SR editorial: Keep pushing Occupy…

There’s a lot of white noise enveloping the Occupy Wall Street movement, but one truth still resonates: OWS  has awakened a sleeping giant, and despite tense confrontations, the menacing numbers of riot police, and even the immense gravity of the status quo — it is a positive force in which we can all find strength.

At its core, the movement seeks to reverse the policies that have resulted in mass foreclosures, rampant and unwavering unemployment, skyrocketing student debt, downward mobility and widening economic inequality for 99 percent of Americans. It is about the positive change people desire and deserve as citizens of the richest country in the world. It’s about decency.

The Occupy Homeless Movement

From the artist, Ronnie Goodman: “The print I call The Occupy Homeless Movement is about the persecution of being homeless. It’s also about my life having to deal with rats and bedbugs that you may encounter being homeless. But also, I believe that the musicians that I put in give hope. They represent the rhythm of life.

The Occupy movement was always there in the print even though I started the print before the movement. In it you see the struggle of the people — the rich people against the little people and the little people are tired of getting stepped on. But I was working on this and the Occupy movement came and it gave a voice and a name to what I was doing. Occupy speaks not only to homeless people but it gives voice to everyone whatever they’re going through, foreclosure, job loss, et cetera. It’s the voice of the people.

The bridges in the print are ironic because people say, ‘at least I’m not sleeping under a bridge.’ And I thought I’ll never be there, too. But, here I am, sleeping under a bridge. So I’m using this image of a homeless guy being crucified on a bridge. It’s like he is both dying because of the difficulties he faces but he is also condemned by society. And the UPS truck, that is just there because those are the guys that wake me up every morning when they come to work.”

Artwork made possible by the Western Regional Advocacy Project.

Read Street Roots editorial about homelessness and the Occupy movement.

A growing problem: Fifteen years since genetically modified foods

by Martha Baskin, contributing writer

Jeffrey Smith, author of Genetic Roulette and Seeds of Deception, talks about how the fight against genetically modified organisms is changing the future of food.

The presence of genetically modified organisms in the food supply has risen sharply since being introduced in 1996. Today 93 percent of soy, canola oil and cottonseed, 86 percent of corn and 95 percent of sugar beets have been genetically modified.

Leading consumer advocate Jeffrey Smith has investigated the proliferation of GMOs and written extensively on why they must be stopped and practical ways consumers can avoid them. Smith is author of “Genetic Roulette and Seeds of Deception,” and is director of the nonprofit Institute for Responsible Technology.

Martha Baskin: How widespread are GMOs in the food supply?

Jeffrey Smith: Well, it turns out there’s only nine food crops that are genetically engineered but they’re pretty widespread because soy and corn, in particular, are practically omnipresent in processed foods. Then you have sugar from sugar beets and canola oil and cottonseed oil, and those are pretty widespread. I would say 70 to 80 percent of the food sold in the supermarket has some derivative of genetically modified food crops. In addition, you have alfalfa, which is used as hay for animals, a little bit of zucchini, crooked neck squash and Hawaiian papaya. There’s also a genetically engineered drug for cows that increases milk supply, but also creates a hormone in the milk that many doctors and scientists think is quite unhealthy.

Dead, in the red: Services report a rising number of people who can’t afford to bury their dead

By Stacy Brownhill, Staff Writer

A name in this story has been changed to protect the subject’s identity.

Grief was the first emotion to seize Sarah Jones after her sister died from advanced cancer earlier this year.

Financial worry was the second.

From her trailer in rural Oregon where she lived with her brother-in-law, Jones called 211info with a nightmarish concern. The funeral home holding her sister’s body had just told Jones she had twenty-four hours to come up with the $500 necessary for cremation. Otherwise, the funeral home said, they would put her sister’s body in cold storage and, eventually, a numbered pauper’s grave—a typical, legal process for indigent dead.

Make Street Roots matter!

If you donate $10 or more to SR  from now until midnight on Sunday, November 27 through the Give!Guide you have the chance to win an amazing package. Your donation enters you into a drawing for a chance for a rustic and rainy Olympic Peninsula getaway for two nights at the Quillayute River Resort, along with an annual National Parks Pass to any park in the country, a framed 11 x 17 vanity cover of Street Roots, a SR stocking cap and a one-year subscription of the newspaper to an individual of your choice. Plus, when you give at the Give!Guide you already get some great incentives in return! 

Extra! Extra!

Hopefully, you have a little extra leisure time for the holiday weekend, which is a good thing, because Friday’s edition of Street Roots will be one to savor. Here’s a rundown of what’s rolling on the press right now:

Catching a snowflake: A photo story of Asperger’s Syndrome by photographer Leah Nash. This is the first in a five-part series in partnership with the Regional Arts & Culture Council to chronicle the lives of people living with the often misunderstood and extraordinary diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome. Look for the print edition features, along with online shows starting next week.

Eileen Brady: The grocery executive talks big bridges, urban renewal and creating jobs in her bid to become Portland’s next mayor. The latest in our series of interviews with local candidates.

