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
Director's Desk | Street Roots groundbreaking ceremony was motivated by hope and community It didn’t go as planned — and that is OK. The day came after weeks of planning the Streets Roots groundbreaking processional. It was time for the community to ...
29 Mar 2023 - Cody McGraw
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