Things are starting to look up for Jeremy Joel Coffey.
“I’m due to graduate from outpatient drug treatment (soon),” Coffey said. “Treatment’s been great. I feel really grounded in sobriety.”
For a long time, Coffey thought his life would always include addiction.
“I just thought, ‘I’m never gonna not do this drug, because it’s the cure for my fibromyalgia, my chronic pain and fatigue,’” he said.
This spring, Coffey turned a new leaf, and started his sobriety journey March 25. Most days, he attends two 90-minute recovery support meetings. He’s now also working with a counselor to organize his resume and is looking forward to getting part-time work.
Coffey, a longtime Portland local, now lives at Bybee Lakes Hope Center, a sober housing and homeless services space. He likes the dorms a lot — some places he’s stayed have been “kind of like jail,” he said, but the Bybee Lakes living quarters has lots of plants, prints of famous works of art by artists like Van Gogh and a TV room.
The music room is especially exciting for Coffey, who has been enjoying spending time getting back into his musical hobbies.
“I started playing guitar — trying to learn seriously — at about age 49,” he said. “I’m 55 now. And when I became homeless, I didn’t have access to a guitar. They have a music room at Bybee Lakes Hope Center, which is great, and I’ve been back into it.”
Coffey is working on learning music theory. He’s also learning to play a huge array of genres: jazz, fusion rock, 1980s new wave, prog rock and soul, to name a few. Next up, he wants to learn flamenco.
Coffey started selling Street Roots about a year ago and said it’s made a big difference to his budget.
“I’ve been out of work for a number of years,” he said. “I had no real income other than Street Roots. That was it.”
As far as his paper selling strategy, Coffey likes to sell on the go, as well as posting up in busy areas with lots of foot traffic.
“As much as you can, ask everyone you come in contact with,” he said.
Coffey often shares a few dollars from his Street Roots income with others who aren’t able to sell the paper or obtain other work, but need a helping hand.
Coffey likes to sell Street Roots near the Grant Park New Seasons Market and while walking around. You can also support Coffey through @StreetRoots Venmo by entering his name and badge number (1193) in the memo.
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.
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This article appears in November 11, 2025.