Street Roots weighs in on day-access center

Day-access center could be a galvanizing project

Portland’s struggle to locate a permanent day-access center for the homeless has proven harder than expected. The city of Portland, and City Commissioner Erik Sten’s office, are in the process of spearheading a $30 million state-of-the-art day-access center in Old Town/Chinatown.

If the goal is to create a better quality of life for the neighborhood and downtown, then improving the quality of life for people experiencing homelessness and poverty is a step in the right direction.

From Street Roots’ perspective, the idea of a day access center for the homeless is a win-win, not just for people forced to live exposed to the elements, but also for the health of the community as a whole.

Off the top of our heads we can think of several components of the day access center that would improve Old Town/Chinatown, including offering a visually appealing piece of architecture with green standards, community gardens and creative microenterprises, to name a few.

For better or worse, downtown is evolving. Specifically, Old Town/Chinatown is evolving. Beyond having the Portland Development Commission and NW Natural headquartered in the ’hood, we soon will be welcoming the University of Oregon and Mercy Corps. We have heard rumors of Uwajimaya, an Asian specialty supermarket, which we would welcome with open arms.

The conflicting reality for many businesses downtown is that poverty is real. And it’s not showing any signs of decline. Like it or not, Old Town/Chinatown is home to a web of services working with poor people, including Central City Concern, Sisters Of The Road, Transition Projects, Union Gospel and Street Roots, to name a few.

None of this even starts to address the value of building affordable housing — a dwindling resource — for Portland’s residents. The affordable mixed-income housing units proposed atop the day-access center could be for the very people living and working in the neighborhood. Currently, someone working as a barista or in a convenience store downtown can’t even afford to live in the area. That’s absurd. Part of coupling a day access center with affordable housing is to offer those very workers and people living on little income the opportunity to live downtown and to be contributing members of our community.

Some have said the process is flawed, broken. Perhaps it is, but more importantly, the system is broken, and people continue to flock to Old Town/Chinatown for services. That’s not going to change anytime soon. But what can change is the way people are treated. For some, that may mean offering people dignity and respect; for others, that may mean getting people out of sight and out of mind, and some may be somewhere in between. Regardless, the day-access center is a way to bridge all of these differing points of view by offering something special, something that we as a community not only have the responsibility to do, but the responsibility to do right. We can do this together.

New Street Roots on the beat

This week's lead stories explore the final stages of the North American Free Trade Agreement pact going into effect in January, and how it will effect immigration and labor locally and in Mexico.

We have Q & A's with the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Charlie Savage on the Bush-Cheney administration's power grabs, and city council candidate Amanda Fritz.

This issue of Street Roots also brings you columns from attorney Brandon Mayfield, the Raging Grannies, Alejandro Queral with the Northwest Constitutional Rights Center, and Jay Thiemeyer speaks his truth about life on the road.

You can help us reach our goal!

Dear Street Roots supporter,

Street Roots readers have donated nearly $15,000 for the Winter Fund Drive. That means we still need to raise $10,000 to lower the cost of newspaper to vendors in 2008. You can help!

Street Roots is on the verge of celebrating its ninth year in existence. During that time period Street Roots has put more than $1 million directly into the hands of people experiencing homelessness and poverty, helped launch Dignity Village, published nine books from people on the streets and maintained a balance of professional news and advocacy, along with bringing you the voices from the streets.

During that same time period we have been a part of housing scores of vendors and creating an atmosphere of hope and dignity. The relationships built between vendors and community members, along with helping educate a broader base about issues of homelessness and poverty, have led us to where we are today.

Much like the little train that could, Street Roots continues to chug away. We’ve set goals in 2008 to redesign the newspaper in a way that improves curb appeal for vendors and will allow us to explore the options of going full color and eventually weekly. With your help we can reach these goals. Improving the newspaper increases sales for vendors, and increasing sales for vendors allows individuals to maintain their own lives in a way that offers dignity and respect. Not to mention that it allows you, the readers, to be better informed on a variety of issues that are often swept under the rug by the mainstream media. By supporting the organization, you are not only supporting a human being’s livelihood, you are supporting grassroots media.

We believe the newspaper brings Portlanders not only voices from the streets, but unique perspectives from community organizers, authors, policy wonks, candidates, and a range of alternative voices that are helping shape the environment we all call home. That home takes many shapes and forms, from a doorway in front of a business to a camp on the edge of town. Maybe home is a loft in the Pearl, or a small house in a quiet neighborhood — regardless, there’s one thing that helps us connect the two very different worlds, and that’s Street Roots. Help us continue to deliver that connection between people in a changing world of isolationism. Help us be the change we seek. Help us reach our $25,000 goal.

Thank you for you consideration.


Donate now:

Donate today!

Or you can mail a check to Street Roots, 211 NW Davis, PDX, Oregon 97209 at the address below...

Happy holidays! And thank you for your support!

Housing and homeless advocates call to action

From the New York Times, "After protesters clashed violently with the police inside and outside the New Orleans City Council chambers on Thursday, the council voted unanimously to allow the federal government to demolish 4,500 apartments in the four biggest public housing projects in the city."

Read more...

New Orleans advocates raise hell

Portland's sister paper in Seattle, Real Change, spearheaded an all night protest at City Hall over camp sweeps.

Seattle advocates raise hell

San Fran looks to Portland for creative ways to clear sidewalks

The San Francisco Chronicle ran an interesting piece this weekend on Portland's role in clearing the streets of individuals experiencing homelessness coupled with services through the Safe Access For Everyone (SAFE) committee.

Mike Kuykendall says the criticism never seemed to let up.

"We were barraged with people complaining about conditions downtown," he said. "There were people sitting on the sidewalk, there were guys with sleeping bags and pit bulls, and there was aggressive panhandling. We had visitors and conventioneers saying they didn't want to come back."

Sound familiar?

No, it isn't downtown San Francisco.

Kuykendall is the head of the Business Alliance of Portland, Ore. Last week, he led a group that came to town to pitch San Francisco officials on Portland's downtown plan, called "Street Access for Everyone."

Read more...

S.F. leaders hear about Portland's approach to homelessness

You can help us reach our goal

Street Roots readers have donated nearly $12,000 for the Winter Fund Drive. We very much appreciate all of your support. We still need your help!

Street Roots is on the verge of celebrating its ninth year in existence. During that time period Street Roots has put more than $1 million directly into the hands of people experiencing homelessness and poverty, helped launch Dignity Village, published nine books from people on the streets and maintained a balance of professional news and advocacy, along with bringing you the voices from the streets.

During that same time period we have been a part of housing scores of vendors and creating an atmosphere of hope and dignity. The relationships built between vendors and community members, along with helping educate a broader base about issues of homelessness and poverty, have led us to where we are today.

Much like the little train that could, Street Roots continues to chug away. We’ve set goals in 2008 to redesign the newspaper in a way that improves curb appeal for vendors and will allow us to explore the options of going full color and eventually weekly. With your help we can reach these goals. Improving the newspaper increases sales for vendors, and increasing sales for vendors allows individuals to maintain their own lives in a way that offers dignity and respect. Not to mention that it allows you, the readers, to be better informed on a variety of issues that are often swept under the rug by the mainstream media. By supporting the organization, you are not only supporting a human being’s livelihood, you are supporting grassroots media.

We believe the newspaper brings Portlanders not only voices from the streets, but unique perspectives from community organizers, authors, policy wonks, candidates, and a range of alternative voices that are helping shape the environment we all call home. That home takes many shapes and forms, from a doorway in front of a business to a camp on the edge of town. Maybe home is a loft in the Pearl, or a small house in a quiet neighborhood — regardless, there’s one thing that helps us connect the two very different worlds, and that’s Street Roots. Help us continue to deliver that connection between people in a changing world of isolationism. Help us be the change we seek. Help us reach our $25,000 goal.

Thank you for you consideration.

