Hannah Wallace

Politics Not As Usual

I wrote a profile of two powerhouse Mount Holyoke alumnae: Tami Gouveia ('96) and Kristen Elechko ('97) for the Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly.  

Kristen Elechko, left, and Tami Gouveia, right. 

In early 2021, Kristen Elechko ‘97, who had recently wrapped working for U.S. Senator Ed Markey’s reelection campaign in Massachusetts, finally had time to read her Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly. She was skimming through the Class Notes when one name jumped out at her: Tami Gouveia ‘96.

Though she had not known Gouveia at Mount Holyoke, she had recently read the statement that Gouveia, a Massachusetts state representative from the 14th Middlesex District, had released on why she hadn’t voted for Ron Mariano for speaker of the Massachusetts House. "I believe that the residents of my district and across the state deserve, and are demanding, an open process and new leadership that represents the values, identities and priorities of voters across our state," Gouveia’s statement read in part. She felt that Mariano stood for politics as usual — he was so sure he’d win that he didn’t even give a speech until after he was elected — and that the climate crisis, the housing emergency and staggering economic inequality in Massachusetts demanded bolder leadership than he would offer. None of her House colleagues could give her a compelling reason to vote for Mariano, a Democrat, she wrote, except that she could be punished for not endorsing the status quo. "None could describe the great things that Speaker Mariano might do to help ensure a just recovery through the coronavirus pandemic," she wrote.

Elechko was impressed that Gouveia had the guts to not vote for Mariano. "I’d had conversations within my channels around how much I appreciated her standing in her leadership and in her values, and doing something that’s very hard publicly," Elechko says. She was also inspired by how Gouveia regularly spoke up about the need for climate justice and simultaneously raised up young leaders of the Sunrise Movement. When she discovered that Gouveia was an MHC alum, she says, "I lost my mind! I reached out to her on every channel possible and thanked her, and also noted that we were at Mount Holyoke at the same time. We had a wonderful exchange," Elechko says. And then that was that.

A few months later, in March, when Lowell, Massachusetts, native Gouveia decided to run for lieutenant governor of Massachusetts, she started asking people in her networks for suggestions for a whip-smart campaign manager. Elechko’s name came up several times. Gouveia soon arranged to talk with Elechko over Zoom.

"It wasn’t like a traditional interview. It was more like, ‘Here are my values and here’s how I approach the world, and here’s how I think about campaigns, and here’s how I think about leadership,’" Gouveia says. "And then there was a lot of laughing, head nods and ‘Yes. Yes! Yes!’"

They had two or three multi-hour-long conversations.

Elechko, who had been the deputy relational organizing director for Ed Markey’s campaign, had instant chemistry with Gouveia. Gouveia felt the same and hired Elechko, who began her new job as campaign manager in mid-June.

GOUVEIA: POLITICS NOT AS USUAL

When I interviewed Gouveia in 2018 for my “She’s Running” feature for the Quarterly it was the first time she had run for office, after a 25-year career as a social worker protecting children from environmental toxins and preventing substance abuse. She ran against two men in the primary—winning with 64.3% of the vote, the widest margin of a first time candidate in the state’s history—and then went on to win against a Green-Rainbow Party candidate in the general, garnering 90% of the vote.

"Representing the people of the 14th District has been the joy of a lifetime," Gouveia says. "They are just very civically engaged. They show up for meetings, they reach out to me all the time about different policy issues they care about." But despite getting some progressive legislation passed, her time in the state legislature has shown her that her skills as a public health social worker might be better suited to the role of lieutenant governor. "What I’ve been observing is that the corner office has been occupied by people who prefer to maintain the status quo. They don’t have the express commitment to addressing the structural issues that drive inequities in our state — whether you’re talking about inequities around race or ethnicity or immigration status or class or gender and gender identity. We’re standing still," Gouveia says. "So there’s so much opportunity — especially with the infusion of federal dollars as a result of COVID-19 — to really chart a different path forward. And I’m not seeing that from Charlie Baker."

Continue reading here.  

