Portland is often labeled as a cautionary tale of "woke/progressive" policies gone awry in the eyes of national and international media and political spheres. It seems we can’t make it more than a week without being inundated with think pieces on how to “save Portland.”

My colleague asked me the other day what my personal long and short-term vision is for Sisters in our new home. Having started as a Cafe worker in the beginning of my 11+ years at Sisters I learned the importance of “how” rather than “what” we do, so this is extremely exciting to think about.

The latest issue of Sisters’ Voice marks a turning point for us. We discuss our hopes for our future space, and reflect on over 40 years of cafe history and memories.

If we want to make real change, then we need to educate ourselves and our community about the real root causes of homelessness and poverty. We need to undo the harmful narratives about our unhoused neighbors that are fueling the policies that we’re seeing now.