Street Roots 2017 Vendor of the Year Patti Mancini from Street Roots on Vimeo.
Our mission
Street Roots creates income opportunities for people experiencing homelessness and poverty by producing a newspaper and other media that are catalysts for individual and social change.
How it works
Street Roots is a 501(c)3 nonprofit in Portland, Oregon, that publishes an alternative weekly newspaper that is sold by people experiencing homelessness or extreme poverty.
Each week, about 170 Street Roots vendors purchase copies of the newspaper from our office in Old Town for 25 cents each, then sell them on the streets of Portland for $1. They keep the profit from each sale of the newspaper as a means of earning an income with dignity. More than 700 vendors sell the newspaper during the course of a year. Read about our staff, board, and vendors.
The newspaper
Street Roots newspaper is filled with quality local journalism focused on social justice issues.
Inside each issue, you will also find poetry written during weekly creative writing workshops offered to our vendors. Street Roots is a member of the International Network of Street Papers, which spans more than 110 similar, but independent, publications in 30 countries worldwide.
Where to buy
You can find Street Roots vendors all over Portland, selling the paper on public sidewalks outside local business and community partners. Look for vendors wearing an official Street Roots badge. Please note, Street Roots offers a low-barrier program that allows our vendors to make their own schedules. Vendors' selling hours and days at each location may vary greatly.
Our office
The Street Roots office in Old Town is open 365 days a year. It serves as a home base for the vendors who sell the paper, providing them with their morning coffee and snacks, internet and telephone access, a place to receive mail, and most importantly, community. Street Roots also provides its vendors with health and wellness opportunities, as well as monthly community-building activities, including holiday parties and cultural events.
Rose City Resource Guide
Street Roots prints the most comprehensive list of services for people experiencing homelessness and poverty in Multnomah and Washington counties. More than 180,000 guides are published annually and distributed to more than 400 organizations and entities in the Portland region.
Advocacy
Street Roots' advocacy efforts are related to homelessness and housing issues, both locally and nationally. Most recently, Street Roots worked with the Welcome Home Coalition to refer the first affordable housing measure to the ballot, which created $258 million in funding for affordable housing in Portland upon its passage.
DONATE TO STREET ROOTS
Contact us and learn more
Read about Street Roots' history, meet our staff and Board of Directors, access the nonprofit's Annual Reports, and more at streetroots.org.
Streets Roots
211 NW Davis St.
Portland, OR 97209
503-228-5657
info@streetroots.org
