2009 Annual Report: Letter from managing editor

Roots taking hold in our community

Street Roots editorial goals in 2009 were the same as they are every year: to produce an outstanding newspaper, provide comprehensive coverage on the important issues, and deliver the voices of our community. All of this is done with the aim of ensuring that vendors not only have a paper they’re proud to sell, but also one that Portlanders want to read.

In 2009, we brought you breakthrough coverage on the deaths occurring on our streets and the high likelihood of morbidity among Portland’s homeless. We reported on the rising numbers of veterans falling into homelessness, and the hidden homeless residing in hotels, off the grid, as they work toward an opportunity for stable housing.

Indeed, the past year was filled with hard times, but we have a responsibility to bring you the positives as well; including the story of a small group of people coming together to help one of our vendors get the leg up he needed to secure his own apartment, and our return visit to Dignity Village, the homeless “camp” that has weathered political, social and economic obstacles to become a truly unique success story for Portland and the nation. The story of Melissa and Sean Walsh, told through the remarkable photography of Leah Nash, brought home for many readers the struggles of living with disabilities and poverty, offset only by the love and resilience this young couple share.

2009 Annual Report: Letter from the director

Welcome to the Street Roots 2009 Annual Report. (View the entire report here.) There’s no question, it’s been a hard year. Like many small grassroots organizations and small businesses, the economy has effected the organization and its ability to maintain an aggressive growth strategy. Saying that, we’re still growing, but we’re being more cautious about how we grow and our planning for the future.

For nearly three years, Street Roots has maintained a humble budget (under $200,000) for publishing the newspaper, the Rose City Resource Guide, and providing a morning drop-in center and running the vendor program.

When times get tough, like they are now, the margin of error for a small organization that is trying to grow is narrow. One wrong move, and it could be detrimental. Thanks to the community at large, Street Roots was able to navigate through some rough seas in 2009, while still staying on course. By no means is Street Roots (nor the community) out of the woods yet, but with smart planning we believe we will continue to raise the bar for grassroots media, while providing immediate income for those in need in the Portland region.

What we accomplished in 2009

The Dubious Life: Happiness is a good cellie, but that’s relative in San Quentin

Hello friend! This little story starts out at San Quentin State. No, not college — prison. It ends up at Folsom State Prison.

This may sound a little scary to some people and it would be to a person going to prison for the first time. I believe that is one of the reasons that they altered San Quentin to become a reception center for newly arriving prisoners. It kind of gives you a good slap in the face of reality. I mean, there are plenty of stories and movies on San Quentin, but to actually see it live, well it kind of makes the hair on the back of your neck quiver. San Quentin is in Marin County, Calif. It was opened in July 1852, making it the oldest prison in the state. It was opened as a better means of housing prisoners rather than on ships as they did prior to this in the San Francisco area. The ships just became too overcrowded and they also had many escapees.

The old Stagecoach robber Black Bart was housed at San Quentin in the western days. The more recent prisoners have been Charles Manson and Richard Ramirez.

While I was there, I was on the top bunk on the third tier. There are I believe five tiers in each section. Each cell is 8 feet by 7 feet, barely enough room for one person let alone two. The urinal is directly behind the bottom bunk. Not very sanitary or private. You better not be bashful, or you will have trouble. I mean, you just have to learn to use the facility. We would always have a towel or blanket hanging down the bunk to separate it from the urinal. It gave the person a little privacy, anyway. You had better get along with your cellie while you were in processing to go to another prison, because after the first week, when you were examined, tested etc., there was nothing else for you to do. If you were lucky, you got to go to the yard an hour a day, that didn’t happen often. Usually you were in the cell together for 23 hours a day. You were out for one hour to go to the evening meal. Lunch was in a sack and consisted of a round blob of peanut butter and jelly in the center of the bread, or it was mystery meat of some kind, bologna, salami, I think. Who knows? Better off not knowing, I guess. We also got a piece of fruit. Anyway, what I’m trying to paint you a picture of is that processing at San Quentin was a step above hell. Remember, there’s no air conditioning in this old prison.

