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Kaia Sand

Executive Director

Kaia Sand
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

  • Street Roots
    Nyanga Uuka helps build the camp in Old Town

    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
  • Street Roots
    Mari

    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
  • Street Roots

    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 Roots
    Raven Drake

    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
  • Street Roots
    "Hope" is displayed above a tent

    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
  • Street Roots
    Rio de Janeiro

    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
  • Street Roots
    Graffiti on a building reads: House the Homeless

    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
  • Street Roots

    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
  • Street Roots
    Sara and Josh in their van

    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
  • Street Roots
    A Rapid Response vehicle

    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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9 of 17

Support Capital Campaign

future Street Roots headquarters

$2.1 million. The building.
An investment in Old Town. 

Major Renovations

$1 million. Major renovations.

$1 million. Operating and programming cost reserves

 

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