Housing is 'a stepping stone' for Heather, who is learning to cook creatively in her small new kitchen
Oregon native Heather Duffield will most likely be one of the cheeriest souls you encounter on an early morning in downtown Portland. Heather typically sells Street Roots in front of the U.S. Bancorp Tower on Southwest Fifth Avenue and Oak Street. “It’s more important to me to get the smiles and the hellos,” she says.
Heather has been selling Street Roots since September, a way for her to supplement disability income and become more independent. Before selling Street Roots, Heather had made the rounds working in various restaurants and kitchens in and around Portland.
Heather watched her grandmother’s cooking techniques while growing up, always lucky to consume the delicious meals made when visiting her grandmother’s house in the Roseway neighborhood of Northeast Portland. “Her roast and potatoes and gravy were the best. My grandma used to make homemade jam and pies; I grew up on that.”
Today, Heather talks about food like an art form. She recalls with enthusiasm the various jobs she has held in the food industry, all different opportunities to learn more about her passion.
“I got my first job when I was 18 at Round Table Pizza. I worked there two years.”
After that, Heather worked in various restaurants and kitchens, eventually working her way up at Oregon Medical Association’s in-house catering department, first as a prep cook and later as one of the team members in charge of the operation that serves Oregon medical personnel.
More and more heart went into Heather’s intuitivie cooking, but underlying some of her experiences were struggles with addiction. A few years back while trying to get clean, Heather said, she was given incorrect dosages at a methadone clinic, which left her in a weeklong coma. What followed was a yearlong recovery of relearning how to walk and perform other basic motor skills. Heather has been trying to reach stable points in her life so she can get back to focusing on what she loves.
She recently got into housing in a downtown Portland apartment through the help of Central City Concern. She is learning how to cook creatively in her kitchen with two burners and a microwave. Heather is nothing but optimistic.
“It’s a stepping stone. I’m very grateful for what I have.”
Heather hopes to someday open up her own food pantry, but in the meantime, she will be using friends’ ovens to make pies and other delicacies for family functions, with one of her grandmother’s pie recipes being a family favorite.
If you see Heather downtown selling Street Roots, say hello for some morning cheer and cooking inspiration.
