OPINION | The holidays are a hard time of the year for people on the streets
He looks up, bright-eyed, thirty-something, holding his plate of biscuits and gravy in the photo. Daniel Campbell was a poet, a Street Roots vendor and an incredible helper to others on the streets during the pandemic. He’d go out and deliver supplies to people experiencing homelessness, a plight he shared. He had a sweet personality and a distinctive, soft voice.
I was flipping through photos of last Christmas Day, thinking about how many aspects are similar to this year as we strive for some flickers of joy in this cold, rainy pandemic Christmas. I’ll be frank: it takes effort. It’s a hard time of the year for people on the streets who deal not only with the health risks of icy cold but other sorrows that include isolation, family estrangement or traumatic memories.
But at the same time, so many of you step forward with ways to help.
Screen Door restaurant made those biscuits and gravy meals to hand out to Street Roots vendors and other people in Old Town last year, and they are doing it again. And — get this — Screen Door isn’t even open Christmas morning. Their cooks turn on their ovens in the pre-dawn Christmas-morning hours simply as an act of generosity.
And like last year — like the past four years, in fact — the community-focused business association, Business for a Better Portland, has made sure that Street Roots vendors receive an assortment of gifts based on input they gathered from vendors.
Among the gloves and hats they tuck into backpacks are movie tickets, a cherished gift. I’d wager that you’ll find Street Roots vendors in movie theaters on Christmas Day, many likely watching Spider-Man since we have a number of Marvel fans in our midst. It’s something for people to look forward to on what can be, otherwise, a very difficult day.
We’ll also be handing out Street Roots hoodies to all the vendors with artwork designed by Rob Lewis. Fresh, dignified gear helps the spirits, so throughout the year, we try to provide hoodies, beanies and the caps like the one that Daniel wore in that photo.
I paused on that photo of Daniel because, as it turned out, Christmas Day was the last day we saw him. He died one week later, on New Year’s Day.
I hesitated to write this for a moment. But I wanted to acknowledge that a warm Christmas Day meal meant Daniel could share good food among friends for the last time. That’s what is too often at stake.
This work is that of heartbreak and hope. We have to love each other like this could be our last meal together, and also like we could share a thousand meals going forward.
I’m thankful we had that Christmas Day meal with Daniel, and I look forward to breaking bread with more people this Christmas.
It’s hard to write about the holidays with any kind of ease. The pandemic has ripped at vulnerability through households worldwide. Yet again, many are now deciding how to gather safely under the threat of the omicron variant. And as Congress has recessed, Joe Manchin has made clear that he will block the “Build Back Better” bill. This is no small heartbreak. When I look out on the streets, when I hear the stress in our larger community over homelessness, I know that it will take federal investments in housing and services to improve many lives, so this news is one of local grief.
And yet, at Street Roots, we always have a vantage point of hope, too. I am grateful for all the efforts of so many nonprofits and government entities to provide housing and services, and all the businesses who pitch in and the people who provide mutual aid — in other words, care for each other.
At Street Roots, we provide income opportunities, stability, dignity and community to people experiencing homelessness and poverty. We commit to investigative journalism to dig into societal inequities. We bring people together, and by “we,” I mean all of you. Street Roots readers who support vendors, who pitch in through relationships.
Please look for vendors to buy the newspaper and the holiday zine. You can pay by Venmo, and if you can’t find your vendor and want to pass some Christmas money their way, simply make a note in the description (our account is @StreetRoots). We’ll make sure it gets to the vendor.
To all of you who support Street Roots vendors and our organization, I am grateful. You are our community, and we need each other in heartbreak and hope.
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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