As a kid, Amelia Lake took lessons in flamenco and blues guitar. At family gatherings in San Francisco, San Antonio and Atlanta, she’d play whatever songs she was working on.
These days, when she’s handed a guitar, she’ll play Neil Young songs: “When You Dance I Can Really Love” and “Harvest Moon.” She just learned a song by Jack Johnson called “Good People.”
On the streets with her friends, though, it’s hard to hear her guitar. She loves it when her friend Scott brings his amplifier and an acoustic guitar plug-in.
“Anytime Scott has his guitar around,” she said, “I’ll plug into the amp. It gets good sounds that way.”
Amelia remembers a childhood backpacking around Mount St. Helens, hiking at Tryon Creek, running with her dad at Tualatin Hills Nature Park. She said she even saw a ghost at Timberline Lodge when she stayed overnight there with her grandpa.
But when Amelia was almost 18, she and her dad had a falling out, and Amelia began couch surfing. She spent some time on the streets.
“It was a struggle making sure I ate every day and stayed warm during the winter. Making sure I bathed and did laundry regularly,” she said.
A stint in shelters was no better. She got into drugs and got body lice. She had mental health problems.
Finally, she got into an apartment through Central City Concern. It was rocky at first.
“I broke some rules along the way,” she said. “I had to figure it out as I went along.”
She got into the Community Engagement Program and got off the drugs. She goes to Narcotics Anonymous meetings regularly.
“It’s not 100% perfect,” she said, “but it’s better than it was.”
She’s taking care of her health and eating vegan.
“I don’t think it’s OK to hurt animals,” she said. “And growing plants doesn’t release methane or carbon dioxide. There’s no waste to get rid of.”
One of her favorite vegan dishes is red curry with tofu. She buys it at food carts when she has money she’s earned from selling Street Roots.
“I like the community of Street Roots,” she said. “I’ve made so many friends who are vendors. We’ll all go out for the day and sell and then come back together, talk about the day, how much money we made. It feels like we’re all pulling together, making sure we can eat the next day.”
She usually sells in at the Starbucks at Northwest 11th Avenue and Couch Street.
Amelia has plans for her future. She wants to become a preschool teacher. She’s looking at the program in early childhood education offered at Mount Hood Community College. She has a Pell Grant and some loans to get started.
“Going back to school will be kind of an adjustment,” she said, “textbooks, taking tests. I almost wonder if I’m too disabled to do well, but they have disability services at the college, so I’m hoping they’ll be enough.”
She wants to visit Alaska again, where she spent the first couple years of her life. She’s been back since then with family. She saw whales, a bald eagle and glaciers falling into the ocean.
“It was an incredible trip,” she said.
She’d like to take a friend next time and, if public transportation is available, do some nature hikes and visit gift shops. Amelia has a lot to look forward to.
