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 | 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 | The yearly Domicile Unknown count underscores the urgent need for reliable health care At least 92 people died while experiencing homelessness in Multnomah County. T hese are the highest numbers since Street Roots began releasing the an ...
16 Oct 2019 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | My grandmother’s story resonates today She stayed enrolled in school until it was just too difficult. Cheerleading, serving on school council, my grandmother, Marjorie Leahy, bused to school from the Porter Hotel in “Portland’s Skid Row” ...
30 Aug 2019 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | The homeless numbers are big. The geographic scope of the crisis is big. And the investment required of us is big. Our vision must be, too. How might we envision a future where there is housing for everyone in this region? The new report ...
23 Aug 2019 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | Our president, who deplores the visibility of homelessness, doesn't understand the federal government’s role in the housing crisis On Monday, Trump free-associated about homelessness with Fox News’ right-wing provocateur Tucker Carl ...
3 Jul 2019 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | There are a lot of ill people surviving on the streets, and they are being left behind Earlier this week, I looked around in the vendor office. Of the six vendors who were at tables, drinking coffee and chatting, three had wheelchairs; t ...
7 Jun 2019 - Kaia Sand
DIRECTOR’S DESK | If there's no funding for a compassionate response to crises on the streets, then support of the plan goes nowhere We’ve heard a tremendous response to the Portland Street Response plan published in our March 15 edition. The grounds ...
29 Mar 2019 - Kaia Sand