Sincerely,

Street Roots crew

Donate on-line

or you can send a donation to Street Roots, 211 NW Davis, Portland, Oregon 97209

TriMet proposes a false sense of security

Reeling from the bad press around two highly publicized attacks on TriMet riders, TriMet general manager Fred Hansen wants do away with fareless square during the evening, and possibly forever.

The reason? Because “Fareless Square provides a free ride for panhandlers, who go back and forth between downtown and the Lloyd Center, and drug dealers and rowdy gangs of young people, homeless people and drunks who are using the train as a shelter and a place to do their business,” Hansen told an audience at the City Club of Portland.

But the attacks occurred at stations, not aboard the Max. Other security proposals can address that concern. The reason for doing away with Fareless Square, even in increments, is money. The disgust at panhandlers and homeless people, even drunks for that matter, is something else. It’s scapegoating the popular punching bags to present another regressive attitude in the guise of a positive outcome. The goal: To have private security guards asking for proof of fares to initiate conversation among those who “raise suspicions.” You don’t even have to lift a finger to cause a problem for the courtesy interrogation. We already know that if you look homeless – especially if you’re seeking shelter from the cold and rain — according to Hansen’s own words, you’re in their sights.

Since when did suspicion of a fare violation trump the suspicion of drug dealing?

On the other hand, there are definitely positives in Hansen’s plans for security, which everyone can support, and for ensuring that fares are paid – which they should be. Fixing the faulty vending machines seems a no-brainer, but it will go a long way toward easing the minds of people who are forced to choose between risking riding without fare or walking miles home alone in the dark. Now that’s where TriMet can actually improve security.

And security on board the trains would be a benefit, provided they answer to TriMet, not private security interests. According to The Oregonian, Hansen says he would negotiate with TriMet's union to allow Wackenhut contract security officers to write tickets and exclude “unruly people” from the system. Any actions against citizens that exclude them from public transportation need to be conducted in a transparent accountability system. We don’t need any more guards enforcing public policies under the cloak of private business, particularly when a business contract and job security relies on a steady flow of people deemed “unruly.”

Fareless Square is a 30-year institution and a hallmark of our great city. It ferries people from the Southside into Old Town for a Chinese lunch, and back again within the hour. It is a conveyor for tourists who want to enjoy shopping, dining, entertainment and the sites in our bustling downtown. It sends people for a quick shop at Lloyd Center and back downtown for the evening meeting. It is lauded by environmentalists as a progressive alternative to the growing glut of polluting engines. It is a treasure to the poor, who often travel its width and breadth to reach services and needs, and yes, find shelter, as they should and have every right to. Its preservation should be at the forefront of everyone, from business owners to social advocates to consumers. But it doesn’t seem so important to TriMet.

Which brings us back to the money. TriMet has been crying for the end of Fareless Square for years to (end car prowls, stop drug dealing, protect against terrorism?) bring in more revenue. If TriMet wants to end the free rides on paid routes, put in a better system. The proposed gated entry points, fixing antiquated ticket dispensers, are all on the right track. But go further: Consider the Seattle model – where a much larger downtown is fareless — of having people pay as the leave through the front and only the front door.

We were innovative and progressive 32 years ago with the advent of Fareless Square. We shouldn’t be so shortsighted as to scrap such an asset for quick cash.

New Street Roots tomorrow will knock your socks off

Street Roots lead story is a fantastic interview by Martha Gies with local author Jules Boykoff exploring how government and media play a role in suppressing dissent.

Other stories include a look at why housing advocates are clamoring for the city to step up its efforts to make affordable housing a priority for two Army centers slated for closure, and why the Department of Defense is standing in the way and the Portland Development Commission may be dropping the ball.

Portland Patrol Inc., a private security group downtown hands out a record number of park exclusions this year, police target people experiencing homelessness through the sidewalk obstruction ordinance and the ACLU brokers a deal with the city to prohibit the police bureau from working with the DEA on medical marijuana and assisted suicide investigations.

Jo Ann Bowman gives Portland her holiday wish for next year's mayoral elections, Howard Weiner talks public safety and homelessness on the campaign trail and Soup Can Sam is on fire in this Friday's issue of Street Roots.

All of this and much more in tomorrow's edition of Street Roots!

Only homeless individuals receive sidewalk obstruction warnings

Thirteen written sidewalk obstruction warnings and one citation have been doled out by the Portland Police Bureau between August 30, and October 30, according to documents obtained by Street Roots.

All of the individuals receiving warnings were listed as homeless or transient, according to police reports.

The most recent revision of the sidewalk obstruction ordinance bans individuals from sitting or lying on public sidewalks from 7AM to 9PM. The maximum penalty for violation of the ordinance is $250.

The new ordinance was crafted by the Street Access For Everyone (SAFE) committee, made up of homeless advocates, law enforcement, City Hall, and the business community agreed to allow such an ordinance in exchange for park benches, public restrooms and a homeless day access center – all of which have not been fully implemented.

“The information suggests that the intent of the law’s backers and the intent of the law’s enforcers is to target homeless people,” says Adam Arms, a Portland attorney who successfully represented a case that found a similar law unconstitutional in 2004.

“The information could signify that homeless people happen to be on the receiving end of enforcement because homeless folks are forced to live outside, many on sidewalks,” Arms goes on to say. “In any event, the numbers are disturbing because they seem to confirm the “sit-lie” ordinance critics’ prediction – that the law will be unjustly used to single out homeless people for criminalization.”

Street Roots along with several other organizations opposed the committee’s recommendations to create such an ordinance on the grounds that it would specifically target people on the streets who otherwise do not have a place to sleep, or rest.

The full report on sidewalk obstruction warnings will be presented to the SAFE committee this Thursday morning at City Hall at 9:30AM.

Read the full story on the sidewalk obstruction warnings this Friday in Street Roots.

Private security hand out 2,274 park exclusion over a one-year period

During a one-year period between November of 2006 and November of 2007 the Portland Patrol Inc., a private security agency issued 2,274 park exclusions in downtown, according to the latest Portland Patrol Parks Report.

The Portland Patrol Inc. is primarily funded by the Portland Business Alliance to assist law enforcement with security downtown. The private agency has the capacity to enforce public policy in parks, and has come under scrutiny from homeless and civil rights activists for the lack of public oversight.

More than half of the exclusions handed out by PPI occurred in Waterfront Park with 1, 385. PPI handed out 286 exclusions in the North Park Blocks, while the private group doled out 132 exclusions in both the South Park Blocks and Obryant Square.

Merkley/Novick interview in Street Roots

Steve Novick and Jeff Merkley are the top Democratic contenders for taking Gordon Smith’s Senate seat this fall. Street Roots, along with Oregon Action, Jobs with Justice, the ACLU of Oregon, the Rural Organizing Project and Affordable Housing Now, asked the candidates about affordable housing, immigrant issues and civil rights. Read the article…

Merkley/Novick interview

The current interview with the candidates is out on the streets. Please support a local vendor by buying a copy today!

Street Roots needs your help!

Street Roots has raised nearly $9,400 in the first month of the organizations Winter Fund Drive. We’ve set a goal of 25K. We can’t do it without you!

This year Street Roots is working towards empowering vendors by lowering the costs of the newspaper for vendors from 30 cents to 25 cents, that’s a 75 percent profit off of each paper sold.

We are also developing a sales training video for vendors, as well as providing fresh water, coffee and a warm and safe place for vendors and people on the streets to congregate in the office 365 days a year.

The relationship built between readers and vendors is an amazing thing in itself. The self-confidence and self-worth individuals experience is immeasurable. The income individuals are able to gain through the sale of the newspaper is life changing.

As one vendor recently put it. “I sell these newspapers to keep me alive, so you better keep producing them. Without it (newspaper), I’m as good as gone. Things are turning around, and for the first time in a long while, I have reason to believe in something.”

The content delivered to readers through the newspaper is irreplaceable. In 2007, Street Roots published in-depth features on privatization of police, immigrant rights, gentrification, rural poverty, affordable housing and homelessness, and environmental justice. We produced two special editions, one on individuals displaced from New Orleans, the other on food, poverty and social justice.

