Tag: news

Add this story to the growing evidence that a war is being waged in America to make compassion a crime and to deny the most basic services to our #neighborswithnoaddress – the vast US homeless population of over half a million people. Which by the way ‘but for the Grace of God‘ could be you or me. Emily Green of Street Roots News reports on the plight of “Jackie”, whom police arrested for theft for charging her cellphone in an outside receptacle located in a planter box in Old Town, Portland. This story was reported by Street Roots, a Portland newspaper that serves the poor and homeless.

The net cost of Jackie’s alleged electricity theft was probably about 1/50th of a cent but this did not deter the justice system from requiring several court appearances, putting her in jail for a night and attempting to bully Jackie into pleading guilty, which would have annihilated the homeless woman’s chance at qualifying for a public housing subsidy. Jackie has MS and hopes to get housing now that she has begun receiving disability checks.

Gary L. Everest Tells about Street Roots newspaper:

“Street Roots” is a local newspaper with it’s home in Old Town. It’s dedicated to issues facing the homeless and sold on the streets around Portland by ambitious homeless men and women. It’s a great way for them to earn some money and I must say, the vendors are always respectful and never aggressive. At least one individual, who sold the paper outside of “Trader Joe’s” on NW Glisan was known for helping customers with grocery carts. When he passed away a year or two ago, there was quite an outpouring of feeling for this kind soul. read more