For Allen Butera, Street Roots isn’t just an income opportunity. It’s work that helps make his recovery process possible. “I’m more focused on my recovery right now than anything else,” he said. He’s been staying in a clean and sober facility and particip ...
22 May 2014 - Sarah Hansell
Before we sat down at the café around the corner from the Street Roots office, I asked Robert how he was doing. “Another day in paradise,” he said, without a hint of the irony or bitterness that usually colors that response. He has a friendly and open way ...
7 May 2014 - Sam Bouman
When Harry Richards and I sit down for our interview, the first thing he asks me is if I want half of his burger. You have to learn how to share, he explained, when you grow up in a big family like he did. Now, Harry shares in a different way – through ar ...
27 Mar 2014 - Sarah Hansell
When I first meet William, downtown was shuttered by a snowstorm. Despite having slept outside in the cold the night before, William is in a good mood. “Today is a good day,” he says. “Sympathy day.” For William, it seems bad weather makes for better sale ...
10 Mar 2014 - Ann-Derrick Gaillot
On the chilly afternoon when we spoke, Tony Boone was about to go to Canby for three days where he has a job making clothes at an old friend’s house. He doesn’t think of it as work though. “It’s a vacation,” he tells me. Over the next few days, as Portlan ...
15 Feb 2014 - Sam Bouman
Ask any Street Roots vendor and you’ll learn there’s more to selling the paper than you may think. Take Sean Sheffield and Rebecca Moran, for example. The dynamic selling duo dominates the corner of Southwest Fifth Avenue and Morrison Street, and if frequ ...
12 Feb 2014 - Ann-Derrick Gaillot
Every morning at 5 a.m., Street Roots vendor Shaun Followell wakes up, carefully packs up his gear and heads to the Starbucks on 15th Avenue and Fremont Street to sell papers. After a couple of hours, he hops on the bike he made himself and rides downtown ...
29 Jan 2014 - Ann-Derrick Gaillot
When I meet with Louis (pronounced loo-ey, not loo-iss) at the Street Roots office on a Saturday morning, he can hardly keep his tired, red eyes open. Late night partiers kept him up, and when the streets were empty, what he called the “road noises” began ...
13 Jan 2014 - Ann-Derrick Gaillot
If you’ve shopped at the Lloyd Center Safeway during the past few months, you’ve probably seen George Burdine selling Street Roots outside, lifting the spirits of passersby and shoppers. One of the first things one notices about George is his large spirit ...
19 Dec 2013 - Ann-Derrick Gaillot
Jason Scheer may well be the most outgoing introvert you will ever meet. When we meet for coffee, Jason seems as though he does not have much he wants to talk about, but as time goes on he shyly reveals himself to be a mindful and sensitive artist, a dete ...
21 Nov 2013 - Ann-Derrick Gaillot