Kay moved to Portland to stay with her daughter after she became homeless in Florida
Kay Semple is a good listener, outgoing and friendly.
“I always taught my children that you learn a lot more when you listen than when you talk. The more you inquire, the smarter you will become,” she said.
Originally from Cape Cod, Mass., Kay is from a large family with many brothers and sisters.
“Growing up, a lot of my neighbors had lobster boats, and we would go pick lobsters out of the traps when I was a kid. I used to shuck oysters, too. We were lucky where we grew up,” she said. “I love Cape Cod, but the winters are brutal. We were buried in snow.”
Kay has two daughters, Cortnie Marie and Casey Mae.
“Both my daughters are amazing; they are beautiful,” she said. Her younger daughter, Casey, is still back east. She works harvesting oysters.
“She’s tiny,” Kay said. “I don’t know how she picks up those big baskets of oysters. They weigh more than her.”
It was an offer by her older daughter, Cortnie, that brought Kay to Portland.
“My daughter said I could come live with her until I got back on my feet,” she said. “God bless her. Both my daughters are phenomenal.”
Cortnie is a clothes designer who for the past five years has worked at Scrap, a nonprofit in downtown Portland that encourages creative reuse of materials through arts and crafts.
Kay moved here from Florida, where she had become homeless.
“I had so much trouble when I was homeless in Florida. They kept giving me tickets. It was killing me to find permanent work, because those tickets kept coming up on a background check, and none of it was criminal activity. It was illegal camping and trespassing, just because I was sleeping on the beach,” she said. “The fact of the matter is, I had nowhere to go. I tried going to some shelters, but because I was not a resident of that state, or of that town, I was not allowed to use the shelters. So it was a Catch-22.
“The public defender told me to pay the fines, but I think it’s worth it to fight it because I’m not guilty of any crime. Being homeless is not a crime. I’ve worked my whole life. I’ve never been unemployed until I found myself homeless. Then all of a sudden it was impossible to get a job,” she said.
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“If I could say anything to people about being homeless, I’d say it is not contagious. You aren’t going to catch it. If anything, you can help cure it.”
Kay is grateful she found Street Roots.
“I would like to thank everybody, the people that make the newspaper, the people that sell it with me; my co-vendors are really helpful.
“It’s easy to sell the paper. So many people look forward to getting it. People will actually walk over from across the street to get it. I’d like to give kudos to the New Seasons Market on North Williams (Avenue). The staff, the management and customers are great there. They bring me water. They make me feel supported.
“The best part of the job is getting to talk to all the people you meet. You can meet up to a hundred people a day! And everybody is different. I can talk to anybody. I can walk up to somebody and find something in common. I’m easy to talk to, so that helps.”
Kay wants to stay in Portland if she can find a permanent job. She is looking for work stocking shelves or in the hotel industry.
Kay sells Street Roots outside New Seasons on North Williams Avenue and Whole Foods on Northeast 15th Avenue and Fremont Street.
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. Support your community newspaper by making a one-time or recurring gift today.
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