People often ask me, what motivated you to get into this line of work and to be engaged with politics. There’s a lot of different ways I could answer that question. Growing up in rural-industrial America, my first relationship to anything even remotely po ...
5 Feb 2014 - Israel Bayer
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
Nothing about publishing a newspaper is easy. Being able to maintain a timely and informative product that engages and educates the public is even harder. Street Roots works tirelessly to bring readers insights and stories that represent the community we ...
21 Dec 2013 - Israel Bayer
Imagine for a moment that you were faced with the experience of being homeless and had nowhere else to turn. Where should I go? You find a local shelter, but a woman half your age at the counter lets you know that the shelter tonight is full. She takes yo ...
28 Nov 2013 - Israel Bayer
Street Roots is a proud partner again this year with the Willamette Week’s 2013 Give!Guide and more than 100 community organizations. These organizations work day-in and day-out to make Portland a better city — a city that we can all be proud to call home ...
21 Nov 2013 - Israel Bayer
I’ve been a fan of NBA basketball for a long, long time. I’ve also worked with people experiencing homelessness for more than 15 years on the streets of Portland and Seattle. When I read that Terrence Jones, Portland native and NBA player alledgedly stomp ...
31 Jul 2013 - Israel Bayer
The Street Roots online auction is live, running today through Monday, July 29, at www.streetrootsauction.org. Visit the site and you’ll have a chance to support Street Roots and get some great items in return. The organization moved the auction from Oct ...
27 Jul 2013 - Israel Bayer
The past two weeks have been chock full of tragic events, bad press and anxiety on the streets, specifically downtown. A group of kids, presumably homeless, attacked a 70-year old employee of the Portland Outdoor Store downtown. He was hospitalized after ...
21 Jul 2013 - Israel Bayer
What Portland needs is real leadership on the homeless and housing front to develop a permanent funding source to give people a safe place to call home. Many of us working in the trenches are working to make that dream a reality and looking at a variety o ...
10 Jul 2013 - Israel Bayer
Feeling overwhelmed by my busy week at Street Roots, I was reminded last week by vendor John Michael of a simple message — that all anyone really needs is to know that they’re loved. I stopped in my tracks. He smiled at me and gave me a hug. We each share ...
1 Jul 2013 - Israel Bayer