Great Escape: Oregon's Wallowa Mountains

I recently got to write about one of my favorite regions of Oregon: the Wallowa Mountains.  It may be a five-hour drive from Portland, but boy, this part of the state is utterly gorgeous.  I long to go back every summer to hike, camp, swim, and have a beer along the creek at Terminal Gravity. 

At the end of our long hike from the trailhead, we found the Minam River Lodge 

Here's my story, for Conde Nast Traveler. I'll give a tease here.  

Two hours into our hike through the Eagle Cap Wilderness, I looked up from the wooded path to see that the thick stand of Douglas fir was draped in a gauzy yellow-green lichen. “Usnea!” I called out to my husband, Don, who is used to me blurting out the scientific names of Pacific Northwest flora and fauna. The usnea—also called old-man's beard—looked ethereal in the dappled afternoon sunlight. I half expected to see a wood sprite spring out from behind one of the towering firs in this patch of old-growth forest.

I suppose you could say that Don and I had come to this far-­northeastern corner of Oregon to escape reality for a bit. After the year we'd had—cooped up indoors, our attention wandering from the pandemic to the protests, the wildfires to the election—we felt we'd earned it. The place's remoteness, a five-and-a-half-hour drive from our home in Portland, helps explain why, even though I've lived in Oregon on and off since the late '80s, I didn't visit Wallowa County until a decade ago. But when I first saw the wide-open Zumwalt Prairie Preserve, snowcapped mountains, and glacial lakes, I fell in love. I've been back a handful of times since to hike and ride horses.

Some refer to the Wallowa Mountains, a 40-mile-long range that extends into neighboring Union County, as Oregon's Alps, and the whole region does bear some resemblance to Switzerland. But it's also distinctly the American West. The Nez Percé were the first people to settle the area. They lived here for at least 11,000 years before being driven out by the U.S. Army in the late 1870s, in direct violation of the U.S. government's own treaty. Though the tribe is now officially based in Idaho, it still holds culture camps for Nez Percé kids each summer near Wallowa Lake.

An aerial view of Joseph, Oregon with Wallowa Lake in the background. PHOTO: LEON WERDINGER

There's something romantic about hiking into a place with everything you need on your back. Even better when the destination is a backcountry luxury retreat with no Wi-Fi or cell service where we could be blissfully ignorant of the news cycle. We were on our way to the Minam River Lodge, hidden in the middle of the 360,000-acre Eagle Cap Wilderness and accessible only by private plane, horseback, or foot.

Owner Barnes Ellis came here in his 20s for a family reunion. It was 1990 and the property—an old hunting lodge—had seen better days. The beauty of the wild landscape made an impression on him, though, and 20 years later he bought the roughly 126-acre spread. By then the lodge was a dilapidated wreck, but Barnes hired an architect and embarked on a multiyear, multimillion-dollar renovation. Since the Minam opened in 2017, I'd had it in my mind to visit and, specifically, to arrive on foot, even if that meant possible, if unlikely, encounters with elk, cougars, and bears.

The eight-and-a-half-mile journey in, mostly downhill, started at the Moss Springs Trailhead, high above the tiny town of Cove. We didn't have to trek far after leaving the relative civilization of the Moss Springs campground to feel totally enveloped by wilderness. We traversed steep scree-covered paths, passed hillside meadows, and scrambled across pristine creeks, all against the backdrop of evergreen-covered mountains.

By the time we arrived at the Minam, our feet ached and it was a challenge to stand upright under our packs. Our tent was more of the glamping than camping variety, with luxe linens and wide-plank floors. (The resort also has cabins and conventional guest rooms in the lodge.) After a quick rest, we ambled slowly to the main lodge, where chef Sean Temple, a veteran of New York's Jean-Georges and Portland's beloved Paley's Place, holds court at the restaurant. Most of the herbs and vegetables he uses are grown on the property, while nearly everything else is sourced from nearby farms, ranches, and wineries. It was a memorable dinner—and not just because it was one of the first, in a very long while, that we didn't have to cook ourselves. After a chicory salad studded with Jonagold apples and showered with Parmesan, Temple presented a perfectly seared grass-fed strip steak over a purée of grilled chanterelles. We heard laughter from a boisterous group on the outdoor patio, a balm after months of isolation.

