People living on Portland streets struggle to find ways to earn money amid COVID-19 measures
Kyle Hair, who spends his nights sleeping in downtown doorways, was earning about $100 a week redeeming recyclable bottles and cans before the COVID-19 social distancing measures prompted a rush on grocery stores. That pushed many to close their bottle return services amid staffing shortages.
Among the bottle redemption site closures were the two that Hair, and many other people experiencing homelessness in and around downtown Portland, frequent: Pearl District Whole Foods and downtown Target.
Now “canning,” the practice of collecting recyclable cans and bottles for redemption profits, requires a trip to BottleDrops far from the city’s center. Hair said the drop site most people travel to now is the Bottle Redemption Center on Northeast 122nd Avenue and Glisan Street.
Hair typically sells Street Roots, as well, but as the newspaper moves to digital-only in an effort to adhere to social distancing measures, Hair is finding he has few other options. He said when he doesn’t have newspapers to sell, he’ll sometimes “spange” — ask passersby for spare change. But right now, he said, “it’s a ghost town out there.”
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Additionally, he said, more people are turning to canning for money, despite the long distance they have to haul their collections for redemption. This new competition has made the practice less fruitful.
Randy Humphreys earned $40 to $50 a week recycling bottles and cans he would collect from bars in Old Town, but since their mandated closure, he’s only been able to earn about $5 or $6 per week, he said.
“I usually do the canning for extra money — generally for food and trying to get somewhere warm to sleep,” he said. He’s currently living in a “tent that leaks,” he said.
For Angie Rebensdorf, 51, canning was her greatest source of income. Like Hair, she was earning about $100 a week before the COVID-19 crisis, and she used the funds to pay for her basic needs. Now, she too is hard-pressed trying to find other ways to earn money. She said she’s living in a tent in Northwest Portland.
Jessie Foss, a 48-year-old resident of the Right 2 Dream Too camp, recently traveled from downtown to the bottle drop in Milwaukie. He typically goes canning in different neighborhoods based on their recycling collection day. Canning was about 90% of his income, he said. Now sometimes, he said, “I go without.”
On Sunday, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission announced it was suspending requirements for retailers to accept empty bottle containers for redemptions through March 31. BottleDrop sites will remain open.
The people interviewed for this story are all active Street Roots vendors. While Street Roots has temporarily stopped printing a physical copy of its newspaper, we are in the process of establishing ways for our vendors to receive monetary support.
Email Senior Staff Reporter Emily Green at emily@streetroots.org. Follow her on Twitter @greenwrites.
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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