Johnny Rottin is excited to share his joys and his successes with you. He wants to share how and why he was able, in one short year, to gain a job, housing and the opportunity to work on his art.
You may have met Johnny at the Street Roots Open House at its new office, 219 W. Burnside St., where he was the spokesperson for the Street Roots Ambassador Program. What you might have discovered, after hearing his overview, first of all, is the brilliance of the Ambassador Program which gives vendors important work in and for our community.
As a member of the ambassador team, Johnny went out to many different houseless communities — neighborhoods like Lents, Lloyd Center and Goose Hollow — to “lend a hand” by bringing information, resources and supplies.
He also conducted surveys among these communities, surveys which helped to create action, like the expansion of Portland Street Response and more funding for Section 8 vouchers (The Housing Choice Voucher).
But beyond the excellent, detailed overview of the Ambassador Program, what made Johnny’s presentation so powerful was, quite simply, Johnny. “The Ambassador Program helped me to grow,” Johnny said.
Johnny’s past year has given him confidence, because he has meaningful work.
“I’m trying to help take care of others because others have helped me,” he said.
Confidence because of the feedback he received all year, the ways in which people let him know he was making a difference in their lives. People like those in the houseless communities.
“These are good people,” Johnny said. “They’re very thankful.”
People like those who work with and support Street Roots. Maybe some of you, who were impressed by his Ambassador Program presentation at the open house and moved to say so, wrote him letters of praise.
“Those letters made a big impression on me. I had the confidence to apply for a job for the first time in 14 years,” he said. “They literally handed the job to me in five minutes and asked, ‘Can you start tomorrow?’”
The work gives Johnny the opportunity to do something he loves. He’ll be a cook at McMenamins on Northeast Broadway.
Johnny is quick to point out the important support he has received from Central City Concern, specifically their Community Engagement Program (CEP), which helps people, Johnny explained, who have restrictions and barriers because of their criminal history.
“CCC helped support me with art supplies,” he said. “And because my skateboard is my transportation, they helped me out with new bearings and bushings for my board.”
And in part, because of his survey work and advocacy for expanding Section 8 vouchers, Johnny now has an apartment in Dawson Park.
One of the many joys for Johnny of having a place to call home is that he can work on his art in earnest.
“Art is my life,” he said. “Anything to do with art — music, painting, sketching, writing, cooking.”
You may have read his poetry in past editions of Street Roots and in this past year’s holiday zine.
Now, with a safe place to live, Johnny can devote his artistic energies to his collection of paintings for an exhibition at Gather:Make:Shelter, a citywide art collaboration, where “artists who are housed and artists experiencing houselesness and poverty connect through art collaborations.”
“It gives me a happy feeling inside if I can make one person a day smile through my art,” Johnny said.
While Johnny isn’t selling the paper much these days among his work on the ambassador team and his new job, you can support him through @StreetRoots Venmo by entering his name and badge number (316) in the comments, or swing by the Northeast Broadway McMenamins and give your compliments to the cook.
Street Roots is an award-winning weekly publication focusing on economic, environmental and social justice issues. The newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Street Roots newspaper operates independently of Street Roots advocacy and is a part of the Street Roots organization. Learn more about Street Roots. Support your community newspaper by making a one-time or recurring gift today.
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