MARCH 2018 INTERFAITH ALLIANCE NEWSLETTER

 “Beneath our dome is a spiritual home, a place of community and friendship, a place to be inspired through prayer, a place for lifelong learning, and a place where every person makes a difference”. Congregation Beth Israel, located at 1972 NW Flanders,   will host  the  12:00 -2:00 PM,  March 1 meeting of the Interfaith Alliance  Come join us, share your thoughts,   listen to those working on the front lines of poverty,  and consider how together we can make a difference.  

Featured speaker will be  Brandi Tuck, Executive Director of Homeless Family Solutions, who founded the organization in 2007 with a mission of “giving hope to homeless families.”

 FEBRUARY 2, 2018 INTERFAITH ALLIANCE MEETING

Guest speaker at the February 2 Interfaith Alliance meeting, held at Westminster Presbyterian Church was Deborah Kafoury, Multnomah County Chair.  She introduced her new assistant Kim Melton.  In 2008 Deborah was elected to the Multnomah County Commission where she has worked to help families in crisis stay in their homes or be rehoused as quickly as possible.  Here are excerpts from her remarks before the February 2,  IAP meeting.

“Thank you for having me here today. If there is one thing that I’ve learned during my time in public office, it’s that no one person -- no matter how rich or powerful they might be -- can have the same impact as a community that’s working together in common cause.

This nation’s wealth is unevenly shared across our communities and the impact of that injustice is staggering. We see people sleeping on our streets, or huddled in their cars and many of us think -- this problem is too big for me -- I don’t know what to do to help. But the people in this room roll up their sleeves and get to work. So thank you.

“My good friend Israel Bayer often says that homelessness isn’t normal. In 2016, he gave a talk called Homelessness In America: The Journey Home. I hope you’ll look it up online. In that speech, Israel takes us on a journey through our past. He talks about the massive federal cuts to housing services in the 1980s during the Reagan administration that led to street homelessness throughout our cities.  From 1978 to 1983 the federal housing budget was slashed from $83 billion to $18 billion. And since then, we haven’t done much as a nation to make up the gap.  

“Street homelessness is the most visible sign of poverty, and the basic injustice of people being forced to sleep on our streets should inspire us to action.  But it is important to recognize that for hundreds of thousands of people in our community, poverty is a crushing burden they bear in the shadows.

“ On any given night, there are nearly 1,700 people sleeping on our streets. But across Multnomah County in 2014 one third of residents couldn’t afford to pay for the basic things in life: food, medicine and housing. That’s a quarter of a million people.

• 44% of the county’s population in poverty were communities of color, and 26% of the county’s communities of color were in poverty.
• 19% of the county’s population in poverty is foreign born, and 23% of the county’s foreign-born population is in poverty.
• 22% of the county’s households in poverty are single-parent households, and 42% of the county’s single-parent households are in poverty.

“And while our official poverty statistics have declined, they haven’t returned to pre-recession levels.

“At the same time, rising costs for health care, education and housing are putting a squeeze on families in poverty.

 “ So what can we do? Well first off, we can stop doing things that perpetuate poverty. ​Last year Congress passed a monstrous tax bill that repealed the estate tax, blew giant loopholes in our business tax code and generally discarded any sense of fiscal responsibility or fairness. One analysis had the top 1 percent getting 83 percent of the gains while in the bill’s final year, it raised taxes on 53 percent of Americans.

“Secondly, we can put our money where it does the most good.​ At Multnomah County, we are pushing hard to move away from funding jail beds and emergency medical services, and instead focusing on prevention, stability and housing. By focusing on wraparound services, whether its in our SUN Schools, our mental health system or in the thousands of supportive housing units across the county, keeping people stable and secure saves money and helps them build their way to self sufficiency. In October, the city of Portland and Multnomah County committed to doubling the number of supportive housing units in our community, creating 2,000 more over the next ten years.

“Racism can be both a root cause and exacerbate experiences of poverty for communities of color. That’s why we’ve prioritized investing in a broad range of solutions that meet communities where they are with strategies that best work for them -- culturally specific services in our youth services, domestic violence, aging and community health worker training.​ Creating an atmosphere of safety, trust and belonging is critical to effectively doing our work to address poverty.”

“Finally, and most importantly, we can change the conversation. We shouldn’t assume that poverty is normal, that homelessness is intractable and there is no hope for change. We have overcome big challenges in the past and we can build a better society that’s more fair and just.”  Deborah concluded: “I know that throughout Multnomah County there are thousands of people who want to do the right thing. They want to help. They just need to be asked. Our Community Health Improvement Plan​ is a prime of example of partnering with our community members in creating a plan for our collective success.

OREGON HOUSING ALLIANCE DAY IN SALEM REPORT By John Elizalde,  Co-Chair Poverty Awareness & Communication, February 15, 2018

“There were several hundred housing advocates gathered in Salem to learn about key legislative measures, how to talk with representatives and visit the representatives and ask for their ‘yea’ votes on these measures. Each attendee was matched with appointments to visit both their representative and senator. We were asked to review one bill during our visit.

HB 4007, Document Recording Fee: What the Oregon Housing Alliance has to say about this bill:

“Preventing and ending homelessness, building and preserving affordable housing, and expanding access to affordable homeownership are all key purposes of the document recording fee. The document recording fee is stable, ongoing revenue that provides critical and flexible funds to housing opportunity. Ten percent is directed to preventing homelessness, 14% to promote homeownership, and 76% to multifamily affordable housing development. Within each of these priorities, one out of every four dollars serves veterans experiencing housing instability. HB 4007 increases the fee to $75, raising an additional $82 million per biennium. HB 4007 includes a proposed First Time Home Buyer Savings Account, providing a small tax incentive for people with moderate incomes to save for the purchase of a first home.”

Another piece of legislation is also important this session: HJR 201 Constitutional Amendment for Affordable Housing, From the Oregon Housing Alliance:

‘Bonds are an incredibly powerful tool to help meet affordable housing needs. The Oregon State Constitution limits the ability of municipal governments to use bonds to build needed affordable housing. The constitution prohibits lending of credit by local jurisdictions which means that bonds issued by local jurisdiction for affordable housing cannot be used with other funding and the housing much be owned and controlled by the local government entity. HJR 201 asks the Legislature to refer to voters a constitutional amendment that would create an exemption for affordable housing. Additional flexibility will ensure more effective use of bonds to address local housing needs’.

“Readers of this report: Please call your representative/senator (use this link to find them www.oregonlegislature.gov/findyourlegislator/leg-districts.html) and ask them to vote ‘yea’ on these two measures. 4007 needs to pass with a 3/5 majority so we need ‘all hands on deck’ to support these measures.”    John Elizalde

  WHO WERE YOUR GREAT, GREAT GRANDPARENTS?  WHAT DID THEY DO?     HOW DID THEY INFLUENCE YOU?             By B. Gregg

These were some of the questions posed to those attending the February 2 Interfaith Alliance meeting by Kathryn Moran, Westminster Presbyterian, and Jessica Rojas, NE Coalition of Neighbors  who recently participated in a poverty training program presented by Dr. Donna Beegle.

In order to better understand “generational poverty” IAP members were asked to look back on their own roots and culture, starting with their   grandparents 3 generations back.

Except for those with Native American backgrounds,  all had come from  foreign shores, most aboard ships of varying sizes -- some in the hold of a slave ship, others aboard a merchant vessel, a few in cabins, most in steerage.     The common ingredient was hope that at the end of their journey they would find a better life.  That was true of   rich and poor, slaves and indentured servants.

They dreamed of land of their own, new opportunities, escape from tyranny, religious freedom  and a better life for themselves and their families.     They brought with them the wisdom, strength, and skills of   the generations who had preceded them, --  together with a resolve to create something new, a nation where everybody got a fair chance and were protected by a government of laws not the caprice of dictators or the landed gentry.

That nation, built by our immigrant grandparents and their children has now become a model for the world.     We are entrepreneurs, inventors, educators, engineers, scientists, etc.  We are also fighters for social justice, equality, a healthy ecology, and economic fairness--because not everyone  has benefited  equally from the American dream.  Kathryn and Jessica will be conducting further “poverty training” sessions in coming months.

ANOTHER DAY IN THE LIFE OF AMERICA

Although we are all horrified at the slaughter of high school students at Parkland, we are less affected by the 17 year olds gunned down on our own streets.  It has just become so common. Another shooting, another candlelight vigil.  Another day in the life of America. Last year by the end of August , there were  10,223 gun deaths, 20,530 gun injuries, 1,343 unintentional shootings, and 244 mass shootings.    

Gun violence is heaviest in neighborhoods struggling with poverty, unemployment, failing schools, and racial disparity.    Therefore, as we consider how to stop gun violence,-- in addition to banning assault weapons, improving background checks and providing mental health services,-- we need to consider  measures to reduce poverty. . Lack of affordable housing, education, health care, racial equality, and job opportunity provide the conditions for gun violence to thrive.

Fremont United Methodist will hold a community forum on gun violence on Sunday afternoon, March 11^th.  A Gun Protest rally to coincide with national marches will be held on Saturday,  March 24^th,  starting at 9:00 in the morning, at Tom McCall Park.   B. Gregg

 WORDS FROM DWIGHT D.EISENHOWER, US President and World War II Commanding General, Allied Forces

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”

FEDERAL BUDGET PROPOSAL

President Donald Trump’s  2018-19 Budget proposals are now on the table; priorities below:.