And if that’s not enough, each issue has been jammed packed with commentaries by community organizers, people experiencing homelessness and poverty, policy wonks, media hounds, and an assorted mix of muckrakers, do-gooders, hellraisers and individuals who above all else, care about the people and the city and world we live.

Please help us reach our goal this winter of 25K!

From all of us at Street Roots, we thank you!

Donate on-line today:

Donate today!

or you can send a donation to Street Roots, 211 NW Davis, Portland, Oregon 97209

Help us keep grassroots media alive, all while helping build community!

You can help us keep grassroots media alive, all while helping an individual experiencing homelessness and poverty build self-worth and gain a supplimental income.

Please help us raise 25K for our winter fund drive!

In 2008, we hope to lower the cost of the newspaper for vendors to 25 cents, giving vendors a 75% profit from each paper sold. That’s up to $100 dollars a month for individuals selling the newspaper, and nearly $1,200 more a year that vendors will have to improve their lives.

Not to mention the countless relationships that are developed and built with your local neighborhood vendor. Part of what makes Street Roots special is the relationships built between people across class lines. The self-confidence and self-worth established through those relationships are immeasurable.

Last year, Street Roots received more individual donations from people like you than ever before. Your donations went to help Street Roots empower more than 15 individuals to gain stable housing. With your help we also updated our archaic technology, created an advisory panel and editorial committee, while offering vendors additional sales items. Those items included bumper stickers and the popular “Housing is a human right” post-cards and buttons. Those additional sales items gave vendors an opportunity to make money and build awareness about Street Roots and the human rights of poor people.

This year your donation will not only go towards lowering the cost of the newspaper for vendors, but will also go toward developing a new sales training video for vendors, providing additional sales items, providing freshwater, hot coffee, and a warm place to congregate in the office. All while providing the dignity people deserve.

Vendors can’t be successful without a quality newspaper to sell. Your donation will also help the newspaper maintain four additional pages of local, national, and international news and a new vendor page exploring the unique stories of the people who sell the newspaper. Street Roots will also be doing a redesign in the summer of 2008 and looking toward a weekly publication in 2009.

We wouldn’t be able to do any of this without your generous support. We thank you for the consideration and for your dedication to the organization. From all of us at Street Roots, we thank you for your support.

Thank you for your support!

Donate today!

Novick and Merkley square off in new Street Roots

The new edition of Street Roots hits the streets tomorrow. This issue is jammed packed with great stories, including an in-depth interview with Democratic Senate candidates Steve Novick and Jeff Merkley. Street Roots along with the ACLU of Oregon, Affordable Housing Now!, Jobs With Justice, Oregon Action and the Rural Organizing Project ask important questions on homelessness, affordable housing, labor, immigrant rights, and civil liberties.

Other features include an interview with Cathy Wilkerson who recently wrote a memoir called Flying Close to the Sun: My life and times as a Weatherman. The book is a memoir of a white middle-class girl from the suburbs who became what today many would call a terrorist — a bomb-making member of the Weather Underground — who then came to learn the lessons of the 1960s that other radicals of all stripes seem not to have learned.

Cathy Wilkerson was active in the civil rights movement, Students for a Democratic Society, and the Weather Underground. In 1970, she, along with Kathy Boudin, survived an explosion in the basement of her parents' townhouse that killed three Weathermen, forcing the two underground. For the past twenty years she has worked as an educator teaching teachers in the New York City schools.

Other features include a look at the FCC consolidation, the rising tides of women in prison, and why Berkeley ditched sidewalk-sitting prohibitions.

Most of all this issue includes some great stories and poetry from the streets, including the story of Street Roots vendor Brian Letiecq, a story written by two recently housed vendors, and much more.

You can find all of this and more in the next edition of Street Roots. Don't be a scrooge, buy a copy today, you might be surprised by what you find!

Don't forget! Street Roots has set a goal to raise 25K in our annual Winter Fund Drive. Your donation will go to lowering the costs of the newspaper for vendors from 30 cents to 25 cents, giving people on the streets a 75% profit on each paper sold! It will also go to provide fresh water, coffee and a safe place to gather each and every morning. We can't do it without you!

Donate today!

Community Development Network reports...

The Community Development Network (CDN), an association of nonprofit community development organizations in Multnomah County, reports that on November 14, the House of Representatives passed the FY08 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) conference report by a vote of 270-147. The vote was short of the two-thirds majority of those present needed to override a presidential veto.

The same day, the White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) on the bill, again threatening a veto because the bill exceeds the president’s spending requests by $3 billion, does not cut what the president has deemed ineffective programs and includes nearly 2,000 earmarks. The HUD portion of the bill contains $183.5 million in Economic Development Initiative earmarks, down from $307 million in such pork spending in FY06. The FY07 HUD spending bill did not include Economic Development Initiative earmarks.

Read more...

HUD money threatened with veto

Read more about the National Housing Trust Fund Campaign, the Housing America peitition asking for people to shine a light on the lack of affordable housing, and much more at CDN's website.

CDN website

P.S. For all of you policy wonks, journalists, activists, concerned citizens, and people on the beat, concerned with affordable housing, this newsletter is a must! Sign up!

Police, business community continue to scare away tourists

OPB news brings us more great news about how drug dealers and addicts are getting what they deserve. Prison!

Portland police crack down on drugs downtown

The article doesn't quote anyone at the ground level beyond the police, nor does it mention anything about the two-million people in our prison system, most of whom are non-violent drug offenders. Doesn't say a thing about reform or the fact that a multi-billion dollar drug war has been failing for well over two decades now.

Maybe if we keep arresting people and treating homeless people like trash - the drugs will go away.

For it's worth, the police have been very up front and kept in great communication with organizations in downtown about the sweeps. While it may not seem like it, we aren't taking a shot at the police, just bad policy and bad PR!

Be the first business on your block to kick a homeless person out of your doorway!

Two Portland Patrol Inc. security guards just walked into Street Roots, and asked two of our vendors (one of whom slept in our doorway last night) and then me if we wanted to sign up for a trespass enforcement agreement with the Portland Police Bureau. They are going door-to-door in the neighborhood.

The agreement would authorize the Portland Police Bureau to act as agents for the purpose of enforcing trespass laws on private property(s).

It offers a place to sign your name (as the owner, manager, leasee), location and to describe your place of business.

The agreement goes on to say individuals who are in or upon the above-described property without authorization may be arrested for Criminal Trespass II, or may be ejected from the property and excluded from entering or remaining in or upon the property described above indefinitely.

The next paragraph offers the opportunity for business owners or organization to take part in the agreement to punish poor people. It says, “Myself, or a person whom I have appointed, will respond to any and all subpoenas and subsequent Court appearances as required to prosecute any individuals arrested by officers of the Portland Police Bureau.”

Criminal Trespass II is a low-level misdemeanor under Oregon Law that comes with the possibility of a max fine of $1,250 dollars and a 30-day jail sentences. In reality, a person cited will most likely go to community court and is looking at doing community service. If you don’t appear in court you get a warrant for your arrest and the potential for a more serious misdemeanor charge for failure to appear. If you appear in court, but don’t do your community service, you’ll get a warrant and go straight to jail.

What does this mean? It means that the Portland Patrol funded by the Portland Business Alliance and the Portland Police Bureau continue to offer a stick without a carrot. They walk a big talk, and offer money for direct service in the guise of caring about homeless people. Where’s the carrots, folks?

Street Roots and others have kicked, screamed, reported and advocated over the years in a myriad of different ways, offering why criminalization is costly, ineffective, a form of torture and does nothing to solve the problem of homelessness.

Still, the reality is year after year after year, the police and now private security sweep, ticket, exclude and harass poor people, while bureaucrats continue to set on the sidelines, and offer the 10-year plan to end homelessness as step in the right direction.

We call bullshit, once again.

Help us raise $25,000 this year!

Help us raise $25,000 to lower costs of the paper for vendors!

How will your donation go toward bettering the lives of people experiencing homelessness and poverty? Currently, vendors pay 30 cents for the newspaper, and sell it in the community for $1 dollar. That’s a 70% profit from each newspaper sold.

