"More than 100 vendors, about 50 percent unhoused and all living below the poverty line, sell weekly newspapers published by Street Roots, a nonprofit Portland newspaper covering local as well as national news, offering opinions and art. In operation since 1999, the newspaper serves as a means for vendors to earn some income - a single issue costs $1 - and helps to forge contact between the housed and unhoused populations in the human encounters around the street sales. Many of the vendors have consistent spots and regular buyers, they and their customers getting to know each other."
"The organization, led by interim executive director Rebecca Nickels, provides more than just an opportunity to make money and community connections. The newspaper's new building in Old Town offers opportunities for showers and laundry, help with administrative chores, and opportunities for education or communal gatherings. With the move, Street Roots is in dire need to raise the funds for new operating coasts and changes in staff structures, not an easy task in the current economic and political climate."
A vendor in a wheelchair offered a passerby the first sale of the day while holding Street Roots newspapers in the South Park Blocks. More than 100 vendors, about half unhoused and all living below the poverty line, sell the weekly Street Roots newspaper for $1 per issue. The paper creates income and human contact between housed and unhoused people; many vendors have regular spots and repeat buyers. Street Roots' Old Town building provides showers, laundry, administrative help, education, and communal gatherings. Interim executive director Rebecca Nickels leads the organization, which faces urgent fundraising and staffing needs after the move. A weekly poetry workshop serves vendors.
Read at Oregon ArtsWatch * Arts & Culture News
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]