Kris Brown

Activist, Agnostic, Environmentalist, Project manager

I have 15 years lived experience of being homeless in the United States and not by choice. I am now the operational manager of The People's Depot, a program of Ground Score Association, which is a bottle redemption service aimed at providing low barrier employment for informal recyclers and dumpster divers who use the Oregon bottle bill as their primary source of income. TPD employs 10 amazing individuals (including me!) who used this job to overcome homelessness and reclaim their lives. A lot of people experiencing homelessness face numerous barriers and stigmas to gainful employment that could drastically change their situation. As someone who has lived experience of homelessness I see that lived experience as a job quality instead of a hindrance. The People's Depot is a revolutionary program that meets people where they are at. Running on a shoe string budget under a bridge in the Central East side of Portland, TPD serves over 150 people per day and has redeemed over $4 million for it's customers. Check out our story on Ground score association.org

I'm passionate about helping people back on their feet.

Benefitted employment needs to be easier to obtain, and people experiencing poverty and homelessness need better access to job opportunities to provide for themselves

Bottle Bills, Extended Producer Responsibilty, Homeless Advocacy

Magic the gathering. Its a game I love to play to get away from the complications of day to day life.