In 2008, we hope to lower the cost of the newspaper for vendors to 25 cents, giving vendors a 75% profit from each paper sold. That’s up to $100 dollars a month for individuals selling the newspaper, and nearly $1,200 more a year that vendors will have to improve their lives.

Not to mention the countless relationships that are developed and built with your local neighborhood vendor. Part of what makes Street Roots special is the relationships built between people across class lines. The self-confidence and self-worth established through those relationships are immeasurable.

In 2007, Street Roots celebrated putting more than $1 million dollars into the hands of people experiencing homelessness and poverty since our inception in December 1998.

Last year, Street Roots received more individual donations from people like you than ever before. Your donations went to help Street Roots empower more than 15 individuals to gain stable housing. With your help we also updated our archaic technology, created an advisory panel and editorial committee, while offering vendors additional sales items. Those items included bumper stickers and the popular “Housing is a human right” post-cards and buttons. Those additional sales items gave vendors an opportunity to make money and build awareness about Street Roots and the human rights of poor people.

This year your donation will not only go towards lowering the cost of the newspaper for vendors, but will also go toward developing a new sales training video for vendors, providing additional sales items, providing freshwater, hot coffee, and a warm place to congregate in the office. All while providing the dignity people deserve.

Your donation will also go towards helping Street Roots obtain a digital vendor data base to better track individual sales and help vendor store important personal records. We will also be working to develop on-line fundraising and advocacy programs that better serve readers and supporters.

Vendors can’t be successful without a quality newspaper to sell. Your donation will also help the newspaper maintain four additional pages of local, national, and international news and a new vendor page exploring the unique stories of the people who sell the newspaper. Street Roots will also be doing a redesign in the summer of 2008 and looking toward a weekly publication in 2009.

We wouldn’t be able to do any of this without your generous support. We thank you for the consideration and for your dedication to the organization. From all of us at Street Roots, we thank you for your support.

Thank you for your support!

Donate now!

The fight against homelessness from D.C. talking heads

Street Sense in Washington D.C. talks to heads of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, Catholic Charities, National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, National Coalition to End Homelessness and the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless about what's working and what's not in the fight against homelessness.

What's working and what's not

Shouldn't we be talking drug reform?

Real Change reports Ibogaine is the rumored “wonder drug” of addiction treatment. More effective than methadone at combating withdrawal symptoms, more potent than peyote. And very illegal.

Powerful psychedelic said to fight drug addiction

While Portlanders argue over street names, Seattlites are talking drug reform.

Spirited talk about drug reform

San Francisco ponders the first injection site for drug addicts in the U.S

Injection sites

Vancouver, B.C.'s health department already offers an injection site

Injection site Vancouver

Instead of locking addicts up in our county jails, advocating for failed drug-free zones and empowering police officers to work with addicts instead of health care providers in our neighborhoods - shouldn't we be talking drug reform in Portland?

Food, poverty and social justice

A new Street Roots Special Edition is on the streets. The new issue explores food, poverty and social justice.

Feature articles include a look at the future of community gardens and rooftop agriculture, the challenges non-profits face providing healthy meals day in and day out, and a look at the world of gleaning.

Other features include a Q & A with Brian Tokar, Program Director with the Vermont Institution of Social Ecology, and columns from Jay Thiemeyer and Daniel Denvir with the Portland Central America Solidarity Committee, and much more...

Street Roots editorial: Time to get off the industrial food grid

We are what we eat. We are dependent on an agricultural industry steered by politics and profit. We are processed through conditioning and ignorance to crave what is bad for us. We are the pesticide-riddled consumers of the globalized, multi-billion-dollar commerce of “foodstuff.” We are the corporations' cash cows.

Of course, we don't have to be, and many of us with the means have gone retro toward escaping this government-induced sustenance stupor. Community gardens, organic options and local sources are the hallmarks of the new food movement, but until they become sustainable standards that are universally accessible to the poor, we'll have to think further outside the proverbial over-packaged box of artificial flavorings.

Because of government subsidies and mass processing, the cheapest food is often the worst food. Sugar, high fructose corn syrup (subsidized) and hydrogenated fat (cheap and long-lasting) reign supreme on poor families' plates, creating the perceived irony of obesity among the most food-vulnerable in our community. But abundance of food isn't the problem in this town. It's the accessibility and affordability of the right food that is.

To add real irony to the situation, the solution could be hatched from the same sustainable, empowering and mutually rewarding ideal people apply to ending poverty. Get a garden.

The city of Portland is looking at ways of expanding its community garden program to include more low-income individuals and families. It should be a standard pairing with the efforts to create more affordable housing and green construction in Portland. Today, the city's largest concentration of people living in poverty and homelessness, those in the downtown core, remain confined to a concrete jungle.

We are programmed to think the needs of the poor span the very short spectrum of food, clothing and shelter, when the most overlooked elements are that which we all treasure; to be able to take care of ourselves, to feel a part of a society. People working in the city's community garden programs report an increase in not only good food, but of hope and productivity, and even a reduction in juvenile crime. We're beyond talking just food here, we're talking about people restoring a basic need in their lives: control.

Seattle is a model in our own backyard. The city to the north has made growing your own food a priority for all citizens, with a cooperative system of sharing abundance in knowledge and crops. P-patches are common, and garden plots can be purchased and donated to low-income families. Organic food collected is distributed to people in need who cannot grow their own.

Portland is following the lead, but as it plans for higher density residential and commercial districts downtown, it needs to be pushing more garden options in the early stages of planning and development. As we continue to push for more green construction, with entire structures operating off the grid, we should be building in the infrastructure for people to live off the industrial food grid as well.

Help support Street Roots!

Dear friends of Street Roots,

Be a part of something special this year! You can help us raise $25,000 during the Winter Fund Drive!

Your donation will go towards lowering the cost vendors pay for the paper from 30 cents to 25 cents, giving vendors 75 percent profit from each paper sold.

Your donation will also go towards providing vendors with a sales training video this year, as well as providing fresh water, hot coffee, a warm place to congregate in the office 365 days a year, and a safe place for individuals on the streets to store artwork, poetry and journals.

Your donation also goes towards helping the expansion of the newspaper. We have added four more pages of local, national and international grassroots news — plus a page devoted to the unique stories of the people who sell Street Roots. Read an example of the new content:

Ride of his life

So, c'mon. What are you waiting for? Take five minutes to donate today!

Donate now!

From all of us at Street Roots, we thank you for the support. We couldn't do it without you!

Homeless vets

A new report from the National Alliance to End Homelessnes says approximately 195,827 veterans were homeless on a given night—an increase of 0.8 percent from 194,254 in 2005. More veterans experience homeless over the course of the year. We estimate that 336,627 were homeless in 2006.

The report says, 1.98% of veterans from Oregon in 2006 were homeless (5,891), while 2.9% of veterans (10,125) vets are experiencing severe housing cost burden. In Washington, 1.04% (6,800) of veterans are homeless, while 2.5% (15,713) are experiencing severe housing costs burdens.

Homeless vet report

The New York Times reports that more than 400 veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have turned up homeless, and the Veterans Affairs Department and aid groups say they are bracing for a new surge in homeless veterans in the years ahead.

Surge in homeless vets

Despite high rates of homelessness among U.S veterans, only one in four are receiving assistance from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, a situation a national advocacy organization blames on lack of awareness of federal support, according to Street Sense in Washington D.C.

Street Sense article

The VA estimates that 45% of homeless veterans suffer from mental-health issues, while more than 70% suffer from substance abuse. The most common mental illness found in homeless veterans is PTSD, which often leads to other mental illnesses related to trauma, as well as alcohol and drug abuse. Despite this, only half of all VA centers offer treatment and assistance for PTSD and other mental illnesses.

Help out!

If Portlanders and Oregonians are looking for an organization to support this Veteran's Day, Street Roots recommends the Central Oregon Veterans Outreach. The organization is one example of veterans helping veterans who are experiencing homelessness throughout the state. They're the real deal.

