Best SR photos of 2009

Street Roots  has some of the best photographers in the city. The newspaper is lucky to have an all volunteer, all-star tandem of  award winning shooters, like Leah Nash, Ken Hawkins, John Ryan Brubaker, and Elizabeth Schwartz. They have dedicated their knowledge, skills and compassion to accompany some of the most hard hitting news stories in the city this year. Here, we look at some of the best shots of 2009, in no particular order. Enjoy.

Mult. County Commissioner Ted Wheeler talks with Managing Editor Joanne Zuhl in July about Urban Renewal Areas in an article titled Balancing Act. Photo by Leah Nash.

Street Roots highlights African immigrants who face cultural isolation in Portland. Mara Grunbaum reports. In this photo a family from Somalia pray together. Photo by Ken Hawkins.

Street Roots writes an in-depth piece on the return of heroin on Portland’s streets in Return of the Dragon. Here a 27-year old man shoots heroin near I-5 in SW Portland. Amanda Waldroupe reports. Photo by Ken Hawkins.

Extra! Extra!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Or not! But it’s still a great time to tip your hat to your local vendor and buy the latest Street Roots, which arrives early this week on Christmas Eve, tomorrow morning. Here’s what’s packing the pages this week:

“I feel like a target”: That’s the sentiment of one homeless woman who is struggling to get by this winter just as another rash of attacks are reported among women on the streets. Amanda Waldroupe has the news, along with Julie McCurdy’s streets-eye view of how women experiencing homelessness are standing together in defense of the latest violence.

Two veterans work together to transcend homelessness: A story of two men — one homeless, one not — but both living with post-traumatic stress disorder and committed to helping other vets as they transition home. Joanne Zuhl reports

A simple act of life-altering kindness: Cassandra Koslen reports on the story of some remarkable Street Roots readers who supported a vendor in his effort to find a home. (Congratulations, Joe!)

Living in a state of denial: An interview with New Yorker writer and author Michael Specter about his new book titled “Denialism.” It’s more than just an attitude. Much, much more.

Plus, the year in quotes, commentaries, and really indispensable insight from Soup Can Sam. So don’t forget the most important item on your list! Happy Holidays!

Day Labor Center struggles with demand for work

On a blistering cold December morning last Monday, 20 Latino people—all men, except for one woman—are sitting inside the non-descript mobile home that serves as Portland’s Day Labor Center. The sounds of people speaking Spanish quietly fills  the room. One small space heater, as well as the warmth from the people, go a long way to keep the room, with a concrete floor and high ceiling, warm.

A small group of men are playing cards, slapping down the cards with gusto and laughing at jokes. The woman is leaning her head against her partner’s shoulder. Others are just sitting and waiting.

What they are waiting for is work. Many of the laborers using the Day Labor Center, which is operated by VOZ, a nonprofit advocating for day-laborers and immigrants, may wait days before an employer drives up to the center and their raffle number is picked.

Man of the hour — Nick Fish

In the cavernous meeting hall of the Governor Hotel, as 200 people dined at the REACH Community Development Corporation’s annual donor luncheon, Nick Fish was seated off in a corner at the table with members of the newly created Portland Housing Bureau. But when the lights dimmed, Fish was front and center for the show. In fact, at just a few feet away, no one was closer to the giant screen that projected the stark realities of Portland’s housing and homeless crisis.

The grim barrage reflected on his face: 1 in 2 Oregonians live on incomes 200 percent below the federal poverty line for a family of four – $42,400

1 in 4 Oregonians spend more than 50 percent of their income on rent.

64 percent of Portland residents living in poverty work full time.

41 percent of Portlanders living in poverty were single mothers

20,000 new affordable housing units are needed in Portland over the next 7 years.

