OPINION | The mayor proposes underfunding the non-police crisis response program by 77% Mayor Ted Wheeler’s budget allotment for Portland Street Response falls short. And this is not the time to short-change a non-police response Portlanders have demanded ...
4 May 2021 - Kaia Sand
OPINION | Commissioners Hardesty and Eudaly need one more vote for police budget cuts Justice is not convenient, but the City Council might need a reminder. It managed to cut $15 million from the police budget — and reinvest some of that into Portland Str ...
26 Oct 2020 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | The people with the most at stake must continue to guide the process for this program that Street Roots championed The Portland City Council vote to fund Portland Street Response is a victory for Jim, who told me that when his “brain itc ...
18 Jun 2020 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | It was a meaningful conversation, touching on struggle, empathy and understanding Around the Street Roots office, we referred to it as the “calendar incident,” and it caused us to pause. Last week, The Oregonian reported that a firefight ...
31 Jan 2020 - Kaia Sand
A compassionate approach to first response is popular, and we need that compassion to spill over to more areas The Portland Street Response pilot is a reality. This is a big opportunity, Portland. Now, let us take this will toward compassion, and extend i ...
22 Nov 2019 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | Mark says that if you want to help him, you can support a just and compassionate system Mark Rodriguez’s plight with a TriMet citation struck a chord with readers. On Friday, Nov. 8, Mark told us how he’d been served a $175 citation for ...
15 Nov 2019 - Kaia Sand
We want to change the criminal justice system – and we want you to design a logo Street Roots’ office bustles with the leadership and talents of people on the streets. On one recent day, Street Roots vendors circled around Haven Wheelock of Outside In to ...
25 Oct 2019 - Kaia Sand
REPORT | Portland Street Response survey, conducted with and for unhoused people There’s plenty of Trumpian cruelty toward the poorest people in our nation in the news. While it is tempting to challenge that wrong-headedness head-on, I will challenge it i ...
19 Sep 2019 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | It’s only appropriate that the people who have a key stake in the new Portland Street Response are asked to participate in the process of designing it Clipboards in hand, the teams dispatched to survey people on the streets about their e ...
26 Jul 2019 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | As the city explores how to pilot Portland Street Response, it’s reaching out to unhoused residents A snoring dog lay at the feet of Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty as she leaned back against a table, nodding. A woman described how when she ...
12 Jul 2019 - Kaia Sand