Street Roots vendor profile | Selling the newspaper offers a different experience
Joshua says selling the paper has changed his interactions with those around him
Editor’s note: Street Roots has allowed the NW Examiner to share profiles of vendors who primarily work in our neighborhoods.
By Melissa Loveridge
For Joshua Valdez, becoming a vendor with Street Roots was a game changer.
“I got involved with Street Roots because they were (some of the) very few people in Portland that (were) willing to admit that they would help you,” he said. “Street Roots is the only organization that gives you something to do that you’ll like and provides you nourishment to your mind, your body, your soul.”
Valdez came to Portland about three years ago from the Bay Area. His interactions with kind locals kept him in town despite his struggles to get adequate assistance through various local organizations and his dislike of the notorious Portland weather.
“That was one thing that I didn’t know about Portland when I came up from California, is that the weather up here is brutal. The weather in California can be really bad too. It snows, it hails, but the wind (in Portland is worse),” Valdez said. “I think (the weather) comes from ideas … and from the people in that area. I just think it’s trippy. That’s why it’s really important to take care of people.”
After about a year in Portland, Valdez got involved with Street Roots.
“Street Roots gives me something to do,” Valdez said. “Instead of being in the streets, smoking or sitting on the corner, it gives me an opportunity to make money, to do something that’s legal and not promote bad ideologies … I like that I can approach people without having to ask them for a cigarette. It changes the interaction that I have with other people around the city.”
Outside of vending with Street Roots, Valdez likes to read up on conspiracy theories and learn from the people around him. His idea of a perfect day is a relaxing one — hanging out, surfing the web and watching “Law & Order.”
Valdez believes that, during one lifetime, a person is both a teacher and a student.
“During different parts of people’s lives, people become different people so that they can learn or teach something,” Valdez said.
As for whether he’s currently learning or teaching, Valdez has an easy answer.
“I’m doing both.”
Valdez doesn’t have a set vendor location, but his favorite place to sell Street Roots is outside the Safeway on Northwest 13th Avenue and Lovejoy Street. You can also support Valdez through @StreetRoots Venmo by entering his name and badge number (1226) in the notes.
Street Roots is an award-winning weekly investigative publication covering economic, environmental and social inequity. The newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Street Roots newspaper operates independently of Street Roots advocacy and is a part of the Street Roots organization. Learn more about Street Roots. Support your community newspaper by making a one-time or recurring gift today.
Cleanup as Opportunity for Portland’s Unsheltered —one idea
Portland’s struggles with homelessness and livability are well known, but I believe we’re overlooking a simple, practical solution: paid cleanup work for our unsheltered neighbors.
Cities like Denver and Albuquerque have already shown how this works—hiring people living outside to pick up trash, remove graffiti, and maintain parks, with same-day pay and no heavy barriers. The results speak for themselves: cleaner streets, safer neighborhoods, and participants gaining income, purpose, and a step toward stability.
Here in Portland, Street Roots has long proven that low-barrier work can restore dignity and pride. Why not expand that model into cleanup teams that directly improve our neighborhoods? Instead of seeing unsheltered residents only as part of the problem, we could empower them to be part of the solution.
It’s time to give Portland a win-win: cleaner public spaces and real opportunities for those who need them most.
Sincerely,
Pearl District Resident
They have the similar types of newspapers in California: Street Spirit, Street Sheet, Street Views and Community Connection to name a few. He didn't need to come all the way to Portland for that. Was he looking for work by any chance? The idea of hiring people living outside to pick up trash, remove graffiti and maintain parks sounds good to me.