Nick Fish was the man Portland elected to help change all this, or at least help to correct the economic inequality that, over the course of the past decade, has priced much of Portland’s housing beyond a commoner’s reach, and made it the hub of a state that recently led the nation, per capita, for homelessness, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

This was the job he wanted — the job he fought for — several times since 2002, when he first ran for City Council. After two unsuccessful runs, he succeeded in the special election of 2008, filling the position left vacant in June of that year by Erik Sten’s resignation. As Portland’s first commissioner to have combined control over housing and parks, Fish oversees two bureaus that impact nearly every resident of the city, particularly its most vulnerable populations as they interface with business, neighborhood and development concerns.

But just as he got his ticket to the ball, the carriage turned to a pumpkin. Not only did the economy nosedive into the biggest recession in recent history, evaporating local resources and nationwide housing investments, but City Hall soon erupted in a salacious scandal involving Mayor Sam Adams and a teenage intern.

Meanwhile, quietly across the city, people were losing their jobs and their homes, foreclosures hit a staggering pace, and homelessness jumped 37 percent across the state over the previous year.

“Who would have thought, a year and a half ago, after City Council got through dividing up a surplus, that not only would we be in the worst economic downturn of our lifetime, but that the engine room — the precipitating effect of this recession — was a collapse in the housing market. So not only am I in charge of housing, but housing is essentially the place with the three-alarm fire, and I’m in charge of leading a city/county collaborative effort to try and address this unfolding humanitarian crisis.”

Vendor Ted Jack reels one in…

Vendor Ted Jack on Saturday on the Eastbank Esplanade.  

Oregon groups join J20 action for affordable housing and civil rights – You can be next!

Organizations throughout the Portland region have endorsed the Western Regional Advocacy Project gathering in San Francisco on Jan. 20 to demand affordable housing and civil rights from the Obama Administration.

It’s not to late for you or your group (non-profits, community organizations, businesses) to sign the petition in support.

The following groups have endorsed the Jan. 20^th action: Community Alliance of Tenants, White Feather Peace Community, Jobs With Justice, American Friends Service Committee of Portland, Downtown Chapel, Peace Voice, Northwest Pilot Projects, Rose CDC, Mental Health Association of Portland, Tikkun and the Network of Spiritual Progressives, Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, Street Roots, Sisters Of The Road and Oregon On.

On January 20, 2010 the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP) will be gathering in downtown San Francisco at the regional HUD offices to demand the following from the Obama  Administration:

ON HOUSING

•    Immediately restore the Federal Government’s affordable housing funding to comparable 1978 levels. (In 1978, the budget was over $83 billion – in 2009 it is a meager $38.5 billion.)

•    Restore USDA new unit construction levels in rural communities to the 31,000 annually averaged between 1976 and 1985.

•    Enact a moratorium on the demolition, conversion or destruction of ANY publicly funded units until federal law guarantees one for one replacement at existing affordability rates.

•    Ensure adequate funding for operations of public housing to prevent unit loss, high vacancy rates, and substandard living conditions.

ON CIVIL RIGHTS

•    Stop “nuisance crimes” or “quality of life crimes.” These programs criminalize and remove homeless, poor, people of color, and disabled members of our communities.

•    Call for DOJ to respond to LA community request for investigation of discriminatory police enforcement under the Safer Cities Initiative that targets homeless, poor, people of color and disabled community residents.

•    Ensure that the more than 914,000 homeless children in our public schools are able to stay at their “home school” are fully integrated with their housed peers, and are provided the support they need to learn and thrive.

•    Stop any and all questions regarding a person’s immigration status when they are requesting housing, health care, emergency shelter or services.

Read more and sign the petition!

Sisters Of The Road and Street Roots are founding members of the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP).  Our mission is to build a movement that is based in the experience of people with experience with homelessness to expose the root causes of homelessness; challenge unjust housing and economic development policies; and fight the criminalization of poverty.

Seattle councilman talks with SR of the will and way of a housing levy

From the Dec. 13 edition.

Nick Licata is a Seattle City Councilman, and one of Seattle’s champions for affordable housing and civil rights for people experiencing homelessness and poverty. He’s been a Seattle Council member for 12 years. In 2010, he is poised to be the Council Chair for the Housing, Human Services, Health, and Culture Committee for the City of Seattle.

