DIRECTOR'S DESK | The annual Domicile Unknown report on homeless deaths brings attention to the critical needs of Multnomah County's most vulnerable Kaia Sand is the executive director of Street Roots. You can reach her at kaia@streetroots.org. ...
30 Oct 2018 - Kaia Sand
Yes for Affordable Housing supports the largest effort our region has ever taken to fund deeply affordable housing The season has shifted. Even sunny days have the snap of autumn to them. During a downpour, a Street Roots vendor bundled up in a doorway, s ...
21 Sep 2018 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | Criminalizing people for being homeless is cruel and inhumane, the Ninth Circuit Court ruled A lot gets written in a day, and on Tuesday, Sept. 4, Donald Trump managed to punch out 16 wild and furious tweets. But among this frenzy, it’s ...
7 Sep 2018 - Kaia Sand
Mercy Corps Northwest is piloting a program for several Street Roots vendors, matching income they earn with money for housing costs Recently, a Street Roots vendor showed up in our office refreshed. His face looked smoother, more rested, than it had earl ...
24 Aug 2018 - Kaia Sand
In recent weeks, four Street Roots vendors or former vendors have died. We have lit so many candles in our Street Roots office. In recent weeks, four Street Roots vendors or former vendors have died. Andy Howard, Dallas Boyd, Dani Wyatt and David Testawi ...
10 Aug 2018 - Kaia Sand
Portland needs to be all-in as a national leader Calling a city a cesspool certainly grabs attention. That’s how Portland Police Association President Daryl Turner started his public Facebook statement on July 16, decrying the new Independent Police Revi ...
20 Jul 2018 - Kaia Sand
Policing the poor just means there’s so much more work to do Now we know: More than half of the people arrested in Portland last year were homeless. Rebecca Woolington and Melissa Lewis reported in The Oregonian on June 27 that unhoused people comprised ...
6 Jul 2018 - Kaia Sand
'People need to know that people are on their side' It was a situation that easily could have gone badly. By the time I walked up, a clearly distressed man was sitting on the sidewalk, yelling, while an officer towered over him. Down the block, ...
15 Jun 2018 - Kaia Sand
We need to muster the political power of love Six months have passed since I joined Street Roots as executive director, and I learn each and every day. I will keep sharing what I learn with you, and I am grateful when I hear your stories from street corne ...
1 Jun 2018 - Kaia Sand
We don’t have enough places that very poor people can afford to live There are two women who stay nights in a shelter, and on some warm days spread a blanket on the waterfront like picnickers. One morning I saw one woman helping the other walk with a cane ...
11 May 2018 - Kaia Sand