Founded in 1979, Sisters of the Road has always been more than a cafe. We have been a test kitchen for ideas, systems, and programs that work to alleviate both the material and emotional challenges faced in the day-to-day life of people experiencing the violence of poverty.

An Update from Sisters of the Road’s Acting Executive Director

Dear community,

As many of you know, Sisters of the Road has struggled to keep our cafe open since the start of the pandemic in 2020. Even as we continued to do advocacy work, our community sorely felt the absence of a reliable dining and community space. While the team worked towards reopening the cafe, the internal systems and work culture were suffering. We found ourselves with a cafe overrun with mold and asbestos with no avenues for restoration, our leadership destabilized, and a staff shortage.

After a period of deep reflection, Sisters of the Road concluded that in order to serve the houseless community we needed to rebuild, externally and internally.

Rebuilding plans include purchasing a building in the Old Town neighborhood to serve as the permanent cafe, with updated amenities and a dignified, hygienic environment. Our revitalized cafe will be not only a dining space but also an organizing space. It will be a place to exchange resources, pick up supplies, build community, and organize. The new space will allow us to not only feed more people, it will allow us to contribute to our community in a deeper way.

We will also establish new infrastructure and policies to foster a healthy and equitable work culture. We have started reviewing past policies and ensuring they align with our philosophies and values. We know this will be a painful process at times, but we believe a future where we are living our values and treating both our customers and staff with fairness and dignity will be worth it.

As we embark on this new phase for Sisters, we will still be actively advocating on behalf of our houseless community. Currently, we are working with PSU to craft a community engagement plan to align our services with the needs of impacted individuals. We are also continuing our partnership with WRAP (Western Regional Advocacy Project) and working on several campaigns, such as the Human Bill of Rights and the Right to Rest Act, that seek to decriminalize houseless people and change the narrative that oftentimes demonizes the most vulnerable population of our city.

We are excited for our future!

Kat M, Acting Executive Director

City of Portland’s Recent Resolutions on Homelessness

Ted Wheeler and Dan Ryan recently introduced a resolution that would, amongst other things, restart enforcement of the city’s ban on camping outdoors. This resolution was passed with a 4-1 vote by the city. Sisters of the Road opposes the criminalization of homelessness. We participated, along with numerous other groups, in a town hall in which Mayor Wheeler and Dan Ryan listened to people with lived experience of homelessness express concerns about the safety of mass encampments like those called for in the city’s resolution. We encourage people who wish to take action regarding this new plan to read Harmful Compassion, a zine about the problems with proposals like this… and the solutions that we know work.

While we don’t have immediate actions for people to take around the new resolution, we encourage you to speak to your friends, family, co-workers, and immediate community about the issue. We have always believed that changes starts with conversations between people that bubble outwards. Many people in Portland are frustrated right now at the city’s inaction in dealing with rising poverty and homelessness, and they may see the current actions as a “good enough” solution. We need to turn the tide of public opinion and help people see the harm perpetuated by this “good enough” solution if we want to eventually see the resolution repealed

CAFE

133 NW Sixth Ave
Portland, Oregon 97209

OFFICE

618 NW Davis St
Portland, Oregon 97209

CONTACT

Phone: (503) 222-5694
Fax: (503) 222-3028
Tax ID: 93-0748169

General Inquiries: info@sistersoftheroad.org

Contact Systemic Change Team: sc@sistersoftheroad.org