Meanwhile, a partnership with Portland’s faith community is providing opportunities for our vendors
It’s hot out there this summer. Your support of Street Roots vendors and others is very much appreciated.
If you know someone who may benefit from a check-in this summer, don’t hesitate to do your part. Maybe that’s an elder or a friend or someone you see on the streets. It’s times like these when we can come together as a community and help one another.
Things you can do to help:
• Keep up to date with the latest information on cooling centers and tips for staying cool in Multnomah County at multco.us/help-when-its-hot.
• If you see a vendor struggling, don’t hesitate to check in with them. You can always call our office at 503-228-5657 with questions or concerns. Don’t be afraid to make conversation and offer up some cold water when making your latest purchase of Street Roots.
• At Street Roots, we have expanded drop-in hours, keeping the office open for vendors to access air conditioning during hot days. We also offer vendors cold water, snacks and sunscreen to help keep people hydrated and protected from the blazing sun. Readers can visit streetroots.org to order important in-kind donations for vendors from our Amazon wish list.
Speaking of supporting vendors, since March, Street Roots has been partnering with local communities of faith to host vendors so they can sell newspapers to parishioners after services and during coffee hour. Each church that has partnered with us has welcomed the vendor into their community for coffee, conversation and the option to worship.
The idea behind the program was to increase sales and readership of Street Roots on Sunday mornings to parishes with a social-justice focus. In doing so, the hope is to bring greater awareness of the important, award-winning journalism Street Roots covers on a weekly basis, and to bring individual vendors into the church community, creating a connection that surpasses social and class differences.
“I enjoy the partnership with Westminster Presbyterian Church because it is a very peaceful way to sell Street Roots,” Street Roots vendor Lori Lematta says. “The church and the congregation really care about the community and are generous and kind to me. I also get the added benefit of an hour of worship before working.”
As of this week, Street Roots formalized a partnership with the following churches: Portland Mennonite Church (35th Avenue and Main Street), St. David of Wales Episcopal Church (28th Avenue and Harrison Street), Waverly Heights Congregational UCC (33rd Avenue and Woodward Street), Westminster Presbyterian Church (16th Avenue and Hancock Street), Grace Memorial Episcopal Church (17th Avenue and Weidler Street), Rose City Park Presbyterian Church (45th Avenue and Hancock Street), and Portland First Unitarian (Southwest Main Street, downtown).
“The partnerships we’ve been developing with local communities of faith, while still new, are already transforming the lives of our vendors,” says Cole Merkel, Street Roots’ vendor program director. “Vendors are not only getting the opportunity to sell more papers and make more income on a Sunday morning – which historically is one of the slowest days of the week for sales – they are, more importantly, building community and deep relationships with the parishioners at those churches.”
Any communities of faith that are interested in exploring a partnership with Street Roots should contact Merkel at cole@streetroots.org or 503-228-5657.
Israel Bayer is the executive director of Street Roots. You can reach him at israel@streetroots.org or follow him on Twitter @israelbayer.
