Used by Hollywood actresses or European nobility, Sissy is shorthand for Elizabeth. But, in this story, the protagonist does not trade in glitz, glamor and aristocratic privilege.
Sissy spoke in hushed tones, like a mother trying to avoid waking her sleeping kids. Except that her children are not with her. She said they are living with family right now while she deals with the fallout of traumatic events and tragic losses.
But she is determined to fight.
“I’ve never been homeless before, and it's been something,” Sissy said.
Sissy has a hard time finding employment, so someone suggested she sell papers.
"(Selling papers) is the perfect job, because I can take my dog (Brutus) to work,” she said. “It's also good for me, because if I'm too tired from my lymphoma, I don't have to go to work, I can make my own schedule and that’s great."
However, Sissy is currently distraught about Brutus, her beloved pooch and best friend, who has been missing since mid-August.
“He is a pit bull-mastiff with a rottweiler’s face, which makes him so unique,” she said.
Sissy doesn’t have a fixed spot yet but likes working outside New Seasons on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard. Meeting new people and existing customers who recognize her and share their stories is an experience she’s always enjoyed, she said.
“It just makes you feel like you're a part of a community, that you're important and that you count,” she said.
Sissy (Muscogee (Creek), Comanche, Apache, Lakota Sioux) said she “grew up all over the United States,” but mostly in Washington State.
Her dream is to contribute articles to Street Roots because she inherited the writing gene from her journalist mother, who covers tribal affairs for news outlets and used to give Sissy assignments. However, there’s another gig that comes first:
“I applied for the (Street Roots) zine committee, and made it,” Sissy proudly said. “I want to (write) because times are tough. I’d like to pick a random person from the community, do a couple paragraphs to introduce them to the rest of the world. Maybe if we get to know each other, people won’t be so judgmental. If we get to know our neighbors, maybe it will be a better place.”
Getting a better place for herself has been a protracted battle. Sites like the Transition Projects Willamette Center Shelter have rigid rules, curfews and schedules, which are not conducive to holding down some of the jobs she did such as DoorDash deliveries, she said.
So she’s living on the streets for now.
“I just had everything taken from me two days ago,” she said. “I have what I wear on my back and carry in my backpack. I just bought another bike. That’s 16 bikes in six months.”
Someone also stole her cell phone and ID. Those items are critical for everything she has to do but are notoriously difficult and expensive to replace. Without them she can’t apply for housing like a tiny home at one of the Safe Rest Villages.
“I just keep my faith in God,” she said. “There's a purpose and reason for it. I had to meet new people and see their journeys. It seems like God works through the people a lot.”
You can support Sissy through
@StreetRoots on Venmo by entering her name and badge number (1079) in the notes. She’d also be grateful for news about Brutus.
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