To continue reading, see the full story here.  

 

FACTS

Hotels

The Jennings: This 12-room boutique hotel is self check in, so be sure to have your key code before arriving. A communal kitchen/library means you can brew your own coffee or tea and store snacks in the fridge. From the shared balcony, you can view the mountains. Doubles from $95 (with shared bathroom)

The Indian Lodge Motel: If you can’t get into the Jennings, the Indian Lodge Motel down the street is a spotless, quiet spot with good beds and free Wifi. Doubles from $125.

Restaurants

The Range Rider One of the only restaurants along OR-82 open on a Tuesday night, Range Rider is a western bar complete with old cowboy boots, fiddles, and a 100-strong collection of vintage ceramic Jim Beam decanters. The grass-fed Corriente beef burger from 6 Ranch (just a few miles down the road), is a delicious juicy mess. 

Blythe Cricket This whimsical café serves up six delicious english muffin sandwiches, a daily fritatta, waffles, and strong Nossa Familia coffee. Get the Deep Dark Woods—sautéed mushroom, onion, spinach, egg, and havarti, all slathered with red pepper aioli on a homemade english muffin.  700 N. Main St., Joseph; Serves breakfast until 11:00 a.m.

The Gold Room—JoMarie Pitino and Ross Effinger make naturally-leavened crusts with Oregon-grown wheat at this pizzeria, which also has excellent sides like wood-fired beets with coriander buttermilk dip and radicchio salad with sourdough breadcrumbs, pecorino, and a roasted garlic dressing. Don’t skip the habanada margarita. 100 N. Main St., Joseph; Opened Thurs.-Sun., 3-8:00 p.m.

Activities /Shops

Joseph Branch Railriders— If you want to see off-the-road scenery without the exertion of hiking, take a ride on these recumbent bikes, orchestrated to fit on the region’s decommissioned railroad tracks. Just be sure to empty your pockets of all valuables. As your guide will warn you, people who don’t have had their wallets, sunglasses, and phones crushed on the tracks.

From May-early October; jbrailriders.com

Sports Corral—This store has everything you need for your Wallowa hiking/camping/hunting expedition. City folk will pine after the $280 Stetson hats and gorgeous cowboy boots and might even snap up an insulated Hydroflask beer flask, a fishing rod, or…a bear horn. 401 N Main Street, Joseph

Wild Carrot—Who knew that the headquarters for this botanical beauty brand, which has a cult following, is in sleepy Enterprise? In addition to rosewood body lotion, Doug Fir lip balm, and neroli night cream, the store sells organic tea, greeting cards, and hand-stitched wallets. 112 W. Main St., Enterprise 

 

 

The 'Top Chef' Guide to Portland

I wrote this Top Chef guide to Portland for Food & Wine back in June.

In Season 18 of Top Chef, the culinary reality competition traveled to Oregon for the first time. While we watched the cheftestants eat, cook, and compete for the title in the City of Roses, we also caught glimpses of the natural beauty of the entire state along the way-including the Columbia Gorge, the Oregon Coast, and Willamette Valley wine country. Here are all the locations visited by Top Chef in the city of Portland and beyond.

Portland Restaurants

Homebase for this season, the city known for its food carts and farm-to-table cuisine also boasts a wide range of African diaspora restaurants, Latino spots, and elevated Japanese fare, some of which were featured on-screen.

Akadi, which the contestants visited in Episode 3 with judge Kwame Onwuachi, is justly famous for its attieke poisson (grilled whole fish with grated, fermented cassava), peanut butter mafe and shosho (black eyed pea stew). Though it's been closed since January so chef-owner Fatou Ouattara could take an extended visit to her native Ivory Coast, it will re-open in September in a larger location with an expanded menu that will include dishes from Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Benin, and South Africa.

 

Judge Gregory Gourdet took another group of contestants to Yaad Style Jamaican on busy MLK Jr., Boulevard for some curried goat and brown stewed chicken. Try these and other Jamaican specialties like oxtail stew or jerk chicken (with a medley of peppers and onions). Owner Curtis Mazelin hails from Montego Bay (he's lived in Portland since '97) and has plans to start some Reggae music nights this summer.

