Past Projects & Campaigns

The Systemic Change program at Sisters has been active for decades. We can’t cover the full breadth of that work on this page, but here are some highlights of our past work.

Environmental (In)justice of Water Access for Unhoused Individuals in Portland

Sisters of the Road partnered with PSU Environmental Science and Management graduate student, Alicia Gamble, to understand the environmental justice issues behind accessing water for unhoused residents in Portland. This was accomplished through in-depth interviews. Participants discussed their experiences accessing water during the COVID19 pandemic, as well as barriers to access.

You can view more about their research HERE.

Stop the Sweeps

Sisters was a core member of a coalition dedicated to opposing the “sweeping” of homeless encampments in Portland along with Right 2 Survive, PDX Trans Housing Coalition, Glitter Squadron, Portland Assembly, WRAP, and the National Lawyers Guild. Stop the Sweeps worked to both directly support people who are being targeted by sweeps and to advocate against city and county level policies that enable sweeps to take place.

Roadies

Sisters Roadies leaders were trained in the basics of Sisters’ history and philosophies in order to represent Sisters externally – city, state, and nationally - and to support Sisters internally in their operations. Roadies supported with outreach by public speaking, tabling, and ongoing engagement; such as, the Homeless Bill of Rights Campaign with community organizing and messaging.

Hygiene Huddles

Sisters hosted weekly “hygiene huddles’’ from 2017 to 2019 to discuss solutions to the lack of access to basic hygienic care for people experiencing homelessness. These weekly meetings would eventually lead to the creation of Hygiene 4 All who, in 2020, opened a facility in the Central Eastside Industrial District that offers showers, toilets, a health pod, a clothing and bedding exchange, and waste management.

Homeless Bill of Rights

Beginning in 2012, Sisters hosted meetings for a coalition of groups–including Right 2 Survive, Street Roots, and Dignity Village–working to organize around passing a Homeless Bill of Rights in Oregon. The most recent manifestation of this work is our continued advocate for the “Right to Rest Act” that would help to decriminalize acts like sleeping in tents outside.

Dorothy Day Community School (DDCS)

From 2010 to 2013, the DDCS existed to build, nurture, and sustain a cross-class movement of dedicated activists capable of winning social justice and economic human rights for our community by providing the training, skill-building, political education and analysis necessary to grow the movement that will end poverty and homelessness forever. Dozens of Sisters community members received training in grassroots lobbying, direct action, power building, and more.

Crossroads

On March 9, 2002 Sister’s Community Organizing Team began meeting with men and women at Saturday Gatherings in Sisters of the Road Cafe. The initial attendees had completed a one to one interview for the research component of our Community Organizing Project, and wanted more involvement. They repeatedly told our Field Researchers:  “You listening to me for two hours is one of the solutions to homelessness, no one ever bothers.  How can I get more involved? I don’t want anyone to go through what I have.”

Crossroads was the answer. A community-led effort to push back against changes that were being proposed at the time to Title 14 of the Portland City Code. 21 revisions were proposed that would create new crimes that unfairly impacted people experiencing homelessness. Crossroads was successful in getting 9 of these revisions pulled from consideration.