$716 billion – for  defense.    Trump declares that  “We’re going to have the strongest military we’ve ever had by far.  We’re increasing our arsenals of every weapon.  We’re modernizing and creating a brand new nuclear force.” 

In addition, budget proposes::

• $23 billion -- for a border wall, $2.7 billion to detain up to $52,000 undocumented immigrants, and $782 to hire 2,750 more customs and immigration agents.
• $21 billion -- for infrastructure spending; money also to be drawn from state and private funds.
• $10,000 billion -- for opioid treatment to fund Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics, which would require $5 billion be cut from current programs.  Spending would be subject to year-to-year approval of congress.

TO HELP PAY for these programs,  the Trump plan would cut Medicare by $554 billion over the next 10 years and Medicaid by $14 TRILLION.  It would also  completely eliminate 66  federal programs, for a savings of $26.7 billion.

  Since this is currently a PROPOSED budget, now is the time for concerned citizens to contact their congressmen.  

 For those of us who do not want to see cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Education,  US Aid, Affordable Housing, Food Stamps, Programs for People with Disabilities, Headstart, Financial Assistance for Students,  Home Investment Programs, Scientific Research (Energy, Climate), Five Earth Science Missions,  National Wild Life Refuge, Aid to Developing Nations, Low Income Home Energy Assistance, Global Agriculture and Food Security Programs, Environmental Protection, Migrant Worker Training, Public Broadcasting etc., our course is clear.   We need to speak out with our conscience, affirming how we want our tax dollars spent.         B. Gregg

  Remarks by Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis,  Co-Chair, Poor People’s Campaign

“Dr. Martin Luther King watched as a teacher in Marks, Mississippi cut an apple in four to feed four hungry students. That sight moved him to tears and inspired him to join with others to launch the first Poor People’s Campaign. “That same year, Dr. King traveled to Memphis to support Black sanitation workers who went on strike to demand respect and a living wage. They declared their humanity to the world with signs that read, “I AM MAN,” and their struggle helped fuel the Poor People’s Campaign.

“Today I’m in Marks, which, 50 years after Dr. King visited, is still one of the poorest counties in the United States. Memphis and Marks were the first stops on a tour spotlighting the harshest poverty in the nation. Over the next two months, we will travel coast to coast, from immigrant farming communities in California’s Central Valley to Alabama’s Lowndes County, where families are suffering from inadequate wastewater treatment. “We won’t just highlight poverty, but the inspiring organizing that is changing lives. On every stop, we will meet local organizers to elevate their leadership and invite them into our campaign.”

On Tuesday, March 6^th,  from 6:00-7:00 PM, at Ainsworth United Church of Christ,  2941 NE Ainsworth,  you will have an opportunity to learn more about the  POOR PEOPLE’S CAMPAIGN.   Program is being hosted by Ainsworth United Church of Christ, Sisters of The Road, Social Welfare Action Alliance, and the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP).  Coffee and snacks provided

ALBINA VISION By B. Gregg

The Albina Vision plans to restore a 30-acre area into a version of the largely residential neighborhood that existed 60 years ago, before it was razed for construction of the Memorial Coliseum and other structures.

Led by Rukaiyah Adams (Chief Investment Officer with the Meyer Memorial Trust) and Zari Santner (former Portland Parks Bureau director), the "Albina Vision" hopes to "rebuild a community, not just physical spaces" but "be honest about the destruction of this neighborhood, not back away from that history."

Aerial view of Albina Vision   Photo  BikePortland

“The plan will keep the Memorial Coliseum and Moda Center, but build new streets and buildings in the areas around them. It will also include a large "cap" covering I-5, Interstate Ave and the railroad tracks, stretching  from NE Clackamas Street north to beyond NE Broadway Ave. and west to the riverfront  It would provide public access to the river, create new buildings and streets, and move existing parking underground”

When Project Leader Zari Santner and Architects  Hennebery Eddy were invited to help develop a physical and economic vision for the district, they recognized the “opportunity to use design to reflect the needs, goals and aspirations of a community, convey possibilities for integrating the district into the city, and incorporate the relationships and connections to nearby sites, prompting community conversation and input.

“A group of engaged citizens and community leaders collaborated over six months, conducted five in depth work sessions to review the history of the district, its current configuration and status, the range of prior proposals and current studies under way, articulate values and develop a physical framework for the future.  These advocates of the city were given no specific development agendas, free to establish their own standard of a successful outcome.

“The resulting Albina Vision is not prescriptive, but rather is a framework to foster the growth of a diverse, sustainable, urban district – on par with great neighborhoods of the world. It includes short, mid- and long-term goals, considerations and aspirations that address transportation infrastructure, the built environment, and what it means to foster a diverse, sustainable community. “    )

Rukaiyah Adams, Chief Investment Officer of Meyer Trust,  has spearheaded the Albina Vision. She says she is driven by the belief that  “we are all just trying to take care of one another.” A desire to succeed in the capital markets for the benefit of everyday people brought Rukaiyah to Meyer Trust.

 She was born in Berkeley, California but grew up in the Walnut Park area of northeast Portland, now called the Alberta Arts district, and attended King Grade School. She holds a BA from Carleton College with Academic Distinction, a JD from Stanford Law School, where she served on the Law and Policy Review, and an MBA from The Stanford Graduate School of Business

Rukaiyah said the current Rose Quarter is an example of the “primacy of the car” and that she wants to, “rebuild a community, not just the physical spaces” of a neighborhood that she refers to as “ground zero for the discussion about equity and history in Portland.”

 LEGACY HEALTH - HILL BLOCK PROPERTY

On August 1, 2017, Prosper Portland, the Office of City of Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, and Legacy Health announced a collaborative project to develop the Hill Block property, a vacant 1.7 acre block currently owned by Legacy Health.

The property is located within an area that Prosper Portland and the City of Portland condemned in the early 1970s under urban renewal for an expansion of the hospital campus, displacing 171 families, 74 percent of which were African American. The focus of the new development is to honor Portland’s African-American community, support community housing and economic needs, and further Legacy Health’s mission of promoting health and wellness.

.CULLY HOUSING ACTION TEAM (CHAT)

REPORT BY Marilyn Mauch February 6, 2018. 5:30 pm-8 pm

 Number attending (best guess): About 35 – most were Cully residents; organizational reps included Mira Conklin, Leaven; Sister Phyllis, St. Charles; Brenna Bailey, Cully community organizer/housing stability; Jake Antles, Habitat; Cameron Herrington, Living Cully; Kathryn Moran, Westminster Presbyterian; several members of Portland Tenants Union; Portland Community College video production instructor and two students; Malin Jimenez, Verde; Marilyn, IAP/Advocacy

Community Walk Training on March 2, 3-5:00 pm  at Living Cully Plaza. Community walk extends through Cully Park and Habitat’s Simpson Street property,  picking up trash along the way.   I attended the last Cully livability walk and it’s amazing how much difference the litter pick-up is making! We found significantly less trash pick-up needed. -- Evidently people are getting the message that if an area’s clean – DON’T LITTER  there!  Another improvement has resulted from the   city removing the    makeshift shelter on the sidewalk adjacent to the Simpson Street Habitat property, one block  from Columbia Blvd. We want to keep Cully Park clean for its opening this summer and  the Simpson Street/Habitat property,   free from litter until construction starts.

.City Council Vote on the Relocation Ordinance, Feb. 28, 3 pm.   The Ordinance’s one year mandate is expiring April 6 2018. It enabled households served a no-cause eviction or a rent increase of 10 percent or higher in a 12 month period to be paid relocation assistance by their landlord. Note: The mandate does not apply to week-to-week tenancies or temporary rentals of a landlord’s principal residence for a period up to 3 yrs., or tenants who occupy the same dwelling unit as the landlord or a landlord who rents only a single dwelling unit in the city of Portland. On the 28^th, the City Council is expected to consider revising the mandate regarding the week-to-week tenancies or temporary rentals and the extension of the relocation ordinance. Note: As many as 24% of rentals were left unprotected because of the exclusions identified above

Opportunity to join CHAT Leadership Team. The team meets the last Wednesday of every month. New member orientation will take place on March 6^th. Details weren’t given, but Living Cully will continue work on breaking down barriers for homeownership in Cully for those without a SSN.

 Summer engagement strategies for youth – Living Cully plans on holding a youth CHAT team during the summer. The youth will decide what they will tackle. Some ideas produced by the workgroup were: 1) hold a bike repair workshop; 2) develop a theatre performance or 3) have a dance group; 4) hold soccer tournaments; 5) hold a carwash (or other ideas) to raise dollars and the youth would keep the money earned.

 Video “Tenant Opportunity to Purchase”  – Video to be produced gratis by PCC students and instructor. The video is to plug for TOP (tenant first option to buy), a new campaign that Living Cully will be mounting.   The video may be about 4 minutes in length and will probably open and close with a few “real life” testimonies of the crises experienced by Normandy families faced, when confronted with more than a double rent increase and 30 days to vacate if they couldn’t meet it.

 Allowing tenants an opportunity to purchase property, would give them a chance to work with non-profit partners (such as Living Cully) to purchase and preserve their homes.  The video will be narrated  and be a mixture of “real life” footage along with amateur neighborhood actors.   .

 entifying priorities for Affordable Housing Bond monies to be targeted/identified in the Cully neighborhood. 

