Longtime Street Roots vendor Josephine Allen embraces her new role as a proud grandmother and credits her family and faith for driving positive change in her life. Josephine recently returned from a break from selling Street Roots and is still working on establishing her spot.
Born in Las Vegas, Josephine’s parents hailed from Louisiana. Josephine describes herself as a hard worker and gives credit to her father, who worked for Union Pacific Railroad most of his career. Following her graduation from high school, she entered the Job Corps and then went to work for the railroad, ultimately working for Amtrak.
“I’m a Daddy’s girl,” she said. “And I’m a railroad girl.”
Josephine loved her time working for the railroad. Her parents eventually came to Portland searching for work. They both became cooks, and her mother had a restaurant and pool hall on bustling North Mississippi Avenue.
That life of hard work at an early age meant that she missed out on an important part of growing up — one that she now wants to spend with her young granddaughters. She describes her parents as workaholics, and as the oldest child, she took on a lot of the caregiving responsibilities at home.
“I’m looking forward to sharing playtime with them (my granddaughters),” she said.
“I had the role of the adult all my life — I never got to play a lot. So when I had my daughter, I wanted to give her all the dolls in the world.”
Josephine has been in recovery for seven years now, and her biggest desire is for her adult children and young grandchildren to be all together as a family again.
“God changed my life,” she said. “I’m not living on the edge anymore. I’m free from addiction and free from an abuser. I got caught up in that life for many years. But I’m a survivor. I’m not where I want to be in life, but I’m a long ways from where I was.”
Currently living in a tent, Josephine describes some of the challenges she faces in being the type of grandmother she wants to be.
“I feel so ashamed,” she said. “I want to give them a safe place to be — I want them to have grandma’s house.”
She hopes to be housed in the next year and is currently looking for low-income housing and possibly assisted living.
“It’s hard to get out of homelessness,” she said. “I want to get out, and I can’t get out. It’s heartbreaking. I’m in a wheelchair, and it’s hard to get assistance because there are a lack of options. It’s terrible out here.”
She credits Street Roots for all its support over the years.
“Street Roots is the only place I’ve ever seen where you can get help if you want it,” she said. “Street Roots got me out and made me employable again. It helped me clear things up. I am clean and my record is clean. That makes me feel proud and accomplished.”
But for Josephine, Street Roots means so much more.
“Street Roots means I can be who I am,” she said. “I made choices — I know I made bad choices — and Street Roots accepts me for who I am.”
She also has dreams for her grandchildren.
“I hope they can make better choices and have a better life,” she said, noting that she’d like to see them become successful businesswomen.
“My kids turned out really well. I’m very proud of all my children — Joel, Joshua, Jacob and Adriann. I love them, and I’m very proud of how they turned out. I’m a proud mom and proud grandma.”
While Josephine is currently filling in for vendors who are taking a break at various selling spots, she can be reached through the Street Roots office or supported through @StreetRoots Venmo by entering her name and badge number (321) in the notes.
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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