So, while I was there, right in the middle of summer, it was quite uncomfortable. Not as hot as the old Folsom cells but hot enough that we would soak our sheets in our little sink and take turns on the floor laying on a wet sheet. It helped a little. My first cellmate was only there for a week before moving on to another prison. I was kind of glad. He was nice enough, but he was constantly working out. Push-ups, sit-ups, etc. I mean, you have to something in order to keep in shape.

Staying alive: Vancouver injection site fights addiction

Published in the February 23 edition of Street Roots courtesy of Megaphone, our sister paper in Vancouver, B.C.

The city is quiet on a Tuesday morning just after Christmas, but Insite, Vancouver, B.C.’s safe-injection facility, is already busy: music plays as people sit at open booths to inject heroin or cocaine, while others chat and joke with the nurses as they wait for a booth, or head to the chill-out room to lounge and drink coffee.

Clean needles and condoms are available to users who bring their own drugs to inject in a supervised room. They can relax afterwards in the lounge as needed, and staff are available to help them with other needs, like housing applications.

Modelled on similar clinics that first opened in Switzerland in the 1980s and then spread to other European countries and Australia, Insite remains North America’s only safe-injection site. Like its counterparts, this brand of harm reduction has proven to be a tremendous success here in Vancouver.

“For us, it’s a very basic thing: Insite saves lives,” says Mark Townsend, executive director of the PHS Community Services Society, which operates the safe-injection site in partnership with the provincial government’s Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH). “We’re able to reach the people that would have been dying in their hotel rooms if Insite wasn’t here. Now we can get them the necessary help and get them into detox and treatment.”

Before Insite, the Downtown Eastside saw overdose deaths and infectious diseases reach calamitous heights. Overdose deaths in Vancouver spiked to a high of 201 in 1993 and, according to a United Nations report, the Downtown Eastside has an HIV rate of 30 percent, while Canada as a whole has a rate of only 0.2 percent.

A mass mobilization led by drug users and the creation of illegal injection sites in the neighbourhood finally helped secure the political will needed to create Insite, which has witnessed hundreds of overdoses, but as yet no deaths. And since it opened, overdose deaths across the city have declined — reaching a low of 34 in 2008.

The health crisis has also subsided. There were just 30 new HIV cases in the Downtown Eastside in 2006, compared to 2,100 a decade before. According to a 2008 Canadian Medical Association Journal study, Insite could prevent 1,517 HIV infections in 10 years, saving the Canadian health system $14 million in costly treatments.

As Insite helps keep addicts alive, just a few steps upstairs are the 12 detox and 18 transition beds at Onsite. Also run by PHS and VCH, Onsite is a drug recovery facility working at getting users sober.

Together, the facilities have led to a 30 percent increase in enrollment in detox programs, according to a 2007 study published in the Society for the Study of Addiction.

Onsite and Insite are the first steps to engaging the Downtown Eastside’s 5,000 homeless and impoverished addicts — people who generally feel isolated from the rest of society.

Addicted to heroin for more than 30 years, 49-year-old Brad Taylor began using Insite in 2003 while homeless. He wanted to be safe, and the site’s clean needles and nurses kept him so. Six months ago he moved up to Onsite to try and overcome his addiction.

Since beginning the program, Taylor has relapsed three times, the last occurrence on Christmas Eve when he was alone in his house. But he said the clean spells between relapses have increased the longer he stays in the program.

“Being around people who are actively trying to get clean motivates me,” he says, as does the “honest compassion of the staff.”

What is most important for Taylor is the chance to come back. It is a rarity among recovery and rehab facilities to allow a relapsed patient back into treatment. For Onsite, the hope for a second chance is essential.

Despite its accomplishments, Insite has found itself fighting for its survival. Originally approved by a federal Liberal government, Canada’s Conservative government is opposed to the site and has attempted to shut it down.

“We think (safe-injection facilities) are inherently harmful to health,” said Pamela Stephens, press secretary for the Minister of Justice. “They deepen and prolong addictions.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper initially planned to shut down Insite after its Criminal Code exemption ran out in June 2008.

“It would be catastrophic,” says Townsend of a Vancouver without Insite. “People will die because of it and there will be more HIV and Hepatitis C. It would be a step backwards and a much more oppressive way to treat those that are suffering from addiction.”

