Opinion | A note from the vendor program director

Street Roots is an organization with not just one mission, but two: produce high quality journalism, and create jobs accessible to people living on the streets. Each year, Street Roots publishes 51 issues filled with stories that hold leaders accountable and in-depth investigations, as well as pieces that share the warmth and humanity of our community. This issue is focused on vendors: the people who sell you the paper. We’re kicking things off with a letter from Paul Susi, who directs Street Roots’ vendor program.

When Street Roots began in 1990 as the Burnside Cadillac, we were little more than a simple newsletter, manually typed and printed with a mimeograph machine. So much about our city and our communities have changed since 1990, but several things have not: every copy of Street Roots is just $1, the proceeds going directly to the person selling the paper, and we regard every human being with dignity and care.

Now, the mission of this paper is to provide the best investigative journalism “for those who can’t afford free speech,” as a low-barrier income opportunity for people experiencing poverty here in Portland. You, our readers, benefit from our award-winning journalism, an increasingly scarce resource in this misinformation-rich cultural moment. But perhaps more importantly, you also benefit from being in community with everyone involved with this paper.

I came to my position here after 25 years in front-line roles at many of the nonprofit social services and cultural organizations of our city: Portland Street Medicine, Transition Projects, New Avenues for Youth, Hooper Detox, Portland Center Stage, PlayWrite Inc., MESD Outdoor School and others. As a Portland native who was briefly homeless in high school, I’ve long known that Street Roots is one of the few institutions that can reach across the class and communal conflicts that have long divided us. Street Roots’ journalism and advocacy helped to establish Portland Street Response; humanized and contextualized the Safe Rest Village/tiny house cluster model; and pushed the County to release the annual Domicile Unknown report, documenting the lethality of our housing and poverty crises.

But for me, when I was a shelter manager, the real importance of Street Roots was as an established, legitimate low-barrier income opportunity for my shelter guests. Imagine that you have just been released from prison, without a valid ID, and little more than the clothes on your back. Imagine that you are fleeing an abuser, and left behind a job, a home, and a network of family or friends that you can no longer count on for support. Imagine that you are returning from an extended recovery period at a medical facility, now with a new disabling medical condition that prevents you from going back to your previous job. For most of my shelter guests, these circumstances presented almost insurmountable obstacles on their journeys back into housing, and without Street Roots, it was impossible to know where to begin. These all continue to be real-world circumstances that bring people to our vendor offices here at 281 W. Burnside St., seeking to become vendors of our paper.

Anyone who wants to be a Street Roots vendor can attend our regular orientation meetings, every Wednesday and Friday at 2:15 p.m., at Street Roots’ offices. Here, staff walk through the basic expectations of being a vendor: where people are allowed to sell papers, tips and guidelines for communicating with property and business owners, how to access survival and harm reduction supplies onsite (Narcan, hygiene kits, first aid kits, clothing donations). New vendors are given ID badges and 10 free papers to start. Once established, vendors purchase more papers at 25 cents each and sell them for $1 or more (given that this price hasn’t changed since 1990, all are encouraged to respectfully request tips from customers).

But selling papers is just a “cover,” if you will, for the real work that happens in this building, and out on the streets. People build real community with each other here. We learn each other’s names, we share stories, experiences, advice. People support one another, making sure that others hear about housing opportunities, job opportunities, recovery resources, free meals. People make lifelong friendships and support one another on their recovery journeys.

Street Roots vendors are poets, artists, veterans, teachers, firefighters, grandparents, nurses, writers, travelers, union members, activists, pacifists, devout Christians, principled atheists, social workers, elders, disabled, retirees, working stiffs, amateur historians, learned experts, young mavericks, donut connoisseurs, humble legends and proud homegrown citizens of the world. They fan out across the city every Wednesday with a new edition of Street Roots. In our vendors, you will find some of the bravest, the most emotionally vulnerable, the most generous and the kindest people our city has to offer, eager to meet you and welcome you into our extended family of readers, volunteers, donors and staff.

Everything we do here at Street Roots to support our vendors is meant to further build and invoke real community in our broken city. We do this in many ways:

Our constantly updated Rose City Resource Guide, provided free to everyone who asks for it, is the most reliable and comprehensive source of information for people experiencing poverty and homelessness in our region. To supply this accurate and up-to-date critical information, we’re relied upon by local governments and health care providers just as much as by individuals seeking help.

Every edition of our paper features poetry written by our vendors, and profiles of their life stories. While the vast majority of the local discourse around homelessness features dehumanizing statistics and painful visual images, we are lifting up original and authentic voices from those who are living the issues we’re reporting on.

By providing our vendors a safe, welcoming space to drink a cup of coffee, use the restroom, sign up for showers or laundry access, and attend writing and photography workshops, we are affirming creativity, dignity and care for every individual.

I have seen our vendors rally together to care for a beloved pet dog whose owner needed to check themselves into a sober living program. I have seen them gather together to mourn a fellow vendor’s passing, whose own family could not or would not support them. I’ve heard them tell stories about their children, or about their previous careers fighting wildfires or caring for the elderly, about their lost loves or their future hopes. We grieve for the friends we’ve lost, and we celebrate our shared joys. Reader, thank you for helping to make this possible for many years to come.

— Paul Susi, Vendor Program Director

Street Roots is an award-winning weekly publication focusing on economic, environmental and social justice issues. The newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Street Roots newspaper operates independently of Street Roots advocacy and is a part of the Street Roots organization. Learn more about Street Roots. Support your community newspaper by making a one-time or recurring gift today.

This article appears in December 24, 2025.