Due to Genny Nelson’s lifelong efforts for equity, justice, and care, her friends and colleagues have created a memorial fund at Portland State University’s School of Social Work in her name. The fund will honor her life by benefiting students who hope to follow in her footsteps. Once it successfully raises its $50,000 goal it will become the Genny Nelson Memorial Endowment. The fund will provide tuition and fee support for students who have worked with Sisters of the Road or similar organizations serving the houseless community, at-risk households, or students who have experienced living or working in diverse environments.
While studying in college, Nelson created a work study project in Skid Row, Los Angeles to shed light on the people who have no place to live despite living in the US–one of the wealthiest countries in the world.
Her work later inspired the opening of Boxcar Bertha's in Old Town Portland, a women’s center run by Nelson and Sandy Gooch. Both Nelson and Gooch worked with Burnside Projects and engaged in street outreach together. They created Boxcar Bertha’s together as a micro-enterprise.
After their federal grant ran out for Boxcar Berthas, Nelson and Gooch opened Sisters of The Road Cafe in Portland, OR. This was a barter restaurant where customers traded their time volunteering in the cafe for a fresh, healthy meal via their Barter Credit system. This system allowed individuals or groups to trade goods and services directly without relying on money. Sisters is no longer open as a cafe, but still runs as a nonprofit organization today.
In 1987, Nelson successfully lobbied the U.S. Congress to pass the law, OAR 461-135-0610, allowing unhoused people to use food stamps to pay for prepared meals in nonprofit dining facilities.
Nelson was an impactful woman throughout her life. Genny Nelson passed away on August 19, 2020. Delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the public celebration of her life and accomplishments took place on July 27, 2022. As Nelson was a fellow social worker and advocate for human rights issues, we would like to commemorate her, her achievements, and all of her efforts towards equity for people without homes.
If you would like to donate to Genny Nelson’s fund, you can make a donation or write a check out to PSU Foundation:
PSU Foundation
ATTN: Katherine Hartner
P.O. Box 243
Portland, OR 97207-0243