However, on Jan. 15, the B.C. Court of Appeals upheld a successful court challenge by PHS and the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), which allowed Insite to remain open and operating with provincial funding. Nearly 50 supporters of the clinic who filled the room and waited outside applauded after Chief Justice John Finch read the court’s ruling. Advocates insisted that if Insite had been forced to close, hundreds would die as a result.

The ruling also raises proponents’ hopes that similar facilities will now open in other cities, and aid more addicts across the country. Addicts like “Razor,” who was homeless and sold drugs a corner for seven years, but has been clean for the past 16 months and lives in social housing in East Vancouver. A user of both Insite and Onsite, he says the facilities helped him realize that he never wants to be addicted again.

“I don’t want to be homeless,” he says. “I don’t want to puke and shit myself, I don’t want to be dope sick, I don’t want to rob people, I don’t want to go to jail.”

By Daniel Guillemette, Street News Service

Reprinted from Megaphone, Vancouver, B.C. © Street News Service: www.street-papers.org

PDC unloads affordable housing obligation in North Macadam

The League of Women Voters is calling on the city to stand behind its agreement to build affordable housing in the North Macadam Urban Renewal Area after an preliminary agreement indicates the Portland Development Commission is bailing on 400 promised units.

The agreement releases the PDC from its obligation to invest $4 million into block 33, build 400 affordable housing sites there, and removes any obligation for the site to reserve units at 0-60 percent of median family income – the poorest and most difficult to subsidize population.

The deal is that PDC gives up Block 33 to the Oregon Health and Science University for $3 million – $1 million in transportation charge credits and a maximum of $2 million from the sale of the property. That money can then be redirected to Block 49. The plans for development on Block 49 include 209 affordable housing units, with 40 to 50 dedicated to formerly homeless veterans.

City Commissioner Nick Fish said that Block 33 was no longer viable for multiple reasons, and that his focus is on Block 49, which is already $2 million into plans for developing 150 units for homeless veterans. “We made a commitment to our homeless veterans,” Fish said. “Block 33 is a challenged site and, currently, there is not enough money to do both.”

Here’s what the League had to say:

The North Macadam urban renewal area is 11 years old.  To date not one unit of affordable housing has been developed.  Many of the other projects outlined in the plan and the Central District Development Agreement, however, have been completed or are near-complete including the OHSU tram, streetcar, condo towers, streets and sidewalks, and Elizabeth Caruthers Park.  During the early planning for this district fears were expressed that this area might become an enclave for the wealthy.  Given the amount of public resources that will be devoted to this district we urge you to ensure that fear is not borne out.

In 2006, when the 8th amendment was adopted, PDC believed Block 33 was a viable option for 400 units of affordable housing.  We do not understand why this is no longer the case and encourage you to ask that question of staff involved in negotiating the deal.  Furthermore, the 8th amendment transferred the obligation to develop 400 units of affordable housing from North Macadam Investors to the city.  What are the plans for fulfilling that obligation?

Portland Housing Bureau Director Margaret Van Vliet noted that the Block 33 plan was set out well before the revenue from the Urban Renewal Area was known, and the expensive level of construction on that site didn’t pencil out for affordable housing. Van Vliet said she and the PHB are going to work to find affordable housing apartments elsewhere in the area, and as the North Macadam area develops, more money — dedicated through the 30 percent set-aside in taxes — should become available to put toward affordable housing.

“But it’s not there right now,” Van Vliet said.

Van Vliet said it is not clear on the obligation to replace quid pro quo the 400 units and 0-60 percent housing from Block 33, but that regardless of those figures, she will try to establish affordable housing wherever possible.

“The recent TIF report showed signs of progress in the overall meeting of income targets, however if you look at the TIF report as a whole, the city has failed to meet 0-30 percent income targets in many districts, including North Macadam,” says Julie Massa, Portland Policy Coordinator with Oregon Opportunity Network. “The city had plans to dig deep on TIF funds for North Macadam, but they wouldn’t have reached the lower income targets with Block 33.

“In light of these new developments, we want to make sure there’s a return on public housing investment that benefits all income levels in any projects moving forward.”

