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Ray Alvareztorres Photography

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Ray Alvareztorres Photography

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  • Chris, a long-time cafe client now studying for a seat on Sisters' board, takes notes at a Food for Thought meeting. Chris is one of Sisters' resident photographers, each of whom were given cameras and asked to document their daily lives for the cafe's Through Our Lens - Photovoice project, which continues to be shown at sites throughout Portland.
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  • Sisters engenders a sense of family among its clients. Many former clients, having moved on to more stable circumstances, return for years to volunteer at the cafe. Others graduate to paid staff positions or seats on Sisters' board.
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  • Jay, aka 'Cowboy', outside Sisters cafe. Raised on a Texas ranch before falling on harder times, he looks forward to reuniting with his daughter on the Oregon coast 'if everything works out.' Meanwhile, he regularly volunteers at the cafe.
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  • At the cafe, Shorty receives a delivery from Bill, a rider with B-Line, a bicycle delivery service that supplies fresh produce from Whole Foods and other local sources at a cost of pennies on the dollar, a key relationship in Sisters' ability to consistently offer quality meals. Gayle (center), a cafe client, heads over to help inspect the strawberries.
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  • Sisters is about far more than food. They work to build a safe space in which dignity, community and relationship flourish. Here, systemic change director Karissa leads the weekly Food for Thought meeting, at which Sisters' clients discuss opportunities to improve the cafe's services.
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  • Feedback from clients, collected at weekly Food forThought meetings, is key to Sisters' service model. The cafe shifted its lunch operations from  Monday-Friday to Tuesday-Saturday after clients with day jobs or children in school noted they couldn't access the cafe during the week.
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  • Eric, a Sisters client and cafe worker, at the market.
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  • Community members can work cafe shifts to earn credits they can use to purchase meals at the cafe and fresh produce at local markets.
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  • Light moments are routine at the cafe, thanks to strict rules prohibiting unsafe behavior, drug or alcohol use, verbal or physical aggression or sexual harassment, either inside the cafe or on its sidewalk. Violators are temporarily banned but encouraged to return after suspension so long as they honor the space.
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  • In the dining room, Eske prepares the day's menu. Clients place their order at the door, are seated and served by cafe staff they may know from the street, and have their tables bussed for them when done. For those who don't care for the meal of the day, rice and beans with salad and fresh baked cornbread is always on the menu.
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  • Shorty, who first came to Sisters in 1986 and now runs their kitchen, admires the basil at a local farmers market. Fresh meals, made from scratch with locally sourced food, are central to Sisters' mission.
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  • 7am: Candice, on biscuit duty, negotiates the mixer. The cafe's day begins.
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  • 10am: Meals start flowing. For the next five hours, the cafe will buzz with an air that feels something like a daily family reunion.
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  • 9:30am: Community members with reservations for the morning's first seating begin gathering in the cafe reading room. All are welcome.
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  • DJ listens during a training session for new volunteers. Having first come to Sisters in 1986, and now in permanent housing, DJ returns often to Sisters to 'pay it forward.'
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  • Cherie (left), an Aquarius and cafe regular, listens at a training session for new volunteers. She came to Portland from Florida "after my husband divorced me, put me in an RV and said 'have a nice life.'"
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  • Sisters runs field trips to a variety of farmers markets for community members once or twice weekly, one of many opportunities they create for community and relationship building.
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  • Through its feedback sessions, volunteer opportunities, community film screenings, reading room and other activities beyond the daily meal, Sisters works  to 'build community, one relationship at a time,' insisting that 'we are all more than the sum of our current situation or past experiences.'
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  • Sammy, well known at Sisters, mans his station. His portrait, by a local artist, watches over the dining room.
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  • Isaac ('My name means laughter'), in the kitchen.
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  • Shorty at the helm.
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  • 9am: Logging the day's lunch reservations. Meals are served from 10 to 3.
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  • Jason, sitting for his reservation, shows off his ink, calling special attention to the tent and campfire tattooed on his left pinky.
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  • Teamwork is a must in a cramped kitchen with much work ahead.
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  • Chopping onions for barley-tomato soup. A rare moment when Isaac is not smiling.
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