and placed in a special behavioral class because she couldn’t sit still. She was suspended repeatedly and finally expelled from high school. She started using meth at age 14, by age 15 she was on probation. She’s been homeless since she was 18. “I wish I could’ve had a different childhood. I wish they hadn’t been married,” Melanie said, “but my hard childhood made me the strong person I am today. Going through what I did built me up to be a better person. It was an eye-opener. I remember thinking I don’t want to live like this, I want to do something with my life and be clean and sober. I tried to emancipate when I was 16, but you have to have a place to live and a job. They didn’t VENDOR PROFILE Melanie Mulkey M GET TICKETS D o u g F irL o u n g e .c o m A FUNDRAISER FOR. l j ' p .e a r creatively mentoring homeless youth iù vi H » à # aneepioasi by Elizabeth Considine WE KNOW EXACTLY O C E N T R A L C IT Y C O FFE E Shin&iuelL. SfogwuL 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, Food Fight!, Cherry Sprout Produce, and Know Thy Food. AT YOUR OFFICE Interested In serving Central City Coffee at your office? Get in touch with us and we can help you make that 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 your espresso favorites at Old Town's newest spot (201 NW Davis Street), featuring Central City Coffee! Follow our Facebook page for updates and specials. centralcitycoffee.org facebook.com/CentralCityCoffee coffee@ccconcern.org Roots.” She had been staying clean, but when her grandparents died, she relapsed. She got clean again by going cold turkey and she’s been straight now for 11 months. Melanie knows she needs to stay sober to stay alive. She’s had a rough year with pneumonia and bronchitis, and suffers from a birth defect known as Chiari Malformation which causes intense headaches and dizziness. “I was bed-bound for five months. If I don’t take care of myself, I could die.” Melanie and Aaron sell Street Roots at Peets Coffee at Northeast 15th and Broadway when they can. They love meeting new people and sharing stories. Her favorite story is one she read in Street Roots about how homeless people are like weeds growing between the cracks in the sidewalk. “We are survivors who are ignored and on. But we are rare and t, and we have something to give, too.” HOW YOU FEEL O