The South American country of Guyana is a melting pot of people and that's reflected in its diverse cuisines. Try the same delicious puff breads-stuffed with either a bacalhau (Portuguese-style salt cod) omelet or chana aloo (chickpea and potato curry)-that the contestants sampled at Bake on the Run, a food cart located at the Hawthorne Asylum pod.

The contestants also swung by the Portland Mercado, home to nine rotating food carts, to try Mathilde Aurelien Wilson's Haitian food. Though Wilson has since closed her food cart to run a catering company, you can sample the cuisines of Argentina, Colombia, Coast Rica, Cuba, Oaxaca, Peru, Venezuela, and more at the Mercado, which is also a business incubator for Latino food entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, you can try Wilson's tasty Mathilde's Kitchen hibiscus flower drinks all over town at New Seasons, Green Zebra, and Market of Choice.

Departure, where previous Top Chef contestant Gregory Gourdet presided until 2019, still shines atop the Nines Hotel. Executive Chef Matt Christianson oversees the new menu which still has a lot of inventive vegan options (mahogany noodles sport a chili glaze, truffle marinated crispy tofu, sweet pepper, shiitake, and spring rabe; baby gold potatoes with fermented cashew cream) as well as pork belly, steamed buns with wagyu meatball, and bison rendang curry.

Don't forget to hit up Season 18 contestant Gabriel Pascuzzi's restaurants, Mama Bird, Stacked Sandwich Shop, and Feel Good.

Portland Hotels

Left: CREDIT: THE HOXTON

Right: CREDIT: THE HOXTON

At the end of Episode 3, the judges dine in the lobby of the Hoxton, the edgy British hotel chain, to taste the contestants' own take on Pan-African cuisine.Post-pandemic, the lobby coffee bar has re-opened (though at limited capacity) with its work stations and Proud Mary coffee. Rooms have a Northwest-chic vibe with wood paneling, vintage furniture from local shops, and art from Portland's Upfor Gallery. Tope, the rooftop Mexican restaurant, has re-opened under chef Joel Lui-Kwan and still has its trademark spicy Margaritas and mouth-watering tacos.

Bed down where the Top Chef contestants stayed for three months during filming-at the Royal Sonesta (formerly Kimpton's Hotel Monaco). This 221-room property has a regal high-ceilinged lobby, Frette linens, and whimsical guest rooms with bird-patterned wallpaper.

Other 'Top Chef: Portland' Locations

Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, otherwise known as OMSI, is one of the top science museums in the U.S. In addition to fun interactive exhibits for kids of all ages, the museum offers tours of the USS Blueback, the U.S. Navy's last non-nuclear powered submarine-now docked in the Willamette River.

Spend a few hours enjoying the tranquility of the Portland Japenese Garden, a lush series of gardens full of ponds, streams, and water fountains. Stop for tea from Tokyo-based Jugetsudo and a piece of castella cake at Umami Café.

One of the biggest urban green spaces in the country, Forest Park has over 80 miles of hiking trails, 112 species of birds, and serious wildlife. (Joggers have spotted elk and coyote.) Try one of the shorter loops of the Wildwood Trail and you'll soon be surrounded by towering Douglas fir and bigleaf maples.

Columbia Gorge

CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES

Located along the "Fruit Loop" above Hood River, the 40-acre Mt. View Orchards is where the contestants picked their fruit for Episode 4's savory fruit challenge. Here you'll find everything from Pink Pearl apples and Akane to apricots, cherries, peaches, and plums-all with a backdrop of snow-covered Mount Hood.

Oregon Coast

An easy day trip from Portland, the Oregon Coast where to go to walk on the beach, explore tidal pools, and sample some ice cream.

CREDIT: CARLY DIAZ

Getting a cone (or a bag of cheese curds) at Tillamook Creamery is a time-honored summer tradition in Oregon. A few years ago, the facility got a splashy new redesign. It's currently open to visitors for self-guided tours of the creamery exhibit and purchases of to-go food and ice cream.

