“I have nothing, but I have everything,” Tyler Roberts said. “I haven’t had a dollar in my pocket for the longest time, and I’m so grateful.
“I’ve come to accept that everything is exactly the way it’s supposed to be at this point in time.”
Tyler didn’t always think this way. A happy childhood turned into a rough life. He’s turned a corner now.
Tyler was born in Hillsboro, and his parents divorced when he was young. He moved with his dad to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
His life with his father was idyllic.
“Me and dad were very, very close,” he said. “We went camping together, four-wheeling trips, motorcycling adventures. He loved the outdoors and the accompanying play toys.
“We would go out to the sand dunes at Topaz Mountain and ride our dune buggies. We’d look for fool’s gold and topaz. He worked the pit crew for the big dirt bike races for FMF Racing, Fox Racing, Best in the Desert. I’d hang out with him there.”
Long summer afternoons were spent with his “Grandma Great,” whom he called “GG,” helping her in her garden, tossing a softball. When Tyler was 8, he and GG went to the Holy Land together.
“I was in awe,” he said.
Later, they went on a cruise to Alaska.
“She taught me how to have fun,” he said. “She was a very busy, loving and loved lady.”
From his dad, Tyler learned to love mechanics. In addition to working on engines, his fascination with how things worked drew him to the huge pipe organs in the Mormon Tabernacle and the adjoining Conference Center.
“I urge you to listen to the Tabernacle Choir,” Tyler said.
He looked up a website on the desktop computer at the Street Roots office. It was a video of the 340-voice Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, formerly known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, accompanied by the organ and full orchestra.
“Isn’t that just a massive organ?” he said. “There’s over 200 ranks in that organ.
“I’ve researched them because I was curious how they worked,” he said. He described ranks, pipes, bombardes, stops, foot pedals, presets and frequencies. His enthusiasm was boundless.
“That organ is loud! Don’t you just think that’d blow anything away that’s here?”
In his teens, though, Tyler lost his way. He didn’t get along with his dad’s new wife, left home and lived on the streets for six years. He bounced around in different jobs – the Dollar Tree, take-out joints.
“I’m still working on not beating myself up so much,” he said, “but it’s hard when I think of what a little brat I was then.”
Then, in 2016, his dad died.
“To lose him really sent me into a downward spiral,” he said.
In despair, Tyler left Salt Lake City for Portland and sought out his mother. That didn’t work out well.
What has helped him most was rediscovering the religion of his childhood.
“I’ve always been a member of the church and kind of tried to keep myself in touch. Attend, stray away, attend, stray away. I really started coming back when I found the Market Street branch (Institute of Religion Portland) and started attending chapel services. The spirit there is so strong, and everybody says they appreciate the spirit that I bring there.
“I have started really reading my Scriptures, and I feel lifted,” he said. “My burdens are gone. I don’t feel the sorrow. I don’t beat myself up like I used to. Everything’s been so much easier. … And having that attitude is what just cancels it out, like shining a flashlight in a dark cave. What happens to the darkness? It runs and hides.”
One blessing is that Tyler has a place to sleep now. He can stay at the shelter, he said, “as long as I show up and am obedient to the rules.”
And he’s grateful for Street Roots.
“It’s meant a lot to me. The professionalism. The opportunity. Every generous soul that comes to me with a dollar for the paper, I’m thankful for. There’s blessings in store for being compassionate on this Earth.
“My dad always told me, never say ‘try.’ Do. And I never figured out why he said that to me until now. Because when you say ‘try,’ you’re leaving a space for failure. When you’re doing, you’re doing it. It’s a mindset.”
You can find Tyler doing his best, selling Street Roots near the Starbucks at 12th Avenue and Northwest Glisan Street.
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Street Roots is an award-winning, nonprofit, weekly newspaper focusing on economic, environmental and social justice issues. Our newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Learn more about Street Roots