I don’t know the portion of the $258 million affordable housing bond monies which are currently available; however, there is the hope/possibility that more bond monies will become available if  HJR 201 is endorsed by a majority of the Salem legislature. The push is for a constitutional change so that jurisdictions can issue bonds that permit such monies to be lent to nonprofits.

FEBRUARY 2018 INTERFAITH ALLIANCE ON POVERTY NEWSLETTER

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

“THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS” by Pulitzer Prize winning author Isabel Wilkerson provides an excellent commentary on the epic story of “America’s  Great African American Migration” from the South to the North and West between 1915 - 1975.  It is told through the true stories of four individuals who made the journey.  

Herself a child of the migration,  Isabel   tells how individuals responded to the Jim Crow  south, where despite their emancipation following the Civil War,  black people were valued primarily for their labor and compensated as the white land owners saw fit.    Every aspect of their lives was subject to segregation. If they expressed any resentment or independence of spirit, they could be beaten or lynched.  Isabel tells their  stories with graceful imagery and humanity.

“It was during World War I that a silent pilgrimage took its first steps within the borders of this country.  The fever rose without warning or notice or much in the way of understanding by those outside its reach.  It would not end until the 1970’s and would set into motion changes in the North and South that no one, not even the people doing the leaving, could have imagined at the start of it or dreamed could take a lifetime to play out.

They fled the warm, sprawling fields of the south for the cold, concrete cities of the north.  “Their decisions were separate.  joining a road already plied decades before by people as discontented as themselves.  A thousand hurts and killed wishes led to a final determination by each fed-up individual on the verge of departure, which, added to millions of others, made what could be called migration. It would become perhaps the biggest underreported story of the twentieth century.  It was vast.  It was leaderless.  It crept along so many thousands of currents over so long a stretch of time as to make it difficult for the press truly to capture while it was happening.”

On April 28, 1917, an editorial in the Cleveland Advocate wrote  “There is no mistaking what is going on; it is a regular exodus.  It is without head, tail, or leadership.  Its greatest factor is momentum.  People are leaving their homes and everything about them, under cover of night as though they were going on a day’s journey – leaving forever.” 

Breaking Away   “I was leaving without a question,  without a single backward glance. The face of the South that I had known was hostile and forbidding and yet out of all the conflicts and the curses, the tension and the terror, I had somehow gotten the idea that life could be different.  I was now running more away from something than toward something.  My mood was I’ve got to get away; I can’t stay here. “                       Richard Wright, “Black Boy”

BLACK HISTORY IN PORTLAND                  by B. Gregg

Although Oregon law prohibited slavery from the earliest days  of its provisional government in 1843,   it wasn’t enforced, and a number of early settlers from Missouri came with one or more slaves to help work their new Willamette Valley farms. In 1844, the Peter Burnett-led legislative council amended the law to allow slaveholders two years to free male slaves and three years to free female slaves.   In  1857 an all-white male Oregon constitutional convention was held.    A clause was approved in the state constitution which read:

“No free negro or mulatto not residing in this state at the time of the adoption of this constitution, shall come, reside or be within this state or hold any real estate,  or make any contracts.” under penalty of law.  At the same time Oregon voters cast ballots decisively   voting down slavery.    In 1860, Oregon’s black population was just 128 in a total population of 52,465.  

World War II produced change in established norms.  In 1941 following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States needed ships to fill its navy.    Portland-Vancouver shipyards operated 24 hours per day, producing one Liberty ship each per week. African Americans joined the thousands  coming from  cities and towns back east and the south to work in Swan Island  and  the Oregon Shipyards in Portland, and Kaiser Shipyard in Vancouver

The need   for housing was great.  Vanport, an immense prefab housing complex was constructed  on the site currently   occupied by Delta Park and the Portland International Raceway. Construction began in August 1942  and Vanport  became home to 40,000 people, about 40 percent of whom were African-American, making it Oregon's second-largest city at the time, and the largest public housing project in the nation.   Vanport was   destroyed at 4:05 p.m. on May 30, 1948,  Memorial Day weekend, when a 200-foot (61 m) section of the dike holding back the Columbia River collapsed during a flood.  Miraculously only 15 lives were lost.

When the war ended, many of the “newcomers” returned back east or to the south.  However, many African Americans decided to stay here.  Realtors observed a red-line practice whereby African Americans were not allowed to buy property outside certain boundaries, basically Union Avenue (now MLK) to the west, Lombard to the north, NE 33^rd to the east, and E Burnside to the south.  By 1950 this area had become a vibrant part of the city with thriving neighborhoods, churches, and  stores.

Don Frazier, Pastor of Genesis Community Fellowship, remembers growing up there, how everybody knew everybody, people sat out their porches of a summer evening,  kids played on the street and families dressed up of a Sunday morning to go to church.  It was a neighborhood that felt like home.

The Albina district also  housed a vibrant night life with clubs, restaurants, and music,  which Jim Thompson has described in his book “Jumptown”,  as “the Golden Years of Jazz”.     .

While there had been just a few hundred African Americans in Portland before the war, that number swelled to more than 20,000 during the war, between 1941-1945.  With people making good money, the clubs began to flourish and, in turn, began to attract big- name acts such as Thelonious Monk, Charlie Barnet and Nat King Cole. The scene also began to cultivate local talent. Paul Knauls told of his experience  coming to Portland in the early 1960s and opening the Cotton Club.  He said that Portland had become a mecca of jazz and blues at that point and the clubs had begun to draw many white fans as well as black devotees. He listed acts such as Etta James, Diana Ross, Martha and the Vandellas and the Four Tops as among those who came through Portland at the time.

In 1958,  an Urban Renewal program was launched by the City of Portland to make possible the construction of the Memorial Coliseum, (now Moda Center), the Portland School District Administrative offices, etc. Most of the black jazz and blues clubs in Albina were wiped out by urban renewal.   Eleven hundred homes and businesses owned by African Americans were claimed under “eminent domain” and demolished to make way for the new construction.

Residents forced out of their homes and businesses were left to find accommodations elsewhere.  Many ended up in northeast and southeast Portland, separated from their community.  Gang members moved from Los Angeles to Portland bringing problems with them.

On August 28, 1963, more than 200,000 people, black and white, congregated in Washington, D. C. for a peaceful march with the main purpose of forcing civil rights legislation and establishing job equality for everyone. 

Addressing the crowds, in his “I have a dream” speech Dr. Martin Luther King said   “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.  But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.  “But let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.  You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."  I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.   . With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.   “And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:  “Free at last! Free at last!  Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

Dr. King witnessed the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by President Lyndon Johnson, legislation that had been authorized by President John F. Kennedy before his assassination.   The law guaranteed equal employment for all, limited the use of voter literacy tests and allowed federal authorities to ensure public facilities were integrated. On February 21, 1965, former Nation of Islam leader and Organization of Afro-American Unity, founder Malcolm X was assassinated at a rally.  Three years later, on April 4, 1968, civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated on his hotel balcony.

Calling themselves the “BLACK PANTHERS”  young blacks across the nation took to the streets in grief and anger to protest social injustice and police violence.   The Black Panthers’ ten-point platform included “equality in the realms of employment, housing, and education, along with freedom for political prisoners and an end to police brutality. “

In Portland, about 20 young blacks organized as the PORTLAND PANTHERS.   In June 1969, their chapter opened an office on the southeast corner of Northeast Cook Street and Union Avenue (present-day Martin Luther King Boulevard), the first of four locations.  By the end of that year, the Portland Panthers had started a Children´s Breakfast Program at Highland United Church of Christ—where they fed up to 125 children each morning before school.  They also established the Fred Hampton Memorial People´s Health Clinic, extending free medical care five evenings a week at 109 North Russell to anyone of any race. In February 1970, they opened a dental clinic at 2341 North Williams.   When their medical clinic was condemned and razed to accommodate a planned expansion of Emanuel Hospital, the chapter moved their Monday and Tuesday night dental practice to the Kaiser dental clinic at 214 N Russell and their medical clinic to the former dental clinic space on North Williams.

“It felt good,” Oscar Johnson recalls. “We were doing something. We had the respect of the community.” New members were attracted to the social programs, and the Portland chapter grew, though it never exceeded fifty members, about a third of whom were women.   George Barton, a neurosurgeon, was their first volunteer physician, and Gerald Morrell was their first volunteer dentist. As head of Community Outreach for the Multnomah Dental Society, Morrell persuaded many others to join him.   The Portland Panther chapter lasted a decade, finally closing the medical clinic in 1979.

In 1960 the Portland School District implemented a busing program to desegregate schools.  The goal was to improve racial harmony; but the burden was placed on the black community. While white children remained in their schools, black  children were bused out of their communities to attend white schools.  Often children were assigned to different schools each year, making it difficult for black children to become familiar with their new classrooms and hard for their parents to attend meetings, etc. to provide parental support

Since busing increased the enrollment in white schools while decreasing the enrollment in black community schools, it was decided that more black community  schools should be closed.  By 1980,   it was clear the busing program was not working and it was hoped desegregated middle schools might help.   

Due to support from the Black United Front,  Harriet Tubman middle school stood as a precedent for community pushback against institutional racism within the school district.  In 2007, it was converted into the Harriet Tubman Young Women's Leadership Academy, as part of restructuring Jefferson High School. Five years later, the academy dissolved too.

