Vendors’ contributions to the Street Roots chalkboard hold special meaning for Wendy For the past several years, a humble chalkboard that stands in the middle of the Street Roots vendor office has been a focal point for art, creativity and inspirational q ...
13 Mar 2020 - Helen Hill
How do unhoused people keep their clothes clean? Many don't; others rely on resourcefulness The scarcity of laundry, shower and public toilet facilities in downtown Portland stems, perhaps in part, from a historical view of homelessness as a temporar ...
28 Feb 2020 - Helen Hill
Nettie brings lived experience and a fresh point of view to her internship at Acadia NW Street Roots vendor Nettie Johnson is close to fulfilling a long-cherished dream. She is on track to graduate in April with a degree in addiction counseling from Portl ...
3 Jan 2020 - Helen Hill
John is proud that Tabetha is selling Street Roots, and she is grateful for her dad's support John and Tabetha Smith are a father-daughter vending team. John has been a vendor for about a year. He sells at the Starbucks across from the Pixie Project ...
3 Jan 2020 - Helen Hill
Losing family and friends as a result of homelessness can be more devastating than losing housing For the past year, Street Roots’ Life on the Streets series has dealt with the many issues people living in extreme poverty may experience. Our vendors have ...
27 Dec 2019 - Helen Hill
Her experience at Street Roots has inspired her to study journalism Street Roots vendor Tina Drake is going back to college. And she wants everyone to know that homelessness doesn’t have to stop anyone from moving forward. “If you put your mind to it, yo ...
13 Dec 2019 - Helen Hill
Some Street Roots vendors say they’ve seen TriMet inspectors profile homeless people Ever since Portland’s TriMet made the decision in October to ramp up fare enforcement on MAX trains and add nine new inspectors, there’s been a lot of concern among those ...
29 Nov 2019 - Helen Hill
Richard Golden leads a weekly jewelry-making session, helping vendors turn their new skills into an income opportunity Every Friday for the past two months, volunteer Richard Golden has been coming into the Street Roots front office for an hour or two, br ...
22 Nov 2019 - Helen Hill
Street Roots vendors share their experiences with aging while unhoused The streets are getting grayer. The proportion of elderly people experiencing poverty and homelessness has risen by more than 20% in the past 15 years, according to the U.S. Department ...
1 Nov 2019 - Helen Hill
Several Street Roots vendors explain how their faith informs their decisions, their relationships, their outlook and more Many Street Roots vendors described their personal faith as the most important consideration in their lives, more important even than ...
27 Sep 2019 - Helen Hill