The complete letter from the League of Women Voters of Portland follows:

Attorney General talks with community orgs and Aaron Cambell rally on Friday

Street Roots attended a civil rights forum Friday afternoon put on by Attorney General John Kroger’s office. Kroger spoke for more than 30 minutes to a group of who’s who among community leaders and organizers from Portland and around the region. Kroger spoke about the mission and goals of a new civil rights unit created under the umbrella of the Oregon Department of Justice and how to engage his office.

According to Kroger, the goals of the new civil rights unit moving forward will focus on  investigating and filing civil or criminal actions to stop and deter unlawful conduct targeting protected and vulnerable populations in Oregon, work with law enforcement, public agencies and private entities to identify patterns of discriminatory conduct targeting groups, and work with state agencies to insure compliance with civil rights requirements.

Kroger then opened up the forum for questions and answers— telling the group that “the new civil rights unit will be taking small steps.” He also said that if organizations work with individuals, or a group of people that are being discriminated against, “we want your cases.”

Lastly, Kroger and the group talked for nearly 15-minutes about the Aaron Cambell case before heading over to the Park Blocks to address a crowd of protesters who had gathered at Pioneer and marched to Portland State University to listen to speakers, including Kroger.

Posted by Israel Bayer

Editorial: So much happens and nothing changes

The story goes: Police shoot an unarmed individual. The district attorney handpicks evidence, often without key witnesses. The grand jury declines to indict¬. The community responds with sadness, then anger. The police say they need more money to correct the problem. City Hall does damage control. The media delivers the play-by-play. The community speaks of coalition building. A series of rallies happen. City Hall and the police get sued in civil court. The city doles out hundreds of thousands of dollars to the victims family. Ultimately, nothing changes.

Matters of life or death

Mental health activist Jason Renaud weighs in on the latest shooting by police of unarmed citizens in crisis

By Israel Bayer
Staff Writer

Jason Renaud had been an advocate for the rights of people with addiction and mental illness for more than a decade when a 42-year-old named James Chasse was killed at the hands of police officers in 2006. Chasse, who lived with schizophrenia, had been a friend of Renaud’s, and Chasse’s death went beyond the personal tragedy. It brought Renaud’s work with the Mental Health Association of Portland, which he co-founded, into even greater focus toward addressing the actions and oversight of police officers, particularly as they interface with people experiencing mental illness. A police review found that the officers acted within policy. Chasse’s death is now the subject of a federal civil lawsuit brought by Chasse’s family.

Today, in the aftermath of the police shooting of Aaron Campbell and a grand jury’s decision not to indict the officer who shot him, Renaud is watching a familiar and tragic scenario repeat itself. Last year he declared his candicacy to run against Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman.

Police Chief Rosie Sizer has announced some changes in police policy as a result of Campbell’s death, including bringing mental health workers along on crisis calls, and buying ballistic shields to protect officers when approaching people.

But neither of those efforts address officers’ behavior, how they coordinate their approach to people in crisis and how they’re trained to deal with these situations to ensure that someone doesn’t end up dead.

Israel Bayer: So let’s start with training. With every shooting in the past, regardless of which talking head, the message has basically been, it’s about the training. If you want us to do something different, train us different. So…

Jason Renaud: My problem is that with the training right now is that once a weapon has been seen or reported by a police officer, it’s likely at that point that someone is going to get hurt. That means the officer is trained to take action prior to the weapon being actually produced. It’s alarming because in many cases it’s a preemptive strike.

Extra! Extra!

One minute it’s warm and sunny, the next it’s cold, foggy and grey. It’s tough to know what to wear these days. But you always know what to read! And starting tomorrow, you’ll have a fresh copy of Street Roots to keep your mind warm and toasty. Here’s what you’ll find inside:

Rings of Fire: Vancouver, B.C.’s street paper talks about how the Winter Olympics have reignited the homeless front to push back on gentrification and homelessness.

Matters of life or death: A frank discussion between Street Roots’ Israel Bayer and Jason Renaud, co-founder of the Mental Health Association of Portland and an ardent activist for people with mental illness. The two talk about the latest police shooting of an unarmed man in crisis.

Staying Alive: It might sound counterintuitive that a self-injection site for people with drug addictions can actually help people get off drugs, but it does. Learn more about the work of Insite in Vancouver, B.C., which is patterned after European models with great success.