COVO

Numbers of women experiencing homelessness in Seattle on the rise

From Real Change in Seattle:

The numbers are still being crunched, but there are already several surprises in the first six months worth of data from Safe Harbors, a new countywide database that tracks the homeless.

One of them is that nearly 1,400 of the single adults who stayed in a publicly funded shelter in King County between January and June were women — or 25 percent of the 4,363 single adults who were sheltered. Add to that another 350 women that Seattle human services staff believe haven’t been identified and the countywide total of homeless women is 1,791, a number that’s “a lot higher than we would have anticipated,” Safe Harbors manager John Hoskins said in an Oct. 24 report to the board of King County’s Committee to End Homelessness.

Continue reading

Homeless women

Cops vs. private eyes

The new edition of SRs is on the streets. The cover story is a feature on videotaping alteracations between police and the public. Activists say it's the road to accountability, while law enforcement says it has concerns over privacy and creating inaccurate public perceptions.


Other features include a Q & A with Community Alliance of Tenants Ian Slingerland, a profile on artist/activist Dan Shea, and stories on what's happening on the ground in Chile and Indonesia from the Street News Service.

A ride of his life features the amazing story of vendor John Thompson who recently wrode to San Francisco on a bike donated from the Community Cycling Center. Did we mention John only has one arm and had no money.

Our editorial looks at the hype around Old Town/Chinatown, and what people on the streets are going through living on both sides of the gun.

All of this and much more in this issue of Street Roots. Go buy it from your local vendor! Now!

New Street Roots on the beat

The new edition of Street Roots is on the streets. This issue looks at takes a look at modern day slavery with journalist John Bowe, who has spent the better part of the past decade looking into workers exploitations. Other articles include a look at recommendations given to the City of Portland by Street Roots, Sisters Of The Road, and the Western Regional Advocacy Project and

One step out of the past, many still ahead takes a hard look at the drug and free prostitution zones.

Editorial

Jay Thiemyer, Alejandro Queral, Art Garcia, and Jeff Kleen bring us some great opinion pieces, while this week's Act Now asks you to take action to stop federal plans to clear-cut Oregon's old growth forests.

Act Now

All this and much more in these in the October 12, edition of Street Roots.

Director's Desk: Help us lower the price vendors pay for the newspaper!

Street Roots is gearing up for the start of our Winter Fund Drive on Nov. 1. We have some super-exciting things in the works, the first of which is to lower the cost of the newspaper for vendors from 30 cents to 25 cents in 2008.

In 2003, Street Roots had no paid staff and was publishing the paper on a monthly basis. At that time the newspaper cost 25 cents for vendors. The vendors said they would pay up to 35 cents for the paper if we could deliver a biweekly publication. The organization knew that 35 cents was too much, and we all agreed to 30 cents. Still, the five additional cents was not going to cover the costs for an additional paper, and the staff needed put the publication together. With your support, dedicated vendors and a crew a ragtag volunteers, we made it happen.

Four years later the organization is at another crossroads. We are growing and looking toward a redesign in 2008, and eventually going weekly in 2009. While our readership has grown over the years, some of the same trends have continued. We believe by going weekly in 2009 we can expand our readership, and continue to increase the profit going into the hands of people experiencing homelessness and poverty.

First things first, right? Last year we received more individual donations from people like you than ever before. With your help we updated our technology for the newspaper and for vendors in the office, we finished our strategic plan, updated our bylaws, gained health insurance for our employees, and hired a formerly homeless vendor as our resource specialist. We developed a series of trainings for vendors, created an advisory panel and an editorial committee, and continue to bring Portland a professional street newspaper.

This year we will be redesigning the newspaper, which will help bring curb appeal for vendors to sell the newspaper, update our technology with a vendor sales database, and obtain online databases to improve our fund-raising and advocacy abilities. We will also be providing vendors with a new sales training video, additional sales items (buttons, stickers, chapbooks) and providing fresh hot and cold water in the office. With your help we can attain these modest goals.

If you are interested in becoming a Street Roots Block Captain for the Winter Fund Drive please contact me in the office. Each block captain can adopt a business, themselves, and/or family or friends to raise $400. You can do it! All it takes is getting 20 of your peers to donate $20, 10 people donate $50, or four people to donate $100. Each Block Captain will be highlighted in the 2007 Annual Report.

Office: 503-228-5657
E-mail: streetroots@hotmail.com

Park exclusions handed out by PPI climb near 2,000

We reported last week about the recommendations offered by Street Roots, Sisters Of The Road Cafe, Western Regional Advocacy Project and the Oregon Law Center to the City of Portland for the Portland Patrol Inc., a private security firm that has the capacity to enforce public policy with no government oversight. Read the story...

City mulls recommendations for private police

Last week, the groups met with Randy Leonard personally and with staffers from Erik Sten, Dan Saltzman, and the Mayor's office. The discussions were healthy and we hope to move forward in a productive manner.

Today, SRs received the latest PPI Parks Report via the Parks Bureau. The report concludes that 1,980 park exclusions have been handed out by private security since November of 2006. In September, the private firm handed out 275 exclusions, the most of any month this year. Street Roots believes many of these exclusions are individuals experiencing homelessness and poverty.

SRs, Sisters and WRAP announce PPI recommendations

Press Release: 10/8/07

Street Roots, Sisters Of The Road, and the Western Regional Advocacy Project are announcing recommendations for the Portland Patrol Inc., a private security group charged with enforcing public policy in Portland, Oregon. Since November of 2006 the private company has excluded 1,444 individual from public parks with no government scrutiny.


Below are the following recommendations to the City of Portland.

Letter to Mayor and Commissioners:

Dear Mayor and Commissioners,

Oversight and accountability for the private security guards that are enforcing public policies of the City of Portland are of great concern to our organizations. These concerns are motivated and informed by the experiences of homeless people with whom we work and advocate. We believe that many if not most security guards carry out their duties responsibly and do not intend to harm or target homeless people. But we also believe that oversight is crucial to ensure that individuals’ rights are protected and that the public remains safe – and that the current system is deficient in this regard. Therefore, we ask you to support and help implement several strategies that would assure greater oversight and accountability, and, we believe, ultimately make the City of Portland safer for all residents and visitors, especially the most vulnerable and disenfranchised.

Our recommendations are as follows:

• Individuals who experience problems with Portland Patrol should have clear recourse for their grievances, and at least one chance to appeal any negative decision. The grievance and appeal(s) should go through a line of authority that includes the City of Portland. The grievance and appeal processes should be straightforward, unbiased, and uncomplicated. Even if grievances are unable to be substantiated, they should be tracked so that any patterns can be identified and investigated.

• Private security guards who enforce public policies and laws should be accurately and thoroughly trained on those policies and laws. The content of the training, and the protocols or standard operating procedures (SOP), should be made available to the public. All trainings should include an individual experiencing homelessness, a social service provider, and an attorney either from Legal Aid or the Public Defender.

• Private security guards should wear different uniforms that clearly identify them as a separate entity from the Portland Police Bureau.

• Private security guards who enforce public policies and laws should not carry guns, detain people, or search personal property.

• The decision to allow private security guards to issue exclusions in parks should be revisited. Currently, Portland Patrol is issuing hundreds of park exclusions every month with no public oversight or clear recourse for complaints. If private guards are allowed to enforce public policy and restrict individuals’ right to be present in parks, then at minimum a public official should be reviewing every exclusion to ensure that it complies with basic due process requirements.

Want to know what Street Roots readers are saying about us?

Street Roots recently finished its 2007 Readers Survey with the help of volunteer consultant Sarah Johnson. Below are some of the comments people left on the survey. Look for a more in-depth report from the survey in the up and coming paper on September 28th.

“I have been pleasantly surprised by much of the recent content, both new editorial focus on local issues and on "canned" material that has an impact on issues that affect homelessness and social services. I have long wondered why Street Roots wasn't more political and topical. While I think the poetry and cultural information has fans, I am more interested in the hard news and political opinion.”

