Living your values

I knew it was coming but, still, when I picked up the morning paper and saw Genny Nelson's gentle smile on the front page, it was all good.

Genny is retiring Saturday from Sisters of the Road, a Portland institution that serves up low-cost meals to the city's homeless population. She's been with the organization for 30 years and has helped make it both a place that welcomes the unwanted and appeals to Portlanders with cash who are looking to donate to a worthy charity.

To me, she personifies what I've been reading about in Jim Wallis' book, "God's Politics" -- namely, people of conscience who strive to convert their spiritual values into social change. Advocating for the poor seemingly fell out of favor during the Bush years, and that's when Wallis wrote his book (2005). It doesn't seem to have gotten much easier, either, with our government piling up massive debt to finance two wars and trying to breathe some life into the economy.

Now, I have no idea whether Genny is a Christian, as is Wallis (and so many of the others he cites in his book). But that really doesn't matter because, as The Oregonian's John Foyston writes, she helped make Sisters "a sanctuary, a safe haven where any and all can enjoy a meal and respite from the street." (See the full story here.)

I knew of Genny from years about reading about her. I finally had the occasion to contact her this summer, when I asked her to write a piece about Portland's controversial "sit-lie ordinance," a law that Portland police were using to roust people, homeless or not, from city sidewalks with the aim of improving public safety.

Genny said she was busy, but agreed to write the piece and she did -- even though she apologized profusely for missing her deadline by a couple of hours. No worries, I said. We still had time.

She told me then she was winding down, so I wasn't surprised when the news of her retirement became public. I was struck by her humility. And I will join thousands of Portlanders in wishing her the best in retirement.