Street Roots Annual Report: For those familiar with Street Roots and those new to the experience, the 2009 Annual Report packs a yearful of journalism, community involvement, resource development, advocacy and vendor accomplishments into four pages.

And speaking of vendors! Visit yours Friday morning, share a big smile and pick up the new copy of Street Roots. It’s a dollar well spent. Always has been.

The home team’s advantage: Joey Harrington focuses his gaze on Portland’s front lines

by Joanne Zuhl, Staff writer

Joey Harrington is a guy who happens to play football; not a football player. There’s a difference. Football doesn’t define him, he says, it was a career, it afforded him a nice living, but it is not who he is.

Who he is is much more than the son of University of Oregon football stars, where he himself had three years as the celebrated quarterback of the Ducks. He is far beyond the hype of his 2001 candidacy for the Heisman Trophy. And today he is so much more than the NFL could ever give, or take away.

Harrington is settling back home in Portland with his wife, Emily, and their new son Jack. It has always been home for him and his family throughout his career. Portland is the base for the Joey Harrington Foundation, established with his signing bonus with the Detroit Lions, with whom he played for four seasons. In recent years, however, his career was tethered to one struggling team after the next — to the Miami Dolphins, the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints.

But Harrington’s having a much bigger impact in Portland than he did throwing a ball in any of those others towns. The Joey Harrington Foundation supports numerous youth-focused groups in Portland, including the Shriners and the Boys and Girls Club, where he serves on the board of directors. He has joined the board of SMART (Start Making A Reader Today), and he’s working with Girls Inc. on their “Power of the Purse” campaign.

Harrington is not just the name behind the check. In his opinion, he was given a blessing with his career, despite its ups and downs, and he wants to give back. In addition to his other work, he both supports financially and volunteers at the Blanchet House, which provides meals for people experiencing homelessness, and on Jan 30, he did the Special Olympics’ Polar Plunge.

Joanne Zuhl: Did you actually do the plunge?

Joey Harrington: Oh God. Yeah, it was a lot of fun.

J.Z.: A lot of people would have cut the check and gone home.

J.H.: Hey — you jump in the water. If you’re going to do it, you got do it all the way. You know, to be in the position I’m in today, I’ve been supported by countless people. I’ve been supported by the community of the state of Oregon, by the city of Portland. These are people who have been wonderful to me. And when I’ve come back in the off-season in years past, I’ve had a small bit of time. I used to do a fundraiser concert for Shriners Hospital, (Harrington is an accomplished jazz pianist) but I wasn’t around enough to be involved like I wanted to give back, to say thank you.

J.Z.: And now?

J.H.: It’s great! It gives me the opportunity to completely jump into it. And while my NFL career didn’t necessarily turn out as storybook as my college career, I’m still able to help certain organizations in the city and the state, that other people may not be able to. It’s funny to me how people respond to professional athletes in general, but the reality is it opens doors. Football has never been a destination to me. Football has been a way to open a door to something else I wanted to do.

By using the contacts that I’ve made through playing football, I’m able to help out the people who have helped me get to this position.

J.Z.: You’re involved with and support several charitable endeavors here in Portland, including the Blanchet House, where I understand you’ve volunteered on several occasions. Some people write the check and that’s it. Was there an event or moment in your life that compelled you to get involved?

J.H.: We made a sizable contribution to the new building project simply because the Blanchet House has been something that’s been close to my family and Emily’s family. My grandfather was one of the members of the original group that started the Blanchet House. And Emily had volunteered for years before we met. She was the one who actually brought me down there to volunteer for the first time, maybe five years ago.

What I really liked about the Blanchet, is that there were no requirements. It wasn’t like you had to sit and listen to someone speak first, it was simply come in and eat. And whether you live on the streets and need it for every single meal, or whether you just need it because the money runs tight at the end of the month, it’s an open door. You asked if there was a moment. I don’t think that there was one moment, but it’s something that my mom and dad really emphasized when we were younger; that it doesn’t matter if you’re a doctor, a lawyer, a mailman, a plumber, or someone who is out of a job, or someone who is doing drugs on a street corner, everybody deserves respect. And so, having been raised with that as a model, it’s tough to see people turn their back. It’s tough to see people treat others like they’re not good enough, or their time is too valuable for them, or that they are somehow less. And that’s something that has always resonated with Emily and me.

