Every morning at 5 a.m., Street Roots vendor Shaun Followell wakes up, carefully packs up his gear and heads to the Starbucks on 15th Avenue and Fremont Street to sell papers. After a couple of hours, he hops on the bike he made himself and rides downtown ...
29 Jan 2014 - Ann-Derrick Gaillot
If you have attended any dance parties around Portland recently, chances are you’ve noticed revelers taking a break from the festivities to wait in line. The sight is an odd one until you find local artist Michael Horwitz at the center of the crowd, color ...
29 Jan 2014 - Ann-Derrick Gaillot
More than 4,000 people leave Oregon state prisons each year, and many more are released from county jails. This population suffers from disproportionately high rates of untreated infectious and chronic disease, mental health disorders and substance abuse ...
28 Jan 2014 - Gina Anzaldúa
Renters in Oregon had more reasons to celebrate this holiday season, as new tenant protections were added to Oregon’s Landlord-Tenant Law Jan. 1, 2014. The Community Alliance of Tenants (CAT) is Oregon’s only grassroots, tenant-led renters rights organiza ...
28 Jan 2014 - Justin Buri
Pounds of coffee donated by Stumptown in 2013: 14,000 Number of nonprofits Stumptown supported in 2013, including Street Roots: 160 Units of carbon dioxide emission reduced by Stumptown in 2013: 9,300 Number of cars removed from the road to equal 9,300 un ...
28 Jan 2014 - Street Roots Staff
The title of author Sasha Abramsky’s new book, “The American Way of Poverty,” might sound a bit patronizing to patriotic ears, given that Abramsky was born in Great Britain and attended Oxford University. But living now in his mother’s homeland of America ...
28 Jan 2014 - Jay Thiemeyer
My parents and the people I grew up around are kind, loving, caring people. Stereotypes are easy, but reality is always more complicated. I never learned hate from them, but there was a lot of fear. As Evangelicals, one of the things they feared most was ...
23 Jan 2014 - Peter Walker
Mayor Charlie Hales didn’t become mayor with the hopes of having to solve homelessness, especially in a growing city like Portland. But the crisis of thousands of people sleeping outside, as it relates to mental health, public safety, neighborhood livabil ...
23 Jan 2014 - SR editorial board
Kshama Sawant took her oath of office Jan. 6 in front of hundreds at Seattle City Hall. She plans to take home an “average worker’s wage” and donate the rest of her $120,000 annual salary to a campaign to create a $15-an-hour minimum wage and other social ...
22 Jan 2014 - Aaron Burkhalter
What happens when a group of people experiencing homelessness and poverty decide to take matters into their own hands and organize to improve their quality of life? Unfortunately, they often are looked upon as a nuisance in the community. It’s common know ...
16 Jan 2014 - Israel Bayer