Temporarily operating out of a van borrowed from a volunteer, The People’s Store makes evening stops at houseless camps across Portland twice a week. The store offers hot food, clean socks, medical supplies, clothing, books and other items, free of charge, to anyone who approaches.
This resource on wheels started after Ian Clark and Lulu Skach witnessed what Skach described as “a lot of houseless folks getting tear-gassed at protests.” They wanted to help houseless Portlanders living in Black Lives Matter protest areas. Skach began emailing and making calls and eventually connected with other activists through Instagram who were talking about the same thing.
The project, originally called Protest Protections, launched in early June, and it has since broadened to address a larger gap in resources and services left by pandemic-caused closures.
The People’s Store seeks to be a mobile, adaptable, relationship-focused link between resources and people living outside. Recently, the store bought a box truck to increase the scope of its reach and offerings, and it will do some fundraising so that it can build out the box truck to meet its needs as a mobile store.
Visit the People’s Store on Instagram @thepeoplesstorepdx and click on its Linktree if you are interested in volunteering your time, resources or supplies. Volunteers are collecting blankets, tents, tarps, sleeping bags, Gatorade, water, soft snacks, and medical supplies such as bandages, wraps, alcohol wipes, body wipes and sanitary items.
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This article appears in Oct. 21, 2020.