At a community meeting in North Portland’s Center for Self Enhancement , Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero assured neighbors, “The Portland Public Schools Board of Education, and the district are committed to opening Harriet Tubman as a comprehensive middle school, grades 6-8 for the fall of 2018.”

 THE CULLY NEIGHBORHOOD

Cully is a highly-diverse, majority low-income neighborhood in Northeast Portland, standing on the site of a long standing native fishing village called Neerchokikoo,  The last indigenous person was removed in 1906   after which the land became  an industrial area. The NAYA center is now located there.

 In her  article “Healing the Dark Legacy of Native American Families”, Michelle Tolson, reports that according to Matt Morton, executive director of Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA) in Portland, Oregon,   over 20 percent of native children are in foster care in Multnomah County.

“Our families experience a much higher rate of removal compared to white families in similar situations.   Urban native people are 1.8 times more likely to have no plumbing, twice as likely to have no kitchen, three times as likely to have no phone and three times more likely to be homeless than the general population.

“What we are doing is creating livable neighborhoods and regaining cultural connections through the restoration of natural areas and reintroducing native plants and building open spaces for our community to gather.”

The Cully Neighborhood is named after English stonemason, Thomas Cully (1810-1891) an early settler.  Cully borders Sunderland, Concordia, and Beaumont-Wilshire on the west, Portland International Airport on the north, Sumner on the east, and Rose City Park and Roseway on the south.  It was an unincorporated area of Multnomah County from first European settlement until its annexation to the City of Portland in 1985.  Most of Cully’s development occurred between 1910 and 1960.  Its character from the outset has had strong rural elements, large lots, unpaved and meandering streets, and low density.  Cully is Northeast Portland’s largest neighborhood by land area and population.  It is over 3 square miles and its population as of the 2010 Census is 13,322.

Over the past 30 years working families from many different cultures have moved to Cully making it the most diverse census tract in Oregon.   Only 34% of Cully streets have sidewalks, 24% of residents live within ¼ mile of a park (regional average is 49%,)  85% of Cully students qualify for free or reduced lunch and the poverty rate is 17% higher than the citywide rate of 13% according  to US Census 2010.   Strong Cully-based organizations work together to provide complementary strengths and actions.

• Hacienda CDC is, a Latino Community Development Corporation that strengthens families by providing affordable housing, homeownership support, economic advancement and educational opportunities.
• Verde serves communities by building environmental wealth through social enterprise, outreach and advocacy.
• NAYA (Native American Youth & Family Center) has for 40 years offered a holistic set of wraparound services designed to create stability in the lives of Native American youth and families.
• Living Cully formalized these strong partnerships into a collective impact model in 2010, adding an additional partner, Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East.
• Together Living Cully  partners create economic, ecological and social benefit for Cully residents, particularly low-income and people of color, by: increasing job opportunities and building earnings for residents and neighborhood small businesses, providing opportunities for engagement, collective action and cultural expression, expanding safe, high-quality affordable housing in the neighborhood, increasing natural and built investment including parks, trails and healthy housing, and work to ensure low levels of involuntary displacement from the neighborhood.

 LIVING CULLY JANUARY  MEETING  

Marilyn Mauch, IAP Advocacy Team. reports that at the January meeting,  Tom Armstrong  recalled the Cully residents’ campaign to prevent the closure of Oak Leaf and said that in the last couple of years 20 parks have shut down. He noted that some cities have created overlay zoning to protect mobile home parks.

Cameron Hering, Executive Director of Living Cully, reported that   over 2,000 post cards were received from congregations and organizations supporting the overlay zoning for delivery to the Mayor.   On January 19, 2018 Mayor Tom Wheeler advised “Manufactured Home parks are a critical part of the affordable housing that we need in Portland.  We join Verde and Living Cully in wanting zoning and other tools to protect this housing from unnecessary change.  I look forward to getting these code amendments to City Council for action.” 

• NEXT VERDE CULLY WALKING GROUP will meet Wednesday, January 24th, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm Volunteers will be walking through Cully Park and Habitat’s Simpson Street property. They will be picking up trash and checking out the neighborhood.   If you would like to join the walk, Contact Marilyn  m_mauch@comcast.net)
•  WEATHERIZATION The City’s weatherization funds are making a huge difference in the lives of the occupants of mobile home park.  Home maintenance funds are also being considered in the short session in Salem.
• CULLY HOME REPAIR VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Brenna Bailey, community organizer based at St. Charles, and her team are trying to find volunteers with the interest, skills  and time necessary to facilitate work  as needed.   Anyone interested, please contact Marilyn at (m_mauch@comcast.net) or Brenna at brenna@latnet.org 

January Interfaith Alliance Meeting. 

Grace Memorial Episcopal Church “A Parish for the People in the Heart of the City”, welcomed the January 2018 meeting of the Interfaith Alliance on Poverty. 

“Grace Memorial’s hallways are constantly filled with music, paintings, sculptures, and energetic conversations,”  Rector, Martin Elfert states. “It’s hard not to feel inspired when you’re here. We like to think that we are using our buildings to give a gift to the community. And I know that we are receiving a gift in return.” Every Friday night at 6:00 PM,  we host a meal, in partnership with Westminster Presbyterian,    to which all are invited.  Rev. Elfert says he thinks of it as his “3^rd congregation.”

During the summer, Grace Memorial holds an Art Camp attended by hundreds of children over seven weeks to celebrate the arts.   Colorful artwork, song,  theater, and dance  fill the building as children greet friends new and old.  Grace Memorial would like to offer the camp to the children of less affluent neighborhoods  by providing scholarships to enable the children to attend.

RIGHTING THE WRONGS   OF BLACK HISTORY

John Elizalde, Carol Turner, Joy Alise Davis, and David Groff r and David Groff, West Minster Presbyterian, Co-Chairs of the Interfaith Alliance welcomed a crowded room of those attending the Interfaith Alliance’s first meeting of the year.  John Elizalde, First Unitarian, and Co-Chair of the Becoming Poverty Aware & Communication Action Team, introduced featured speaker, Joy Alise Davis, Executive Director of  PAALF (Portland African American League Forum)..

Originally from Jamaica, Joy Alise grew up in Ohio, and received her Masters of Urban Design at Miami University. She has expertise working on social sustainability projects, including racial equity strategies, collaborative design strategies, project development, civic engagement and community data analysis.

As Executive Director of PAALF, she has devoted herself to social justice issues  involving  the African American community in Portland.  Joy Alise  explained that efforts are now under way “to right these wrongs.”  The PAALF People’s Plan serves as a powerful tool for research, organizing, and implementation. By viewing the community as the drivers of change, this project engaged over 400 African Americans on their experience living in Portland. Empowering the Black community to assert their right to actively shape the city we live in, the  PAALF People’s Plan   hopes to ensure that solutions are informed by the people affected.

Although African Americans continue to “yearn” for their community,  lack of affordable housing has become another barrier to their return.  Nevertheless, efforts are being made  to support their “Right to Return”.  Joy encouraged Interfaith Alliance members to support organizations working to make this happen.

PUTTING SOUL  INTO BUSINESS  by Thomas Hering (Interfaith Alliance Co-Chair on Advocacy) and Mary Anne Harmer

“We wrote “Putting Soul Into Business” for one reason: hope. “Because we believe the Benefit Corporation is going to be a strong catalyst for a better world and for a better business by adopting and practicing the 3 P’s of People, Planet and Profit. It is our intent in this book to not only show why you should embrace this entity for your business, but how to do it. Along the way you’ll read about companies both larger and small learning about their decisions to become a Benefit Corporation. We believe you will find the transcripts for their interviews with us inspiring. It certainly was the case for us as we talked to these forward-thinking yet humble leaders.

“…It is our hope (operative word, here) you jump in and become part of this fast-growing movement and embrace what a short while ago seemed almost impossible: putting soul into business. “Hope.  --  Hope for the environment. -- Hope for social justice. “Hope for business. -- And Hope for the world.

You see, we believe we are at that proverbial crossroad where there is no more time. Either we stay on the road we’ve been on or we choose to travel the path less followed.  We’ve seen the writing on the wall. Global warming. Hate crimes accelerating. Corporate greed spiraling upward. “The good news is that a new generation of enlightened humans are saying 'enough is enough.' And they are making their beliefs and opinions about the environment and social justice known to businesses with the most potent tool of capitalism: their pocketbooks .  Here's what we write in the introduction of Putting Soul Into Business: How the Benefit Corporation is Transforming American Business for Good...

“A 2015 research study by Nielsen reports nearly 66 percent of global online consumers across 60 countries said they are willing to pay more for products and services by companies that are committed to positive social and environmental impact.    “Buy a product with a social and/or environmental benefit, given the opportunity (90% versus  83% adult average) -- “Tell their friends and family about a company's CSR efforts (86% versus the 72% adult average); and, -- “Be more loyal to a company that supports a social or environmental issue (91% versus 87% adult average)“All of which brings us back to hope and why we believe there is plenty of room for it in today's world.    “It's been said that "hope shines brightest in the darkest moments." Care to join us in leaving the darkness behind?“  If you'd like to see if your business is ready to become a benefit corporation, just take our free 12-question "sniff" test and find out right now.” ~benefitcorporationsforgood.com~

“THE ALTERNATIVE” by Mauricio  Miller – Book Review by George Johnson, Rose City Presbyterian

Do you ask why poverty is still prominent despite an extensive “War on Poverty” the past several decades?   .  According to the author most of what we, the well-intended, know about poverty is wrong. Social programs should invest in the strengths of the poor and not be simply charities.

