News
Oregon’s recidivism rate lowest in nation? Not so fast
In corrections, the best measure of success is generally agreed upon to be the recidivism rate, or the rate at which people reoffend after their release. In Oregon, the Department of Corrections uses the percentage of inmates who are convicted of a new felony within three years of their release to count recidivism. Among the…
Inside Oregon’s prison workforce: Education and training programs
This is Part II of a two-part report looking inside Oregon's prison workforce. Part I explores whether prison jobs exploit inmates or provide them an opportunity. Cars in varying degrees of assembly fill up the automotive shop at Oregon State Penitentiary, from a classic Porsche to a 1965 Volvo. In the back of the shop is a small classroom.…
Inside Oregon’s prison workforce: Exploitation or opportunity?
This is Part I of a two-part report looking inside Oregon's prison workforce. Part II explores education and training programs offered to inmates. On Sept. 9, hundreds flooded downtown Portland in protest of profits made off the backs of America’s inmates, who are typically paid less than a dollar an hour to work menial jobs.…
About Street Roots: What we do
Street Roots 2017 Vendor of the Year Patti Mancini from Street Roots on Vimeo. Our mission Street Roots creates income opportunities for people experiencing homelessness and poverty by producing a newspaper and other media that are catalysts for individual and social change. How it works Street Roots is a 501(c)3 nonprofit in Portland, Oregon, that…
Opinion
‘The Underground Railroad’: A horrific journey to the bottom of our soul
"The Underground Railroad is bigger than its operators — it’s all of you, too. The small spurs, the big trunk lines.” Then Colson Whitehead was a child, he thought the Underground Railroad was an actual train that ran underground. Funny how those childhood confusions stick around. Decades later, the author of “The Intuitionist” and a…
Vendor Profiles
Street Roots vendor profile: The customers – ‘they see you’
Jason Everly came to Portland more than 17 years ago to do service with AmeriCorps. “It was one of the hardest, but one of the best, things that I ever did for myself,” Jason said. “I was on what they called an EnviroCorps Team,” he said. “We were kind of an offshoot of the CCC,…
