Allison Strange came to Portland to leave behind the old memories of her son, whom she lost to cancer, and to be with her boyfriend. She came looking for a fresh start in a new place. And that’s exactly what she found at Street Roots.
“A better one than I actually expected,” she said.
Allison’s boyfriend, who was already a Street Roots vendor, tried to tell her how much people cared about the newspaper and the vendors who sell it.
“I thought he was exaggerating, to be honest with you,” she said. “I thought, there’s no way that many people care about one newspaper, especially when it is to help the homeless people or the poor people. I thought, there’s no way.”
In the small town she came from in Tennessee, she hadn’t seen the kind of genuine care from strangers she found in Portland – especially for people living on the streets. Instead, she saw a lot of intolerance for people experiencing homelessness, especially from the law.
“But then I kept selling (the paper) and I was like, these people actually do care.”
In early November, when Portland was in the midst of heavy winds and freezing rain, a woman who passed by Allison every day and never bought a paper gave her one more reason to trust in people’s kindness.
“Until that day I didn’t know she actually knew I existed,” Allison said. “She stops by and gives me money and tells me to get off the street for the night and go to a hotel room.”
The woman paid for Allison’s hotel room, getting her out of the freezing weather for the night. It’s the interactions like this, and the interactions with people who take the time to stop and talk with her, that mean the most to Allison.
“It’s not just the customers. It’s the ones that stop every day,” she said. “I’ve got a couple that stop every day and talk but they never buy a paper, but they stop and they talk and they give me hope.”
Allison has noticed, and heard from others, that she seems to make more selling Street Roots than her male counterparts. She thinks perhaps men face more judgment for their situation of homelessness. This advantage, however, is obviously reversed when it comes to the reality of living on the streets.
“If I didn’t have my boyfriend, I could not do this,” she said. “Because it’s really scary when we’re out there camping at night knowing that anything could happen to you.”
But, with the help of government assistance, she and her boyfriend hope to be housed in the next year. She also hopes to get more of her work published. She writes poems and short stories about her experiences. Street Roots has published two of her poems – the first time any of her writings have appeared in print.
“It was like a dream come true, actually,” she said.
She also hopes to one day open a small handmade jewelry shop. She makes bracelets now, and in the past has made earrings and necklaces as well. For now, though, Street Roots is what she and her boyfriend rely on for some income.
“I want to let people know that some of us are just down on our luck and selling Street Roots is our only option. And it’s a great opportunity.”