News
Player of the year: Portland Timber David Horst
Portland is affectionately known as “Soccer City USA” thanks to its fervent support of the sport from the professional ranks to the youth leagues. The Portland Timbers have undoubtedly helped buoy this soccer moniker. Since beginning play in Major League Soccer in 2011, the Timbers have made a significant impact on the local sports terrain.…
A day in the life
Alan chronicled Street Roots vendor Allen Bennett’s day as part of the Oregon Project Dayshoot+30, commemorating the 30th anniversary of the original Project Dayshoot which documented in pictures he lives of Oregonians on a single day. Allen carries his collapsible chair and display stand to his turf. He sells copies of the Street Roots at…
Changing attitudes
No matter where you live on the planet, you are most certainly noticing intense and changing weather patterns. There is much debate about what that means and how to interpret all of the empirical data that scientists have collected for decades. Bill McKibben has been writing and lecturing on the topic for more than 25…
Street Roots Annual Report: Building a better Portland for people experiencing poverty
Welcome to the 2012-13 Street Roots annual report. This past year has been an exciting time for Street Roots, as we continue to grow as an organization and media outlet. At the heart of Street Roots is community. More than 300 men and women earned a dignified income this past year with Street Roots. More…
Group calls for investigation of patient dumping from Nevada psychiatric hospital
The Mental Health Association of Portland is asking Oregon’s Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum to inquire into a Nevada state psychiatric hospital that has been accused of dumping patient’s in surrounding states. Below is the letter written to the Attorney General asking for the inquiry. “To: Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum: The Mental Health Association of Portland…
Opinion
Right 2 Dream Too has earned its place at the table
Not many people gave them a chance. From the neighborhood and bureaucrats to certain shelter providers and the business community, no one believed that a group of homeless people could be successful in creating their own safe refuge from the harsh realities of homelessness. Right 2 Dream Too has been proving those critics wrong for…
Autumn rolls in, bringing with it the terror of learning
I always like to quote John Keats’ unforgettable “To Autumn” when fall arrives: Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; Conspiring with him how to load and bless With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run; To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees, And fill all…
Finding solutions for Portland’s most vulnerable
Three months ago when Mayor Charlie Hales assigned new bureaus to the City Council, I was honored to be working on housing and homelessness issues as the new Commissioner in charge of the Portland Housing Bureau. I welcome the new challenge. I see the work as a huge opportunity to affect change on issues that…
Now is not the time to give up on those who are homeless
Last week, a young, frightened woman phoned my Multnomah County office looking for help. She was a mother, with three children, who needed housing. The family had been doubling up with a relative, but now that relative was moving out of town. She needed help immediately. She’d called the shelters in Portland, but they were…
The Pearl District and the right to dream
The Pearl District for many represents a neighborhood on the rise — a shining example of how to plan urban growth, public transportation, sustainability, parks and the environment. The list goes on. Add a bustling food and art scene, a growing tech community, and a neighborhood that prides itself on walking and cycling, the light…
Vendor Profiles
Finding strength — inside and out
It was easy to pick out Lorry Clark when I went to meet him at his old selling spot at Northwest 11th Avenue and Lovejoy Street. A tall man with an easy posture and a big smile, Lorry could look down on the tops of the heads of most of the people who wordlessly passed…
Poetry & Art
Soup Can Sam: Sept 13-26, 2013
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Concrete actually never really dries. Fifty years could pass and there is still a fraction of water inside. A teensy fraction! That means it can expand and contract, adjust to the changing seasons and actually get stronger with age. Same goes for you too: the tiniest fraction can make all the…