Gearheart is the tiny town where Portland native and pioneering American chef James Beard spent his summers as a child. Though his family cottage is privately owned (and therefore not open to the public) you can recreate his outings and pack a picnic of charcuterie, cheese, smoked fish, and bread and head to the beach or to stunning Ecola State Park, 18 minutes south.

CREDIT: LIDIJA KAMANSKY / GETTY IMAGES

Two miles south of Ecola is the popular coastal town of Cannon Beach, known for its iconic Haystack Rock. Book an oceanfront studio at the very place Top Chef contestants stayed, the 95-room Surfsand Resort.

About half an hour further south is picturesque Nehalem Bay, a state park that has year-round camping, a two-mile bike trail, and great crabbing and clamming. In fact, this is where the chefs go crabbing for their Dungeness at Kelly's Brighton Marina. Rent baited rings and a bucket from Kelly's and you can crab right from the dock. (Kelly's provides the shellfish permit, which is $19 for three days for non-Oregonians; $10 for Oregon residents.) 

Willamette Valley

Willamette Valley Vineyards, located just south of Salem in Oregon's celebrated wine country, is where the final challenge takes place in the Season 18 finale. Try a daily flight ($15-$20) or a "pairings exploration" which pairs small-lot wines with four small plates prepared by winery chef DJ MacIntyre.

Left: CREDIT: ANDREA JOHNSON

Right: CREDIT: CHERYL JUETTEN

One of the most beautiful vineyards in the state, Soter Vineyards is perched atop a hill in Carlton. Justly famous for their biodynamic pinots and rosés, the winery is also illustrious for having hired Top Chef contestant Sara Hauman to be their head chef in 2019.

More Food to Explore in Portland

Of course, Top Chef could only cover so much in 14 episodes shot during lockdown. If you're planning a trip to Portland, here are a few not-to-be-missed places that opened during or just before the pandemic.

Former food cart Malka became a brick and mortars restaurant in February 2020. Though their timing was rotten, chefs Jessie Aron and Colin McArthur pivoted to take-out and their inventive rice bowls, quirky salads, and outrageously yummy sandwiches have kept much of southeast Portland fed ever since. The Important Helmet for Outer Space is a must-slow-roasted pork shoulder in apricot curry BBQ sauce with pan-roasted mushrooms, stir-fried vegetables, crispy shallots, peanuts, and avocado on coconut jasmine rice. The veggie options are equally creative. A new salad, Hobbes is Wearing Jams! has sugar snap peas, quick pickled cherries, watermelon radish, mint and basil, tahini, spice-roasted carrots, golden raisins, fried shallots-and that's only half the ingredients. "I'm a maximalist, through and through," Aron says.

Chef Peter Cho of Han Oak fame opened Toki in January, in the old Tasty & Alder space. The restaurant, already known for its lip-smacking Korean fried chicken wings, also has chargrilled spicy pork short ribs, pork dumplings, and bi bim bap with Yuzu soy cured salmon belly served with snap peas, carrots, kohlrabi, and cabbage. 

Takibi, the hotly anticipated Japanese bonfire restaurant, is now open in Snow Peak's new flagship store. (The Japanese outdoor lifestyle brand has had a presence in Portland since 1999.) Start with a cocktail; the bar menu is a fun collaboration between bar legend Jim Meehan and buzzy new talent Lydia McLuen. Chef Alex Kim, a veteran of Michelin-starred restaurants in New York City and Tokyo, creates an aggressively seasonal menu of shareable dishes. Standouts include the sashimi platter (served with Oregon-grown wasabi), the charcoal-grilled black cod with white miso, and his handmade soba noodles. Just around the corner is the brand-new Smith Teamaker Cafe. Chef Karl Holl's small but stellar plant-based menu includes tea-infused dishes like golden turmeric noodles with tea kimchi and chocolate chia pudding with Lord Bergamont jam and chocolate hazelnut granola. It goes without saying that these dishes pair splendidly with Steven Smith teas and tea lattes.

How helping my houseless neighbors helped me

This op-ed appeared in Street Roots in April.

