By Martha Gies, Contributing Writer

On Sunday, March 24, in response to an email I’d received the day before, I quit eating. Witness Against Torture (WAT) had proposed a Holy Week fast in solidarity with the detainees at Guantánamo, some of whom had been on a hunger strike for six weeks.

I gave away the organic produce I’d just brought home from the market, checked the date stamps on the dairy products, and began the fast on Passion Sunday.

By Jake Thomas, Staff Writer

Richard Klosterman had heard about them. The lady across the hallway from his apartment had them. And then he had them.

Several years ago, Klosterman remembers waking in the middle of the night and feeling something crawling on his head. Whatever it was would fall into his hands and sometimes burst, leaving blood on his hands – his own blood.

By Ann-Derrick Gaillot, Contributing Writer

Glen Hansen sees himself as somewhat of a nomadic person, having lived all over the US, Canada and Europe (he is fluent in Danish) before settling in Portland last August.

“I don’t grow roots well, so I migrate a lot,” says Glen, whose travels have taken him far from his hometown of Detroit.

“I grew up listening to Motown, disco and KISS,” he says. Glen admits he has found it hard to settle in one place, but he regrets nothing.

By Eric Ares, Dilara Yarbrough and Paul Boden, Contributing Columnists

On April 23, the California State Assembly Judiciary Committee passed Assembly Bill 5, also known as the Homeless Person’s Bill of Rights and Fairness Act, out of committee with a 7-2 vote. More than just a legislative procedure, the vote was the latest victory for a growing national movement of people and organizations committed to ending the criminalization of homelessness and poverty in cities and regions across the country.

By Joanne Zuhl, Staff writer

Oregon’s Housing and Community Services department is arguably not the most glamorous in state government. But it’s definitely an eye catcher: 49 separate programs and 64 funding sources, with myriad compliance and reporting systems that, in essence, are driving the state’s policies around poverty and housing.