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The artist formerly known as Johnny No Bueno

From the streets to the stage, Sean Aaron Bowers grows up with poetry Poet Sean Aaron Bowers, 33, known to many as Johnny No Bueno, writes with the grittiest of voices. Reading his poetry is like jumping into the moshpit at a punk rock show. The brash lan ...

4 Dec 2013 - Claire Valentin...
Imagine for a moment you were homeless

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
The Brahma Bull

I was adopted at a young age, yet I still remember my adopted parents telling me they were my new parents. Then asking if it was OK, I answered, “yes.” They were pleased; next they told me I could change my name if I wanted to. They gave me some examples ...

21 Oct 2013 - Leo Rhodes
Our guilty hearts

A personal exploration into how guilt shapes our character, for better or worse It’s a little after 3 a.m. and the 7-Eleven lights up the parking lot. You can almost see heat waves from the cooling street. The neighborhood’s up late: hot houses, cold drin ...

3 Oct 2013 - Matt Stangel
Right 2 Dream Too has earned its place at the table

Not many people gave them a chance. From the neighborhood and bureaucrats to certain shelter providers and the business community, no one believed that a group of homeless people could be successful in creating their own safe refuge from the harsh realiti ...

26 Sep 2013 - SR editorial board
Now is not the time to give up on those who are homeless

Last week, a young, frightened woman phoned my Multnomah County office looking for help. She was a mother, with three children, who needed housing. The family had been doubling up with a relative, but now that relative was moving out of town. She needed h ...

23 Sep 2013 - Deborah Kafoury
When trying is half of the battle

The past month we have seen a media frenzy surrounding homelessness. That’s why I cringed a little bit when I read the Willamette Week’s cover story on homelessness titled, “The Real World: Portland.” The author interviewed ten people living on the street ...

5 Sep 2013 - Israel Bayer
Surviving homelessness in the mountains of Austria

The following column won top honors among vendor essays at the International Network of Street Paper Awards 2013 in July. It is written by a vendor with Street Roots’ sister paper Apropos in Austria. I’m going my way. What is this day going to bring? Some ...

28 Aug 2013 - Andrea Hoschek
City Hall plays the wrong hand with street sweeps

Running the City of Portland is hard work. But being able to work in a collaborative effort toward a common goal shouldn’t be. Mayor Charlie Hales boldly declared last week that enforcing sidewalk laws against people experiencing homelessness — and we ass ...

19 Aug 2013 - SR editorial board
Terrence Jones: A teachable moment

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