Maddy Brown-Clark says being part of Street Roots has given her a sense of belonging
Maddy Brown-Clark has always been surrounded by music. When she was a baby, Brown-Clark’s mother and her mother’s cousin would dance around while cradling her in their arms.
As she grew older, music continued to play an important role in her life. Her father collected jazz and blues records, and played them often.
In addition to loving music, Brown-Clark has also always loved to write. One way she combined her interests was during her senior year of high school, when she was a regular music performer on a TV news talk show in Spokane, Wash.
Nowadays, Brown-Clark can be found mostly in downtown Portland, especially near the library, her favorite place to be.
“I love the library. I hang out there all the time. I check out all these library books and keep checking them out over and over again so I can get through them all,” she said.
Brown-Clark also still likes to perform, singing and playing guitar with a friend and collecting tips from pedestrians.
Brown-Clark says that being part of Street Roots has given her a sense of belonging, both within the organization and in the greater community.
“I like it because you get to relate to a lot of different people. Some of them will stop and talk to you and stuff and get to know your name,” she said.
But homelessness is often isolating, she says, and finding other vendors within Street Roots has offered Brown-Clark a chance to connect with people with similar experiences.
Additionally, Brown-Clark believes that Street Roots also helps educate people about homelessness.
“It’s really sad to see people lying down on the streets, sleeping in cardboard and sleeping bags and stuff,” she said.
One thing she wishes people understood is that homelessness is not a choice, that circumstances have made people homeless, and that if they had another option, they would definitely take it.
In one of the short stories Brown-Clark has written, titled “Under The Bridge,” she created a character named Street Angel who was homeless but was an advocate for the homeless, and designed a system where the government would use vacant buildings as shelters.
“So I would like to see something like that done, any kind of old buildings that they want to get rid of, or that don’t have anything going on in them, use them to house homeless people in Portland,” she said.
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