An emphasis on sweeps is an emphasis on making life more difficult for our neighbors who live outside Mark jotted a letter on a sheet of amber-green colored paper that he tucked into a Street Roots newspaper. He did this over and over, writing letters to ...
9 Mar 2018 - Kaia Sand
How do we overturn a sentiment that money gives us worth? There is a woman in Old Town who stores her mound of suitcases under a tarp and stays near it, almost as though she were sitting in a room and the walls themselves fell away. On warmer days, she pa ...
23 Feb 2018 - Kaia Sand
Those who have the least are being displaced and forced to downsize – to discard the possessions they hold dear “I can only carry so many backpacks on my back at the same time with my precious items,” Barbara told me. She was tired, upset, exhausted. Stan ...
16 Feb 2018 - Kaia Sand
Tell your representative housing comes first Many of our vendors recently sketched self-portraits with the artist Helen Hill. These drawings adorn a wall of our vendor office, and I see them each day. I love these faces. Kaia Sand is the executive direct ...
9 Feb 2018 - Kaia Sand
Village of Hope wanted to equip homeless campers with tools to care for the land, but now they've been evicted from the public space First, they hauled away bag upon bag of garbage. Then, in small clearings, they pitched 10 green tents on platforms a ...
2 Feb 2018 - Kaia Sand
It's been almost two decades since Portland's original street paper, Burnside Cadillac, transformed into Street Roots Opening a box packed and sealed for 20 years, I lifted out issues of Burnside Cadillac foxed with age, my byline on the front p ...
26 Jan 2018 - Kaia Sand
Let’s reject the cruelties of historical injustices compounded by present-day injustices In the morning light in Old Town, an elderly woman trudged down a rain-shiny sidewalk on Sixth Avenue, her backpack full and sagging low. It was unclear how much her ...
19 Jan 2018 - Kaia Sand
Medicaid expansion has made it possible to extend health care to many Oregonians suffering from homelessness Last week, as the rain fell hard, a group of Street Roots vendors held a blue tarp high above their heads. The truck had arrived with the bundles ...
12 Jan 2018 - Kaia Sand
We'll reject laws that criminalize poverty, focus on actions that can improve lives Here we are at the turn of a new year. Some of us will attend parties with glitter and clinking glasses. Others will hunker in with families around board games or a T ...
29 Dec 2017 - Kaia Sand
Vendors support each other with dignity and strength As I prepared for my new role as executive director at Street Roots, a large group of vendors gathered to talk with me. One vendor named Brantley issued me this challenge: Work as a vendor my first day ...
22 Dec 2017 - Kaia Sand