Street Roots Partnership with Bishops Portland

For the second year in a row, Bishops Portland has teamed up with Street Roots to provide free haircuts to their network of vendors.  Street Roots, published weekly in Portland, Oregon, has been Portland’s flagship publication addressing homelessness and poverty since 1998.  The organization creates income opportunities for people experiencing homelessness and poverty by producing a newspaper and other media that are catalysts for individual and social change. 170 active vendors buy and resell Street Roots in the Portland metropolitan area. 700 vendors sell the newspaper during the course of a year. Collectively, nearly 40,000 newspapers are sold each month.

What do vendors selling the newspaper and Street Roots do?

Empower 700 homeless and low income individuals to secure immediate and basic needs each year

Put money directly in the pockets of your friends and neighbors experiencing homelessness and poverty

Provide a path to self sufficiency, including skill development and resume building

Foster self-respect and a sense of personal worth

Create a safe avenue to build cross-class relationships and facilitate dialogue

Inform and educate the general public about issues of homelessness and poverty

Bring alternative news that can’t be found anywhere else

Offer local businesses the opportunity to have a known face outside their entry way, treating customers with kindness and respect