You may have been following our efforts to find and renovate a new, permanent building for Street Roots over the past few years.
Or this might be the first time you are reading about it.
Either way, I hope I can bring you into the project now, in these last four months before our grand opening on Northwest Third Avenue planned for Aug. 1.
A quick run-through of how we got here:
2018 | Street Roots began planning how we could expand our space and our support of people on the streets. Overcrowded in a cramped office, we began to study our options. Dave Otte, owner and principal at Holst Architects, promised us their pro bono services whether we built from scratch or renovated an existing building.
2020 | Street Roots never closed during the pandemic because for people on the streets, sheltering in place meant … the streets. We expanded our programs to meet the need while also restricting the number of people we could have inside. As with everyone, we were changed by the pandemic. Overcrowding was no longer an option.
2021 | Trying to imagine how we could accommodate our current and future conditions, we began looking for a building in January, reaching out to many supporters for their expertise. Tom Cody, president and CEO of Project PDX, suggested I look at Portland Maps for properties that were the size we needed based on our research — about 7,000 square feet. With a map of circled properties in my hand, I began to bike around Old Town. When I hit Northwest Third Avenue, I saw Street Roots vendor Jason Scheer, who suggested I look at the building that had hosted the 2BWell acupuncture clinic owned by Siamak Shir.
So much came together in 2021. We brought together a team that included not only Holst Architecture but also the urban development firm Shiels Obletz Johnsen (SOJ). After leading historic Portland projects such as the Portland Streetcar and Belmont Dairy, SOJ’s Carter MacNichol stepped in to lead this project for Street Roots. That spring Representatives Lisa Reynolds, Rob Nosse and Barbara Smith Warner awarded $2.85 million dollars in American Rescue Plan Funds for Street Roots, allowing us to purchase the building and begin renovation.
Street Roots vendors led the way in our program design. The number one request has consistently been to provide showers and laundry for vendors’ physical and mental health. That became the foundation of our plan.
2022 | O’Neill Construction joined as our general contractor, leading a project that emphasizes supporting women and people of color in the trades — who make up over 50% of the project’s contractors. We purchased the building in March and churned our way through permits and design.
2023 | Construction commenced in March, and we replaced the traditional ribbon cutting with an Old Town parade that included rolling a piano down the street from our building to Barnes & Morgan Coffee shop with vendors swing dancing through the streets.
We accumulated support: American Rescue Plan, CareOregon, Collins Foundation, Cole Reed, David and Christine Vernier, Henry Lea Hillman, Jr. Foundation, Holst Architecture, Jessica Helgerson Interior Design, Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation, McGee Salvage, Multnomah County, O’Neill Construction Company, Portland Clean Energy Fund, Prosper Portland, Shiels Obletz Johnsen, Western Partitions, Inc., and many others.
2024 | The Flight Crew — a group of vendors led by Cole Reed and Malyk Mitchell — began working on prepping furniture and artwork for the building out of the Ground Score basement. (Street Roots Community Media Director DeVon Pouncey provides a Flight Crew update on page 11.)
The major construction is nearing completion and we will continue with interior work through July. And our Grand Opening? Mark your calendars for Thursday, Aug. 1!
We’ve raised more than we ever dreamed of to get here, thanks to community support: more than $7 million. We still, though, need to raise nearly $1 million to finish paying for construction and to also build our fund for program expansion.
It feels a bit like we have been on a long parade, pushing a piano with joy through the streets like we did for our groundbreaking a year ago, but the last stretch is an uphill block. We need everyone’s help to get there. $1 million is daunting, but not if we divvy it up. So our staff has put together a catalog so you can find many points of entry. Plus you can check back to see how we are doing. Find your way in: from paying for a chair at $50 to providing the stipends for vendors to help with final renovations at $10,000, there’s a range of opportunities to get us to the finish line.
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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