Vendor shares work published through Write Around Portland

Artwork by Darren Alexander

Venice on the Scioto — 2010 version, by Darren W. Alexander

Rosa holds her accordion high above Bicentennial Park. From where I sit, it looks like it levitates over the Columbia Gas of Ohio building. The accordion looks like one of those cigar boxes I have at home, the one with the Plymouth Indians smoking Cuban cigars.

I stare at her as she plays. Suddenly, I’m in a trance, and in this trance-induced world, I’m on a gondola. Perhaps I’m in Venice, though in the distance, I see the Lincoln-Leveque tower and the Santa Maria replica by the Broad Street Bridge. As we pass the Santa Maria, Rosa sings this beautiful aria, and even though she sings in English, I hear these love songs in Italian.

In the midst of this dream, I’m transported to Gdansk, Poland, except in the city center are Cleveland’s Terminal and Key Bank towers. Polka music blares, and it reminds me of that much-hated Rotary Club in Parma, where my parents forced us to go every weekend during our youth. The dancers wore plastered smiles, and the conductor looked like Lawrence Welk made in Satan’s image. I dance along, even though I hate polka with a passion. As I dance, water from Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River flood the room. I’m 10 feet underwater and drowning even further. Gondolas swim overhead while I sink further to the lake floor as I sway to this stupid Frank Yankovic music.

“Rosa, stop this crazy music,” I scream, but she keeps segueing into Drew Carey’s “Moon over Parma.”

Rosa finally stops and I awaken from this dream.

“Love it?” she inquires

“It was lovely,” I tell her as I stifle a sigh.

“Shall I play more?”

“No,” I say as I rise up. I give her a peck on the cheek, then walk north on Civic Center Drive, past the 50 state flags, to Broad Street. At the bridge, I look north toward the confluence, where the Scioto and Olentangy meet. Gondolas race past the Long Street Bridge toward the Santa Maria. On one of them, the accordion player sings, though I can’t tell whether he’s singing Italian stanzas or paying homage to Cleveland’s answer to the late John Candy’s polka-playing character, Yosh Shmenge.

Reprinted from the Write around Portland summer 2007 anthology, “Unexpected Metaphors” © 2007, by Darren W. Alexander, All Rights Reserved.

Vendor corner: Darren Alexander

Darren Alexander moved back to Portland in 2003 after two years away. Only it wasn’t the same town he left. It was, as he said, a little bit meaner. There had been the murder of a homeless woman on the Steel Bridge. There had been the death of Kendra James at the hands of police, and a feeling that things were simply less friendly than when he had left just two years before.

So Darren works on his own world, the world of an artist and a writer, a volunteer in his community, and an avid reader and student of his surroundings. And, when he’s not doing all of the above, you’ll find him selling Street Roots at NE 15th and Alberta at the Alberta Co-op.

But the arts are his first love.

“I’m still working on artwork, taking art classes on Tuesday mornings and Thursday nights,” Darren says. “I’ve dabbled in it for years. When I was growing up, I wanted to be an architect, of all things. I drew buildings.”

Several of Darren’s works were featured in a 2008 exhibit at Warner Pacific College from artists at Julia West House, the homeless day and counseling center where Darren volunteers monitoring the shower schedule and computer use. It’s also where he takes his art courses. Some of the work sold, but what he’d really like to do is make money off of his writing — television screenplays for dark comedies and dramas. And he diligently keeps a daily journal.

“Most of it is what’s going on in my mind, and some it’s planning — for the day, for the month; future plans like attending film production classes. I want to work behind the scenes.”

This past October, Darren joined a group of volunteers with the Presbyterian Disaster Resistance and traveled to New Orleans to help in the ongoing recovery of the neighborhoods there. He worked with a crew helping replace a roof on a resident’s home.

“Five years after the disaster, people are still trying to get things together,” says Darren, who used to live in New Orleans and found the return rewarding. “It was starting to look better, it’s still a work in progress, obviously.”

Times are tough here, too, as Darren has experienced firsthand. Temporary work and selling the paper help get him by, but there are nights outside as well. And there are always the new faces at Julia West House and Street Roots.