“More pages! Thanks for continuing to put out a quality publication!”

“How about at least two different views shared by writers on crucial issues?”

“The Vendors are the ambassadors of the paper, they have changed the hearts and minds of many Portlanders about the realities of homelessness, thanks and respect to them! Street Roots is the best op-ed section to all of the other papers in town!”

“I appreciate all the substantive writing, and would have liked to have been able to check more that one box above. My usual reading pattern is to skip the horoscope, sometimes read some poetry and sometimes not, and read all the rest. Keep up the great work.”

“I like the fact that I support Street Roots and what it stands for!”

“Every vendor I have done business with was informative and friendly!”

“I truly appreciate and enjoy reading the newspaper -- a great addition to local media. I also really enjoy buying a paper each week and chatting with the vendors. I have always had great experiences with them. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

“I love the paper and the social and economical networking it provides the community.”

“Really enjoy this paper, I'm very satisfied that I bought it. I like the fact that it helps the homeless people. I have been homeless and I know what its like. The person that sold this paper to me was very kind and a talented person. He showed me his artwork.

“The writing has improved, but the paper has lost its edge.”

“I came from Frisco where they have Street Sheet. Street Roots is far superior

“Keep the vendors respective not in your face!”

“More articles that inform and inspire citizens to become involved in our community... especially voting in national and state-wide elections, developing creative housing alternatives and helping the homeless to help themselves.”

“I love this paper for it's truth and for what it does to help the vendors. Buying the paper has changed me from a person who was not comfortable with all homeless people. Now, I strike up conversations and enjoy chatting with the vendors and they, in return, must be feeling better also!”

“I enjoy the articles on Portland street culture and vendor biographies and news articles relating to Portland politics and justice issues from a street perspective instead of a suite perspective. Thanks for all you do!!! Also, this paper is a comfortable way to give a homeless person a buck and have some interaction.”

“If you're gonna be a bear, be a grizzly bear.

“Stick with homeless focus. Don't become just another left-wing press.”

“Try to improve the quality of writing Misspellings - looks unprofessional.”
“I have been reading SRs for years and I am very pleased with how it has grown over time. I am happy to support SR vendor. I was homeless once for less than a year.”

“Keep it going. A great platform that fosters understanding among different segments of the PDX community.”

“Street Roots is a great opportunity for the homeless and other minority groups. I also donate when my finances allow.”

“It's a person-to-person contact that I appreciate.”

“The current level of alarm over PPI is a bit over the top. Why don't you send a reporter to the Downtown Neighborhood Association meeting? You might be surprised that the people who live downtown are fed up with panhandlers, drunks, drug addicts, and criminals. I would think that homeless people would be just as afraid of these low lives as the rest of us. Neighborhood residents are very much in favor of PPI.”

“Keep it up. Even though there are people who pass you by, there are supporters in the community.”

“I appreciate your hard work and the independent perspective you provide in reporting both Portland news and news from the homeless community.”

“I think the changes being made in the content of the paper are exceptional. The featured articles seem more in depth and the choice of stories (the environment, PBA/PPI, Hurricane Kat) are timely and engrossing.”

“Do not be agenda driven in the reporting. Just report the stories factually.”

“Street Roots, while serving to provide voice to the homeless community, is supported by the local community members. If you think about your target audience, working class urbanites, you should change the content to reflect their interests. I don't want to buy a newspaper to support someone, when the paper itself is going to make me feel terrible or is completely interested. It’s a waste of time and resources for printing. It needs to have content that people want to read and will make them feel good. Not make them feel horrible. (Just one person's perspective)

“I have had a chance to read a lot of street papers and yours is overall the best I have seen (seriously, not just me blowing smoke).

“I agree with the Willamette Week article that the feel of the paper has shifted from edgy street articles toward mainstream articles that are better cover on the Internet and other progressive news sources. It is sad that one source of empowerment for homeless people has faded from Portland. The rough writing and unabashed opinions were honest if sometimes crude. Something seems to have been lost.”

“I feel like Street Roots has elevated the playing field for activism and news in Portland. Great work!”

“I think the changes being made in the content of the paper are exceptional. The featured articles seem more in depth and the choice of stories (the environment, PBA/PPI, Hurricane Kat) are timely and engrossing.”

Rose City Resources on the streets!

The Rose City Resources are in! More than 5,000 have already been distributed to numerous community organizations. Four-thousand more will be delivered or picked up in the next week. If you would like copies you can stop by the office at 211 NW Davis between 7:30AM and 3PM, or you can call 503-228-5657 or write pdxrosecityresource@hotmail.com for delivery.

The Rose City Resource booklet is a publication of Street Roots, and is Portland's most comprehensive, updated list of services for people experiencing homelessness and poverty. This booklet serves people who may not otherwise have access to a computer or social service agency, and allow individuals the opportunity to be independent in their search for services that fit their specific needs.

The Rose City Resource is made possible by the cooperation of the City of Portland, 211 and Street Roots. This guide is published quarterly with updated information and seasonal events. All locations are in Portland, unless otherwise noted.

If you would like your information listed in the Rose City Resource, or to make updates or changes to the listings, please call Eddy Barbosa at Street Roots. You may also email your information directly.

With the creation of the new resources Street Roots will have four more pages of in-depth news starting September 28th. The four pages will have a vendor/street culture page, an international and national page in cooperation with the Street News Service, and one-more page of local news and/or commentaries.

Enjoy!

Street Roots takes a ride with Portland Police

Street Roots takes a ride on the east side with Portland Police officer Michael Castlio, the feds meet with homeless advocates to discuss a strategy on criminalization, and Alejandro Queral talks civil rights post 911. Other features this month inlude an excerpt from our sister paper in St. Petersburg on how to survive on Russia's streets and a call to re-open the James Chasse case.

Street Roots took a tour of the Central City Concern facilities last week. It’s amazing to think how much the organization has done for Portlanders working in recovery. We still have a long way to go in how we treat addicts in this country, but Central City is doing its best to bridge the gap between the inhumane practice of jailing addicts and dealing with the realities of the streets. They also employ a hell of a lot of people who once lived on the skids. Kudos to the entire crew over there.

The Bush administration’s top agency on homelessness met with advocates for the homeless in Washington, D.C. to discuss ways to deter cities from criminalizing people on the streets. Many advocates think the goal for the Interagency Council on Homelessness is to bridge the gap between the advocacy communities making noise around the country, and the work of the 10-year plans to end homelessness.

In the past year, advocacy groups around the country have been picking up steam. Groups such as the Western Regional Advocacy Project, a coalition of grassroots homeless organizations along the West Coast — including Street Roots and Sisters of the Road — along with coalitions in rural amd urban communities in the Midwest and South are all pushing one consistent message: You can’t solve homelessness without the federal government’s commitment to public housing. Couple this with criminalization and a power struggle at local levels with different strategies by local housing bureaus, chambers of commerce and law enforcement, and homeless and housing advocates, and it doesn’t bode well for a national movement to maintain results over the long term. The feds seem to recognize the hypocrisy of criminalization along with the advocates. Whether they can pursuade law enforcement, private security and business communities to back off is another question.

New Orleans and Los Angeles have exposed the brutality of using criminalization as a method to deal with homelessness and poor people, as their affordable housing vanishes and county jails are filled with the mentally ill and homeless. Both of those cities are a living nightmare for poor people and have been abandoned by the federal government.
Locally, Portland has become the racehorse for the 10-year plan to end homelessness. And to be honest, because many of the tools were already in place when the tides rose, and having a city that is strategically moving out of the box and striving to prove ending homelessness can be done, we are doing a bang-up job. Let’s just hope the feds don’t leave us holding the bag.

Housing advocates take over HUD office in New Orleans

Public housing residents from St. Bernard’s, and several community organizations from New Orleans and around the country took over the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) office last Friday, demanding they reopen four public housing developments operated under its direction.

The coalition included groups from New Orleans, Miami, Georgia, Texas, Rhode Island, and California along with Public Housing Residents of the Lower East Side (PHROLES) from New York City and the Coalition to Protect Public Housing from Chicago.

