It’s not flashy news.
It’s one-at-a-time, word-of-mouth kind of news.
“I get my keys tomorrow.”
“I’m getting housing.”
“The apartment is mine.”
Street Roots’ mission is to create income opportunities for people by selling our weekly, award-winning newspaper.
But there’s more that happens through the stability, dignity and community that comes with working as a Street Roots vendor: consistently, people move into housing.
In fact, we know of at least nine Street Roots vendors who’ve moved from homelessness to housing in the last three months. Nine vendors!
People have described getting housing through Cascadia Behavioral Health, Home Forward, Transition Projects, Do Good Multnomah veterans housing, Central City Concern’s Golden West and others. One person secured housing with a VASH voucher — which is a Housing and Urban Development voucher that’s paired with case management from Veterans Affairs.
Over time, other vendors have found housing through NAYA, JOIN, NARA, Human Solutions, Urban League, Northwest Pilot Project and others.
We are seeing results from the Portland and Metro Housing Bonds, and the Metro Services Tax Measure, which is a year into existence.
“Until you have actual housing — not shelters, housing for people — then you’re gonna solve the problem,” Street Roots vendor Wookie told Editor in Chief K. Rambo when they reported last week on Old Town sweeps deployed as “structure abatements,” circumventing the longer notice required by the Anderson Agreement.
Wookie, who is also a student in the Street Roots journalism program, MoJo, has been swept many times.
I thought a lot about what he said, and how I’ve never heard a story of someone arriving at actual housing through a sweep.
People get housing through relationships with outreach workers who learn their particular needs, through persistence in contacting housing providers who steward their names through lists.
In a city where the chasm between wages and the cost of housing is enormous, people have to fight for housing that’s subsidized with vouchers and rent assistance.
But you know what doesn’t lead to housing? Force and violence. Even if that were effective (it’s not) it’s not necessary because it's rare to meet a person who actually doesn’t want housing — despite the widespread myths.
But there’s so much force and violence woven into the fibers of this country that these are the go-to tactics. And, as in other times when they are deployed, they make situations worse, and no one gets into housing.
So this week, let’s lift up what does work, “housing for people,” as Wookie said.
When people move from the streets to apartments, that stability often means they can meet other needs.
One Street Roots vendor has found life stable enough to enroll at Portland Community College, another can safely store her grandmother’s ashes and even set up a memorial. There’s the man whose temper was always at flashpoint because he was on the edge of survival, and now he’s quite calm and quick to laugh. There’s another who secured a job as a cook.
And, as one vendor who recently moved into housing put it: “Having the privacy is just amazing. I’m just trying to get used to it.”
So while Streets Roots doesn’t arrange housing placements ourselves, we play a role: we become the place where people join together around the dignity of work and form a supportive community. As the publisher of Rose City Resource, we provide information on how people can find housing and other services.
Importantly, it’s the community people share with each other that helps them find or maintain housing. I think of one Street Roots vendor who faced an apartment inspection which triggered a great deal of anxiety for him. Once homeless, it always seems like a possibility around the corner.
So another Street Roots vendor supported him. She, too, had moved from homelessness to housing. She brought a vacuum cleaner to his apartment to help him prepare for inspection.
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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