Street Roots

Street Roots is a Portland, Oregon, United States based homeless advocacy group[4] and a weekly alternative newspaper that covers homeless issues.[5] The newsprint is sold by and for the homeless in Portland.[6] The paper is published every week and sold through vendors who are currently or formerly homeless.The paper's editorial position is homeless advocacy. Vendors purchase the paper for 25 cents and sell them for $1 and keep the difference of 75 cents. The paper features alternative news, interviews, and poetry written by local journalists as well as the homeless and those who work with them.

Street Roots
A Street Roots salesman with newspapers
TypeWeekly alternative newspaper
FormatCompact
EditorK. Rambo [1]
Founded1998 [2]
Political alignmentHomeless advocacy
HeadquartersPortland, Oregon, U.S.
Circulation10,000 (as of 2018)[3]
Websitestreetroots.org

History

It was originally started out as a newsletter called Burnside Cadillac in 1990, which started the vendor model in 1996.[7] The name was still Burnside Cadillac in 1998.[8] During the same year, it first appeared as Street Roots as an "offshoot" to Burnside Cadillac.[2] Israel Bayer was hired as executive director a few years later, and remained in that position for 15 years, performing numerous duties as he emerged as "one of Portland's leading moral authorities on homelessness," according to coverage in the Willamette Week. He announced his departure in 2017.[9]

In 2007, it was described as the "most vocal opponent" of a proposed "sit-lie ordinance" championed by the Portland Business Alliance and then-Mayor Tom Potter. Its acceptance of a $30,000 grant from Street Access For Everyone (SAFE), at a time when its annual budget was $90,000, prompted concerns about editorial influence. The funding was designated for printing 10,000 resource guides that listed services for the homeless and an employee to assemble the guides. The executive director at the time of Street Roots Israel Bayer asserted the paper would not change its editorial position against the sit-lie ordinance. Kyle Chisek, a non-voting member of SAFE at the time announced the money wasn't intended to influence newspaper's editorial position. Chisek added that SAFE committee and Street Roots shared commitment to "providing a service for the homeless."[10] Initially, the city was concerned that this guide might be a duplicate of services already offered by the government and other non-profit agencies.[10]

The Rose City Resource, a guide to local services related to homelessness, began as a four-page section of the paper in 1999, was launched as a separate publication following the SAFE grant. It served as a model for a similar publication established in Seattle in 2018.[11][12][13] By 2018, the guide had grown to 104 pages, and was published twice a year.[14]

In recent years, Street Roots has continued to take positions on public policy related to homelessness.[15][16]

The organization had purchased a new building in the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood in 2023 in order to expand. It intends to relocate to the new building by November 2023.[17]

Distribution

Papers are sold for $1 each. Vendors purchase the copies of papers for 25 cents each and keep the difference of 75 cents.[18]

References
  1. "K. Rambo | Street Roots".
  2. Butler, Grant (2018-02-06). "20 Portland-area things that were brand new 20 years ago". oregonlive. Retrieved 2023-07-01. The newspaper covering issues connected to homelessness and poverty first appeared in 1998 as an offshoot of the now-defunct Burnside Cadillac.
  3. Cohen, Jason (February 27, 2018). "Meet the New Executive Director of 'Street Roots'". Portland Monthly. Retrieved 2019-11-24.
  4. Harnisch, Kelsey (November 19, 2019). "Emails Show Portland Businesses Wanted Homeless Meal Service Gone From a Downtown Park". Willamette Week. Retrieved 2019-11-20. Kaia Sand, executive director of the homeless advocacy group Street Roots,
  5. "Street Roots responds to continuation of Portland homeless sweep". KGW. 22 December 2019. Retrieved 2019-12-23. "Street Roots, a local newspaper that covers homeless issues" at 13 to 15 seconds in video
  6. Griffin, Anna (2015-03-01). "Our Homeless Crisis: Join our Monday live chat with reporter Anna Griffin and Street Roots executive director Israel Bayer". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2019-04-16.
  7. Elia, Cory (2019-03-18). "Street Roots celebrates community in 20th anniversary exhibit". Vanguard. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  8. RELEVANT (2009-03-30). "Street Roots: The Voice of the Homeless". RELEVANT. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  9. "Street Roots Executive Director Israel Bayer is Leaving the Paper". Willamette Week. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
  10. Pein, Corey (August 22, 2007). "Sit. Lie. Roll Over". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on November 7, 2007. Retrieved 2017-02-20.
  11. Greenstone, Scott (April 4, 2018). "New booklet an aid in getting help for homelessness in Seattle area". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
  12. "Portland State Queer Resource Center". www.pdx.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
  13. independencenw (2009-07-27). "Rose City Resource Guide Just Published". Independence Northwest. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
  14. Fried, Susan (April 5, 2018). "Real Change Creates Resource Guide for the Unhoused". Retrieved 2019-04-17.
  15. Pollard, Jessica (September 25, 2015). "Street Roots: Invest $20 Million in Housing Crisis". Willamette Week. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  16. Vespa, Maggie (March 22, 2019). "Amid spike in 911 calls tied to homelessness, Street Roots pitches". KGW. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  17. "Street Roots prepares for expansion with purchase of new building". kgw.com. March 16, 2023. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  18. Cheney, Cathy (December 12, 2019). "Portland Street Roots vendors share their stories (Photos)". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved April 11, 2020.

Further reading
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