Licata’s work on the homeless front has helped shape the attitude the general public in Seattle has toward low-income residents and people sleeping on the streets — to the point of overwhelmingly renewing a housing levy this April (63 percent) that brought a wealth of resources to the city government for affordable housing and homelessness. Over the course of a little more than a year, a team of foundations, businesses, non-profits and individuals raised nearly $350,000 for the housing levy. The return was $147 million over seven years. (See Push for housing levy coming from the grassroots, Street Roots Nov. 27).

We recently asked Nick how it’s done.

Nick Licata: There is a great deal of energy needed to begin a planning process about a year before the levy is put on the ballot. The city government must be involved and must play a major role in bringing various members of Seattle’s communities together to discuss the possibility of pursuing a levy. The process takes on the following steps:

The effort to create an affordable housing levy usually begins with a city department beginning the plan for such an effort. For instance, the Office of Housing began planning for a housing levy renewal in 2008. The planning process included work by a technical advisory committee and a steering committee, as well as a public open house to discuss proposed Seattle housing levy programs and previous levy successes, as well as current and future housing needs in Seattle.

The Steering Committee was convened by the Seattle Office of Housing to review the proposed 2009 Seattle Housing Levy packages and make a recommendation to the mayor. The committee was co-chaired by former mayors Norm Rice and Charles Royer and composed of representatives from local non-profit housing developers, banks and lenders, unions, attorneys, philanthropy and businesses.

The Office of Housing also created a Technical Advisory Committee to provide advice and feedback to the Office of Housing regarding options for funding programs in the 2009 Housing Levy. The committee was a diverse group consisting of nonprofit and for profit housing developers, lenders, service providers, and representatives of business, labor, environmental and philanthropic organizations. (They met four times between September and October 2008.)

Aside from these two committees, the Office of Housing also wanted to better understand Seattle residents’ overall attitudes about the importance of low-income housing assistance compared to other city priorities; perceptions of the benefits of low-income housing assistance to the wider community; and the impact of the current economic climate on attitudes about these programs and on residents’ willingness to continue funding them through a housing levy. In March 2009, EMC Research conducted a telephone survey of 800 Seattle residents.

County’s Kafoury looks into leading charge for housing levy

From the Dec. 13 edition.

Talks expected on potential of 2010 ballot proposal

Street Roots reported in last week’s “Housing advocates consider push for housing levy” that County Commissioner Deborah Kafoury expressed strong interest in seeing something similar to Seattle’s Housing Levy on the ballot in 2010.

In an hour-long interview with Street Roots last week, she did not back down.

Kafoury says she is still interested in actively pursuing putting a bond or levy that would generate revenue for affordable housing on the ballot in 2010.

And if advocates came to Kafoury asking to be the politician leading the charge for a bond of levy campaign, Kafoury said she would be interested in hearing what they had to say.

“I’d say let’s sit and talk,” Kafoury says.

Extra! Extra!

Winter has definitely arrived, if not officially, than at least in spirit. But in all kinds of weather you can find your local neighborhood vendor with the newest edition of Street Roots, out Friday morning. Check out the latest and greatest from the Roots:

Man of the hour: On his third run, Nick Fish got his seat on City Council as head of the city’s housing and homeless programs, just in time for the housing market to collapse, the economy to tank and the city’s coffers to run dry. Joanne Zuhl reports on what makes the commissioner tick and his approach to housing and public service.

Deborah Kafoury looks into leading the charge on housing levy: Amanda Waldroupe follows up on the housing levy conversations taking place, while Seattle City Councilman Nick Licata talks readers through exactly what it takes from A-Z to put a successful housing levy on the ballot.

Day Labor Center struggles with demand for work: Day labor workers are facing an uphill climb in Portland’s downed economy. Amanda Waldroupe reports.

Also, the Western Regional Advocacy Project reports on its upcoming mobilization taking place in San Francisco by housing and homeless advocates and their allies, and Leah Ingram delivers a report on Golden Harvest, a unique food cooperative in North Portland. And much, much more, including poetry, photos and letters from readers. Don’t forget your copy today, and pick up an extra for the in-laws coming to visit!

