Vendor Profiles
A natural salesman — with a touch of mystery
Every morning at 5 a.m., Street Roots vendor Shaun Followell wakes up, carefully packs up his gear and heads to the Starbucks on 15th Avenue and Fremont Street to sell papers. After a couple of hours, he hops on the bike he made himself and rides downtown to the Street Roots office to pick up…
News
Come as you are and have a seat: Portland artist Michael Horwitz
If you have attended any dance parties around Portland recently, chances are you’ve noticed revelers taking a break from the festivities to wait in line. The sight is an odd one until you find local artist Michael Horwitz at the center of the crowd, colored pencils sprawled about, drawing anyone who is willing to sit…
For the Record: Jan 17-30, 2014
Pounds of coffee donated by Stumptown in 2013: 14,000 Number of nonprofits Stumptown supported in 2013, including Street Roots: 160 Units of carbon dioxide emission reduced by Stumptown in 2013: 9,300 Number of cars removed from the road to equal 9,300 units of carbon dioxide emissions: 109 Estimated cost of disconnecting Mt. Tabor’s reservoirs and…
Sasha Abramsky talks poverty — American style
The title of author Sasha Abramsky’s new book, “The American Way of Poverty,” might sound a bit patronizing to patriotic ears, given that Abramsky was born in Great Britain and attended Oxford University. But living now in his mother’s homeland of America, which he has traveled and documented in such publications as The Nation, The…
Solidarity in city salaries: Seattle’s new council member ponies up her own paycheck toward the $15 minimum-wage movement
Kshama Sawant took her oath of office Jan. 6 in front of hundreds at Seattle City Hall. She plans to take home an “average worker’s wage” and donate the rest of her $120,000 annual salary to a campaign to create a $15-an-hour minimum wage and other social-justice causes. Kshama Sawant took the same oath of…
Opinion
Health reform long overdue for people leaving prison
More than 4,000 people leave Oregon state prisons each year, and many more are released from county jails. This population suffers from disproportionately high rates of untreated infectious and chronic disease, mental health disorders and substance abuse problems. While state and county correctional facilities are legally obligated to provide basic health services to people in…
2014 landlord-tenant law changes are on their way
Renters in Oregon had more reasons to celebrate this holiday season, as new tenant protections were added to Oregon’s Landlord-Tenant Law Jan. 1, 2014. The Community Alliance of Tenants (CAT) is Oregon’s only grassroots, tenant-led renters rights organization, and had a busy and successful year in 2013, fighting and winning to expand housing opportunities for…
Relationships can help guide religious understanding
My parents and the people I grew up around are kind, loving, caring people. Stereotypes are easy, but reality is always more complicated. I never learned hate from them, but there was a lot of fear. As Evangelicals, one of the things they feared most was homosexuality — it was sort of our “litmus test”…
City has to back up good intentions with leadership
Mayor Charlie Hales didn’t become mayor with the hopes of having to solve homelessness, especially in a growing city like Portland. But the crisis of thousands of people sleeping outside, as it relates to mental health, public safety, neighborhood livability and the lack of housing is exactly what Hales has inherited. Hales isn’t alone. The…
We have the energy to power solutions
What happens when a group of people experiencing homelessness and poverty decide to take matters into their own hands and organize to improve their quality of life? Unfortunately, they often are looked upon as a nuisance in the community. It’s common knowledge that many people on the streets are demonized as lazy and not doing…
