Street Roots Case Study

There are countless organizations across the United States targeted towards helping the homeless community. Some of these organizations are successful in achieving their mission and others struggle. One trend that has been found to correlate with the success of an organization is how they interact with the homeless community. Organizations which not only incorporate homeless people but empower them tend to be more successful.

One such organization would be the Street Roots newspaper out of Portland, Oregon. This organization publishes a newspaper that has content relating to housing, resources, and other pertinent interesting information. They then have vendors purchase these newspapers for 25 cents and sell them for 1 dollar. Vendors are allowed to keep all profit and any tips collected. The model allows for vendors to save up cash, have a job to go to and work hard at, create relationships with local businesses and regulars, etc. It works both ways and people who work or live near the corners where vendors sell their newspapers are also able to meet members of the homeless community. Street Roots does an amazing job at fostering relationships and dialogue between classes.

A group of Street Roots vendors via Street Roots FaceBook

According to their website, Street Roots sells 35,000 newspapers a month and has about 160 active vendors with over 500 vendors a year. As one vendor puts it on their website, “Street Roots has offered me employment, self-respect, and the pride of belonging”. Organizations like Street Roots which empower the community are able to make major strides in positively impacting not only the homeless community but also the community of Portland at large.

For more information please go to Street Roots' website.