Me, cleaning the sink after someone has showered at the Sunnyside Methodist Church.  

 

If you had told me back in December that I’d soon know all the homeless people in my neighborhood on a first-name basis, I would have laughed. But not only is this true; I have a dozen of their names entered into my phone. I’ve delivered a home-cooked dinner to one guy after his eye surgery, I helped one fellow apply for a spot at Agape Village, and on Easter Sunday, I bought a cot for an elderly houseless guy who’d told me the day before, “I’m too old to sleep on the ground anymore.”

All because of the shower project that the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association launched at the Sunnyside Methodist Church in January.

Let me explain. Last December, I joined a Sunnyside Neighborhood Association Community Committee to do outreach to the unsheltered folks who had just relocated to Sunnyside Park. They’d moved there, in part, because the city had just “swept” Laurelhurst Park, and Sunnyside was the park nearest to Laurelhurst. Sunnyside Park also had two streets that did not face residences, which I later found most houseless folks are quite conscientious about. We invited Raven Drake from Street Roots’ new Ambassador Program to help us make contact with our unsheltered neighbors. John Mayer, executive director of Beacon PDX, was also there to facilitate introductions.

The first outreach was the most awkward. But after that initial round of “knocking” on folks’ tents and having conversations about the weather, it got easier. As a neighborhood association, we were trying to figure out how to best help these folks while they are living in a park so close to us. So we asked them, “What do you need?” A thin 30-something woman in a colorful scarf and puffy jacket said laundry would be nice, because she hadn’t washed her clothes in a long time. Someone else said he hated how messy the camp had become — but they had no way to dispose of trash once they’d collected it into trash bags.

We started with a volunteer-led trash pickup, with several residents taking truckloads of trash to the dump, paying the fees themselves. I took on the “hygiene coordinator” role and was responsible for calling the city’s Homelessness and Urban Camping Impact Reduction Program to get a porta-potty installed near the park as well as ensuring that someone was collecting and disposing of needles safely and properly.

One day, I got a call from Matt, a Sunnyside Neighborhood Association board member, saying that the Groves Church, the congregation now at the former Sunnyside Methodist Church, had said we could use their showers two days a week. Soon, my fellow committee member Ash and I were off to Ikea to buy white towels and bath mats.

In very short order, I became known as “the Shower Lady.” I wrote up a list of protocols for volunteers and for people using the showers.

I’d show up at 1 p.m. on Saturdays at the park, when Beacon PDX provided lunch, clipboard in hand, and ask folks when they wanted a shower. Another committee member, Jenna, who is an elementary school teacher, printed up adorable “Shower Reminder” tickets that I scribble a person’s appointment on so he or she would have a visible reminder. Someone at the church donated more towels; Jenna and her husband Daniel did a Costco run for shampoo, body wash and clean underwear; someone else donated a hair dryer. We were off and running.

I’ll be the first to admit that I had no idea what I was doing when we started this pilot. But with the help of a few great volunteers (many of whom are still volunteering on a weekly or every-other-week basis) and with the support of the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association Community Committee, the “shower ministry,” as I call it, has become a reliable service for people experiencing homelessness in our neighborhood. In fact, the Groves recently gave us a third day: Saturday.

It’s humbling to be able to offer such a basic service as a warm shower and know that it’s making a difference in people’s lives. Each person who showers leaves the church with a lighter step. For most of them, this will be the only shower they have this week. Every single one of our houseless neighbors thanks us for being there and for the shower. (It’s not lost on them that most Neighborhood Associations are full of upset neighbors who just want them to go “somewhere else.”) I periodically get texts from some of my houseless friends saying, “I appreciate you and what you’re doing. Thank you.” Just today, one of our regulars, grateful that we didn’t leave early because he didn’t show up at the appointed time, texted me and my other volunteer, “I love you guys.”

Hannah Wallace gets a clean pair of pants for a person in need.

