Nathaniel’s friendly, booming voice has brightened the front desk vendor office almost daily since January. He sells Street Roots outside the Hillsdale Library.
“Street Roots gives me bus tickets to go to work,” he said.
“I have to go to work. People know me there.”
Nathaniel was born and raised in Southeast Portland. He is a recent graduate of the Community Transition Program serving special needs students following high school. CTP supports young adults as they transition into the community and seek to live independent, integrated lives.
“I studied animals and wildlife at CTP,” Nathaniel said. “My favorite animal is a leopard, because of the spots.”
Nathaniel lives with his mother and father, two sisters and three dogs named Charlie, Freckles and Cloe. He has 14 cousins and he is “Uncle Nathaniel” to 10 nieces and nephews.
“They love to roughhouse and spend time with me,” he said.
Nathaniel has been a welcome addition at many Street Roots vendor parties and field trips, part of the ongoing health and wellness program. The events are a way to build community, and also to thank vendors for their work. Nathaniel is still talking about his trip to the zoo when he got to see a Siberian tiger.
Nathaniel has never had a girlfriend, and he thinks he would like one, he said. “I’d like to go on a date and maybe walk around a park. We would be home by 11 p.m.,” he said.