Dylan for the Holidays

By Bob Flanagan
Street News Service

Bob Dylan has at various times revolutionized folk, rock, country and gospel music.  However, any Dylan fan who says he was not surprised that Bob released an album of traditional Christmas songs is pulling your leg.  “Christmas In The Heart” is another surprising move by an artist famous for surprises.  Yet when you hear Dylan’s direct and obviously sincere readings of “O Come All Ye Faithful,” “Little Town Of Bethlehem,” and “The First Noel,” this unlikely exercise seems of a piece with the rest of Dylan’s work.

From the very first, this was an artist who made us look at the familiar with new eyes and ears. While some critics tie themselves into knots analyzing Dylan’s motives, it has usually turned out that Bob Dylan means exactly what he says. Featuring members of his touring band along with Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo and Chess Records vet Phil Upchurch, “Christmas In The Heart” is Bob Dylan’s celebration of family, community, faith and shared memory. And a timely celebration it is. Recognizing the worldwide problem of hunger, Bob Dylan has donated all of his proceeds from the record, in perpetuity, to organizations around the world to help with hunger and homelessness.

We sat down to talk in the Waterfront Plaza Hotel in Oakland on a rainy, windy, October day.

Bill Flanagan: Is recording a Christmas album something you’ve had on your mind for a while?

Bob Dylan: Yeah, every so often it has crossed my mind. The idea was first brought to me by Walter Yetnikoff, back when he was president of Columbia Records.

B.F.: Did you take him seriously?

B.D.: Well, sure I took him seriously.

B.F.: But it didn’t happen. How come?

BD: He wasn’t specific. Besides, there was always a glut of records out around that time of year and I didn’t see how one by me could make any difference.

Genny Nelson, Sisters’ co-founder, retires

By Joanne Zuhl
Staff Writer

Letting go of Sisters Of The Road has been a gradual process for Genny Nelson, and for good reason. It is no small measure to say that the organization — which includes a cafe, a civic action group and a resource and organizing center for the homeless — has been Nelson’s lifeblood since she and Sandy Gooch founded it 30 years ago.

As Sisters now marks three decades this month, Nelson is formally retiring. The former executive director has amassed milestones that stem from the extremely personal to the highly public, including the National Caring Award, and made her an icon in the homeless community.

Ironically, Nelson’s retirement comes as the number of people on the streets continues to escalate and poverty creeps into more and more households across Portland. We talked with Genny about her thoughts on these times and her reflections of what continues to be a lifetime of service.

Joanne Zuhl: Sisters Of The Road is celebrating its 30th anniversary this month and the demand for your services has never been greater. How has Sisters adapted to the changing – and increasingly challenging – times over the past three decades?

Genny Nelson: We have stayed the course. Sisters Of The Road is as passionate now as when we first began, about who we are. Sisters is a nonprofit organization grounded in the philosophies of non-violence and gentle personalism, while operating from a community organizing model, all within a systemic change approach.

We believe if you want to solve homelessness, do more than satiate the immediate, urgent needs of homeless people, build community and share power with them; create systems that teach self reliance instead of dependence; and remember, until men and women experiencing the calamities of homelessness and poverty are full participants at the table where public policy on homelessness is being decided, we will never resolve it.

West Coast stands together to tackle roots of homelessness

By Israel Bayer
Executive Director, Street Roots

The Western Regional Advocacy Project or WRAP (of which both Street Roots and Sisters Of The Road are founding members) is working to build a movement to expose the root causes of homelessness; challenge unjust housing and economic development policies; and fight the criminalization of poverty.

In 2007, the organization released “Without Housing: Decades of Housing Cutbacks, Massive Homelessness and Policy Failures.” More than 125,000 of the reports have been downloaded at www.wraphome.org.

The report has become a roadmap for policy makers, organizers, homeless and affordable housing service providers, and for social work departments, explaining how modern day homelessness arrived on our doorsteps in America over the last three decades. (An updated “Without Housing” report and “Without Rights,” a new report four years in the making on the criminalization of people on the streets is due out in 2010.)