Not long ago, Darren attended the Humanity in Perspective program, run by Oregon Humanities and Reed College. It’s a full academic year studying the Greek classics in the fall and contemporary American figures in the spring.

“One of my favorite pieces we did in the fall was read “Antigone,” plus I watched the play at Reed College’s Cerf Amphitheatre. I came away learning that I could do my part to help make things better, and also have a better appreciation of the classics.”

Community rally at high noon over police shooting

Dancing and singing and last night's rally

Portland OR,–Responding to a call to action by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the AMA Coalition for Justice and Police Reform will join other community members on the steps of Portland’s Justice Center (SW 3rd Ave between Main  and Madison) on Wednesday, February 17 at 12 noon to address the City’s  decision regarding returning Officer Ron Frashour to work. Frashour, who shot the unarmed Aaron Campbell in the back on January 29th, is scheduled to return to work Wednesday morning. Rev. Jackson decried the lack of diversity in thoroughness of the grand jury in the incident, and said

Frashour’s presence on the force until due process has run its course  investigating the shooting will not help the community nor the other officers.

Rev. Jackson and members of the AMA met with City leaders on Tuesday and urged them not to return Frashour to work. The results of that discussion will unfold on Wednesday, and members of the AMA Coalition will address the City’s decision.

During Tuesday night’s rally at the Maranatha Church, Pastor Leroy Haynes called for the community to come together on the steps of the Justice Center in one of the steps Rev. Jackson referred to as a “marathon, not a sprint” to reform the Portland Police Bureau, bring justice to the family of Aaron Campbell and establish equal treatment to people of color by police.

AMA Coalition for Justice and Police Reform is urging community members to attend the rally. For more information, call Dr. T Allen Bethel at 503-288-7241.

About Albina Ministerial Alliance

The AMA took the lead in organizing protests after the killings of Kendra James (2003) and James Jahar Perez (2004), and the tasering of 15-year-old Sir Millage (2006), and more recently in the “beanbag” shooting of a  12-year-old girl at a MAX platform (2009). They have also stood shoulder to shoulder with the Justice for Jose Mejia Poot Justice Committee (2001) and the Mental Health Association of Portland in efforts on the James Chasse case.

For last night’s coverage of the community event where hundreds gathered to listen to Jesse Jackson and community leaders speak visit Blogtown or the WWIRE.

SR opens satellite office on Portland’s east side

Today marks a great day in SR history— with the opening of the organizations first satellite office at 1435 NE 81st Street. The new office will serve a new vendor population, while offering vendors that are already established and sleeping outdoors or in low-income housing to access the newspaper closer to home. The new target territory will be from 39th Ave. to Gateway, Columbia Ave. to Woodstock. Look for new vendors in a neighborhood near you.

First SR are sold to vendors by Eastside Vendor Coordinator Becky Mullins, and board member Ruth Kovacs

SR is partnering with JOIN, a non-profit homeless agencies who recently relocated to their new refurbished offices on 81st. For directions to the new SR and JOIN offices go here. SR would also like to thank Visions Into Action, the United Way of Columbia-Willamette, and the Catholic Campaign for Human Development for funding the planning and support for the new satellite office. We would also like to thank Meyer Memorial Trust, who just last week announced they will be funding the new office through 2010. Look for an open house sometime in the near future when we are more established.

New JOIN building where SR is renting a space.

New office

Inside office

Locations

Posted by Israel Bayer

Director’s Desk: Working on the big picture

By Israel Bayer

It’s no secret that Street Roots and  fellow grassroots community organizations have stepped up their focus to organize for additional revenue steams for housing. We happen to believe that a housing levy — either this year or shortly after, is a must have for the community.

In a time when the dismal economy continues to lag on, and more people continue to fall into poverty and homelessness — if Portland and the region doesn’t think big, we will continue to face more and more people sleeping in doorways and under bridges.

Beyond being a humanitarian crisis, without adequate resources, the rise in homelessness leads to more and more compounded problems that are products of homelessness itself; violence, addiction, tension. Law enforcement, neighborhoods and businesses become frustrated and seek short-term approaches that often times rely less on solutions and more on moving people around. It’s a quagmire and one that has been playing out on the streets since the mid-90s in Portland. We have to get over the hump, one way or another.