Kim began selling Street Roots again this year after a few years’ hiatus. In early February, she brought her son into the office to go through orientation. She said it would give him some extra spending money while he found his footing after a lengthy hos ...
19 Mar 2015 - Sam Bouman
Richard Rowe moved to the Portland area just over a year ago from Texas, where he did maintenance on oil rigs. It was a dangerous job. Not as dangerous as drilling, he says, but well-paid and suited to his skills. He lost his job when oil prices fell and ...
4 Feb 2015 - Sam Bouman
On a cold, spitting December afternoon Paul Ortiz walks from the food carts at Southwest Third Avenue and Stark Street back to the Street Roots office to check his mail and pick up more papers. He moves with long strides but keeps his head up to scan Thir ...
7 Jan 2015 - Sam Bouman
Wyman Wilson began selling Street Roots two years ago to support his habit, but his first stint with the vendor program didn’t last long. He had his badge pulled when he couldn’t remain sober enough to sell the paper. It’s not the first job he’s lost due ...
9 Sep 2014 - Sam Bouman
Before we sat down at the café around the corner from the Street Roots office, I asked Robert how he was doing. “Another day in paradise,” he said, without a hint of the irony or bitterness that usually colors that response. He has a friendly and open way ...
7 May 2014 - Sam Bouman
On the chilly afternoon when we spoke, Tony Boone was about to go to Canby for three days where he has a job making clothes at an old friend’s house. He doesn’t think of it as work though. “It’s a vacation,” he tells me. Over the next few days, as Portlan ...
15 Feb 2014 - Sam Bouman