Opinion
Director’s Desk: Human suffering and camp sweeps
How does one come even close to describing the experience of human suffering? Is it the look in a person’s eyes after having completely given up hope or the anger that boils up someone’s voice or actions? Is it the addiction that one succumbs to after experiencing multiple nervous breakdowns and becoming homeless? Is it…
It’s up to City Hall
The seasons are changing here in Portland. The sun is finally starting to shine with some consistency, the days are getting longer, the darkness is fading into winter’s past, conversations on the proverbial patio have returned, and blossoms and pollen are everywhere. Winter is gone; summer is almost here. Budget season is also heating up…
A trip down the rabbit hole of homeless ‘services’ in the Portland metro area
Ask Jamie what the highest point in her life was, and she will quickly answer that it was the day her son was born, six years ago. The lowest point? The night she had a pocketful of Shari’s Restaurant gift cards as her only means of sheltering her little family from a cold and stormy…
Oregonians share stories, visions for state
Last month we asked community members to share their vision. We asked: What does building Oregon’s future mean to you? What would change in your life, in your experience, with available and affordable homes? What are you excited to bring to the table to help create housing opportunity? Because we know the numbers: more than…
Beneath the waves
In the early stages of the first world war, the efficacy of submarines as powerful tools of war was lost on many, but not all. Shortly before the war’s outbreak, Arthur Conan Doyle — the creator of Sherlock Holmes — penned a fictional tale titled “Danger!” in which he imagined a small country bringing the…
Editorial: solutions, not sweeps, will end homelessness
Every year about this time, like clockwork, the City of Portland conducts annual camp sweeps in inner Southeast Portland, and eventually parts of downtown right before the Rose Festival. And every year, like clockwork, Portland’s media machine jumps on the story as if it were the first time homeless camps have ever been swept. Elected…
News
A conversation with Jon Lovitz
Jon Lovitz was part of an iconic “Saturday Night Live Cast” in the late ’80s that included Phil Hartman, Jan Hooks, Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, Dennis Miller and Kevin Nealon. He created what might be some of the most memorable skits and characters in the show’s 40-year history (think: pathological liar Tommy Flanagan, “Yeah ……
Fostering families
Caleb was only an infant when he was sent to live with Emily and Greg Sisk in 2009. He had seven broken bones and shaken baby syndrome – injuries sustained from abuse during his first three months of life. He wasn’t a typical baby boy, explains Emily Sisk. “He could never have shoes on; he…
Vendor Profiles
Street Roots vendor profile: Amber Dunks
When Amber Dunks sits down for her interview, she is clearly exhausted. She explains that while her fiancé has a job, he returns late, and last night they had a difficult time finding a safe spot to sleep on the street. “When I got there at 11:20, it was really quiet; it was like…
