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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 15, 2017)
Street Roots • Dec 15-21, 2017 Page 3 O p in io n Together, all of us - we’ve got this y first day on the job as the new executive director of Street Roots, time to remember we are part of something larger. As one citizenry in this city, the suffering of some is the suffering of all. I hiked past a bumper sticker: The number of people suffering “I V Street Roots.” homelessness in Portland - and the whole I saw this as an immediate reminder: the West Coast - just keeps going up, and our support for Street deep societal injustices penetrate those ■■ h h h h h Roots is city-wide. numbers. Native American folks are Every day since iMBlCTOBY homeless at four times the rate of their the announcement DESK population in Multnomah County. Nearly that I will be moving four percent of all school children in our By Kaia Sand into this position, state are homeless. people have said, This week, Multnomah County released “Israel Bayer ... those its annual Domicile Unknown report are big shoes to fill!” showing the number of homeless people And then I was who died on the streets in 2016. Eighty handed a “Stay Human” cap, just like the people perished outside in Multnomah one Israel wears, and I laughed: Head to County while they were homeless last year. toe, Israel occupies an extraordinarily large The average age of a person who died on place in what’s best about our city. the streets was 49 years old. He has given all his heart, all his hours, Thursday, Dec. 21, is the National all his Israel-Bayer genius to helping Street Homeless Persons Awareness Day - the Roots grow from a scrappy volunteer-run first day of winter and often the street paper to a high-quality weekly sold by _ _ _ _ _ darkest day of the year. So please 170 vendors. light a candle or take a moment He deserves all the rest he is ■■■■ h h to honor the lives of those who willing to take. As one citizenry have died on the streets, So our gift to him is the In this city, the including our four Street Roots assurance that we’ve got this. suffering of vendors who died last year. We will all keep showing up, When people recently stepping up - for Street Roots, some is the for the rights and rest of suffering of all. protested in front of Columbia Sportswear, demanding that our homeless people. I am laws not target those among us confident in this, because the w ho have th e lea st* 1, on e p e tso n support for Street Roots runs ■■■■■■■■■ held a sign: “Making hardship deep. It is legion. I have been quickly harder won’t make it go away!” Yes. At the introduced to a force of Street Roots very least, through our laws and daily supporters that is nothing short of interactions, let’s not make hardship harder. inspiring. On my first day, a group of copy Let’s do more. editors huddled around our newsroom The holidays can be a struggle, especially table, poring over text, as they have done if one is poor. It’s cold out there, and Street weekly for years. On my second day, tens Roots vendors are courageous. This month, upon tens of people shored up the annual you have the opportunity to purchase not vendor holiday party, serving food and only the Street Roots newspaper, but also, calling out bingo numbers. On my third day, the vendor poetry zine. That’s an scores of vendors, volunteers and staff opportunity to give a little extra to vendors. gathered to unload the weekly delivery of Please keep extending your kindness and newspaper bundles. On my fourth day, respect to our vendors who brave the Multnomah County librarians set up a pop conditions of poverty to sell Street Roots. up library in the vendor office. You get the Please keep supporting Street Roots in picture. all the beautiful ways you do, with your time The support doesn’t end there. and your talents and your kindness. And This month marks the launch of Street please take this opportunity to make a Roast coffee, a project of Marigold Coffee in recurring donation on Street Roots’ website partnership with Ideaville and Curate.org. or a one-time donation at the Willamette You can find it at New Seasons Markets Week Give!Guide. You can also mail in throughout Portland as well as Marigold donations, so we’ve included an envelope to Coffee on at 2815 SE Holgate Blvd. make that easy. Proceeds from the sale of each bag will As the Street Roots community, we all support the Street Roots’ vendor program have a whole lot of shoes to fill, but when and the newspaper itself, so keep this in times are their most challenging, we’re mind when you are purchasing holiday gifts. strongest when we all step up together. I visited several local businesses that It’s my commitment to be there every held holiday parties to create gift-filled step of the way, to keep Street Roots backpacks for vendors, thanks to the moving forward. We’ve accomplished so leadership of Business For A Better much together, but there is so much work Portland. The hosts of these parties realize still ahead. that, alongside eggnog and frosted cookies, staff holiday celebrations are the perfect M K aia S a n d is the executive director o f Street Roots. You can reach her at kaia@streetroots. org. Follow her on Twitter @ m kaiasand if available. Street Roots 211 NW Davis St, Portland, OR 97209 503-228-5657 Fax:503-227-3117 www.streetroots.ofg www.news.streetroots.org Hours: 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Sat. and 7:30-1 p.m. Sun. Interested in advertising in Street Roots? Contact Israel Bayer at israel@streetroots.org Staff E x ecu tive D ir e c to r Kaia Sand kaia@streetroots.org E x e c u tiv e E d ito r joanne Zuhl joanne@streetroots.org V e n d o r P ro g ra m D ir e c to r Cote Merkel cole@streetroots.org Senior S ta ff Reporter Emily Green O p e ra tio n s D ir e c to r Sarah Beecroft P ro g ra m A s s is ta n t Caelin M iltko, Jesuit Volunteer V e n d o r A s s is ta n t Scott Jackson, Alex Giliow-Wiles D e v e lo p m e n t A s s is ta n t Rosemary Wilson E d ito ria l P ro d u c e r Monica Kwasnik R e p o rte rs Sarah Hansell, Leonora Ko, Emilly Prado, Jared Paben, Amanda Waldroupe, Stephen Quirke, Helen Hill P h o to g ra p h e rs Diego Diaz, Arkady Brown C a n v a s s e r Desmond Hardison Board of Directors C h a irm a n Brad Taylor V ic e -C h a irm a n Rachel Langford T r e a s u r e r Heather Stadick S e c re ta ry Dan Jones D ir e c to r s Michael Anderson, Sandra Hahn, John Brown, Nets Johnson and Alison Hallett Volunteers Jan Bayer, John Barker, Stacey Heath, Anjaii Rathore, Zoe Klingmann, Dan Jones, Dennis Hogan, Monica McKune, Susan Wolfe, Lucas Hawthorne, Thomas Buell Jr., Jason Cohen, Doug Spangle, Susannah Kamala, Jon Raymond, Diana Richardson, Paul and Madeline Gefroh, Mary Anne Joyce, Del Shawn Davidson, Gillian Floren, Mark Oldani, Bianca Butler, Alex Cherin, Jenny Farres, Evan Firsick, Camber Hansen-Karr, Miranda Woods, Henry Brannan, Megan Smith, Luke Scheuermann, Helen Hill, Lily Krai, Mary Emerson, Brooke Anderson, Kathleen McFall, Robb Hengerer, Bronwyn Miles, Maile Yeats- Rowe, Erin Parsons, Bridget Brown and Megan Pickerel-Winer. If you're interested in volunteering with Street Roots, please submit a volunteer application at streetroots.org/volunteer. Or you can call for more information at 503-228-5657.
