DIRECTOR’S DESK | ACLU of Oregon provided Know Your Rights training in response to concerns from unhoused people Street Roots vendors were spaced around the office wearing masks, some jotting notes. They were participating in a Know Your Rights seminar co ...
29 May 2020 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | Street Roots and four partner organizations asked 97 houseless Portlanders where they’d prefer to live temporarily during the pandemic Over the past few weeks, the Street Roots vendor-led Coronavirus Action Team fanned out, offering unho ...
22 May 2020 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | Street Roots is connecting impoverished people with cash assistance, stimulus checks and tax credits, but it’s not enough These days, I think about money a lot. Where is it, and how can it get into the pockets of poor folks? An antidote ...
15 May 2020 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | There are some things we all can do to stay focused on everybody’s public health The disconcerting phone calls started coming in this week. Antsy to open up businesses, people were once again complaining about all the tents. My response ...
8 May 2020 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | As we confront this pandemic, we continue to look toward our best future There’s nothing incremental about this moment. At Street Roots, we’ve developed a theory of action: When we solve for one problem, we also solve for something else ...
27 Mar 2020 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR'S DESK | Accustomed to getting the news out, they are becoming the media in a new way — by word of mouth Street Roots vendors are hitting the trails to deliver accurate information about COVID-19 to other unhoused people. Accustomed to getti ...
12 Mar 2020 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | Voters need to turn out in droves to pass this homeless-services measure The green and yellow tent backs up to a concrete piling on Naito Parkway. Behind the piling, more tents are equally spaced, an archipelago of brightly colored dwell ...
28 Feb 2020 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | Creativity and resourcefulness are essential for people on the streets, but so are grand solutions from the public sector Mike leaned slightly on his cane as he walked, his white pit bull strutting jauntily next to him. Randy’s bag of ca ...
14 Feb 2020 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | Metro’s proposed ballot measure would fund homeless services through a tax on the Portland area's wealthiest residents After a month when it seemed unlikely, Metro Council is now indicating that it will refer a homeless services bal ...
7 Feb 2020 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR'S DESK | Portland City Council approves $4.5 million annual contract for Rapid Response Bio Clean It was something the mayor said that weighed on me. “This is not about our strategy to end homelessness.” Kaia Sand is the executive director o ...
9 Jan 2020 - Kaia Sand