Street Roots is "like a family," and it helps James put food on the table
James McCord was born in Harrisburg, Pa., and raised in Hawaii. He remembers traveling there when he was 3, right after Hawaii became a state in 1959.
“Back then, there were prop planes,” he said. “It took a long time to get there.”
Surfing, diving and golf became his passions. After high school, he became a union carpenter and moved to Colorado. It was there he met the love of his life, his wife Jackie. Together they moved to Las Vegas.
“Vegas was booming,” he said. “We were there for 10 years. Everything was going very well. I bought my first house when I was 19. I was very proud of that.”
And then tragedy struck. Jackie died of complications from rheumatic fever after 14 years of marriage.
“She was a great woman,” James said. “I loved her more than anyone in the world. No one else has come close.”
James moved to Portland following her death and started up a construction company, which he ran for 23 years. He started out small, but soon had a crew working under him.
“We’d gut houses, add on, remodel bathrooms and kitchens. I loved having my own company, doing all the bidding and hiring all the subs,” he said. “I was very successful at what I did. Things fell into place, and I started making money. I was able to buy a few acres in Lake Oswego with four duplexes.”
James remarried, and he and his wife had twin daughters.
“I love my daughters more than anything in the world. Megan and Amanda are the light of my life,” he said.
And then the Great Recession hit.
“The 2008 recession is something I will never forget,” he said. “Work just came to a complete halt. We were scheduled two years ahead, but people called me up and said they were going to hang onto their money right now. It was just the way it was. I figured within a few years it would probably come back. I’d be the first to go, first to come back, but that never happened. By the time it came back, it was too late. I lost everything. And that’s when my wife said she wanted a divorce, so it was a double whammy.”
His twins were 8 at the time, and his wife got the Lake Oswego property in the divorce settlement. James tried to go back to school, but nothing seemed to work out.
“My funds finally ran out,” he said. “I ended up totally broke.”
James was also suffering physically. His body was worn out from years of hard physical labor and many surgeries to repair injuries.
“I’m full of titanium,” he said. “I have a fake knee, and my neck is titanium.”
James also suffers from chronic lung damage from exposure to dust and asbestos. At times, he needs supplementary oxygen.
“It goes years back. You go in to do a demo, and there’s all the dust and dirt, and I was breathing it all in. I’ve never smoked a cigarette in my life,” he said.
James ended up living on the streets for two years.
“It was a shock to the system after being affluent. It was bad. I just didn’t know how life could turn upside-down like this.”
Eventually James connected with the housing program Northwest Pilot Project.
“It took a while, but they got me on disability and then I got a place,” he said.
This summer, James met a Street Roots vendor who steered him over to the office for orientation. Soon, he was wearing a badge and selling papers.
“I feel we should all work for a living. He who doesn’t work doesn’t eat. I believe in that. I don’t believe in begging. That’s why Street Roots has been a great thing for me. I get my disability and make enough to pay my bills, but I don’t have enough money left over to eat,” he said.
“No. 1, Street Roots feeds me. I suppose I could go to churches, but I’m very old school, and I have way too much pride to stand in line for food. I want to work for my money. Like a friend of mine said, there’s no shame no matter where you’ve been; we all have things that happen to us in life. I love the paper. I love the people, the camaraderie; it’s like a family. When I see someone selling the papers, wearing that badge, it’s an automatic friendship. I love that. I can go all over this town and I have all these friends,” he said.
“Street Roots has been a godsend for me. I want that said. I also want to mention Pastor Paul and his wife, Peggy. They have been lifesavers for me.”
James sells Street Roots from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesdays at Home Forward on Southwest Second Avenue and Ash Street. Most days he is also at Safeway at Southwest 10th Avenue and Jefferson Street from 3 p.m. until he sells out.
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