The author, Mauricio Miller, entered US as a young boy with his mother and sister as an emigrant from Mexico.     His family, as with others in in poverty, lived in a social network of community interactions.     He learned that it does not take talent to live with resources, but living in poverty --- every day presents a new learning experience in survival. The prevailing thought by many in social work is that people in poverty make poor decisions, thus, continuing poverty.  Miller takes serious issue with that concept - they know what is best for them, but have insufficient resources or opportunities to live out their dreams.

 His thoughts went back to his mother.  She was extremely resourceful.  What could she have accomplished if she had access to even small financial resources?  She and other immigrants were extremely resourceful, relied on each other, and shared what they had.  Would not these basic concepts be the basis for a new approach?  Would not learning what they need to survive be valuable - a bottom up rather than a top down approach - in social service?  Would not those in poverty know better about living in poverty than those with post-graduate degrees from prestigious universities?  California Governor Jerry Brown was impressed, took his advice, and was awarded the grant.

The alternative approach  grew into what is called today the “Family Independence Initiative” (FII).  It began in Oakland, and has expanded into several cities (https://www.fii.org/   https://www.uptogether.org/) including Portland by partnering with the Multnomah Idea Lab (https://multco.us/dchs/mil).  The basic principle is that clients are in charge. They are paid to work together and develop their own plans, and in doing so they “educate’ the social workers. Program resources go to clients with much less to social workers. The purpose of this review is not to explain in detail or defend the FII.  Readers are encouraged to access the internet sites to learn and understand.

JANUARY 2018 INTERFAITH ALLIANCE NEWSLETTER

INTERFAITH ALLIANCE BACKS BALLOT MEASURE 101-JANUARY 23  By Tom Hering,   Advocacy Action Team Co-Chair Passage of Ballot Measure 101 will protect healthcare coverage for one in four Oregonians including 400,000 kids according to supporters of the measure. Measure 101 creates a fee on insurance companies, hospitals and managed care organizations to make basic healthcare affordable and accessible to every Oregonian. Close to 200 organizations support the measure including major healthcare systems such as Kaiser Permanente, Legacy Health, Providence Health Systems and CareOregon.   "Oregonians vote in January and we want to get the word out as soon as possible, If this measure fails, funding for Medicaid is predicted to be cut between $210 and $320 million dollars.

Vulnerable Oregonians including children, seniors and people with disabilities face losing healthcare benefits or coverage altogether."For more information on Measure 101, go to http://yesforhealthcare.org/supporters.

MESSAGE FROM MAYOR TED WHEELER “The end of the year is a time to reflect upon where we’ve been, the challenges we’ve faced, what we have accomplished, and where we resolve to go to in the year ahead.

“My administration did not plan to spend our first months governing from one crisis to the next, but we took on each crisis as it came.  Portlanders care about most:  housing, homelessness, safety, economic growth, environmental problems, equity, and government transparency and accountability. As we look forward to 2018 we must acknowledge that tremendous challenges lie ahead Solving them will not be easy.  But we are a can-do city and mine is a can-do administration.  Working together we can continue the progress we began this year.”

2017 blew in on freezing winds causing heavy snows to pile up on the streets of Portland and bringing death to the homeless who lived there.  Their bodies were found curled up in bus stops, doorways, parking garages, nestled by dumpsters, and lying on sidewalks.

As the year closed,   Multnomah County shelters were again  packed, leaving homeless families out in the cold with no place to sleep but the streets of Portland. When the City and County asked Portland Homeless Family Solutions for assistance, they reached out to their long-time partner, who is also  the newest member of the Interfaith Alliance, CONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL in Northwest Portland for help.     They  didn’t hesitate, but immediately opened their doors to provide "an emergency winter family shelter" from December 11, 2017 through April 30, 2018 to accommodate 75 moms, dads, and kids.     

Alix Prior is the new Family Winter Shelter Volunteer Coordinator. She will be in the shelter a few evenings a week and will be available for questions, concerns, and support. Please contact Alix for anything volunteer related for this particular location. Alix will be hosting orientations, working with new volunteers, will be sending out on-call emails, and will be refining our systems and volunteer roles as we become more settled at the Family Winter Shelter. You can reach Alix at: alix@pdxhfs.org and 971-865-1351

One year ago in January, speaking at Mayor Wheeler’s swearing in,  Interfaith Alliance Co-Chair Carol Turner, said:  “We know there is nothing more complex than the poverty that is visible in our city and the poverty which is invisible, with too many people living in the shadows, always anxious about the next paycheck and always on the edge.”  She indicated that “the current focus of the Interfaith Alliance is to help vulnerable families gain stability through access to homes that are affordable over time.”

Looking back over  2017, the Interfaith Alliance  has worked in several areas to achieve its mission of alleviating poverty in Portland.  Striving to make ourselves better informed, we reached out to organizations serving on the front lines of poverty in Portland.  We also learned first-hand from those experiencing homelessness or the affects of poverty themselves.  Through our members, monthly meetings,  newsletter, and website, we have shared what we learned with our congregations and community. We are also becoming more involved.  When officials from various organizations speak at Interfaith Alliance meetings, that is often the first step into a long-time collaboration, which is built step-by-step  learning  together how  we can partner to find solutions and effect change.

The Interfaith Alliance has  been active  advocating for  legislative and community efforts to  support affordable housing and renters’ rights,  protect children,  support healthcare, encourage racial equality,  promote economic security,     and call for education. Learning what is going on both at the Capitol and City Hall, is important. Getting acquainted with our State Legislators  as well as our City Council Commissioners   can make a difference when we are trying to obtain  their   support.

The Interfaith Alliance is also working to assist families out of homelessness into stable, productive lives.

In January,  the Interfaith Alliance joined with the Multnomah County Library “Everybody Reads” program encouraging the reading of the book “Evicted” by Harvard Associate Professor of Social Justice, Matthew Desmond.  Desmond has stated that ”Losing your home,and possessions and often your job, being stamped with an eviction record, and denied government housing assistance, relocating to degrading housing in poor and dangerous neighborhoods, and suffering from increased material hardship, this is the fallout from homelessness.”

Rae Richen, Rose City Presbyterian, worked to obtain the $1,500  Katherine Bisbee  Mission Grant.  $500 was used to   supply Interfaith Alliance congregations with copies of the “Evicted” book so that they hold reading groups. $1,000,was reserved for bus rental to help our homeless and at risk of being homeless  neighbors and their supporters go to city hall, state capitol, county meetings, etc. enabling them to have a voice at the table when decisions are being made about access to housing.

Holly Schmidt, Westminster Presbyterian, and Claudia Roberts, Fremont United Methodist organized events to promote the “Everybody Reads Program.”

In February, the   Interfaith Alliance joined  the  PORTLAND TENANTS RALLY - supporting an amendment sponsored by Commissioner, Chloe Eudaly requiring landlords to issue a 90 day notice  for a “no cause” eviction and to pay for moving costs.       The City Council voted unanimously to support emergency ordinance.

Members of the Interfaith Alliance headed to Salem to participate in the INTERFAITH ADVOCACY DAY IN SALEM  to  advocate with legislators for legislation regarding housing, hunger, health care, safety and climate justice.

Rev. Connie Yost, First Unitarian  offered a four-week course,  “ESCALATING INEQUALITY AND POVERTY,”   exploring inequality and poverty in the United States and specifically In Portland.     The congregations of First Unitarian and Westminster Presbyterian took advantage of Rev. Connie’s classes during 2017.  LOVE, INC. provided a poverty curriculum program to members of Fremont United Methodist Church.

 In March, the Interfaith Alliance invited Rob Justus to attend their monthly meeting to explain his efforts to assist the homeless into stable housing.  The founder of JOIN, Justus has now turned his attention to construction of affordable housing.  He advised that his company, “Home First Development” is driven by the belief that decent affordable housing is fundamental to the health and wellbeing of a community, Justus’s goal is to provide quality units that rent for $600/month which are at the same time reasonable for owners to operate and maintain.  He has used no public money. Working with non-profit and private donors, he has built 257 units and has other projects underway.

Advocacy members attended “STABLE HOMES FOR OREGON FAMILIES DAY on March 2  Focus was on tenant protections and supporting HB 2004.  That was followed on March 22, with their participation in the HOUSING ALLIANCE’S ADVOCACY DAY.

Also in March 2017, the Interfaith Alliance took measures to improve its communications.

 The  Allianceonpoverty.org  website was  launched.. From the beginning ,  a website had been seen as necessary to the effective communication of the organization, but until May 2016, no one had come forward with the skills to perform the task.  When   professional web designer, Greg Maffei,  volunteered his services “free of charge”, it seemed a miracle. With the assistance from his wife, Donna Prosser,  and help from Rich Hammons, Madeleine Director of Communications, and Bonnie Gregg,  IAOP Poverty Awareness Communication Action Team , the work was completed in  March 2017..

At the same time, it was decided an Interfaith Alliance LOGOS was needed for newsletter, website, brochures, stationery, cards, etc..  Many ideas were considered, then Dave Albertine of the Madeleine Catholic Parish, decided it was time to call in “an expert.” Dave’s son, Alex, is now a member of the US Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya – on the other side of the planet but fortunately only a SKYPE visit away. Together Dave and Alex came up with what they thought might be just the right idea.  The Interfaith Alliance members liked it, too!

