Alex Rodriguez is new to Portland and new to Street Roots, but he’s not new to being homeless. When he came to Portland in February, he was immediately impressed with the people.
“I love the spirit of the Portland streets,” he said. “I see a fertile ground for compassion and creativity, people helping each other, caring for each other, making music on the streets.”
From Alex’s perspective, “people really care about the homeless in this community. I see a huge love for nonprofits sharing resources, making connections all to help homeless people. It was extremely encouraging when I arrived in Portland. This kind of caring gives me a lot of hope,” he said. “I want to be a part of this.”
He was also impressed with the Street Roots vendors he met initially and with their opportunities to “make a living,” he said.
“On the streets, vendors have a great attitude. They have respect for themselves and each other. The coolest thing I’ve heard about Street Roots is the relationship vendors build with their customers. Those relationships shine a positive light on the community. It’s freaking awesome,” he said. “Street Roots became the right opportunity for me.”
Alex attended one of the last vendor orientations before COVID-19 shut Portland down. With no printed newspaper to take to the streets, he was at first given the job of packing resource bags to go out to the homeless camps, and he soon became one of the team members with the Street Roots Coronavirus Prevention and Action Team.
“I feel so fortunate to be appreciated,” he said.
Alex and others on this team visit homeless camps, taking hygiene supplies and warm gear and much-needed accurate information about the virus.
“There’s a lot of fear,” Alex said, “conspiracy theories about martial law and misinformation about the virus.”
COVID-19: Fear, rumors permeate Portland homeless camps and shelters
The work is challenging and rewarding. “We’re building trust,” he said.
Alex believes in the healing power of caring and listening.
“Some encouragement and some help and just sticking with them, there’s so much you can accomplish by just listening to people,” he said.
Alex is able to manage his own safety needs during the pandemic with the help of community resources such as showers and laundry — and with the blessing of good friends he’s made since he arrived in Portland. At night, he stays safe in a friend’s car.
The kind of hope that inspires Alex these days is the ways people are caring about people. This pandemic has “brought to light how committed we all are to each other.”
