It is easy in this confounding country to become so singularly focused on work, on home, and on health matters, trying to get ahead, to maintain, or to merely get by that we often forget the responsibility of living in a republic.
I’ve heard people say, “I don’t pay attention to the news,” almost proudly, usually because they don’t believe what they hear, or else they assume everything they hear is spun to fit the occasion. And yes, there is a lot of propaganda in mainstream media, but willful ignorance makes for poor citizenship. We have a responsibility to be informed and to educate each other. Street Roots is organizing a Speakers Bureau with Keith Vann, Jay Thiemeyer and Dan Newth. They have all been homeless and possess a depth of knowledge and understanding of street experiences not found in any book, report, or data. Together they have spent thousands of hours working on the problems that arise out of homelessness through activism, and with city and county entities. This work has helped break down some of the stereotypes that burden homeless people. In December 2005, Keith Vann and Dan Newth received the Cecil M. Shumway Award from the City of Portland and the Oregon Community Foundation for “exceptional dedication to making a positive change in the lives of homeless people.”
The causes of homelessness are both systemic and personal in that the societal reasons for a person’s homelessness affects each person in a profoundly different way. That’s why, when social service agencies focus on the individual as the sole source of his or her own problems, the only changes possible are superficial and fleeting. Isolating people and treating them as “cases” without thought to the intricate, multiple reasons for how a person in this wealthy country can become homeless is, in essence, pushing the problem into the shadows where it is sure to build pressure, to grow increasingly worse, the person’s problems becoming more inextricable before re-exploding later, into a much worse problem that requires even greater resources to “solve.”
Street Roots wants to bring the issues and potential solutions to light. We don’t say we have all the answers. Real solutions must be reached with all perspectives at the table. Each speaker has his own story and style. Each speaking event will focus on three key arenas. The first of which will be Street Roots, and the wider street newspaper movement. Street Roots is a part of growing global movement that has representation in Asia, South America, Australia, Africa, and North America. The speaking event will also focus on personal stories of each individual’s homelessness, while looking at the broader issues of homelessness and poverty itself. Each speaking event will include actions items, and small-scale solutions being taken by innovative communities locally, and globally. To get a better feel of an individual speaker, visit his bio, or Google his name. These insights have value.