Now that we had a brand new LOGOS, an INTERFAITH ALLIANCE  BANNER seemed important for when members attend rallies, march in  parades, hold gatherings, etc.  Rich Hammons,  Madeleine Parish, did the graphics, while, Jeff Behnke, Central Lutheran Church performed the printing of the banner.

The Interfaith Alliance on Poverty gained a lot more visibility in March.

In April, the Interfaith Alliance asked  Marc Jolin, Head of the Multnomah County Joint Office of Homeless Services,  to tell them about the “Home for Everyone” Program.  Jolin revealed that it is a community-wide plan organized in response to Portland’s crisis in housing,  During 2015-2016 they served over 25,00 people with housing and support services.  Marc indicated everyone’s help is needed.  To find out more visit www.ahomeforeveryone.net or ahfe@multco.us, or call 503-988-2543.

May was a busy month.      On May 18,  the legislature  sponsored HOUSING OPPORTUNITY DAY.   Tom Hering, member of Rose City Park Presbyterian and Co-chair of the Advocacy Action Team, and John Elizalde, First Unitarian, along with others from the Advocacy Action Team attended. 

John Elizalde, First Unitarian, and Co-Chair of the Poverty Awareness Communication Action Team had primary responsibility for organizing the May IAOP Seminar.   -- Dr. Mandy Davis,  spoke on BREAKING THE CHAIN OF INTER-GENERATIONAL POVERTY, STARTING WITH THE CHILDREN”,  before a gathering of Interfaith Alliance members and friends, held on May 7^th at The Madeleine Catholic Parish.

Dr. Davis explained that if we hope to help the children caught in generational poverty we need to understand how trauma sets the stage for this generational inheritance.  Science teaches that trauma (toxic stress and adversity) impacts the way our brain develops and functions.  Adversity in childhood leads to challenges in emotional stability, educational achievement, good health, positive relationships, and job success.

Dr. Davis urged those seeking to help children living in poverty to look for ways to create safe, stable and nurturing relationships so that the children can learn skills to reach their full potential.  Physical and emotionally safe places are necessary for children suffering the trauma of generational poverty.

IAOP MEMBER, AUGUSTANA LUTHERAN CHURCH RESPONDED TO HATE CRIME IN PORTLAND

When two Muslims were attacked and killed at a MAX transit station, Mark Knutson, pastor of Augustana Lutheran Church, called the community together.  Guest speaker was nationally prominent civil rights activist, Jesse Jackson. “POVERTY IS AN ANNHILIATION” Jesse proclaimed.  He observed that “We must leave the racial battlefield to seek the economic common ground that will enable us to achieve the moral high ground where all men are treated equally in a global community.  We must pull down the walls of ignorance to build bridges of understanding.  We must remember that regardless of our color or religion, we live in one big tent.”          

On June 29,  members and friends of the Interfaith Alliance gathered to enjoy a potluck and review accomplishments of the 2016-2017.

Tom Hering, Rose City Presbyterian,  and Sally Fraser, Grace Memorial Episcopal, Co-Chairs of the Advocacy Action Team, described actions taken to support tenants’ rights, protest no-cause evictions, promote affordable housing and recommend legislation.

Working with groups within the community including Living Cully and St. Charles Catholic Church, the advocacy team has participated in efforts to produce positive change, joining rallies at the City Hall and State Capitol, as well as supporting renters throughout Portland.

Rae Richen Rose City Presbyterian and Dave Albertine, the Madeleine Catholic Parish, Co-Chairs of the Transition to Stability Action Team reported that working with the Village Support Network, a number of Alliance congregations were successful in assisting homeless families into stable housing.  Since the close of the Village Support Network on May 1, 2017,   other options  are now being explored to provide this service.

John Elizade, First Unitarian, and Bonnie Gregg, Madeleine Catholic Parish, Co-Chairs of the Poverty Awareness Communication Action Team, reported on activities held this year.

Poverty Curriculum seminars were conducted at Fremont Methodist, Westminster Presbyterian, and First Unitarian by Love, Inc. and the Reverend Connie Yost.

In cooperation with the Multnomah County Library, the Alliance promoted reading Matthew Desmond’s book “Evicted” through the “Everybody Reading Reads” program. Holly Schmidt, Westminster Presbyterian, and Claudia Roberts, Fremont Methodist were responsible for spearheading the program’s success.

A four-hour seminar conducted by Dr. Mandy Davis, was conducted at the Madeleine Catholic Parish explaining “Trauma Informed Care.”

The Interfaith Alliance continued publication of a monthly Newsletter, edited by Bonnie Gregg of the Madeleine Parish.

The Interfaith Alliance on Poverty Website was launched in March 2017, through the efforts of Greg Maffei and his wife Donna Prosser with help from Rich Hammons, Director of Communication, and Bonnie Gregg, website assistant, all from Madeleine Catholic Parish.

 Speaking at the meeting was Jessica Rojas, NE Coalition of Neighbors Program Manager.  She shared personal story and perspectives on poverty.

Born into a poor family, Jessica advised that she learned that “real wealth” is found not in the accumulation of possessions, but in the relationships we forge within our families and communities.

Although we tend to think of poverty as lack of money, Jessica directed our attention to other resources of great value.  When the land, rivers, oceans and air become polluted, other kinds of poverty result.  No longer is there clean water to drink, fresh air to breathe, bees to pollinate our plants, soil to produce healthy crops, seas abundant with life, or forests to cleanse the atmosphere.  Jessica commented that “If we do not address threats to our environment, one day we may see the number of “climate refugees” rival those fleeing war zones”.  Other types of poverty include “poverty of homeland” suffered by immigrants, “poverty of discrimination” suffered by people of color, and “poverty of loneliness” suffered by the elderly, mentally ill addicted, and the homeless.

In July, the  “BETTER OREGON COALITION” gathered at Salem.   Members of the Interfaith Alliance representing Westminster Presbyterian, Augustana Lutheran, Madeleine Catholic, Fremont United Methodist ,First Unitarian and Central Lutheran together with the NE Coalition of Neighbors, parents, student workers, business owners, unions and social workers from all over Oregon as well as the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon  joined together at the State Capitol to inform  the legislature  that our “state is in crisis” and “to invest in people, not corporations!”

Rev. Mark Knutson of Augustana Lutheran Church gave a “barn burner” speech on the steps of the Capitol in which he quoted from Dr. Martin Luther King, saying ”I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits.”  Despite the efforts of the Better Oregon Coalition, recommended measures were not taken.

In August, INTERFAITH ALLIANCE MEMBERS JOINED CULLY NEIGHBORS

Cameron Herrington, Coordinator of Living Cully, advised that Cully is “the most diverse community in the state”, with 50% people of color, immigrants, and refugees.  The Interfaith Alliance is working with Living Cully to prevent displacement and assist low income residents in their fight against rising rents.

When repairs were needed at Cedar Shade and Arbor Mobile Home Parks,  Interfaith Alliance members rolled up their sleeves to join residents and others volunteering to do the work.      David Groff, Westminster Presbyterian, helped build a stairway at Cedar Shade  while  Les Wardenaar, Fremont Methodist, helped with window caulking at Arbor Mobile.  Marilyn Mauch Fremont Methodist, and Sarah Carolus, Central Lutheran joined those preparing a meal for the workers.

As a member of the Advocacy Action Team, Marilyn Mauch has become actively involved in Cully   She attends their meetings, helps as she can, and joins residents on walks around the neighborhood. As founder of the Backpack Lunch Program, Marilyn  has experience solving problems.  She believes that  problems are not solved by outsiders looking in, but by joining those who face the problems every day from within.

CHANGE OF MEETING VENUE

With the support of Pastor Beth Neal, Westminster Presbyterian Church has sponsored the Interfaith Alliance from its beginning in October of 2015. They first put out the call to other congregations to join them in learning more about poverty as presented in a seminar by Donna Beegle. Thereafter, they promoted efforts to  join forces in helping improve the lives of the poor in our community.  Interfaith Alliance members met at Westminster every month after that until this fall, when Westminster’s parking needed repair.   It was decided to find another venue while repairs were made.

In September,  the IAOP monthly meeting was held at the Madeleine Parish.  Father Mike Biewend,  has  supported the Interfaith Alliance, since its inception.  Whenever the Interfaith Alliance has had a major event to host he has opened Madeleine’s doors and warmly welcomed IAOP members and guests.  He has also encouraged his congregation  to be generous with their time, talent, and financial support.

Guest speakers were  Street Roots  Executive Director, Israel Bayer,  and Newspaper Vendor, Lori Lematta.       Israel said that “investing in affordable housing and homeless services is not only the right thing to do – it is the smart thing to do.  When we support and invest in affordable housing, we are not only investing in Oregonians today, we are investing in the generations of tomorrow.  Affordable housing – like our roads and parks and schools play a vital role in maintaining a healthy society for generations to come.”

Lori shared her personal story, overcoming emotional trauma, problems of health and addiction and escaping homelessness.  She told about life on the streets, constantly having to wait in line, having to be out of shelters by 7:00 AM, having no place to rest in the daytime, how some shelters treat you like children, being bound to the streets, the smell of “death” in the air, never taking a vacation, getting a new outfit.  She also shared what Street Roots had meant to her, allowing her to recover independence, income, and respect

Interfaith Alliance members attended and supported the Street Roots Annual Fund Raising Breakfast. Many congregations invited Street Roots Newspaper Vendors to sell their papers after services.

