Director’s Desk | Kaia Sand launches ‘Better not Backward’ column series exploring next steps two years into Measure 110 with a visit to the Overdose Prevention Society Our conversation began in the dark. Trey Helten had warned me before I walked the mile ...
15 Nov 2023 - Kaia Sand
Opinion | The Portland camping ban is dangerous and reckless Editor’s note: This column discusses power-based violence and death. There’s a separation at Street Roots that is complicated but worth it. That’s the firewall between our journalism and our adv ...
4 Oct 2023 - Kaia Sand
Opinion | Amid all the changes in policy and practice around Old Town, the Oct. 5 Morning Broadcast shows Street Roots holds steady in its mission My bus drove north when a street car passed, heading south. I glimpsed a Street Roots vendor across the way ...
27 Sep 2023 - Kaia Sand
Opinion | Sign the Friends of Portland Street Response petition. Volunteer. Lend your logo to the effort. “Not every crisis is a crime,” a Street Roots vendor jotted on a scrap of paper four years ago to hold up at a city council budget meeting. Kaia Sand ...
24 Jul 2023 - Kaia Sand
Opinion | A tribute to Daniel Ellsberg’s tireless work in the name of truth He first gave the documents to The New York Times, then The Washington Post. Next came The Boston Globe — his hometown at the time — followed by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and 11 ...
20 Jun 2023 - Kaia Sand
Opinion | Street Roots’ West Burnside building, currently under construction, will be a space for civic engagement “For those who can’t afford free speech.” That’s been the Street Roots tagline since the first issue was published in December 1999 — a tip ...
14 Jun 2023 - Kaia Sand
Opinion | Just like everyone else, unhoused individuals are trying to fulfill their basic human needs, but they are often out of reach. Food, water, respite and a restroom. Why make it harder? Imagine you have to carry everything you own — bedding, the fo ...
8 Jun 2023 - Kaia Sand
Opinion | Human connection, despite housing status, makes us stronger “When I moved to Portland, I didn’t know anyone,” Stacey Heath, Street Roots board chair, told me. Then she met Bruce Heino. It was 2009. Kaia Sand is the executive director of Street R ...
31 May 2023 - Kaia Sand
OPINION | Late vendor Dennis Chavez taught us lessons in grace An elderly man pumped his fists to “Back in Black” by AC/DC, his wheelchair pivoting beneath his animated body. Kaia Sand is the executive director of Street Roots. This column represents her ...
1 Feb 2023 - Kaia Sand
OPINION | Responsibilties of the state in addressing the homelessness crisis Steel your gaze on the state. Gov. Tina Kotek signaled she is prioritizing housing and homelessness by issuing three executive orders on her first day in office, Jan 10. Kaia San ...
18 Jan 2023 - Kaia Sand