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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (June 1, 2018)
Street Roots • June 1-7, 2018 O p in io n Every day at Street Roots, strangers become kin ix months have passed since I joined kin. We care about each other, and through Street Roots as executive director, and I this, we dismantle a bit of the isolation of learn each and every day. I will keep poverty. sharing what I learn with you, and I am grateful This is why it matters that not only are when I hear your stories from street comers all vendors earning income with dignity, selling a around the city. newspaper they can be proud of, but also, they I suspect this work interact with people all over the city for whom will always feel their fates matter. transformative, a bit This is important on a daily, individual level, D IR E C T O R 'S phoenix-like here at but it also matters when each of us have to Street Roots. Life is so DESK make decisions on how to organize, advocate difficult for some people, and vote. By Kaia Sand like it has been burnt to Take the term “livability.’’ Livability for the ground. But from whom? People struggling with homelessness those ashes, hope are cast as a problem; a homeless camp sometimes takes flight described as bringing down the livability of a People come into Street Roots vendor neighborhood. In such a case the idea of orientations on Tuesdays and Fridays trying to livability is shining favor on people with more get something going in their lives. There’s means, and ill-will on those with less. Livability hope in th a t And we all keep at this - the policies must not harm the poor. Our city vendors, board, staff and volunteers, all of you should be more livable for the poor. who buy this newspaper - because we know When we vote to spend money on deeply that we can build something bigger than any of affordable housing, we vote for good things to us individually. happen for people on the streets and in Life can feel so big and raw on our comer of poverty. Think of the Street Roots vendor I Old Town that some days feel like a week. described who came to the counter to share (“Have a good w eekend/1 once said on a that she finally had housing, and multiply her Tuesday.) Vendors come to the counter, by the thousands. That’s the kind of counting out coins, buying papers for a quarter imagination we need to pass a regional housing each before they dispatch to their sales posts. bond like the one Metro has proposed for Sleep deprivation is commonplace. Some pause $652.8 million, which we will have the for a respite from the crush of poverty: an opportunity to vote for in November if Metro extra sugar in their coffee, a moment to rest Council refers it on June 7. their head on a table. We need to muster the political power of But there’s something else I’ve come to love. < learn. Street Roots vendors reach out to our . N e x t y e a r, S tr e e t R o o ts w ill c e le b r a te o u r office tq share their good riews too. 20th anniversary, and we’ll be telling some of One man finally got an appointment with Veteran’s Affairs, something he had been trying the big stories from our journalism and our Street Roots vendors. But we woii’t just be for a long time to achieve. He called the Street looking back. As we strive to care deeply for , Roots office to tell us. He wanted to share his our poorest neighbors, strangers becoming kin, news with people who cared that good things we’ll dream big for the future of Street Roots. happen in his life. And finally, a note to thank all of you who Another woman secured an apartment for contributed to Street Roots for our spring fund herself and her family after months in shelters drive. As of press time, we brought in $16,001 and on the streets. She dropped by to let us - our most successful spring fund drive to date. know. She wanted to share her news with That’s in addition to the $10,000 matching people who, again, care that good things donation for the drive. Thank you! If you still happen in her life. would like to send a check or make a donation. Can you think of a person you have called to at our website, we would be grateful. Individual share your good news because you knew that donations are our lifeblood. Please mail checks for that person, your well-being matters? That’s to Street Roots, 211 NW Davis St, Portland, how Street Roots is for some vendors. Oregon, 97209. I’ve come to see this as strangers becoming S Kaia Sand is the executive director o f Street Roots. You can reach her at kaia@streetroots. org. Follow her on Twitter @mkaiasand Page 3 If you would like to have 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 603-228-5657, panne@streetroots.org. We ask that all submissions Include the author’s name and contact information, if available. Street Roots 211 NWDavis 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.-FrL, 7:30 a,m.-2 p.m. Sat. and 7:30-1 p.m. Sun. Advertising Interested in advertising in Street Roots? Email Andrew Hogan at andrew@streetroots.org Staff Executive Director Kara Sand kaia@streetroots.org Executive Editor Joanne Zuhl joanne@streetroots.org Vendor Program Director Cole Merkel coie@streetroots.org D e v e lo p m e n t D i r e c t o r Andrew H ogan andrew®streetroc>is. org S e n io r S t a f f R e p o r t e r E m ily G reen . Operations Director Sarah Beecroft Program Assistant Caelin Mlltko, Jesuit Volunteer Vendor Assistant Scott Jackson, Alex Gillow-Wiles Development Assistant Rosemary Wilson Editorial Producer Monica Kwasnik Reporters Sarah Hansell, Leonora Ko, Emilly Prado, Eltena Rosenthal, Amanda Waldroupe, Thacher Schmid, DeVon Pouncey, Helen Hill Photographers Diego Diaz, Arkady Brown, Celeste Noche Canvasser Desmond Hardison Board of Directors Chair Rachel Langford Vice-Chair Dan Jones Treasurer Heather Sta dick Secretary Alison Hallett Directors Michael Anderson, Sandra Hahn, John Brown, Nets Johnson Volunteers John Barker, Stacey Heath, Anjali Rathore, Dennis Hogan, 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, Camber Hansen- Karr, Miranda Woods, Henry Brannan, Helen Hill, Mary Emerson, Brooke Anderson, Kathleen McFall, Robb Hengerer, Maile Yeats-Rowe, Erin Parsons, Faye Powell, Jon Raymond, Danny Moran and Megan Pickerel-Wmer. 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.