 

Getting to know my unhoused neighbors has enriched my life. I’ve learned to expect the questionable advice from one fellow who arrives by bike and always tells my co-volunteer and I that a daily shot of whiskey will keep COVID-19 at bay. Another regular arrives early just to chat with me about his day — or sometimes his past. A former meth addict, he’s been clean for a year and is living in a doorway, trying to stay safe and warm (and sober). He says he’s a loner, but he’s gregarious and clearly craves company. He’s been homeless for 17 years and has finally decided that he can’t live this way anymore. He wants a roof over his head. Then there’s the 40-something man who had never been homeless until 2020, when the bar he owned shuttered and his wife divorced him. He used to play bass in a rock band, and I bring him my back issues of Rolling Stone to read. I used to walk past houseless people on the street, feeling incapable of helping, let alone engaging. But getting to know these folks who come for showers makes me see them — really see them. Now, when I go running in the park, I say hello to the folks I know, sometimes even stopping for a chat.

Some people are punctual or even early for their shower appointments and don’t need reminders. Others are no-shows, not even texting to let me know they’re not going to make it. Others don’t have phones, so can’t tell me if something has come up to wreck their plans for their day. It’s OK — we volunteers have learned to roll with it. It’s not like we have to make an appointment to have our showers. We can have them whenever we like.

Some take short, military-style showers — in and out of the facility in 10 minutes. My favorite, though, is when people sing while they shower. One guy brings his radio, elevating his shower to a musical experience. We can hear his melodious voice drifting up the stairwell and it always makes me smile.

Finally, knowing more of my houseless neighbors has made me feel safer in my neighborhood. Perhaps that’s not surprising; we tend to fear the unknown.

When you don’t know individual houseless people, you are more likely to make assumptions about “houseless people” as a group. And, I think, you are more likely to lose touch with the humanity of each person. As I’ve gotten to know the individuals who come for showers, I realize how delightful, soulful, hilarious, creative and sweet they are. I can’t fix all of their problems or even get them housing, but I can help them get a warm shower. And for that I am grateful.

Learn more about the Sunnyside Shower Project or how to volunteer.

The Tiny-House Village That’s Changing Lives

I wrote this story about Agape Village in Portland, Oregon for Reasons to be Cheerful. 

Agape Village is a place where people find community, structure, stability — and a path to permanent housing

Urban/Transportation

Photo courtesy Sarah Chapman

 

Brittany ran away from home when she was eight years old to escape an abusive situation and has lived without a permanent home in Portland, Oregon for much of the time since. During these years, she resided under bridges, in yurts in the forest, in a self-governed encampment for people experiencing homelessness and even in a treehouse before landing in a community called Agape Village.

After just four months of living at Agape, Brittany, now 36 years old, transitioned into her own two-bedroom apartment.

“Agape Village gave me a safe space to just be me,” she says. “It showed me that I needed to really get a hold of my life. I had been in the wind a long time.” 

Agape Village, located on the grounds of the city’s Central Nazarene Church, consists of 13 simple wooden huts. Sarah Chapman, outreach coordinator at Agape, calls them sleeping pods, but they are more like tiny homes — only without electricity or plumbing. “It’s rustic,” says Chapman. “A step up from camping, but definitely not like living indoors.” But to the people who live there, it is the community and the stability that are life-changing. 

Getting people into housing quickly requires sufficient affordable housing inventory, something Portland lacks. Smaller, cheaper shelters like Agape Village help fill the gap. Credit: Hannah Wallace

Chapman refers to Agape Village as a “transitional housing village” designed to bridge the gap between homelessness and permanent housing. Typically, transitional housing consists of a conventional house or apartment and is accompanied by intensive case management and other services for addiction and mental health issues. These days, though, the term has broadened to include low-cost, low-barrier-to-entry shelters such as sanctioned campgrounds or certain tiny-house villages. The people who live in them say having a roof over their heads has allowed them to address the challenges that have kept them chronically homeless in the past.  

Tiny homes, transformational community

Living on the streets or in unsanctioned campgrounds means risking having your belongings stolen or or confiscated by city officials who routinely sweep through to “clean up” such encampments. And though homeless shelters are warm and mostly safe from crime, they have their own downsides: a lack of privacy, risk of infection and strict limitations on belongings.    

Continue reading at Reasons to be Cheerful.