Two years after the developments were evacuated in the post-Katrina floods, the public housing developments have remained empty despite having sustained only moderate damage from the storm. Residents and groups have been prevented from rehabilitating and filling the vacant units.

The sit-in set off a three-hour confrontation with police, the National Guard, and SWAT teams after 25 residents and activists were denied a meeting with officials to discuss community demands. Under threat of arrest, the groups decided to cease their occupation of the building and to hold a national press conference before the media covering the anniversary of Katrina.

“What is happening with the public housing in New Orleans is just a preview of what can and will happen to public housing around the country if this story is not told,” said Lisa Burriss, director of organizing for PHROLES, who participated in the sit-in. “We must remain united, fighting for the rights of all low-income people in this country to have decent, safe and affordable places to raise their families. Housing is a human right!”

Street Roots reported this month that in January 2005, homeless outreach workers counted 6,300 people living on the streets in the city and its immediate suburbs. A count in 2007 estimated 12,000 people experiencing homelessness, though only an estimated 60 percent of the city’s general population had returned.

PHOTO BY TED JACKSON –The Times – Picayune

Homeless camp being shut down and park exclusions skyrocket

The City of Portland and local businesses team up to shut down one of Portland's oldest homeless camps, and park exclusions given out by a private security group hired by the Portland Business Alliance continue to skyrocket. The latest figure Street Roots uncovered is 1,444 since November of 2006. Local attorney Adam Arms breaks his silence and gives his real opinion on the SAFE process and on the ordinance itself. An update from a Mercy Corps from the frontlines of Katrina, and so much more - all in tomorrow's issue of Street Roots.

Last chance to take Street Roots Reader Survey!

We've had hundreds of people respond to the Street Roots Readers Survey!

What are we finding out so far?

The majority of people reading the paper make between 30K and 100K, and they are very well-educated. We've found out nearly 40% of those surveyed read more than half of the newspaper, while another 30% read it cover to cover.

People hate Soup Can Sam or is that a sign they really love him? Readers love the vendors and think we are changing the face of the way people look at homelessness and poverty in our community.

What are people saying so far?

"The Vendors are the ambassadors of the paper, they have changed the hearts and minds of many Portlanders about the realities of homelessness, thanks and respect to them!"

"I love this paper for it's truth and for what it does to help the vendors. Buying the paper has changed me from a person who was not comfortable with all homeless people. Now, I strike up conversations and enjoy chatting with the vendors and they, in return, must be feeling better also!"

"I think the changes being made in the content of the paper are exceptional. The featured articles seem more in depth and the choice of stories (the environment, PBA/PPI, Hurricane Kat) are timely and engrossing."

"Quality of the paper has improved, but you've lost your edge!"

Please take the time to let your voice be heard by Street Roots!

Street Roots Survey

Thanks,

Street Roots crew

Free the Oregon Three!

From: Western Regional Advocacy Project, Street Roots, Sisters Of The Road, Los
Angeles Community Action Network, San Francisco Coalition On Homelessness,
Real Change

HOMELESS People who witness crimes are being thrown into jail
because prosecutors want easy access to them

On June 3rd, three homeless people who witnessed a disturbance in Medford, Ore. that
led to a death and an arrest on manslaughter charges were themselves jailed—because a
prosecutor argued, and a judge agreed, that as homeless people, the witnesses might
prove too difficult to locate at the time of the trial. That trial is scheduled to start Sept. 25.
No charges have been brought against the witnesses.

On Friday, Aug. 24th, the three individuals will be going before a judge to fight for their
freedom from incarceration. But they are not the first homeless people to be jailed for the
crime of stepping forward to tell police what they witnessed.

"It should alarm everyone in this country, regardless of how you see the issue of
homelessness, that our courts are locking people up simply based on the fact that they
witnessed (not committed) a crime. Guantanamo Bay comes to Medford Oregon," says
Paul Boden, the Executive Director of the Western Regional Advocacy Project based in
San Francisco.

“An alarming trend has emerged in this country, one that criminalizes those that merely
witness a crime; a trend that has led to the jailing of witnesses for indefinite periods of
time. This trend has the chilling effect of silencing those who would otherwise be used as
tools in the pursuit of justice,” says Pete White, founder and Co-Director of the Los
Angeles Community Action Network

This incident comes on the heels of another case, in Scranton, Penn. On July 6th, Randy
Barr, a 41-year-old homeless man, saw a man slashed to death during an argument, called
police and waited for them to arrive at the scene in order to make a statement. He was
jailed for four weeks before being put on a house arrest program earlier this month, fitted
with a monitoring device and required to check in with house arrest officials once a week.
He is banned from using alcohol or drugs and must also submit to random drug tests and
pay $10 a day for the program.

Initially, Barr was thrown in Lackawanna County Prison where, he said, no one told him
about anything that was happening with the case.

As advocates for homeless people, we are outraged at this egregious violation of their
civil rights. Instead of giving the individuals in these cases a hotel room or other place to
stay, they have been thrown into jail and treated as any other inmate for the crime of
coming forward as good citizens, while not having a roof over their head.

“Just because an individual is without a home, shouldn’t mean you are stripped of your
rights as a citizen of the United States,” says Israel Bayer, the Director of Street Roots
newspaper in Portland, Ore.

It has often been said that the most precious thing we have in America is our freedom and
that government must be able to show good cause before our freedom can be infringed
upon. Protections were created that government must be able to prove “beyond a
reasonable doubt” that we have committed a crime before it can lock us up in jail in an
effort to preserve our individual freedom. Apparently, those days are over.

“If you've got money, you've got rights. Since when do you have to buy due process and
human rights in this country?” says Rachael Myers, Advocacy Director with Real Change
newspaper in Seattle, Wash.

Street Roots Readers Survey - take it!

Please take the time to fill out the Street Roots Readers Survey. We’ve gotten hundreds so far, but with your help we can reach our goal!

SRs Survey!

The survey will help the organization empower vendors, create a marketing and advertising plan and help the editorial team know exactly who is reading the newspaper.

We are counting on you for your perspective!

Please take the survey!

Water Wars hits the streets

The new edition of Street Roots has hit the streets. The feature article "Water Wars" with John DeVoe, the executive director of WaterWatch, is about the intersection of politics and science and the future of Oregon's Kamath River Basin. Other news pieces include, "Leonard: SAFE group misses target in City Hall restrooms," and a piece on immigrants being detained in the Northwest Detention Center. We also have some great street poetry, a piece by Jay Thiemeyer on his travels across the country and a whole lot more.

Directors Desk:

Please take the time to go on-line to the organizations Web site, www.streetroots.org, and take the Street Roots Readers Survey. We’ve gotten hundreds so far, but with your help we can get at least 1,000 responses by the end of August.

The survey will help the organization empower vendors, create a marketing and advertising plan and to help the editorial team know exactly who is reading the newspaper.

Volunteer consultant Sarah Johnson is leading the research project, which includes the survey, but also includes working with a team of vendors out in the field and doing one-on-one interview’s with vendors and supporters. Street Roots is also leading a sales training for vendors that will help people better sell the newspaper in the community.
Over the next two months we will be having a healthy, free breakfast with vendors, exploring sales techniques and what’s working and what’s not working out on the beat.

Street Roots has more than 70 vendors in the community – each individual offers their own unique perspective and personality. We work hard to meet people where they’re at. We respect each individual for the skills and passion they bring to the table. We can in no way, shape or form make everyone happy on the streets, but what we can offer is a safe place for people to gather every morning, get a hot cup of coffee, some conversation and an opportunity to earn an extra buck, with dignity, in the community. We hope you know that as we grow as an organization it does not mean we lose our roots in being a voice and friend to all people on the beat, or lose our edge in being a provocative publication.

Street Roots received $25,000 from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation this month. The relationship being built with the foundation is exciting and allows us to continue implementing the organization’s strategic plan, which is to empower vendors, increase circulation to help put more money directly into the hands of poor people, stabilize infrastructure and to create a sustainable funding for the future.

