Sisters Voice
Winter 2025
Portland today is not the Portland from 1979. So much has changed. But the need for advocating for solutions to homelessness and poverty remains unchanged.
In this edition
Letter from our Executive Director
Meet the New Staff at Sisters
Future Plans for Systemic Change
Finding Home
Vince Masiello: A Roadie’s Perspective
Letter from the Board
From the OHS Archives
From our Executive Director
Dear Sisters Community,
As I write this letter, I am approaching the end of my second month at Sisters of the Road. I feel incredibly honored to be here, as well as a sense of pride in being a part of an organization that has had such a long legacy of impact on our community, including the successful advocacy in Washington D.C. for the ability to use federal food assistance on hot meals; the establishment of a barter café that created a community grounded in human dignity and purpose; and the continual survey work that elevates the voices of people experiencing homelessness and establishes them as experts of their own experience.
Our team is following in the footsteps of the incredible, fierce, and compassionate advocates who came before us like Genny Nelson, Sandy Gooch, Monica Beemer, and so many more. These humans built the foundation for Sisters over the past 46 years - a foundation that current staff and community members have the opportunity to build from. I am incredibly energized and hopeful about building what comes next.
I wouldn’t be doing this work if I didn’t hold the relentless and unwavering belief that ending homelessness is possible. People living on the streets isn’t something we should ever consider normal or okay. People deserve to be housed. And being unhoused is not an individual failure. The existence of homelessness is a policy choice perpetuated by our continued underinvestment in deeply affordable housing and the supportive services that help people stay in their homes.
There is still a need for Sisters in Portland. Portland today is not the Portland from 1979. So much has changed. Old Town has changed. But the need for advocating for solutions to homelessness and poverty remains unchanged.
Everyone wants to know, with the café closed, what is Sisters doing next? Sisters is committed to creating spaces where everyone is welcome, where people can build connections and community, and where a sense of belonging and purpose is fostered. Our neighbors have said over and over: the café was never about the food, it was about feeling a sense of purpose. It was about how we treated each other. It was about creating community.
Later in this newsletter, you’ll read more from our Systemic Change team about their plans for continued organizing, advocacy, and community-driven research. One thing we know for sure - Sisters’ work will be in response to community needs. We heard in the Finding Home survey that unhoused folks would choose to be housed if they could afford it. The barrier is a lack of deeply affordable housing and the supportive services needed to stay housed. Sisters will continue to advocate for policies that affirm the humanity of people living outside, create real solutions to our city’s housing crisis, and oppose policies that criminalize homelessness and poverty.
We will organize and advocate for the redistribution of resources to create more deeply affordable housing, keep people from being evicted, and provide wraparound services to help folks transition from shelters and the street to permanent housing.
As we make plans for what comes next, we will remain grounded in Sisters’ philosophies: gentle personalism, anti-oppression, non-violence, systemic change, and dignity. We will also remain deeply connected to our community. No one organization can do it all - but together we can do great things.
Over the past two months, I’ve been honored to listen to people’s stories about Sisters. And I’ve learned that SO MANY people have a story about Sisters! A long-time Sisters volunteer and supporter shared that when they are faced with a difficult situation, they ask themselves, what would Genny Nelson do? An Old Town community gathering space has been modeled after the Sisters of the Road Café. Neighbors have told stories about how they had been turned away from so many places, but when they showed up for a meal at Sisters, they felt welcomed and that they mattered. When people have had nowhere else to go, they knew they could go to Sisters and be surrounded by dignity, respect, love and belonging.
I would love to hear your stories about Sisters. Please reach out any time. My email is nicki@sistersoftheroad.org.
Thank you for being part of Sisters’ story!
In solidarity,
Nicki
Three Questions for the Newest People Behind the Movement
Meet the newest members of the Sisters of the Road team and hear what brings them to this work, what they've been working on recently, and something a little more personal.
Nicki Dardinger
Executive Director
What drew you to Sisters of the Road?
I love that Sisters is grounded in our philosophies of gentle personalism, dignity, nonviolence, anti-oppression, and systemic change, and everyone here lives those values in everything we do.
What is a highlight of your time so far?
I have really enjoyed getting to know the incredible staff, volunteers, and community partners. I'm also very proud of the Finding Home Report and elevating the voices of our unhoused neighbors who are the true experts on the solutions to the homelessness crisis in our city.
