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.