“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
Three action teams make up the Interfaith Alliance on Poverty. These include a team focusing on Poverty Awareness & Communication, another working toward Transitions To Stability, and a third team championing policies through Advocacy. Each team plays a critical role in helping fulfill our mission of alleviating poverty in the Portland, Oregon region.
Transition to Stability Action Team
The Transition to Stability Action Team of the Interfaith Alliance on Poverty focuses on directly helping and/or promoting actions to reduce the effects of generational poverty. It is our belief from our work that to truly impact the effects of generational poverty we must help to empower families and children.
In an effort to do this our team has explored a variety of models and organizations locally and nationally including New City initiative’s Village Support Network and Multnomah County’s Idea Lab with their work on Human Centered/Collaborative Design. We coordinated with the NE Cully neighborhood and the Living Cully organization to support families at the Oak Leaf Mobile Home Park as they transitioned over the course of a year to a revitalized park.
In this year, 2020, we are encouraging volunteers from our member congregations to support local organizations that directly benefit families and children including Portland Homeless Family Solutions, the Mother and Child Education Center and the SMART program (Start Making a Reader Today).
If you are interested in seeking ways to help families and children transition from lives of poverty to greater stability please contact Dave Albertine, davea51@gmail.com, or Rae Richen, rrichen@hevanet.com
Poverty Awareness & Communication Action Team: Becoming Informed about Poverty
Revealing the “invisible face of the poor” is the focus of this action team. We recognize the need to understand the root causes of poverty and the generational impact upon families bound in a cycle of homelessness, poor education, minimum wages and inadequate support.
To that end, we have researched poverty data, investigated organizations that help the poor, and searched out programs to assist congregations in their efforts to alleviate poverty.
WAYS WE OFFER EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION ABOUT POVERTY:
Focusing on awareness of poverty requires a lot of education through hands-on-experiences, listening, watching, reading, discussing, writing – using all these different ways of learning. In the Fall of 2015 a group of over 100 people from twelve faith communities spent a full day in a workshop with Dr. Donna Beegle absorbing her insight from having moved from generational poverty to a successful professional educator. With her initial guidance and experiences in mind we began deepening and broadening our understanding of the roots of poverty.
The Poverty Awareness and Communications Action Team that evolved has been instrumental in establishing monthly programs and yearly special events focused on education. Featured speakers have ranged from City of Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, to Kaia Sands from Street Roots, Brandi Tuck from Homeless Family Solutions, Juan Carlos Ordonez from Oregon Center for Public Policy, Craig Hill & Mike Mylet from Beneficial State Bank, Marc Jolin from Multnomah County’s Joint Office of Homeless Services, Joy Alise Davis from Portland African American Leadership Forum, Dr. Mandy Davis from Trauma Informed Oregon, and many others. Our Action Team was key in bringing these community leaders from organizations offering services supporting those wanting to move out of poverty, and those on the verge of falling into poverty.
At the end of each Alliance Program Meeting we do ask our speakers for action items to be used by those individually in attendance, and to take back to our congregations. A few examples are direct volunteering at a shelter, advocating at City Hall for needed changes in regulations to favor affordable housing, writing letters or postcards to ask that federal dollars for food coupons (SNAP) not be reduced, helping to build a village of tiny houses, showing up at a meeting about residential infill or a Forum featuring candidates for City, County and State positions in government.
Recently our Action Team initiated the creation of an Information Packet about poverty for use by our congregations, and to have available on our website. These materials offer talking points for discussions, links to videos, suggestions of books to read, posters and graphs to share, and a list of speakers from organizations in the Metro area who work to improve the opportunities for those living in poverty.
In an effort to share news of the activities of the Interfaith Alliance on Poverty our Action Team helps to support publication of a monthly newsletter available by e-mail and on our website. Our Editor also features opportunities for action in the wider community, and highlights events relevant to eradicating the roots of poverty.
The Poverty Awareness and Communication Action Team meets monthly on the third Thursday. For further information contact Co-Chairs Holly Schmidt and Karen Nettler by emailing us at allianceonpoverty@gmail.com.
ADVOCACY ACTION TEAM:
We of the Interfaith Alliance on Poverty advocacy team coordinate our efforts with other organizations who share our mission of reducing poverty. Our primary goal focuses on the challenges in our neighborhoods and cities, but we also follow larger state and national issues and become engaged when appropriate.
Processes:
Our team holds meetings every third Friday of the month to educate ourselves on potential issues to support and to discuss various strategies. Our actions involve sending letters, making public comment and testimony, being present at City meetings, advocating at the State Legislature and informing congregations in the Interfaith Alliance on Poverty of our actions for their own advocacy.
In the recent past we have supported:
State Tenant Protection Bill SB608
State House Bill 2001 requiring cities of 10,000 or more to allow duplexes on lands previously zoned only for single family dwellings
State House Bill 5201 increasing revenue for affordable housing
Portland Street Response Program which changes the way 911 calls involving homeless are handled
Metro Bond 26-199 which funds affordable housing
Metro Tax Measure 26-210 which funds supportive housing services to reduce homelessness
Measure 102, an amendment to the State Constitution which allows local governments to finance affordable housing with nonprofits
Hygiene4All, a program to bring hygiene and sanitation to the homeless
Changing Portland zoning rules to remove barriers for faith institutions wanting to develop affordable housing
Alliance Advocacy Goals 2020-2021
Increase knowledge of and advocate for vetted policies on shelter-to-housing continuum.
Continue to provide support and activism for Portland metro houseless initiatives when needed.
Support Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) community challenges, issues and policies that address racism via Reimagine Oregon.
Broaden network and support of partners engaged in working to end root out causes of systemic poverty.
Some of the organizations we currently follow include:
City and County Government Agencies, such as A Home For Everyone, Portland Bond Oversight Committee, N/NE Neighborhood Housing Strategy Oversight Committee, Metro Bond and Supportive Housing Services
CRITERIA FOR SELECTING A TOPIC FOR ADVOCACY:
Our action team asks four questions to decide if a topic is appropriate for our advocacy efforts. These are:
Is it a cause, rather than a symptom of poverty?
Does it provide an opportunity for success in a reasonable amount of time?
Is there potential for partnering with others who bring expertise and experience?
Does the issue fit with our faith communities’ overall missions and interests?
To become effective and enlightened advocates, we have had guest speakers from the following organizations attend our advocacy monthly meetings:
If you are interested in volunteering and becoming part of the Advocacy and Policy action team, please contact Tom Hering, tehering@gmail.com or Sarah Carolus, scarolus3@gmail.com.