This is an incredible time at Street Roots. The dream we laid out five years ago to become a weekly publication is about to come true.
Last year at this time Street Roots went public with the idea and the hope that the community would support the transition from a biweekly to a weekly publication schedule. The gratitude and support that vendors and the organizations have felt from the community has been overwhelming.
With your support, Street Roots will begin publishing weekly on Friday, Jan. 2.
What exactly does that mean?
Going weekly means increasing our ability to give people on the fringes a voice through the newspaper and our website. It will mean holding government accountable on the poverty and social justice front. It will mean giving people of color, those less fortunate, and those with innovative ideas and dreams a platform to tell their stories and for the general public to understand how we are all connected.
At the heart of everything we do is supporting people experiencing poverty and homelessness in getting back on their feet. We play a role in facilitating people’s access to housing and other services with an array of social-service providers and partners. This year, Street Roots will have given more than 400 people an opportunity to prevent or work toward getting out of homelessness. Going weekly means increasing all of the vendors’ income to help improve their quality of life.
“Going weekly will bring more customers, better dialogues, better relationships and more money,” says Betty Jo, who sells at the Alberta Food Cooperative in Northeast Portland. “Going weekly means I will get to see my people more often. I love my customers. They are all so amazing! We share laughs and we share smiles. In the end, going weekly will mean good friendships, good relationships.”
To ensure the success of weekly publication, this winter fund drive has to be our best ever. Our community continues to humble us with donations. We are on track, but we need your support now more than ever. Instead of crossing a finish line, in many ways we are just beginning to set sail. By going weekly the organization is pushing away from the docks and headed into the open sea. It’s your support that will allow us to stay the course.
You can support the vendors and Street Roots by giving a gift today to Street Roots at www.streetroots.org, or by sending a check to Street Roots, 211 NW Davis St., Portland, OR 97209. You can also give a gift this year through the Willamette Week Give!Guide (www.giveguide.org).
Your support means giving people a hand up, literally. Your donations go directly to support the vendors and the newspaper. Your support means the world. Thank you!
