Let’s reject the cruelties of historical injustices compounded by present-day injustices In the morning light in Old Town, an elderly woman trudged down a rain-shiny sidewalk on Sixth Avenue, her backpack full and sagging low. It was unclear how much her ...
19 Jan 2018 - Kaia Sand
Everyone deserves secure, quality housing A couple falls asleep on their mattress, a blanket pulled up to their chins. Elsewhere, a man nods off in a pink overstuffed chair. These are scenes that might be unfolding in houses across the city, but that matt ...
25 May 2018 - Kaia Sand
Two Street Roots vendors had been living in the camp for months without hassle On Wednesday, Jan. 10, David Samson called the Street Roots office for his fiancé, Bettyjo Griffiths. His message: Come quickly, their camp was being swept. Before Bettyjo left ...
11 Jan 2019 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | There are a lot of ill people surviving on the streets, and they are being left behind Earlier this week, I looked around in the vendor office. Of the six vendors who were at tables, drinking coffee and chatting, three had wheelchairs; t ...
7 Jun 2019 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | Our president, who deplores the visibility of homelessness, doesn't understand the federal government’s role in the housing crisis On Monday, Trump free-associated about homelessness with Fox News’ right-wing provocateur Tucker Carl ...
3 Jul 2019 - Kaia Sand
OPINION | Supported by Project Turnkey these shelters brough stability to those seeking safety The clear light of Umpqua Valley streamed through the Douglas firs and the cedar trees. This view surrounds people who seek to escape violence through motel-bas ...
8 Dec 2021 - Kaia Sand
OPINION | Domicile Unknown report shows people on the streets die decades before their time For nearly a decade now, Street Roots has published the Domicile Unknown report with Multnomah County and the Multnomah County medical examiner. Named after the ca ...
15 Dec 2021 - Kaia Sand
OPINION | Public education is a right in this country. Why not housing? What if people had a right to housing in the way that they have a right to a K-12 public education? That’s a question Andy Nelson, executive director of Impact NW, posed to me. Impact ...
26 Jan 2022 - Kaia Sand
Opinion | Knowledge from the unhoused provides critical insight The Street Roots ambassadors grew animated discussing the topic of ranked-choice voting. They considered how this method of voting could motivate people to vote because they might feel like t ...
2 Feb 2022 - Kaia Sand
Opinion | The $400 million legislative housing package protects human rights; no city can use the funding for sweeps People survive in tents in Deschutes National Forest, along the Umpqua River of Roseburg, on the sandy knolls of Lincoln City. In Medford, ...
2 Mar 2022 - Kaia Sand