DIRECTOR’S DESK | The homeless numbers are big. The geographic scope of the crisis is big. And the investment required of us is big. Our vision must be, too. How might we envision a future where there is housing for everyone in this region? The new report ...
23 Aug 2019 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR'S DESK | The bigotry of the Trump administration’s immigration policy is on full display Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door These are the last lines of the poem at the Statue of Liberty, set ...
16 Aug 2019 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR'S DESK | Creating a family where everyone – housed and unhoused – is included has been a priority of Street Roots from the beginning Harry Richards draws people as they dream themselves to be, he explained to me. The longtime Street Roots v ...
9 Aug 2019 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | It’s only appropriate that the people who have a key stake in the new Portland Street Response are asked to participate in the process of designing it Clipboards in hand, the teams dispatched to survey people on the streets about their e ...
26 Jul 2019 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | As the city explores how to pilot Portland Street Response, it’s reaching out to unhoused residents A snoring dog lay at the feet of Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty as she leaned back against a table, nodding. A woman described how when she ...
12 Jul 2019 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | Our president, who deplores the visibility of homelessness, doesn't understand the federal government’s role in the housing crisis On Monday, Trump free-associated about homelessness with Fox News’ right-wing provocateur Tucker Carl ...
3 Jul 2019 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR'S DESK | A new report from Disability Rights Oregon finds people seeking help often wind up in jail – we can do better In a harrowing report on trespass arrests made at six Portland-area hospitals between 2017 and 2018, Disability Rights Ore ...
18 Jun 2019 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | The Village Building Convergence helped us reimagine our space from refuse, and the symbolism isn't lost on us Timothy Kennedy gathered a circle of volunteers in the Street Roots office to launch a second day of renovation. He expla ...
14 Jun 2019 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | There are a lot of ill people surviving on the streets, and they are being left behind Earlier this week, I looked around in the vendor office. Of the six vendors who were at tables, drinking coffee and chatting, three had wheelchairs; t ...
7 Jun 2019 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | Please help us keep the enterprise strong As quickly as my bike was dismantled, it was built again. Lacquered in worn Street Roots stickers, the red frame of my bike was still locked to the post, but not much else. Just outside our offi ...
24 May 2019 - Kaia Sand