A Street Roots reader spotted a vendor and quickly stopped to buy a newspaper on the way to an appointment — that is a familiar scenario.
But this day and transaction would prove to be special. The customer, who I’ll refer to as J. because she wishes to remain anonymous, read about the Street Roots Elevate Lives campaign in her doctor’s waiting room, and decided to contribute $27,000 to honor her close friend Sandra Lou Pollard, known as Sandi.
Sandi, who died in 2009, was the mother of Street Roots co-founder Bryan Pollard and, as J. told me, she “made contributions to Street Roots that enabled it to survive those rough first years.”
That included purchasing a boxy turquoise iMac — state-of-the-art technology in 1999 — so that Bryan and the other volunteers could write, design and publish a fledging newspaper they named Street Roots.
Bryan described the early days as a lean, day-to-day struggle, with few vendors and donors.
“But Mom stepped up and stepped in. She helped us make ends meet until we had our legs. That first computer was a big deal at the time and there was no other way we could have bought it. It was crucial in taking the quality of the paper to another level,” Bryan said.
Sandi’s contribution to Street Roots, J. pointed out, extended to the values that have carried it these past 25 years.
“Sandi believed in the inherent worth and dignity of every person. She instilled that value in both of her sons,” J. said. “Bryan founded Street Roots with that value as a foundation stone.”
The elevator — designed for the soon-to-open Street Roots headquarters by Holst Architects, ensuring people with disabilities have access to the wellness center and rooftop classroom — is a symbol of that dignity.
“It is only fitting that the new elevator that will ‘elevate lives’ be in her memory,” J. said.
Sandi and J. supported each other like a family, first in New Orleans and then in Portland, where Sandi and her son Nathan moved to be near J. and her daughters three decades ago. Bryan followed after finishing his degree at Louisiana State University.
They were soon joined by others who journeyed from the south, including Michael Parker, who also helped found Street Roots, transforming the Burnside Cadillac, where Bryan had volunteered as a photojournalist.
“Sandi sought to elevate the life and spirit of everyone she came in contact with by a kind word, a hug or a home-cooked meal,” J. said, adding that some of that cooking was for the group of Bryan’s friends who were instrumental in the start of Street Roots.
“She would be so proud that Street Roots now has 800-plus vendors, a beautiful historic building to call home and has changed so many lives.”
That day when J. saw the vendor — Jeff Henderson, at his Zupan’s post — she paid $5 for the paper, as she always does. She explained that Sandi always purchased the paper and “paid a good bit extra.”
Sandi was exceptionally smart. A single mother of two boys, she worked as a researcher for clinical trials and other positions connected to science.
She also loved gardens full of brightly colored flowers, and Street Roots will include painted flowers around the elevator in her honor. J. was inspired by the flowers painted on plywood that covered Mother’s Bistro’s windows in 2020, particularly a panel that included a statement referring to George Floyd: “All mothers were summoned when he called out to his mama.”
“I was inspired by the abundance of flowers Lisa (Schroeder, owner of Mother’s Bistro) has painted on every window,” J. said.
Mother’s Bistro and the new Street Roots building look out at each other. Sandi and J., two mothers not only of their own children but of each other’s, celebrated many birthdays there, once even accidentally setting wrapping paper on fire in a moment of exuberance.
J. surprised Bryan with this donation when he was in town recently visiting Street Roots. He went on from founding Street Roots to make a big mark. As a Cherokee Nation citizen, he became the editor of the Cherokee Phoenix, and served as president of the Native American Journalists Association.
He studied the intersection of press freedom and Indigenous rights as a John S. Knight journalism fellow at Stanford University, serves on the boards for High Country News and Street Roots, and now works at the Associated Press.
J. hopes her donation extends from the elevator to inspiring others to give what they can. This move is a big moment in Street Roots history, and we need widespread support to fund it.
So while this week I’m pausing to celebrate the completion of the elevator campaign, next week I’ll be back to tell you how you can help get us all the way to our goals.
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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