Richard Rowe moved to the Portland area just over a year ago from Texas, where he did maintenance on oil rigs. It was a dangerous job. Not as dangerous as drilling, he says, but well-paid and suited to his skills. He lost his job when oil prices fell and he became homeless for a spell.
He moved up to Vancouver, Wash., to be with a girlfriend, a situation that went south quickly and landed him on the streets again. “It’s not an easy city to be homeless in,” he says of Vancouver. At one point he was given a ticket for sleeping on the sidewalk. He crossed the Columbia River to Portland three months ago and began selling Street Roots almost immediately.
Richard sells at the U.S. Bancorp Tower and the nearby food carts on Southwest Fifth Avenue. He is a soft-spoken and genial man with a low-key selling style. He gives passersby a warm smile and a simple greeting. He does well at the U.S. Bancorp Tower, especially when people are getting off work, as opposed to the morning when they tend to ride a wave of caffeine past all distractions.
He sets his own schedule, selling for a block of time in the morning and evening with a lunch break in between. Often for lunch he volunteers at Sisters of the Road on Northwest Sixth Avenue and Davis Street in exchange for a meal. Personal drive and hard work are important to him, giving him the knowledge that he’s making his life better.
He starts selling each day with small goals — get lunch at the food carts, and stay positive each day — while working on the larger goals of getting off the streets and reconnecting with his family.
“I know I’m not gonna be selling enough to get a room for the night,” he says. “Down payment on a car? That ain’t happening. So, little goals. And once I meet them, you know it doesn’t matter, because I know I’ve got papers for tomorrow. The Lord provides, you know. What little I want, He’s given to me.”