Psychology in warfare, for better or worse: A Portland filmmaker looks at the military’s foray into mental health treatment in the field.

Federal cuts continue downward spiral on housing assistance: A report by the Western Regional Advocacy Project outlining the cuts in the works to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. More tough times lie ahead.

Plus, another insightful column from the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, a review of the book EcoMind and the potential in being a “possibilist,” plus poetry and artwork from the streets. The paper will be on the streets early Friday, so don’t forget to tuck a buck in your back pocket before you head out and save a smile for your friendly neighborhood vendor. Thank you!

Candidate interview: Teressa Raiford

By Jake Thomas, Staff Writer

In 1996, 26-year-old Teressa Raiford left Portland with two children in tow for Dallas, Texas after her cousin died in a shooting. “I didn’t want my children to think that that was normal,” she recalls. Reiford went on to pursue a career in business and in 2006 started her own company, Intrinsic Group, which helps businesses operate more efficiently.

In August 2010, Raiford moved back to Portland, the city she was born and raised in, and has delved into the city’s civic life, revealing what she characterizes as a deep disconnect between City Hall and the citizenry. She hopes that by getting elected to City Council, she can apply her business acumen to city government and improve communications with the public. If elected, she would be only the third black person to hold a seat on City Council.

Jake Thomas: What made you want to run for City Council?

Teressa Raiford: Having a business consulting company, my job is to build solutions. So when I came home and saw that our community was changing and our attitudes were changing, even toward each other, I thought what is the problem? It looks beautiful here, and there seems to be a lot of opportunity, so why isn’t everybody happy and taking advantage of what’s here? And what I realized is that there is a lack of communication. I was like, OK, the haves are not promoting the information to the have-nots.

Federal government continues to gut homeless and housing projects

The Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP) just released a fact sheet outlining  projected cuts to homeless and housing dollars at the Federal level.

The purpose of the fact sheet, according to the group, is to provide a historical basis for understanding the affordable housing cuts in Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that once again were included in the Federal Congressional Budget process.

“A half-billion or even a billion dollar cut here and there may not sound so severe when looked at in isolation, given the size of the overall budget,” says Paul Boden with WRAP. “But when looking at the 38-year-cycle of draconian cuts to our nation’s affordable housing programs and the direct correlation of how this created and perpetuates homelessness, we can better understand and hopefully fight against these continued attacks on the human right to housing.”

Vendor profile: “I’ve got something to contribute to this community”

By Cole Merkel, Staff Writer

Art is Nathan Roper’s outlet to channel his energy. “It gives me a perspective,” says Nathan. At times tumultuous, Nathan’s life has taken him through addiction, prison and now, recovery. “That’s what art is supposed to do — pull an emotion out of you. It may not be good, it might be disgust. It might be revulsion, but at least it’s pulling something out of you.”

“I always had an artist’s soul,” says Roper. “I never had the medium through which to express it. Because you’re more sensitive and you’ve got to have an outlet to channel that sensitivity, that hurt, that anguish, that rejection that you feel more than most people. Because you see the world differently.”

Right 2 Dream Too more practical than political

By Leo Rhodes, Contributing Columnist

In 2009 when I first came to Portland, I came to rest from all the advocacy I had done in Seattle.  A friend came to me and showed me minutes from the Coordinating Committee to End Homelessness (CCEH). The minutes stated that the committee was not keeping up with putting people in housing. Sally Erikson took this issue to Commissioner Nick Fish. Commissioner Fish said to get eight or nine people together and brainstorm on what to do. I was one of those people.

The alternative committee came up with about 15 ways to help the homeless: from people sleeping in cars in empty parking lots, to rental assistance, to tent cities. CCEH prioritized them from 1 to 15. The results were supposed to come out to the city commissioners and mayor of Portland in January 2010. They were put on hold because of an anti-camping lawsuit. They have been on the back burner over since.

A freewheeling discourse on the five-finger discount

By Thomas Vincent, Contributing Writer

OK, true confessions time. Have you ever thought about pocketing an item in a store and walking out without paying for it? If so, you might see a reflection of yourself in the pages of Rachel Shteir’s latest book, “The Steal: A Cultural History of Shoplifting.”

“She is carrying many bags. There is a bulky, dark garment bag, either navy blue or black, which looks like it is stuffed with clothing, and a red rectangular shopping bag. The woman is also carrying a tote bag and two purses, a white one and a turquoise one. Her thin face might register trouble — fear or guilt or sadness — it is difficult to tell because the surveillance video does not have good resolution.”

Labor unions join Occupy Movement today

Protesters block Steel Bridge, photo by Israel Bayer

Labor unions led the way in the latest Occupy Portland demonstration, this one challenging police to marching rights over the Steel Bridge. In the end, the peaceful marchers were matched nearly one for one by police in riot gear.

Among the groups displaying banners and signs at the event were the Teamsters, Jobs With Justice, the Service Employees International Union and the Laborers International Union of North America. The marchers, hundreds in strength, began early this morning and are now gathered in Waterfront Park for a rally. Today, “N17,” has been declared an international day of non-violent direct action by the Occupy movement, and plans are to push forward demonstrations at major corporate banks throughout the day.

