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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 2018)
oireet Roots • Dec. 14-20, 2018 u p in io n Page Courage comes in many forms - just like our vendors he rain was coming down hard, but still vendors sold Street Roots, draped in ponchos, gripping umbrellas, their newspapers and zines protected in plastic sleeves. It seemed fitting to mark the one-year anniversary since I became exécutive director by visiting vendors at their sales posts; last year on my first day on the job, I worked as vendor for the day. Vendors talked to me about how iniportant their relationships are with regular customers, aswell as about kindness from employees at nearby stores, bi# like Next Adventure, where Eric Sweger seïïs. Roger Cavitt meets tourists at his posts By Kaia Sand near both Pioneer Square and Powells, and he has framed currency from all over the world given to him by international customers. As I visited vendors at the sales posts, I was struck, as I always am, that even though it was cold and wet, Street Roots vendors still were out there selling the paper, trying. The poet Charles Olson wrote, “Let those of us who live/try,” and Street Roots vendors do this, again and again, often in the wake of other suffering, other struggles. They are all trying to get something going. The couple Who saved up income selling Street Roots for an RV as shelter, only to have it break down, a heap of immobile metal - they are trying. So is the woman who decorates her black outfits with blue boas. And the man whose beret is tilted just so, adding flair from his one garbage bag of belongings he lugs along., B So is th e m an who ta k e s h is m e th a d o n e - and sometimes he weeps, it is so hard, and he has to keep acting on faith that it’s all worth it. So is the Woman who shows me a video on her phone of her son cooking her special enchiladas she made him as a child. She was so pleased that he kept her tradition going since she has no kitchen in which to cook, sleeping in a shelter these last fëw months. Sb are all the vendors who take their creativity and do something with it - glazing ceramics, writing poetry, snapping photos. And all of them who tend j to their pets - dogs, a bunny named Buddy, a cat Jt named Linguini. So is the man with his bright socks and floppy hats who laughs hard when he feels up to laughing, and trudges along otherwise. So is the man, discouraged by his alcohol addiction, who is loving to his friends, including one who died this year. He’s full of heart and I K K aia San d is the executive director o f Street Roots. You can reach her at kaia@streetroots. org. Follow her on Twitter @mkaiasand admire that. I admire the people who walk in off the streets and go through orientation each Tuesday and Friday to start selling Street Roots - they are trying get something going, like the man whose cheek was smeared with tears as he described an eviction notice and a sick mother across the cou n try, • Sometimes, of course, it’s very hard to try. People tell me about the housing lists they are on, and how they wait and wait, and sometimes it feels futile. A man worries about a housing voucher letter he’s lost He sleeps on the cold sidewalk and someone recently stole his backpack. It’s hard to fully heal in the wet weather, and the cold. Or the summer heat and the dense smoke from the forest fires, for that matter. And people endure so much violence and so many losses. It was a year of many Street Roots vendor deaths - eight deaths, as well as more of our Old Town neighbors. In fact, we lost a long-time vendor just last week, Ron Britt. Ron called everyone “sunshine” and urged them to “make million.” Just that memory makes other vendors smile. The courage it takes to face the public, clutching the paper; often makes me marvel. It’s hard to hide the markings of homelessness - weather-worn h air, chapped skin, sores that won’t heal, bags of belongings and trauma that covers the body - and for this, people often endure ill-treatment. They describe feeling invisible or worse. Hie holidays can be very hard for people struggling on the streets and outside of festivities. Courage comes in many forms, including just facing another brutal day. Please keep supporting our vendors and share your kindness with everyone on the streets. A nd ’b ecau se > please invest in our v e n d o r p ro g ra m by m aking a recurring donation on Street Roots’ website or a one time donation at the Willamette Week GivelGuide and help us move into our 20th year strong together! Thank you! Street Roots ^11N W D fflftsa :-. Portland, OR 97209 503-228-5657 H lS S I Hl -y -M Fax:503-227-3117 www.streetroots.org news.streetroois.org Hours: 7:30 a.rn.-3 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 730 a.ra-2 p.m. Sat. and 7:30-1 p.m. Sun. 1 Submissions 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- 967-3982, joanne@streetroots.org. We ask that all submissions indude the author’s name and contact information, if available. Advertising interested in advertising in Street Roots? Email Andrew Hogan at andrew@streetroots.org S ta ff Executive Director Kaia Sand kaia@streetroots.org Executive E d ito r Joanne Zuhl joanne@streetroots.org Veader Program Director Cole Merkel cole@streetroots.org Development Director Andrew Hogan andrew@streetroots.org Senior Staff Reporter Emily Green emify@streetroots.org Vendor Coordinator Devon Pouncey Administrative Assistant Kayla Jones Program Assistant Meghan Murphy, Jesuit Volunteer Vendor Assistant Alex Gilfow-Wifes Development Assistant Nina Lee Editorial Producer Monica Kwasnik Reporters Sarah Hansell, Leonora Ko, Emilly Prado, Ellena Rosenthal, Amanda Waldroupe, Helen Hill, Jason Cohen, Stephen Quirke, Libby Dowsett Ph otograph ers Diego Diaz, Arkady Brown, Celeste Noche Canvasser Desmond Hardison Board of Directors Chair Rachel Langford Vice-Chair Dan Jones Treasurer Heather Stadick Secretary Alison Hallett Directors Michael Anderson, Sandra Hahn, John Brown, Nels Johnson Volunteers ï , MiiilMiBlili On a recent rainy weekend, Street Roots Vendor Eric Sweger dons heavy-duty gear before heading out to sell the newspaper. 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, Danny Moran, Susan Maloy 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.
