Restoring Dignity: How Rose City JAM Is Changing Lives
Meet Christopher Lambert, 43. He is the Founder of ‘Rose City JAM’ aka Night Sports. Night Sports is a monthly event that provides a safe space for homeless youth. While they do service other youth, specifically homeless youth are the targeted demographic. Why? Chris Lambert used to be a homeless youth himself. In his article in Blxck Magazine, he told them, “When I was locked up, I had a class that made us dig up every messed up thing that ever happened to us… It was then that I had to share with my mom how much us being homeless influenced my lifestyle.” After serving a 20-year prison sentence for attempted murder, Chris told himself, his family, and his community he was going to help repair the community he once damaged.
Now, Night Sports is one of the biggest events for youth in NE/North Portland, helping homeless youth get a variety of different resources (including: clothes, haircuts, backpacks for school, food, and more).
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (or HUD), more than 1,400 youth were homeless in 2023. In 2024, nearly double that amount. In 2016, it was reported that 1 in 14 youth had experienced homelessness across America. In 2025, that number has grown to 1 in 8 youth or young adults who have experienced homelessness in their lifetime. A lack of resources usually follows this trend, leaving homeless youth without clothes, consistent food, or hygiene. Which is why programs like Rose City JAM, New Avenues for Youth, etc. are vital for the homeless youth in Portland. Not only do they help these youth fill the void… they help them keep their dignity.
Eddie Bynum Jr. is the co-founder of Rose City JAM. In late March 2025, he and his team of volunteers went to the Salem Youth Jail (OYA) and gave free haircuts to over 500 youth ranging from ages 12–20. Over 48% of the youth that had gotten haircuts that day were reported homeless when they were taken into incarceration.
This wasn’t about grooming. This was a restoration process. It was a process and one simple thing that helped restore the dignity and pride within these youth. Something so simple as a haircut has the ability to not only build connection with the advocates, but to rebuild the lost connections between the youth and their identity. As homelessness continues to rise in the youth populations, it is important our community not only acknowledges programs like this… but GET INVOLVED.
What’s happening through Rose City JAM isn’t just charity, it is their version of community repair. It's a lived experience turned into action. It’s what happens when people like Chris Lambert and Eddie Bynum Jr. decide they’re not waiting on a system to fix things. A haircut becomes a healing moment. A backpack becomes a symbol of hope. And a monthly event becomes a lifeline. As youth homelessness grows, we can’t afford to ignore grassroots efforts that are already working. They remind youth who’ve been forgotten that they’re still seen, still worthy, and still part of something bigger.
So here’s the ask: Don’t just acknowledge what’s happening; Do something!
Get involved. Volunteer. Donate. Spread the word. Because before we can disrupt things at macro levels… we must start at micro levels. Start here: https://rosecityjam.org
WORK CITED:
“2023 AHAR: Part 1 - PIT Estimates of Homelessness in the U.S.” U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Dec. 2023, https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2023-AHAR-Part-1.pdf.
Duff, Madison. “Unhoused Young Adults in Oregon Are Supporting Each Other to Get by.” Oregon Public Broadcasting, 24 Jan. 2024, https://www.opb.org/article/2024/01/24/unhoused-young-adults-oregon-support-each-other/.
Edidin, Jennifer P., et al. “The Mental and Physical Health of Homeless Youth: A Literature Review.” Child Psychiatry and Human Development, vol. 43, no. 3, 2012, pp. 354–375. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29153445/.
Fox 12 Oregon — https://www.kptv.com
The Oregonian — https://www.oregonlive.com
New Avenues for Youth — https://newavenues.org
Oregon Youth Authority (MacLaren) — https://www.oregon.gov/oya
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