Do you have a book recommendation?
Three of my favorite recent books that I’ve read are Prophet Song by Paul Lynch, The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong, and By The Fire We Carry by Rebecca Nagle.
JJ
Systemic Change Director
What drew you to Sisters of the Road?
From the start, I felt that Sisters is a place where people truly see each other. It’s not just about services — it’s about dignity, connection, and showing up for one another in real, tangible ways.
What is a highlight of your time so far?
One of my most meaningful moments so far was simply sitting with a community member during a meal and listening. They told me it was the first time in a long while they felt truly heard — and that’s what Sisters is all about.
What is your favorite thing about Portland?
I love getting out in nature, hiking the trails and exploring the rivers and forests. In the city, I love discovering Portland’s cafés and food carts. For me, Portland is a place where the outdoors, community, and good food come together in the best way.
Katie Sponagle
Systemic Change Organizer
What drew you to Sisters of the Road?
I first interned at Sisters in 2019 and was struck by the deep history of grassroots organizing and thoughtful philosophies. People told me then: “Once you’re part of Sisters, you’re always part of it.” That’s held true for me.
What is a highlight of your time so far?
We just wrapped the Finding Home launch party, and it was such a joy to be in community with everyone who helped bring it to life. That kind of collective energy is what makes this work so powerful.
What gets you fired up?
What gets me fired up is collective action. The energy and excitement when people come together with a shared vision and goal. Taking action toward that goal and the deep gratitude and fulfillment when it is accomplished. There’s nothing like it!
Elias Olson
Director of Development & Communications
What drew you to Sisters of the Road?
I previously worked with Nicki connecting unhoused folks experiencing addiction with peer recovery mentors. Joining Sisters felt like the perfect way to combine my grassroots organizing background with a deeper commitment to our unhoused neighbors.
What is a highlight of your time so far?
Exploring our space in Old Town has been wild and beautiful. It is an honor to help steward all the history that lives in these walls.
What is your favorite thing about Portland?
I adore our MAX! Growing up in Washington, D.C., I loved riding the Metro. I adore trains!
Systemic Change
Future Plans for the Systemic Change Team
At this moment, when the Trump regime and our government are escalating attacks on our communities through criminalization, forced displacement, militarizing the police and the dismantling of basic human rights, community organizing is not only necessary, it is how we survive.
Community organizing is resistance and it is also a vision: the work of building a future where everyone has the right to live, rest, and thrive.
We know that real change doesn’t come from quick fixes or top-down policies. It comes from people most impacted leading the way. We're laying the foundation for bold, community-driven work in the year ahead. Together, we are growing the skills, leadership, and collective power needed to dismantle the systems that harm us and build the ones that heal.
Here’s what we’re planning and envisioning for the coming years:
1 | Year-Long Organizing Institute
Leadership is not about titles, but action, accountability, and courage. What would it look like to our partners and community members to call Sisters their organizing home again? We envision a program for community members to deepen skills in grassroots organizing, political education, and collective care through workshops, peer learning, and hands-on campaigns.
1 | Year-Long Organizing Institute
Leadership is not about titles, but action, accountability, and courage. What would it look like to our partners and community members to call Sisters their organizing home again? We envision a program for community members to deepen skills in grassroots organizing, political education, and collective care through workshops, peer learning, and hands-on campaigns.
1 | Year-Long Organizing Institute
Leadership is not about titles, but action, accountability, and courage. What would it look like to our partners and community members to call Sisters their organizing home again? We envision a program for community members to deepen skills in grassroots organizing, political education, and collective care through workshops, peer learning, and hands-on campaigns.
Sisters of the Road is a grassroots, anti-oppression nonprofit dedicated to systemic change. From the beginning, Sisters sought to root out the causes of poverty and homelessness. Food insecurity, criminalization, and displacement are the outcomes of deeply broken systems: racialized policing, housing injustice, economic exploitation, and so many more.
Sisters is dedicated to centering people's experiences, building power from the ground up, and insisting on systemic solutions to systemic problems.
Why this matters
Each of these initiatives is connected by a shared vision: systemic change led by the people most impacted. By investing in grassroots leadership, redefining community health, and reclaiming research as a tool for liberation, we are strengthening the movements that dismantle cycles of poverty and criminalization. We know the road ahead is long, but we are not walking it alone. With our community, our allies, and our deep belief in each other, we are moving forward.