January 11,2006
M a r tin L u t h e r K in g J r .“««1 R o s a P a r k s
Page B7
2 0 0 6 s p e c i a l e a i1 1 o n ____
Making Strides for Housing Equity
she said, “The kids who passed d ru g s?’ W ell, check your a s
through there, I see now as sumptions. D oyou assume he’s
eco n o m ic pro sp erity w ere adults at the cafe. It reinforces an addict because he’s dishev
made in the past, 1 i ke duri ng the w hat I’ve alw ays said: If we eled? H om eless people often
Great Depression of the 1930s don’tcherishourchildren, ifwe are. If h e ’s obviously strung
w hen the W PA “put people to d o n 't intervene at an early age, out, consider if you had a rela
work in jobs they could do. I ’ m we reap the w hirlw ind later."
tive w ho was an addict, how
sure the president had people
A nother sore spot concerns w ould you want him to be
around him who reminded him street panhandling.
treated? Y ou wouldn’tgive him
that this is a national problem
"O ur results show that a very m oney, but you could be com
and w e’re all in this together.
That attitude is missing today.”
Instead, as the H urricane
K atrinadisastershow ed, there
was indiscrim inate use o f re
sources to help people. “W here
was the strategic planning?”
N elson asked.
In the last year. N elson — Sisters of the Road Café Director Genny Nelson
worked on an ongoing project,
a survey o f 600 hom eless and
formerly homeless people. The small percentage o f hom eless passionate. It’snot fair to have
results, she said, are “disheart people panhandle, and that one response for the pri vi leged,
ening, to say the least. It’s star what they mostly use the money another for hom eless people.”
tling to hear how many people for is food, cigarettes and hy
At Sisters o f the Road, lunch
have been hom eless since their giene item s. N ow , do som e can be bought for $2.50 and
early youth.”
people panhandle for drug people can volunteer to earn a
N elson once served as di m oney? Absolutely. I’m asked lunch ticket, a system that
rector o f the W est fam ily shel by business people, ‘W hat if I N elson says was initiated by
ter in northw est Portland and see som eone panhandling for those receiving help.
continued
from H4
Human beings
inherently want to
maintain their dignity.
Legal Help at the Jail House
Rosa
Parks was booked at the Montgomery. Ala. police station in
1955 and was bailed out of the city jail by friend E.D. Nixon
(left) and a white attorney and supporter. Clifford Durr. Parks ’
arrest was used as the basis of a challenge to bus
segregation laws, spurring a 281-day bus boycott. Her case
resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that segregated
bus service was unconstitutional.
TriMet Adjusts for MLK Holiday
Service to match
expected ridership
demand
f
“T h e y ’resa y in g , ‘H old me
accountable,” ’she said.
The idea that people are en
titled to be taken care o f “ is a
mind set created by institution
alizing hom elessness. W hen
ever 1 see people com e from
the place o f “I’m o w e d ,’ it
m akes m e sad. It’s not the
people I blam e, it’s the system
that puts people in that posi
tion.”
Nelson said, “hum an beings
i nherently want to maintai n their
dignity.”
She adm its that at tim es she
has gotten discouraged.
“ I’ve alw ays believed that
hom elessness w as solvable,”
she said. “ I’ ve been working at
this for 33 years and it’s only
gotten w orse.”
The good part, she said, is
that there has been politicization
am ong the homeless.
“I've seen people move from
a place o f sham e to a m ore
political place.” she said. "They
understand how the system
works.”
T riM et will operate on a m odified
Saturday schedule to m atch the ex
pected dem and on the M artin Luther
K ingJr. holiday, M onday, Jan. 16.
B ecause the public tra n sit system
carries m ore riders on the M LK holiday
than any oth er holiday, the ag ency has
d ecided to provide m ore service than a
typical holiday/Sunday schedule. Based
most bus lines will run on S at
urday sc h ed u le s w ith extra
service for m orning and a fter
noon com m utes; 34 o f the most
heavily traveled bus lines will
run on w eekday schedules and
all w eekday express lines will
be canceled, including the five
lines se rv in g M arq u am H ill.
O th e r c a n ce led lines are: 41-
T a c o m a , 8 I-K a n e R o ad /
on last y e a r's figures, M o n d ay ’s rider- 2 5 7 th A ve and 8 4 -K e lso /B o rin g .
ship is anticip ated to be 75 percent o f a
For specific inform ation on routes and
norm al w eekday.
schedules visit trimet.org or call 503-238-
T o ad ju st for the influx, M A X and RIDE.
W ELLS
FARGO
The Next Stage*
Wells Fargo honors
for enabling us all to imagine
the great possibilities in our future.
e J00# Weill F Afijo Sink, N A AN light» teiei vert Member FIX.