On top of working with Street Roots Johnny is an artist and aims to go to art school
I’m pretty easy to read,” Johnny Rottin said. “Art is my life. Anything to do with art – music, painting, writing, cooking. Art gives me a happy feeling inside.”
Johnny is fairly new to Street Roots; his ex-wife, a Street Roots vendor, encouraged him to apply early in 2019. “Working with Street Roots is a great opportunity,” he said. “Not only are you making money, but you get to create your own schedule. And the Street Roots office offers many other services. Like coffee! With me and my ex-wife, coffee is every other word.”
Johnny was able to join the Street Roots Ambassador Program.
“I get paid by this program to do the same thing I’ve been doing for free and on my own before, just trying to help take care of others because others have helped me,” he said.
Johnny joins a Street Roots’ team that takes information and supplies to people in houseless communities who are struggling to survive, people in neighborhoods like Lents, Lloyd Center and Goose Hollow. Supplies range from tarps to hats, gloves, hand sanitizer, combs, socks, blankets. “It’s simple,” he said. “All the things you need to survive.”
The response from people in these houseless communities has been overwhelmingly positive.
“These are good people,” Johnny said. “They’re very thankful. They appreciate that the people who are trying to help them, like me, are in the same position as they are.” It’s a powerful relationship, Johnny explained, “because we’ve got something in common.”
“We make connections,” Johnny said. “And it’s only a starting point. They might seek you out again. I might be helpful in the future.”
Houseless for the past 26 years, these days Johnny stays in downtown Portland on the waterfront.
“I feel comfortable there,” he said, “especially staying at the parts that haven’t changed. Like the Naval monument and the nearby tree which looks like something out of a fairy world. I hang out there a lot and draw. It’s peaceful and calming. And it gives me a chance to show my art with lots of people passing by.”
Johnny plans to go back to art school. He was once accepted to Pacific Northwest College of Art, but he had not yet secured financial aid, so he had to pass on that opportunity. He’s working on re-applying now. His next step is to meet with an enrollment counselor.
Johnny believes that art school will give him the opportunity to build his self-confidence.
“I miss job opportunities because I’m not putting myself out there,” he said. “And school will give me the opportunity to build my skills and my portfolio.”
He’s a poet too. One of Johnny’s poems is coming in Street Roots’ holiday zine.
Once a trick skater before he was hit by a car, Johnny now skates for “calming reprieves,” he said.
“I like to go up a big hill, turn on music, and coast all the way down,” Johnny said. “Like a convertible ride with the top down, the wind in your hair type thing.”
You can find Johnny selling Street Roots on the corner of Northeast Grand Avenue and Broadway Street in front of Walgreens.
Street Roots is an award-winning weekly publication focusing on economic, environmental and social justice issues. The newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Street Roots newspaper operates independently of Street Roots advocacy and is a part of the Street Roots organization. Learn more about Street Roots. Support your community newspaper by making a one-time or recurring gift today.
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