The things in life that are most important to vendor Regina Blakeman are her children, God and Street Roots, in that order.
She has six sons, living throughout the greater Portland area and Washington. Her youngest son is 21. Regina’s boys love seafood, which she claims is due to her job at the Keg, a seafood restaurant, where she worked — and ate — when she was pregnant.
“My oldest one, I worked and went into labor later that night,” Regina said.
Regina worked through all of her pregnancies at the Keg and would return six to eight weeks after giving birth each time over the course of seven years.
Even though she made sufficient money at the Keg, she was forced to quit to take care of her kids. She was a single mom much of the time and couldn’t afford to pay for daycare. Her father supported her while she was raising her children, but when he passed away, Regina fell into homelessness.
God holds a very important role in Regina’s life. After moving to Portland as a young girl, she was sent to a private Catholic school to get a better education. She was raised non-denominational Christian. Regina reads the Bible, prays frequently, and went to church regularly until the pandemic.
“I thank God every day that I’m even still alive after some of the things that I’ve gone through on the streets,” Regina said.
Regina was homeless for four years. When she was unhoused, Regina didn’t even have a tent to live in. She ended up going to the hospital so many times for varying medical issues that an outreach worker was assigned to help her out. This social worker changed her life. She helped Regina move into Home Forward housing and got her household items, even deep into the COVID-19 pandemic when they couldn’t meet face-to-face. Regina has had housing for almost four years now, and she ran into her former social worker the other day.
“I felt really good to run into her,” Regina said. “She helped me so much in getting off the street and getting me to where I am now.”
Regina found Street Roots eight years ago when she was sleeping in the doorway next to the Street Roots office.
“They have done nothing but help me get through the homelessness,” Regina said. “They don’t judge people for whatever situation they might be in.”
Regina appreciates her customers “so much, I tell them every chance I get,” she said.
She is amazed by how much she has learned from the people that buy the paper from her.
Regina suffers from neuropathy in her feet and needs to use a walker for the next five years.
“Being able to come here and being able to sell the paper, even in my state of handicappedness right now, that’s something I can still do,” Regina said.
She dreams of being healthy and able to walk on her own. Regina's dream job is to be an outreach worker, “like the one who helped (her).”
Even once she gets a job, Regina still plans on selling Street Roots.
“I believe in the paper," Regina said. "I have people who look for me to sell the paper -— customers that I have that are really loyal to Street Roots.”
You can support Regina Blakeman via @StreetRoots Venmo by entering her name and badge number (443) in the notes.
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