Street Roast Coffee for Street Roots
In 2018 Marigold Coffee started a long-term partnership with Street Roots, a Portland-based nonprofit who creates income opportunities for people experiencing homelessness and poverty. Street Roots is also an award winning newspaper and other media that are catalysts for individual and social change.
To support Street Roots, Marigold roasts a line of high quality coffees available for purchase here as well in grocery stores around Portland. Profits from Street Roast support Street Roots Vendors --the people you see around Portland selling the Street Roots paper. The Vendor program provides regular employment, access to social services, a community to connect with and a safe space to be.
Each week, some 180 Street Roots vendors purchase copies of the newspaper for 25 cents each, then sell them on the streets of Portland for $1, keeping the profits. More than 800 vendors sell the newspaper during the course of a year.
The Street Roots newspaper—published weekly in Portland, Oregon —has been one of Portland’s flagship publications addressing homelessness and poverty since 1998. Through its Newspaper Vendor Program, Street Roots has been providing a platform for people on the streets to have a voice in the political and social dialogue, bridging cultural and class divides with a greater understanding on social matters that affect us. Streets Roots also advocates for systemic change by drawing from the expertise of vendors who experience homelessness and poverty, and the investigations of the editorial department. Most recently, Street Roots introduced the Portland Street Response plan in its newspaper and campaigned for its implementation.
Street Roast Coffee is available online and Portland area groceries such as New Seasons, Green Zebra, Market of Choice, World Foods, Cherry Sprout and Alberta Coop.
Read more about our partnership with Street Roots here:
Willamette Week
Portland Mercury
Daily Coffee News
ADDITIONAL PARTNERS: This project was conceived by Ideaville & Curate, local design and marketing firms whose mission-driven business strategies deliver creative solutions for supporting greater good in the community.