Longtime Street Roots vendor Dale Nye grew up surrounded by newspapers. As a child, he delivered The Oregonian and other papers in his coastal community and eventually ran the printing machines himself. His career with The Oregonian lasted for almost 20 years.
He said the most strenuous part of his old newspaper job was working with the Sunday paper.
“Back then, it was about 350 pages — it was big!” Dale said.
The transition to selling Street Roots has been a natural one, and one that Dale says has been great, “except sometimes the weather conditions.”
More importantly, he said, Street Roots has given him structure and opportunity.
“Street Roots has given me another gateway to advance myself in the field. I can set my own schedule,” Dale said. “Street Roots has given me a support system and a structure, especially when finances fall into the red zone.”
And he’s relieved that things are coming back after the pandemic shutdowns.
“With COVID, it shut me down,” Dale said. “It closed the door on a lot of businesses, including mine. It feels like we are just coming out of the ashes.”
But even with this optimism, the holiday season was especially hard for Dale this past year. In mid-December, he lost his longtime girlfriend Patricia to Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, better known as MRSA.
“Everything I’m doing is for Patricia,” Dale said. “She was a wonderful, wonderful person. She was only 68 years old.”
Like many couples, their unique origin story created a tight bond between the two — built on shared experiences, empathy, compassion and patience.
“We met at a tent,” Dale said. “I had just set up my tent, and I understood how hard it was to be in a wheelchair because I had an ankle injury that caused me to be in a wheelchair for a time. She had a flareup of MRSA and had an amputation, which led to painkillers.”
Dale is particularly proud of her for moving past the painkillers.
“It was like talking to someone in a vegetative state, but she pulled herself back together,” Dale said.
“I’m going to miss Patty,” he said. “This is hitting hard. I just have to be strong and carry on and take care of myself. That’s what Patty would want.”
Dale likes to sell Street Roots on Northeast Broadway and is frequently in front of the Walgreens or Safeway there, although he said he plans to try selling papers at the Fred Meyer on Northeast Weidler Street. Dale can also be supported via @StreetRoots Venmo by entering his name and badge number (188) in the notes.
Street Roots is an award-winning weekly investigative publication covering economic, environmental and social inequity. 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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