For more than 30 years, the broader public has been led to believe that homelessness is a byproduct of individual deficiencies, born out of bad choices that lead to addiction, mental health problems and hopelessness. Disregarding the reality that homelessness is actually a product of a broken system – which includes the lack of affordable housing, access to health care and civil rights.

Faces of Street Roots from the photography show

Click here to see: Faces of Street Roots

It’s difficult to imagine the range of work, the variety of skills, the spread of personalities and the constantly shifting environment that are part of publishing and distributing a paper like Street Roots.

These portraits were all taken in the Street Roots office on 2nd and Davis. When vendors stopped in to buy papers, and maybe grab a morning cup of coffee, I asked them for a minute to shoot a photo. While volunteers were copy-editing, staff were doing layout or board members came by the office I shot them as they were. I taped a piece of black canvas on the wall, used an office lamp for light, and captured these faces on film.

There were always folks around, often watching, as people stood to have their portrait taken. It can be awkward to have your likeness photographed unexpectedly in this way, doubly so in a busy office or at early hours of a rough morning. I’m thankful that people with much to do, or who weren’t feeling their best, indulged me and my odd-looking camera.

This series is by no means complete, there are many, many more members of the Street Roots team. These images are just a sample of the diverse faces, expressions and personalities that are a part of this organization. I hope they offer a glimpse of the complexity and humanity involved in making Street Roots a reality and getting it into the hands of its readers.

- John Ryan Brubaker

Miracle on Portland’s streets

Street Roots and Leah Nash recently highlighted  Melissa and Sean’s lives and their struggles with mental health and homelessness. Through the stability of Street Roots and working with JOIN, we have a success story. Melissa and Sean recently signed a new lease for an apartment and we are happy to report they will be safe and warm for the holidays.

Melissa in her new apartment. (Photos by Leah Nash.)

Also, if you read Melissa’s personal account, you’ll know her and Sean’s love for knitting. A reader and Street Roots supporter brought yarn down to the office for the couple to enjoy. (Thanks Sheila!)

Measure 66 & 67 failure would mean heavy cuts in affordable housing

Bad news over the weekend on the affordable housing front.

First, yesterday the Oregonian reported that two affordable housing projects in South Waterfront have been scrapped.

This comes on the heels of a Friday afternoon press release from Victor Merced, Director of the Oregon and Housing Community Services, outlining major cuts to affordable housing if Measure 66 & 67 fail.

Projected cuts below:

Unlike the federal government, state government must operate with a balanced budget and cannot create a deficit. To balance the current budget, the Legislature enacted two tax increases, one on corporations and the other on high-income individuals. A special election in January will determine the fate of those two measures.

Oregon Housing and Community Services recently submitted two sets of potential reductions to our Lottery Funds and General Fund programs – a 5 percent cut list and a 10 percent cut list. The Legislative Fiscal Office requested that each agency go through this exercise in preparation for the February 2010 supplemental session. If the tax measures fail, the session will bring the budget back into balance by making cuts.

The exercise is particularly painful at OHCS because the majority of affected programs serve Oregon’s most vulnerable populations – people experiencing hunger and homelessness. The cuts go deeper than 5 and 10 percent for our General Fund programs, because most of the Lottery Funds in the department’s budget are committed to debt service on bonds and cannot be cut.

The cuts will affect thousands of Oregonians and put existing affordable housing stock at risk.

Again, the department’s General Fund cuts exceed the 5 percent target because we cannot cut any Lottery Funds committed to debt service. Therefore, at the lower level, each of the General Fund programs receives a reduction of 8.1 percent.

• State Homeless Assistance Program - $232,373. Cuts approximately 1,900 service contacts with people experiencing homelessness.

• Emergency Housing Account – $409,433. Reduces capacity of partners, affecting nearly 3,400 people experiencing homelessness.

• General Fund Food - $159,821. Reduces food available to the food bank network by nearly half a million pounds.

To reach the target of a 10 percent reduction, OHCS must cut each of the General Fund programs by 17 percent.