DIRECTOR'S DESK | Accustomed to getting the news out, they are becoming the media in a new way — by word of mouth
Street Roots vendors are hitting the trails to deliver accurate information about COVID-19 to other unhoused people. Accustomed to getting the news out, they are becoming the media in a new way — by word of mouth.
On Wednesday, Street Roots joined a larger effort in coordinating with the Joint Office of Homeless Services following the release of guidelines for campers by the Multnomah County Health Department and Portland Street Medicine.
Because many Street Roots vendors have expertise about living outside in this city, we’ve launched the Coronavirus Action Team, co-chaired by vendors Raven Drake and Tina Drake. Vendors are paid stipends to get out and check on each other. It is, after all, an extension of what they already do.
The Coronavirus Action Team builds on the efforts that Raven and Tina have taken in their own camp where they set up a medical tent in case any of their neighbors fall ill. They led trainings Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning at Street Roots — which we will continue, as needed.
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Not only did about 14 Street Roots vendors gather for the inaugural training, but so did a small group of nursing students from University of Portland, coordinated by Portland Fire and Rescue’s Tremaine Clayton, who will run the Portland Street Response pilot later this spring.
Raven explained the health department’s recommendations, dispelling myths and explaining how important it was to follow guidelines as much as possible because people in the room — and in the camps — are dealing with chronic lung problems, HIV, and other health struggles.
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Mike D. shouted out that maybe we should have listened to our mothers all along — wash your hands, cover your mouth. Everyone laughed. Nettie considered bringing sandwiches out to people in the camps, concerned that their opportunities to get food might be reduced. Max talked about how there are camps so out of the way — incognito camps — that few people know about them, and it was important to get accurate information to them.
“I’m doing this for two reasons, said Raven. I want to get people good information. And I want to let people know they are not alone.”
That sentiment was widespread. And this premise is built into Street Roots: a commitment to reporting news that is accurate. Our people are accustomed to coalescing around something bigger — the importance of journalism, democracy and, in this case, public health.
Later in the evening, after Raven and Mike D. returned from outer East Portland, they were full of stories, such as the veteran who served in the same battles in Iraq as Raven (“We chewed the same dirt,” Raven said.), and who knew of more camps where people were confused about coronavirus. They found a woman who lived in her car with her two kids. They gave her the Rose City Resource booklet too, excited that they could help connect her to resources she didn’t know existed.
“We are in this together,” Raven told her. “You are not alone.”
Street Roots Vendors are being paid a stipend for their work on the Coronavirus Action Team. Please consider a dedicated gift to help support this, and other unanticipated costs of our coronavirus response.
Director's Desk is written by Kaia Sand, the executive director of Street Roots. You can reach her at kaia@streetroots.org. Follow her on Twitter @mkaiasand.
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