We also recently received $30,000 from the City of Portland to reformat and publish the Rose City Resources. Look for the new format in September – it’s going to be hot!

The drama surrounding the SAFE Committee’s work to implement public restrooms, park benches and a day access center in exchange for banning people from sitting or lying on public sidewalks continues. Lines have become so blurry it’s hard to tell what is what. City Hall has opened its door for an all night restroom and has shown real leadership in the face of adversity for doing so. Still, like Utah Phillips has said more than once about human rights, “It’s not enough!” While not always popular or sexy, the rights of poor people are the rights of us all.

Is Street Roots being bought off by the city?

The Willamette Week called this morning.

They wanted to know about the Rose City Resources and if we had been bought off by the city.

The “alt-weekly” is possibly running a news story on the resources. The guide is an eight-year-old publication of Street Roots and Portland’s most comprehensive, updated list of services for people experiencing homelessness and poverty.

The current Rose City Resources consists of more than 300 listings of social service and government agencies working with people experiencing homelessness and poverty. The guide consists of listings for the following subjects: Clothing, Employment & Training, Meals & Food Boxes, Food Stamps, Health Care, Financial, Hotlines, Transitional Housing, Legal Services, Rental info, Meals, Recovery resources, Shelters, Youth Services, Utilities, Counseling & Mediation, and Animal care.

For years, Street Roots has been publishing the 4-page guide in the middle of the newspaper. The organization also sold individual copies of the resources to various social service and government agencies, including the Oregon Food Bank, Department of Human Services, Planned Parenthood, Department of Corrections, JOIN, and the Department of Corrections, to name a few. Orders were made in bulk for 25 cents a copy.

After doing outreach in the fall of 2006, Street Roots came to the conclusion that some agencies could not afford the guide, while most of the Street Roots readers did not use the resources themselves.

Street Roots approached the City of Portland to partner on a newly formatted wallet size guide with the idea that the resources would be subsidized to city and county bureau’s, social service agencies, hospitals, outreach workers and emergency responders that work with people experiencing poverty.

The City of Portland, specifically the mayor’s office and Erik Sten’s office, told Street Roots to do our research and to find out if we would be duplicating services. So we set out and talked to numerous groups, such as 211 Community Info, the Office of Neighborhood Involvement, social service agencies, etc., etc. It seemed several resource guides existed, but many were small and out of date – some dating back to 2004. We also found out that by creating a newly formatted resource guide, we would be saving numerous agencies hundreds of combined hours of staff time spent on running around trying to update information for their specific customers.

After doing the outreach, we worked with the mayor’s office to get the funding through money set aside for mental health services and the SAFE committee. We made it clear that our advocacy and editorial stance was separate from our direct service component and that we disagreed fully with the sit-lie ordinance attached to the SAFE committees recommendations. We agreed to disagree.

Editorially Street Roots never bent on the issues that we consider to be human rights violations by the City of Portland for enforcing laws against people experiencing homelessness. We strongly came out against the sit-lie ordinance – calling it unconstitutional and a violation of human rights. We opposed the passing of an ordinance that allowed three Portland Police officers to be paid for by the Portland Business Alliance and continue a campaign for public oversight of the Portland Patrol Inc., a private security company that has issued more than 1,100 park exclusions.

The newly formatted guide that is scheduled to come out in September will be an expanded guide with more listings and details about specific agencies, along with more than a dozen new sections, including how people can get involved through community organizing projects, a “know your rights” component, and a veterans section along with updated events such as Project Homeless Connect, where public restrooms are, and what to do in case of a drug overdose, to name a few.

We are proud of the Rose City Resources, and proud to be working with numerous organizations that strongly support the guide, including the City of Portland. We believe by offering people a durable, wallet-sized format of the resources and rights available to people on the streets, we are bettering the lives of not only poor people, but Portlanders as a whole.

We also believe Street Roots has shown a history of professional journalism, and advocacy and never bowed to the idea that you can’t work with someone on one hand, and battle it out on another.

We look forward to publishing the guide and look forward to serving Portlanders with a unique variety of news, direct services, empowerment and advocacy that you can’t find anywhere else in the city.

Has Street Roots been bought off by the city? The simple answer is, no!

Sincerely,

Israel Bayer
Director
Street Roots

PBA/PPI complaint protocol falls well short of oversight

Street Roots has obtained the Portland Business Alliance Downtown Clean and Safe Security Program Citizen Complaint Protocol. The protocol was apparently requested by City Hall, and is in response to months of inquiries by Street Roots and the Portland Mercury about Portland Patrol Inc., a private security group that has the capacity to enforce public policy. Street Roots has revealed that since November, the private security group has issued more than 1,100 park exclusions in downtown public parks.

Unfortunately, the complaint process is not much different than anything that existed prior to the request – it’s just centralized into one document. The Portland Business Alliance has remained silent on the issue for months by stonewalling the press, while spinning half-truths to City Hall about the extent of their relationship with the Portland Police Bureau.

Half truths

The changes that have occurred in the protocol include having “any citizen who wishes to complain about the conduct of any Clean and Safe security officer can request an informational card from the officer. The card will contain the officer’s identity, PPI phone number and address, and the phone number for the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST), the state regulating agency for certified security officers.” A complaint can also be lodged on-line through the PBA’s website.

The protocol says upon receipt of any complaint the “PPI management will conduct a thorough and complete review, investigate the allegations, and take corrective action as necessary up to and including termination, and will provide this information to the Alliance. It also states the Portland Business Alliance will provide a Citizen Complaint Summary Report to Council on a quarterly basis.”

Offering a card to someone who believes their civil rights are being violated and having the Portland Business Alliance offer a quarterly report is NOT public oversight and transparency.

The card is a step in the right direction, but the people of Portland deserve a direct line to City Hall for oversight and transparency of any private agencies that does business on public lands – especially in the case of the Portland Business Alliance who has shown a history of advocating for institutionalizing laws that violate the human and civil rights of poor people.

Police, private security too close for comfort

The passage of an ordinance that allows the Portland Business Alliance to pay for three police officers in downtown sends a clear message to citizens that if you have enough money, you can buy special services from the Portland Police Bureau. The city argues that it’s not a new thing, and that the Housing Authority of Portland and Tri-met pay for officers, too. Well, like grandma says, "Just because everyone is jumping off a bridge, doesn’t mean you do, too."

Maybe we should just approach any number of multi-billion dollar industries and ask them to fund our public police force. Why not find a way to pay for the nearly 1,000 police officers entirely through private funding?

In the contract obtained by Street Roots between the Portland Patrol Inc., a private security force (that enforces public policy with no public directive or oversight and the Portland Business Alliance) it states: "This program is the only program in the nation where a private security and police work together on the same program, under the same roof… Their primary area of responsibility is assisting PPI officers with enforcement type activities." A loophole has been created. The PBA and the police have found a way to exploit that loophole. Private police take its directive from a private interest group, the PBA, and the police assist in enforcement activities.

Can we say taxation without representation? We think so. Street Roots fully supports the City of Portland’s goal to keep downtown safe. We respect the Portland Business Alliance, the City of Portland and groups like Street Roots working together to create a healthy downtown for all Portlanders. We do not respect a private security force that has handed out 1,100 constitutionally questionable park exclusions with absolutely no public directive or oversight. Street Roots has been told in our call for public oversight of private security that we are representing our constituents and that the city fully understands.

We believe we are representing Portland and have the opportunity to set a precedent not only in Portland, but around the country where we see policing being privatized at alarming rates. This is not about politics or grandstanding, it’s about doing what’s right for Portlanders and keeping our law enforcement transparent and accountable to all citizens.

In a town that has a hard time coming to terms with being able to disagree on one hand and work together on another without being paranoid and childish, and refusing to talk to one another, it’s time for Portland to grow up and be the city it claims to be. That means finding a way to create an atmosphere to create a vision that consists of representation by the people for the people.

Street Roots Editorial from August, 1, 2007

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