Interfaith Alliance members participated in the MLK MARCH FOR JUSTICE, commemorating Dr. King’s march 54 years ago,   supporting voting rights, healthcare, criminal justice reform, and economic justice.”

Alliance leader, Tom Hering, Rose City Park Presbyterian, in above photo, observed that

“About 400 (my guesstimate) attended the March this a.m. in downtown Portland. It was powerful to be a part of the MLK march for justice with so many faith communities!  “People I recognized from IAOP were Pastor Lynne Smouse Lopez, Ainsworth United Church of Christ, (one of the organizers of the March), Erik and Diane Anderson, Ainsworth United Church of Christ; Marie Langenes, St.Andrews Catholic Church; Beth Neal, Pastor Westminster Presbyterian; Jim Moiso, Rose City Park Presbyterian, Katie Larsell, Executive Director Unitarian Voices for Justice; David Dornack, Pastor Rose City Presbyterian; and few of the young ministers from Portsmouth Union and Salt and Light Lutheran Church, with whom Marilyn Mauch and I have been working in regard to affordable housing advocacy housing.”

In October Augustana Lutheran Church hosted the   monthly meeting. of the Interfaith Alliance.  Rev. Mark Knutson reflected on “Poverty in Portland”, as he has experienced it through his 22 years of ministry at Augustana..     He stated that “the biggest challenge of our day is discerning what the cutting edge issues of justice, peace, diversity, equity, reconciliation and inclusion will be, and helping position the church to be ready, as a voice of conscience, to be  proactive with others,  in doing what is right.”

In November --  Les Wardenaar,  member  of Fremont United Methodist  and the Interfaith Alliance Advocacy  Action Team wrote an editorial in support of the PORTLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOND MEASURE. 

He stated, “Experts agree that EDUCATION is the most effective way to lift people up and out of generational poverty. This is why our Portland Community College system is such a critical resource in the fight against poverty in our Metropolitan area. It provides accessible, affordable and confidence-building education and training to a population that needs it most.  And this is why--even if you are suffering from "voter fatigue" or think that single issue election doesn't matter--you need to cast your ballot.

Pastor Donald Frazier hosted the November meeting of the Interfaith Alliance at Genesis Community Fellowship.  In addition to being ordained as a pastor, Pastor Frazier also worked as  manager at the State of Oregon Children Services Division for 12 years.  He said that his “twelve years with CSD deeply burdened his heart for ministry to young people, families, and racial reconciliation.  He has also been a leader with Promise Keepers while pastoring at Mt. Sinai and began the Bridge Ministries program, designed as an outreach program aimed at reaching gang affected you and their families.

Attending the meeting was Dr. T. Allen Bethel, Senior Pastor at Marantha Church and also President of the Albina Ministerial Alliance. He shared his perspectives as a pastor and civil rights activist over the past 60 years.  He indicated his goal has been to bring people together to promote education, health, housing community, and justice.

Featured speaker was Felicia Tripp, Deputy Director of the Portland Housing Center who stressed that “home ownership is the key out of generational poverty”.  She explained that once you own your own home, no longer are you at the mercy of landlords, who can raise your rents.  You are able to establish credit, build equity, stabilize your life and that of your children”.  The Portland Housing offers educational opportunities teaching how to negotiate the real estate market, geared to the cultural needs of the applicants.  PHS has assisted more than7,000 families in becoming successful home owners.  Jackie Butts, Home Ownership Program Manager explained that PHS assists home buyers with both down payments and financing.

Other speakers representing  the URBAN LEAGUE OF PORTLAND included Danetta Monk, Housing Program Manager,  Ruthie Carver, Community Health Worker and Cayalaya Sand, Housing Specialist.  They discussed how the Urban League provides a wide-range of home ownership services including counseling and financial education.

In December,  the Interfaith Alliance   stepped up to protect residents of  62 Portland mobile home parks, by  launching a postcard campaign to support a zoning initiative sponsored by Commissioner Chloe Eudaly to make  it more difficult for landlords to close down a park .  Members of nine Interfaith Alliance congregation signed several hundred cards which were hand delivered to Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office urging his support for the measure.

Mary Li , Director of the Multnomah County Idea Lab  was guest speaker at the December 7, 2017 Interfaith Alliance Meeting held at Westminster Presbyterian Church .  The Multnomah Idea Lab (MIL), housed within the Multnomah County Department of County Human Services (DCHS),   tests new policies and innovations that help people and communities thrive.  Partnering with the national Family Independence Initiative (FII) and the Department of Human Services (DHS), MIL works to establish peer groups for families who have recently left the Temporary Assistance to  Needy Families (TANF) program.  The FII model engages families to share resources, provide support to one another, act as role models, and set their own goals.

Mary indicated  that the MIL  designs practices to solve problems, using critical thinking, and applied research  to affect structural change in racial justice and generational poverty.  “Be the change you seek” is their motto.   Instead of relying on  organizations to provide resources, Mary  stated that families/individuals need to build their own wealth by setting goals and joining “circles of support” to achieve them.  

SO WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE IAOP?              Key strategies for  2018 include:

• Advocate with local governments and other entities to increase the amount and availability of safe, stable low income housing.
• Explore and practice ways to have more direct connection with families who are experiencing generational poverty and support their transition to stability
• Increase our involvement with neighborhood initiatives to reduce poverty and continue work with Living Cully/Cully neighborhood and look for other opportunities.
• Continue to become more poverty informed.

CHANGE OF WEBSITE MANAGEMENT

Effective, January 1, 2018, Tom Hering, Rose City Presbyterian Church, and Co-Chair of the Advocacy Action Team will assume responsibility for the development of a new IAOP website platform to replace current model.

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2018 IAOP BUDGET APPROVED

Interfaith Alliance Treasurer, Les Wardenaar presented Projected 2018 Interfaith Alliance Budget for membership review.  Budget was approved as recommended.

Anticipated expenses will include

Communication

Website:                         $2500  Website expenses covering initial start-up and annual hosting fees, maintenance costs,  and payment for prior development

Speakers:                       $500  ($50 Gift Cards for personal stories)

Curriculum:                   $850 – Purchase of program materials to support trainings at individual congregations or groups

Printing:                         $200 – Printing & Photocopying (sign-in sheets, handouts,)

Transition to

Stability:                        $500 (anticipated costs associated with guiding individual family units, including possible training fees for support teams, incidental/miscellaneous expenses, and small direct support items such as temporary help with family deposits or expenses.)

Advocacy Team:           $700 –including $400 for Scholarships for Conferences (average $50 per participant, 2 per quarter)  and  $300 for advocacy activities)

January 4, 2018 – IAOP Meeting

First  monthly meeting   of the Interfaith Alliance will be held at Grace Memorial Episcopal Church, 1535 NE 17^th,  from 12:00-2:00 PM.

Featured speaker will be Joy Alise Davis,  M.A., Executive Director | Portland African American Leadership Forum (PAALF)   

Joy agreed to speak in response to the following letter from   John Elizalde, First Unitarian and Co-Chair of Poverty Awareness Communication Action Team.  John’s letter also  describes the Interfaith Alliance and provides insight into  its goals.

John began his letter, “I am part of the Interfaith Alliance on Poverty, a sort of new group of congregations working to address the systems in our society that perpetuate poverty in our community.  https://allianceonpoverty.org

“We’ve been around for a few years and have worked to involve our members in advocacy, education and helping people transition to stability.  Essentially this group of congregations realized that we were all deeply involved in direct service (and still are).  However, we wanted to make a difference, a longer lasting difference in the lives of our neighbors in need.  We are on a quest to find ways to make that difference.  We don’t bring answers; rather we bring a desire to help, to support and to advocate for organizations on the front line of these changes. “In early October Felicia and Jackie, from the Portland Housing Center, told our monthly meeting about their organization, its work and (most importantly) the people they serve.  We also heard from the housing team at the Urban League and learned about their housing services.  Dr T Allen Bethel suggested that we reach out to groups working in the N/NE area, specifically groups focused on the African American community, if we wanted to explore ways to be of support for that community.  We have an ongoing and developing relationship with Living Cully and appreciate their willingness to have us follow their lead and support their work; we seek such a relationship in the N/NE area.

“It seems to us that we, the Interfaith Alliance, would be served well to learn about the Portland African American Leadership Forum.  Many of the congregations in our alliance are located in NE Portland.  All of us know the ’10,000 foot version’ of the Emanuel Hospital/North/NE episodes from the middle of the last century.  We know that PAALF is involved deeply in the efforts to address the consequences of that era.  We are quite sure there is work we’d like to help with”

PRAYER FOR THE NEW YEAR…..

“May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that we will live deep in our hearts.

“May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people and earth, so that we will work for justice, equity, and peace.

“May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer, so we will reach out our hands to comfort them and change their pain to joy.

“And May God bless us with the foolishness to think that we can make a difference in the world, so we will do the things that others say cannot be done.“

 Franciscan Benediction

December 2017 Interfaith Alliance Newsletter

“On A Mission to Alleviate Poverty in the Portland Region” NEWSLETTER – DECEMBER 2017 The Interfaith Alliance newsletter is produced by the Poverty Awareness & Communication Action Team.     To contact:  Email Bonniejgregg@msn.com

“THE HAPPIEST SEASON OF ALL”…

During the month of December, we often awaken to frost on our windows and icicles dripping from the eaves.  We bundle up against the cold.   Darkness shortens our days.  Rich and poor alike enjoy a warm fire and a hot cup of cider.  We draw together, taking comfort from each other, which is probably the reason winter holidays came about in the first place.

