Street Roots: Creating Opportunities in PDX

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Walking around downtown Portland, you may have seen vendors of these $1 newspapers walking the streets, unaware of the impact it has made on some vendors' lives. With a tagline like, "Buck the System", it's no wonder Street Roots is turning heads. Street Roots, a Portland organization, has been addressing homelessness and poverty since 1998. They strive to create income opportunities, such as selling newspapers, for people experiencing poverty and homelessness in the Portland area. 

In addition to their vendor program, they also produce resource guides with a list of current services for people experiencing homelessness and poverty in Multnomah and Washington Counties, with more than 160,000 guides published per year. These are distributed to organizations working with people experiencing homelessness and poverty in the Portland region. They are also strong advocates of efforts related to homelessness and housing in Portland, such as the Welcome Home Coalition, which works towards creating affordable housing to Portland Metro area families.


Along with homeless resources, Street Roots offers the opportunity for anyone to volunteer at their organization, as well as donate to their wish list, which includes items such as clothing and toiletries/necessities. One can see from their work, and involvement in the community that they are making a difference by being an indispensable resource for the community in Portland.  David Rogers, Executive Director of ACLU of Oregon, stated, "Street Roots is a journalistic gem. I feel lucky to have access to such high caliber investigative reporting with a strong community conscience. Combine the newspaper with Street Roots’ tremendous community organizing presence and the result is an irreplaceable social change resource."

If you or a loved one would like to support Street Roots, please visit this link: http://www.streetroots.org/support


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