Kaia Sand | Street Roots

Executive Director


Motoya Nakamura

she/her

Kaia Sand became executive director of Street Roots in late 2017, two decades after she worked as a staff reporter for the Burnside Cadillac, the predecessor to Street Roots. In those subsequent 20 years, Sand worked as a poet, artist, community organizer, and university professor, focusing particularly on economic injustice and homelessness — from a magic show she created about the financial collapse to the Right 2 Survive Ambassador Program she co-founded for housed people to learn from people experiencing homelessness. She taught at Portland State University, Pacific University, Willamette University and St. Mary’s College of Maryland; co-founded Vignettes & Verses, a writing and personal history institute; and performed and taught internationally, including in England, Ireland and Brazil. She has widely exhibited her artwork and served in residencies, from a public art commision at the City of Portland Archives and Records Center to the Despina International Artist Residency in Rio de Janeiro. A member of PEN America, she is author of three books of poetry — interval (a Small Press Traffic Book of the Year in 2004), Remember to Wave and A Tale of Magicians Who Puffed Up Money that Lost its Puff — and the co-author of Landscapes of Dissent: Guerrilla Poetry & Public Space. Two books in Jim Dine's Hot Dreams series are comprised of her text. In 2019 she was awarded a Spirit of Portland award by Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty; and in 2019, the regional Society of Professional Journalists small newsroom first prize for Best Column.

Articles by Kaia Sand

3 temporary campsites to open next week for more unhoused people to shelter in place

DIRECTOR'S DESK | Street Roots has supported this effort coordinated by Join to open campsites on city land

By
Kaia Sand

April 10, 2020
At Street Roots, we work through tough times with hope and grace

DIRECTOR’S DESK | As we confront this pandemic, we continue to look toward our best future

By
Kaia Sand

March 27, 2020
Vendors take supplies and COVID-19 information to the streets

DIRECTOR'S DESK | Accustomed to getting the news out, they are becoming the media in a new way — by word of mouth

By
Kaia Sand

March 12, 2020
Street survival in the age of coronavirus

DIRECTOR'S DESK | It's all-hands-on-deck when it comes to hygiene support

By
Kaia Sand

March 6, 2020
Metro steps up and puts hope on the ballot

DIRECTOR’S DESK | Voters need to turn out in droves to pass this homeless-services measure

By
Kaia Sand

February 28, 2020
The paradox of yes: Responding to homelessness with ideas big and small

DIRECTOR’S DESK | Creativity and resourcefulness are essential for people on the streets, but so are grand solutions from the public sector

By
Kaia Sand

February 14, 2020
Our homeless neighbors need more than affordable housing; they need support

DIRECTOR’S DESK | Metro’s proposed ballot measure would fund homeless services through a tax on the Portland area's wealthiest residents

By
Kaia Sand

February 7, 2020
Controversial calendar prompts dialogue between firefighters, Street Roots vendors

DIRECTOR’S DESK | It was a meaningful conversation, touching on struggle, empathy and understanding

By
Kaia Sand

January 31, 2020
Yes to declaring a statewide emergency on homelessness

DIRECTOR’S DESK | This isn’t just a Portland problem; it’s an Oregon problem

By
Kaia Sand

January 17, 2020
City efforts should lead to health and housing, not more suffering

DIRECTOR'S DESK | Portland City Council approves $4.5 million annual contract for Rapid Response Bio Clean

By
Kaia Sand

January 9, 2020

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