Street Roots • Jan. 12-18, 2018
Page 3
E d ito r ia l
Be a part of the solution, support Measure 101
ast week, as the rain fell hard, a group
manage one’s health care, from refrigerating
of Street Roots vendors held a blue
medicine to securing a place to recover after
tarp high above their heads. The truck
a surgery. The challenges of hygiene
had arrived with the bundles of Street Roots
compromise wound care, exacerbating
newspapers, precious cargo for 170 people
infections. Untreated illnesses become
who brave conditions of homelessness and
chronic. Substance abuse and mental health
poverty to sell this paper. From the truck to
crises contribute to the early loss of lives on
the front door,
the streets. The majority of people on the
vendors formed a
streets report a disability. People suffer from
tent with the tarp,
domestic violence. Sleep deprivation brings
D IR E C T O R 'S
the rain pounding but on additional illness. Homelessness is a
in v e ir
the papers dry.
health crisis.
The street
Here in Oregon, Medicaid expansion has
By Kaia Sand
newspaper movement made it possible to extend health care to
___
is one big dream
many people suffering from homelessness.
implemented by a
Most of our Street Roots vendors now have
whole lot of people in health care through the Oregon Health Plan
34 countries. Here at Street Roots, we
- the Medicaid provider - and many through
publish our newspaper every week, our
the Medicaid expansion, joining more than
vendors purchasing the newspaper for a
350,000 people statewide who now depend
quarter and selling it for a dollar. Vendors
on this insurance.
pitch in in other ways, too. On
Street Roots has endorsed
Fridays, the day when the
Measure 101 because we do not
truckload of papers arrives,
want to lose this. We don’t want
vendors, staff and volunteers
our vendors to lose Oregon Health
People
want
to
unload the newspaper, passing
Plan coverage. We don’t want
help when the other poor and homeless folks to
bundles from person to person,
opportunity
stacking the bundles onto
lose that care. We don’t want
shelves, dividing the stacks to
children to lose health care: 40
arises. Right
then distribute. There are a lot
percent of children in our state
now, such an
of people pitching in to make
opportunity has are enrolled in the Oregon Health
this dream a reality, sometimes
Plan.
arisen.
by holding a tarp in the rain. A
People want to help when the
opportunity arises. Right now,
lot of people who have very
such an opportunity has arisen.
little do a whole lot.
Please cast your vote to sustain
Across Portland, people are
funding for the Oregon Health Plan by voting
having conversations about how we can
yes for Measure 101.
come up with solutions to homelessness.
There is much work ahead of us. Some of
And just like at Street Roots, people want to
this work must be visionary and big.
help.
But just as the vendors grabbed a tarp to
Here’s one way you can help right now:
collectively protect the newspapers from the
Vote yes for Measure 101.
rain, some of what we must do is simply
Homelessness is brutal to a person’s
protect what we already have from
health.
destruction.
People grow sick from sleeping exposed
The expansion of the Oregon Health Plan
to rain, snow, heat and toxins. In shelters
is a precious gain, so let’s make sure we hold
and in camps, people are exposed to
on to it.
communicable diseases. It is difficult to
L
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
something
that you’ve
written published
in our pages, or would
like to get involved as a
member of our reporting staff,
contact Executive Editor Joanne Zuhl at
503-228-5657, joanne@streetroots.org.
We ask that ali submissions include the
author’s name and contact information,
if available.
Street Roots
211 NW Davis St.
Portland, OR 97209
503-228-5657
Fax:503-227-3117
www.streetroots.org
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.
Advertising
Interested in advertising in Street Roots?
Contact Israel Bayer at israel@streetroots.org
Staff
Kaia Sand
Program Assistant Caelin Miltko, Jesuit
Rosemary Wilson
Editorial Producer Monica Kwasnik
Reporters Sarah Hansell, Leonora Ko, Emilly
Prado, Jared Paben, Amaoda Waldroupe,
Stephen Quirke, Helen Hill
Photographers Diego Diaz, Arkady Brown
Canvasser Desmond Hardison
Board of Directors
Chairman Brad Taylor
Vice-Chairman Rachel Langford
Treasurer Heather Stadick
Secretary Dan Jones
Directors Michael Anderson, Sandra Hahn,
John Brown, Nels Johnson and Alison Hallett
Volunteers
Street Roots
vendor Betty jo
Griffiths
Jan Bayer, John Barker, Stacey Heath, Anjali 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, Brooke
Anderson, Gillian Floren, Mark Oldani, Bianca Butler,
Alex Cherin, Jenny Farres, Evan Firsick, Camber
Hansen-Karr, Miranda Woods, Henry Brannan,
Megan Smith, Helen Hill, Mary Emerson, Brooke
Anderson, Kathleen McFall, Robb Hengerer, Bronwyn
Miles, Maile Yeats-Rowe, Erin Parsons, Bridget
Brown, Faye Powell, Jon Raymond 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.