Homelessness is not a crime. The belief that it is, is what Daniel Cox hopes to help change with advocacy work in the future.
Daniel sells Street Roots and volunteers with Sisters of the Road.
“Being part of that community and now joining the Street Roots community, I have a sense of a purpose rather than just aimlessly walking around the streets and having nothing to do,” he said.
He grew up in Ketchikan, Alaska, and Seattle, Wash., finally moving to Portland eight years ago. He grew up the youngest of four and is still close with his siblings. His sister is a caregiver for at-risk children, one of his brothers develops medical software for hospitals, and the brother closest to him in age is a carver. He’s an artist like his brother, a musician. He was on the school band in high school, worked as an alternate drummer for a punk-rock band in Seattle and was part of a drumming circle in Portland. For Daniel, music is vital.
“About 20 years ago, maybe 30, I was a run-of-the-mill kind of person, not really attuned to anything but myself,” he said. “Then I got involved with music.”
Music is a spiritual thing for Daniel, and has helped him through many rough parts of his life. He was working in Nashville for a few months when the Wallflowers debut album came out, and he listened to it every day.
“It just pulled me through,” he said.
The music scene, however, also came along with a lot of exposure to drugs and alcohol.
“At first I thought I had a handle on it. It just slowly spiraled down and as it got farther and farther down it seemed to just go faster and faster and next thing you know, I’m caught up, heavy in the drug scene, started losing my spirituality, started giving up on things,” he said. “You get in the frame of mind where all you think about is your addiction. … It takes over — spiritually, mentally and emotionally.”
Addiction led Daniel to homelessness. Now he wants to advocate for others that are also facing the struggles and barriers that he has faced.
“Most of the homeless people I’ve been involved with, we have a sense of looking out for each other. A lot of homeless people will help out other homeless people because they know what it’s like to not have 50 cents to get a cup of coffee or to get out of the rain.”
Right now he is working with Cascadia to get housing, and hopes to volunteer with Western Regional Advocacy Project in the future. He wants to work towards a better system, where instead of being blamed, people are housed.
“I think being an advocate for the homeless is standing up for social justice for the homeless,” he said.
