Eileen – who sells Street Roots with her dog, Vicky – has her sights set on her own apartment
Eileen Vizenor wants people to know she’s a survivor. She and her best friend, Vicky, a personable 18-month-old Corgi, can be found near the Multnomah County Central Library selling Street Roots, something she’s done periodically since 2012.
Vicky is an icebreaker for Eileen. Naturally a little reserved, Eileen relies on Vicky’s winning charm and entertaining antics to draw people in.
“Vicky is a great judge of character,” Eileen said. “I pay attention to her body movements. She keeps me going and I keep her going.”
Eileen credits Street Roots and its “awesome staff” with providing her support as she has straddled homelessness on and off since 2012.
“You can talk to them,” she said about Street Roots’ staff. “In 2013, when I got housing, the staff were so excited. They really embraced you.”
She also credits St. André Bessette Catholic Church on West Burnside with providing her much needed support throughout the years. She returns the favor when she can. She served as a frequent volunteer in the hospitality center, welcoming guests and helping them find clothes and serving food. She said that the church also has an active art program with an annual art show. “You’d be amazed by how much talent there is on the street,” she said.
A poet herself, whose publication streak in Street Roots was an impressive nine weeks in a row in 2018, Eileen takes advantage of both the Wednesday writing class at Street Roots and a new writing class at the Central Library. She called writing her therapy.
“I wish people would all understand that we are humans,” she added. “We have feelings, and don’t judge us by the cover.”
Eileen and Vicky are staying at a women’s shelter, but she dreams of more permanent housing soon. She is very excited to have just turned in her rental application and hopes to hear back in the next month whether she will have a spot. She wants people to understand the importance of supporting affordable housing.
“More nurses. Less police. Mental health (services) and affordable housing – those are the key to helping our community,” she said.
Once she lands housing, she has ambitious plans to save $500 a month. Her goal is to eventually have her own studio with a bathroom, even if that means leaving the downtown core for a location in Washington County or Gresham. She said she loves downtown, but MAX makes more affordable choices an option for her.
When asked what advice she’d give to Street Root readers, without skipping a beat, she said: “To quote Ellen DeGeneres, ‘Be kind to one another.’ Those are my words to live by. If more people did that, we’d have a lot more empathy.”
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