Street Roots

Mission

Street Roots creates income opportunities for people experiencing homelessness and poverty by producing a newspaper and other media that are catalysts for individual and social change.

Bottom Line for Portland

Street Roots is a nonprofit media organization intertwined with the lives of people experiencing homelessness and poverty, providing a voice, visibility, and opportunity to those who are too often overlooked, under-resourced, and rarely heard.

Each week, 150 Street Roots vendors stand on corners and city sidewalks, holding out a paper to you, their reader. This social and economic exchange puts income directly into people's pockets, supports cutting-edge, local journalism, and offers a moment of engagement that holds the power to change hearts and minds. When you support Street Roots and our vendors, you are saying YES to advancing equity, defending dignity, and building a city where everyone can flourish and thrive. 

Quote

“Once you get to know what I'm about, what Street Roots is about, it changes the story a little bit for people.” — Vern, Street Roots vendor

“Coming to Street Roots is like coming home. Even when I have a jobby job and worky work and a lifey life, I’ll still be working at Street Roots. It’s a wonderful life.” — Donnie, Street Roots vendor

“I am thoroughly shocked and amazed and gleefully pleased about the Street Roots thing that I've discovered." — Coach, Street Roots vendor

“I tell them the sun’s up, so it’s a good day for Street Roots.” — Michael, Street Roots vendor

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Inherent in our mission, Street Roots believes everyone is entitled to opportunity and dignity, and the freedom to reach their fullest potential. We recognize that Black, Indigenous folks and people of color are disproportionately impacted by socio-economic injustice, including homelessness, and solutions to that injustice means solutions for all. To achieve that goal, we must be intentional in our work toward equity, ensuring that those most affected by injustice have the most resources to fight injustice. 

Incentives

🎥🍿  Street Roots' first 50 donors through Give!Guide will receive a Movie Night Package from Hollywood Theatre, including two free movie passes, two free drink cards, and two free popcorns!

Hollywood Theatre is a not-for-profit historic movie theatre whose mission is to entertain, inspire, educate, and connect the community through the art of film.
 

🌶️  Our first 50 donors who give $100 or more will receive a limited-edition Street Roots hot sauce, as well as a regular hot sauce, from Laughing Planet.

Laughing Planet cafes offer nutritious, affordable, and delicious fare while centering social justice, the environment, education, and democracy in the communities where they do business. Laughing Planet is a longtime partner of Street Roots and fuels our vendors with biweekly burrito deliveries!
 

📰  From December 1-10, Street Roots is participating in NewsMatch, a fundraising campaign to specifically support our journalism and newsroom. If you donate to Street Roots between December 1 - 10, NewsMatch will DOUBLE it, up to $15,000 total. Plus, the first $3,000 raised will be MATCHED TWICE — once by the NewsMatch fund and once by the Rural Partner Fund. ($1,000 match maximum per individual.) Help us raise $33,000 to bolster Street Roots' local, in-depth, investigative journalism!

Partner(s)

We do this work in partnership with people who share our commitment to increasing access to income, housing, and community belonging. Many thanks to our business partners Laughing Planet and Hollywood Theatre for supporting our 2024 Give!Guide campaign! 

Nonprofit Partners
Street Roots is also proud to support our non-profit community by uplifting the work of partner organizations in this year's Give!Guide. Thank you to the following nonprofits for generously partnering with Street Roots and for all you do for our communities!

Ground Score Association (New to the Give!Guide this year!) is a waste picker organization that provides empowering low-barrier jobs in litter and tent-side waste cleanup, recycling, reuse, and materials waste management for those facing work and housing insecurity.

Underscore Native News (New to the Give!Guide this year!) produces Indigenous-centered journalism that illuminates the intersections of sovereignty and justice and portrays the rich diversity of Native communities in the Pacific Northwest.

Artist Mentorship Program (AMP) provides a creative space for homeless youth to build healthy, relationship-centered communities through music and art activities.

Call to Safety provides supportive services and education to survivors domestic and sexual violence with an emphasis on empowerment and anti-oppression.

Friends of Willamette Week is raising money to continue supporting accountability journalism and giving readers access to free, independent journalism that changes lives for the better, holds the powerful accountable, and shines a light on the best of this city’s culture.

Portland Street Medicine provides quality medical care to community members who are unhoused or lack stable housing, meeting those most in need where they are.

Street Books runs a bike-powered street library that serves unhoused and marginalized community members; it provides not only books, but also resources, referrals, and supplies.

Sisters of the Road exists to support low-income and houseless individuals through charitable and educational programs while seeking systemic solutions that reach the roots of homelessness and poverty in order to end them forever.

The Lund Report is an independent nonpartisan news service that exists to provide people in Oregon and southwest Washington with high-quality journalism about health care that promotes awareness and understanding of pressing issues while holding government and industry accountable.

Write Around Portland changes lives through the power of writing by building self-confidence and self-worth in community with people who are houseless, incarcerated, in addiction recovery, and in mental health treatment

XRAY.FM is Portland's most acclaimed independent radio station. Their mission is to build a culturally relevant center for ideas, music, and creativity in service of a more open media and a more just community.

1,000 Friends works with Oregonians to enhance our quality of life by building livable urban and rural communities, protecting family farms and forests, and conserving natural areas.