Kaia Sand, Street Roots’ new executive director, relishes the Portland community's support
My first day on the job as the new executive director of Street Roots, I biked past a bumper sticker: “I ♥ Street Roots.”
I saw this as an immediate reminder: The support for Street Roots is citywide.
Every day since the announcement that I will be moving into this position , people have said, “Israel Bayer ... those are big shoes to fill!” And then I was handed a “Stay Human” cap, just like the one Israel wears, and I laughed: Head to toe, Israel occupies an extraordinarily large place in what’s best about our city.
He has given all his heart, all his hours, all his Israel Bayer genius to helping Street Roots grow from a scrappy volunteer-run street paper to a high-quality weekly sold by 170 vendors.
He deserves all the rest he is willing to take.
So our gift to him is the assurance that we’ve got this. We will all keep showing up, stepping up – for Street Roots, for the rights and rest of homeless people. I am confident in this, because the support for Street Roots runs deep. It is legion.
I have been quickly introduced to a force of Street Roots supporters that is nothing short of inspiring. On my first day, a group of copy editors huddled around our newsroom table, poring over text, as they have done weekly for years. On my second day, tens upon tens of people shored up the annual vendor holiday party, serving food and calling out bingo numbers. On my third day, scores of vendors, volunteers and staff gathered to unload the weekly delivery of newspaper bundles. On my fourth day, Multnomah County librarians set up a pop-up library in the vendor office. You get the picture.
The support doesn’t end there.
This month marks the launch of Street Roast coffee , a project of Marigold Coffee in partnership with Ideaville and Curate.org . You can find it at New Seasons Markets throughout Portland as well as Marigold Coffee on at 2815 SE Holgate Blvd. Proceeds from the sale of each bag will support Street Roots’ vendor program and the newspaper itself, so keep this in mind when you are purchasing holiday gifts.
I visited several local businesses that held holiday parties to create gift-filled backpacks for vendors, thanks to the leadership of Business for a Better Portland . The hosts of these parties realize that, alongside eggnog and frosted cookies, staff holiday celebrations are the perfect time to remember we are part of something larger. As one citizenry in this city, the suffering of some is the suffering of all.
The number of people suffering homelessness in Portland – and the whole West Coast – just keeps going up, and our deep societal injustices penetrate those numbers. Native American folks are homeless at four times the rate of their population in Multnomah County. Nearly 4 percent of all schoolchildren in our state are homeless.
FURTHER READING: Housing Rural Oregon: A crisis beyond Portland's boundaries
This week, Multnomah County released its annual Domicile Unknown report showing the number of homeless people who died on the streets in 2016. Eighty people perished outside in Multnomah County while they were homeless last year. The average age of a person who died on the streets was 49 years old.
Thursday, Dec. 21, is the National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day – the first day of winter and often the darkest day of the year. So please light a candle or take a moment to honor the lives of those who have died on the streets, including our four Street Roots vendors who died last year .
When people recently protested in front of Columbia Sportswear, demanding that our laws not target those among us who have the least, one person held a sign: “Making hardship harder won’t make it go away!” Yes. At the very least, through our laws and daily interactions, let’s not make hardship harder.
Let’s do more.
The holidays can be a struggle, especially if one is poor. It’s cold out there, and Street Roots vendors are courageous. This month, you have the opportunity to purchase not only the Street Roots newspaper, but also, the vendor poetry zine. That’s an opportunity to give a little extra to vendors. Please keep extending your kindness and respect to our vendors who brave the conditions of poverty to sell Street Roots.
Please keep supporting Street Roots in all the beautiful ways you do, with your time and your talents and your kindness. And please take this opportunity to make a recurring donation on Street Roots’ website or a one-time donation at the Willamette Week Give!Guide . You can also mail in donations, so we’ve included an envelope in the Dec. 15-21 edition of the newspaper to make that easy.
As the Street Roots community, we all have a whole lot of shoes to fill, but when times are their most challenging, we’re strongest when we all step up together.
It’s my commitment to be there every step of the way, to keep Street Roots moving forward. We’ve accomplished so much together, but there is so much work still ahead.
Kaia Sand is the executive director of Street Roots. You can reach her at kaia@streetroots.org . Follow her on Twitter @mkaiasand .
