“ This snow pay is so generous and awesome," Dumpsta D, Street Roots vendor, said. "We really do love our customers for stepping up to the plate in true ‘Supportland’ style. It reminds us we matter and are seen. Y’all rule."
Last week, Street Roots vendors received envelopes of cash from all of you who contributed to the snow day fund. Again and again, vendors expressed delight that customers and supporters thought of them when they especially needed it. Char Garcia said she will be able to buy boots. George McCarthy can pay his storage bill. Makaveli can pay his cell phone bill.
Almost 900 of you raised over $30,000 so 250 active vendors could receive $125 each. To manage that much cash, Street Roots vendor staff split the payment up, distributing half March 1 and half March 4.
When our city woke to 10 inches of snow Feb. 22, Street Roots staff mobilized, concerned vendors would lose vital income when they couldn’t sell newspapers in a city quieted by snow.
Kanani Cortez, editorial producer, and Carly Ng, vendor program manager — both run Street Roots’ social media — teamed up with community partnerships coordinator Kodee Zarnke to create fundraising communications over social media and email.
You all responded immediately, spreading the word rapidly. We hit our initial goal of $12,000 in the first hours of the campaign.
The vantage point from Street Roots can be incredibly hopeful. We witness the best of Portlanders. Supporters contacted us, thanking us for the opportunity to contribute because they were looking for ways to support people. Amazing. Many Portlanders are geared toward mutual aid, that effort to directly lift each other up.
Street Roots learned how to quickly create an infrastructure for mutual aid through the experience of the pandemic and weather disasters. Starting in March 2020, Street Roots launched a COVID relief fund, then a fire relief fund, a snow fund and a heat dome fund in 2021.
Andrew Hogan, deputy director, built the capacity to operate in this way, working with supportive bankers at Beneficial State Bank. A vendor once referred to Andrew as “the banker on Davis Street,” and his efforts have grown more focused on how difficult it is for people on the streets to access basic income. More on that in a minute.
In order for a quick mutual aid campaign to be successful, it takes behind-the-scenes administrative labor. That’s Nina Lee, our development coordinator. Nina jumps into action without hesitation, tracking the donations in spreadsheets, working with Beneficial Bank to prepare major cash withdrawals, and coordinating with vendor staff to move that money into envelopes based on our Salesforce tracking.
Street Roots also built internal systems to distribute cash through the launch of the Venmo payout system in August 2020, responding to the fact that fewer Street Roots customers carry cash and many people on the streets are bankless. We created our Venmo program based on the one run by the Real Change street paper in Seattle, asking customers to record a vendor’s name and badge number in Venmo transaction notes. There’s quick access to the @streetroots Venmo account via the QR code on the upper right corner of the weekly paper.
We use the same method we used with the snow fund, tracking the payments, planning bank withdrawals and separating these payments into envelopes for individual donors.
It is through our basic model — people buy the Street Roots newspaper wholesale (25 cents) to sell retail ($1 plus tips) — that we are focused on the barriers many people face earning income or receiving government benefits.
When the federal government began distributing COVID stimulus money — essentially a basic income pilot — our organization identified barriers at three stages for people on the streets: signing up, receiving money by mail and cashing the check.
We first tackled these issues with Sarah Lora, director of the Low Income Tax Clinic at Lewis and Clark, who helped people sign up. We also offered the Street Roots address as a mailing address so people could receive stimulus checks. We then helped people who are unbanked and lack identification cards to cash the checks by vouching for their identity. The federal stimulus money distribution became easier once the government began to distribute the money as pre-paid debit cards.
Based on all these experiences, our organization backs WInsvey Campos’ visionary bill, the “People’s Housing Assistance Fund Demonstration Program,” which would provide $1,000 monthly for 12 months to those experiencing or at risk of homelessness, those spending over half of monthly income on rent, or earning 60% or less of area median income. The program is set up to be evaluated by Portland State University Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative.
People need income to bring them closer to meeting their basic needs, and that includes the big-hearted nimbleness of mutual aid. People also need the scale and consistency government aid can provide. A successful snow day fund drive demonstrates what can happen when nearly 900 people quickly pitch in funds. A thoughtfully designed basic income — one focused on removing barriers to access — is the ultimate mutual aid. We all pitch in with taxes, and then that community chest, ideally, can be used to equitably distribute income so there’s a floor that no one falls beneath.
On behalf of everyone at Street Roots, I thank our community for pitching in to make sure that at least 250 people experiencing homelessness and poverty get basic needs met.
Street Roots is an award-winning weekly investigative publication covering economic, environmental and social inequity. 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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