COMMENTARY | One man's course to a better life after trauma, depression, addiction, homelessness A Crooked Path Forward This series is a first-hand account of the struggles and successes of overcoming trauma, mental illness, addiction, homelessness ...
27 Apr 2018 - Dustin Dandliker
COMMENTARY | Dustin Dandliker reflects on people who touched his life in meaningful ways This series is a first-hand account of the struggles and successes of overcoming trauma, mental illness, addiction, homelessness and more. I carry with me my mom. She ...
22 Jun 2018 - Dustin Dandliker
COMMENTARY | Four generations of women in my family have sacrificed, struggled, made mistakes and endured. I owe my existence and determination to them. Great-Grandma Irma owned a trailer and the tiny plot it stood on. Over the counter between the kitchen ...
20 Jul 2018 - Dustin Dandliker
COMMENTARY | I wasn’t born hating women. No one is. I developed a sense of entitlement after years of privilege. The first person to confront me on my misogyny was my fiancée in college. Deborah and I had a heated argument. She started to walk away, and I ...
7 Sep 2018 - Dustin Dandliker
COMMENTARY | Change cannot be mandated; support and motivation are required I was beaten and threatened with death by my mother as a child. I’ve attempted suicide twice. One drunken night, I drove 80 mph down Interstate 84 with my eyes closed. I shot meth ...
26 Oct 2018 - Dustin Dandliker
COMMENTARY | As different as water and earth, but we belong together Every living thing has the stuff of stars in it. The cold moon, the bright summer sun and the gentle heartbeat of a newborn have roots in The Big Bang. It is no wonder, then, that from a ...
23 Nov 2018 - Dustin Dandliker
COMMENTARY | Proper access to mental health care saved my life When the MAX speeds through the Vista Bridge tunnel into downtown, I always get the impression of travelling through a wormhole in space-time. I imagine myself going to a far-away place. I ima ...
28 Dec 2018 - Dustin Dandliker
COMMENTARY | We try everything to look "not homeless" to humanize our struggle There are people walking around downtown Portland every day who presently are or once were homeless. You would never know based on their appearance. I am one of those ...
1 Mar 2019 - Dustin Dandliker
COMMENTARY | Don’t let anyone crush your creativity. Tell your story. I wanted to write before I could even read. When I was 4 years old, Dad read a lot of children’s books to me, but my favorite was “The Adventures of Raggedy Ann & Andy.” The cover w ...
5 Apr 2019 - Dustin Dandliker
COMMENTARY | Because of the support and guidance I received since childhood, I see a higher purpose In Homer’s epic “The Odyssey,” Mentor was charged with looking after Odysseus’s son, Telemachus, while Odysseus went off to war against the Trojans. The go ...
17 May 2019 - Dustin Dandliker