City weighs affordable housing funds in urban renewal areas

By Joanne Zuhl, Staff Writer

It’s been six years since Portland voted to dedicate 30 percent of the city’s urban renewal funds toward affordable housing. It was a controversial decision at a time when the city’s housing concerns were divided between City Council and the Portland Development Commission, with business, neighborhood and affordable housing interests each weighing in on how the money should be divvied up.

Since its creation in 2006, the policy has generated more than $152 million for housing affordable to low-income and workforce residents, accounting for one-third of tax increment financing expenditures in the city’s nine neighborhood urban renewal areas, or URAs. The money has helped fund the Bud Clark Commons, veterans housing in the South Waterfront district, the Blanchet House reconstruction, and preservation efforts in existing low-income housing buildings.

Early morning walk highlights homelessness awareness

By Cole Merkel
Staff Writer

Interfaith leaders, local politicians and community members walked this morning from St. Andre Bessette Roman Catholic Parish (formerly the Downtown Chapel) to First Unitarian Church in the second annual Walk for Homelessness Awareness.

Paul Schroeder of JOIN and the New City Initiative, and co-organizer of the walk said the event was important as an opportunity for leaders from faith-based organizations, non-profits and civic leaders interested in ending homelessness to come together around a common concern.

Schroeder said and his co-facilitator Barbara Willer organized to walk to highlight three demographics of homelessness in the city, adult, youths and children.

“What we wanted to do was broaden peoples’ mental map,” said Schroeder, explaining the route the group took as it walked. “We wanted to highlight some of the good work that is being done.”

The group made stops at the Bud Clark Commons and O’Bryant Square (home of Potluck on the Park) where it heard statements from City Commissioner Nick Fish and representatives from the homeless youth continuum.

“Thanks to the people here today, we the people of Portland invested $29.5 million of our tax dollars to make sure that everybody has a safe and decent place to call home,” said Fish of the recently completed Bud Clark Commons.

“In the first five years of our 10-year plan to end homelessness, we have moved 7,000 people from the streets to home. No other city can say that… And that is because we have a unique coalition here in Portland and it’s reflected here today. It’s our faith community linking arms with non-profits, business and government and we’ve got a pretty good thing going. We know how to get results and we have been consistently investing in long term cost-effective strategies to get people to a better place,” said Fish.

On the first leg of the walk from St. Andre Bessette to Bud Clark Commons, the group passed Sisters of the Road Café and p:ear. Here, individuals were asked to remain silent, in order to listen the sounds of Old Town early in the morning. On the second part of the walk, from Bud Clark Commons to O’Bryant Square, the group passed Central City Concern’s Old Town Clinic and New Avenues for Youth. During this time, individuals were asked to share their story with a person they had never met before.

On the final movement from O’Bryant Square to 13 Salmon Family Day Center at First Unitarian Church the group passed the location of Communion in the Park and Outside In. Here, the group was asked to reflect on what it had seen, heard and learned from the experience.

“The faith community is already providing a tremendous amount of support to the county. All the emergency shelter beds for families  in Multnomah County are housed by the faith community,” Schroeder said. “I think that supportive relationships are one of the most important ways that the faith community can work with the county and the city to help people transitioning back to housing.”

Community to observe Day of Homelessness Awareness

Tuesday, Nov. 15, civic and religious leaders will join with congregations throughout Portland and Multnomah County to observe the second annual Day of Homelessness Awareness.

The Day of Homelessness Awareness aims to spotlight the challenge of homelessness in our community, to show appreciation for the many ways the faith community is already involved in supporting homeless people, and to engage even more congregations and members in the effort to end homelessness.

Of the nearly 5,000 individuals identified as homeless by the 2011 Point-in-Time Homelessness Survey, 1,331 represented homeless families with children and 458 homeless youth. There are more than 500 congregations in Portland alone, and almost 1,000 in Multnomah County. The faith community provides and underwrites all of the emergency shelter capacity for families in Multnomah County, in addition to supporting and caring for those who experience homelessness.

The day will begin with a “Walk of Awareness” at 7 a.m. on Nov. 15 at St. Andre Bessette Roman Catholic Parish (formerly the Downtown Chapel), West Burnside and Sixth Avenue. The walk will proceed to the new 13 Salmon Family Day Center at First Unitarian Church, 1011 SW 13th Ave., for a light reception.

Stops along the way will include the new Bud Clark Commons and O’Bryant Square. Both stops have connections to the faith community’s involvement in homelessness.  The Bud Clark Commons is home to Transition Projects. O’Bryant Square is the location of Potluck in the Park, a weekly meal provided free of charge that is strongly supported by congregations throughout Portland.

The walk will include three key “calls to action” for participants. The threefold call to action is structured around the theme of donate/volunteer/advocate. At three stops along the way, participants will be encouraged to donate coats and blankets or cash; volunteer with organizations that support people experiencing homelessness; and advocate on behalf of people experiencing poverty, hunger, and homelessness. Information on organizations and programs of advocacy at the local, state and national level will be provided.