Our pagan ancestors worshipped the sun, and in mid-winter on December 25 celebrated Deus Sol Invictus.    In 350 AD, Pope Julius I, usurped this date, proclaiming December 25, the official celebration day for the birth of Jesus Christ (Christmas).      Although Christmas is sacred to  Christians,  it has become a secular holiday both at home and  to many around the world.  

In Argentina, they decorate the boots of Father Christmas with red and white flowers, hold huge feasts, exchange gifts at midnight, and set off fireworks. In the Marshall Islands they hold song and dance competitions, enjoy feasts and have piñatas   containing little presents for the children. In Iceland, they celebrate the Christmas Book Flood.  On Christmas Eve they exchange books and spend the rest of the night reading them and eating chocolate.

In the USA, we are consumed with holiday bazaars, tree lighting, TV specials, Santa Claus photos, decorating the house, baking cookies, preparing for the feast, and, shopping for toys and holiday duds for the “kiddies” and ourselves.   The gods of the marketplace set our Christmas priorities. So what if we go into debt, and the toy breaks two days after Christmas. As the song says, “Christmas is the happiest season of all!”  If going broke is the price we must pay, so be it.

Unfortunately, there are some of us  already so broke we can’t  pay.…. One year about a week before Christmas I was working in the Northeast Emergency Food Bank & Clothing Center.  After picking up his groceries, a man came into the Clothing Center where I sat behind a desk  He asked if we had any clothes for boys aged 7 and 9.  I showed him where they were located.  He spotted two jackets and then selected some jeans, shirts, and sweaters.  Eyeing a pile of socks,  he looked at me questioningly.  “Help yourself”, I said.

“I don’t suppose you have any toys?” he asked.  When people making donations to the Clothing Center cleared out their closets and cupboards, they occasionally threw in a few toys.  I pointed him to a large box.  He found a soccer ball, a Monopoly game that still had most its parts and a couple of books.     As he gave me his items to be counted and bagged, he said “Lady, you have made my kids’ Christmas! In the food pantry, I got a chicken and everything for our dinner and now there will be presents, too. “  He paused.  “They gave me one of the left-over trees.  I don’t suppose you’ve got ornaments?” he laughed.  As a matter of fact we did. I pulled out a box of shiny balls from under a table.  He took my hand, and said, “Thank you!” a tear welling in his eye.  I found tears in my eyes too.  In that moment, on a cold, rainy day, in the basement of a church, among people too poor for the marketplace, a spirit of joy claimed our hearts. Because of the generosity of others, who were in fact strangers to the man and his two sons,  Christmas did become “the happiest season of all.”  B. Gregg.

DECEMBER HOLY   DAYS

During the month of  December,   sacred celebrations are  being held among  many Interfaith Alliance on Poverty congregations who are members of the Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Buddhist faiths.  .

 JEWISH

Photo credits: Flash90

In 2017,  Hannukkah begins at sunset on Tuesday DECEMBER 12 and ends at sundown on Wednesday, DECEMBER 20.  It commemorates the victory of the Maccabees over the Syrian Greek army, and the subsequent miracle of rededicating the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and restoring its menorah, or lamp.  The miracle of Hanukah is that after the battle, only one vial of oil was found with just enough oil to last one day = yet it had lasted through 8 days of battle.

Hanukkah is celebrated in Jewish homes  with lighting of candles, reciting prayers, and eating special foods.   Some people also sing Hanukkah songs or exchange gifts after lighting the menorah, which is also called a hanukkiah.

CHRISTIAN

Christmas service in Hamburg, Germany. Photo by Andi Graf, courtesy of Pixabay

“Fear not for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior; which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”  Luke 2:11-12

On Friday, DECEMBER 25, 2017,   the world’s 2 billion Christians will celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, whom Christians believe was sent by God   to bring salvation to mankind.   Many Orthodox Christians in the U.S. refer to the holiday as the Nativity.

Manger scenes are set up in churches and private homes, candles are lit and the story of the “Baby Jesus” is told, the babe born in a stable, beneath a bright star, to Mary and Joseph, surrounded by angels, shepherds, and sheep, to the accompaniment of heavenly choirs.  –

Christians celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas Day  by attending worship services.  Bells ring, choirs sing, families gather around Christmas tree and dinner tables,  baskets are given to the poor, and gifts are exchanged

MUSLIM

Eid Milad ul-Nabi celebrations   commemorate the birth of the prophet, Mohammed, in  570 AD. This year the prophet’s birthday  will be celebrated on DECEMBER lst.  It is observed on the 12th or 17th day of Rabi' al-awwal Islamic month.

Having lost his parents at a young age, Muhammed was raised by his uncle, who trained him to become a successful merchant.   At the age of 40, after an encounter with an angel,  Muhammad began hearing messages he understood to be from God. He began preaching these words, which are recorded in the Quran.   Eventually, he and his followers numbering around ten thousand. took control of Mecca. When Muhammad died in 632, he had united Arabia into a single Muslim political/religious body, but they soon divided into two religious camps.  The Sunni Muslims (about 80% of Islam)  understood Muhammed had wished his friend and father-in law to be the first caliph and chose him to replace The Prophet.    Since Muhammad’s own sons had pre-deceased him,  the Shia Muslims (about 10% of Islam) believed that Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, Ali, should have  been selected. Thus, the rivalry began.   Although all Muslims agree on the importance of teaching the Quran,  the Sunni are typically seen as putting more emphasis on the power of God and his determination of human fate. They are understood to be more inclusive in their definition of what it means to be a Muslim.

To celebrate The Prophet’s birth, Muslims  hold open-air celebrations or parades, carrying green banners.  Men and boys wear green, while girls wear pink and white.   A communal meal is held or birthday cake distributed at the end of the celebrations. Food is often shared with non-Muslims.

BUDDHIST

 On DECEMBER 8^th, Buddhists celebrate BODHI DAY, commemorating the day on which Siddhartha Gautama  experienced enlightenment.  Born in Northern India,  Siddhartha  left a life of ease within a wealthy family to devote years exploring extreme ascetic practices to better understand suffering.  Finally he resolved to sit beneath the Bodhi tree, until truth came to him. The next day, as  the morning star  rose, Siddhartha  experienced the  enlightenment  he had sought,  thereafter becoming known as Buddha, the “Awakened One.”   This one defining moment   became the central foundation upon which Buddhism has been built for the last 2,500 years.

It is a day on which followers renew their dedication to Buddhism; reaffirm themselves to enlightenment, compassion, and kindness to other living creatures; and understand the relevance of their religion as it applies to the modern world.

 Alliance Congregations Show They Care About Affordable Housing for Our Cully Neighbors! by Marilyn Mauch, Advocacy Action Team

Nine congregations in the Interfaith Alliance on Poverty, gathered 482 signatures on post cards addressed to Mayor Wheeler, asking his urgent help in keeping Portland’s manufactured home parks available as affordable housing. Specifically, we requested the creation of a new “overlay” zoning designation for Portland’s 62 manufactured home parks. The new zoning designation will make it more difficult for a landlord to close down a park in order to erect more expensive housing.

We have five manufactured home parks in the Cully neighborhood and they are crucial housing for the most vulnerable among us. Without this housing, the residents would have to relocate to East Portland, Salem or Vancouver, far from the community that most have lived in for many years, in many cases all of their lives. Some of the residents are disabled vets, the physically challenged, and the elderly --for them, the next stop would likely be homelessness.

Cully residents are meeting with the Living Cully community organization team to create what they see as an effective way to engage the Mayor’s Office regarding the overlay zoning change. A “meeting” or other opportunity with the Mayor would include presentation of the postcards signed by the Interfaith Alliance along with all the post card signatures being gathered by Cully residents. We’ll keep you posted!

HOME OWNERSHIP:  KEY OUT OF POVERTY

Speaking at the November  meeting  of the Interfaith Alliance, held at Genesis Community Church, Felicia Tripp, Deputy Director of  the Portland Housing Center       indicated that home ownership is the key out of generational poverty.  She explained that once you own your home,  no longer are you at the mercy of landlords, who can raise your rents. You are able to establish credit, build equity,  and are able stabilize your life and that of your children.

First step to home ownership involves learning what is required to make that possible.    The Portland Housing Center offers educational opportunities teaching how to negotiate the real estate market,  geared to the cultural needs  of the applicants (African, Latino, , etc.)  helping them “to right the wrongs” of the past  For instance,  for many years young black people were allowed to buy cars, but   were “red-lighted” by realtors and allowed to consider properties only in specified locations.  In 1991, the Portland Urban Renewal brought change, opening doors to homes in new areas, but in the process destroying the neighborhoods which had been their communities.

PHC works  with  organizations within Multnomah, Washington,  and Clackamas Counties in Oregon and Clark County, Washington They have been successful in assisting more than 7,000 families become successful homeowners.

Jackie Butts, Home Ownership Program Manager, explained the process.  She indicated that an income floor of $30,000 to $42,000 is necessary for purchasing a home in the $200,000 range, adequate for purchase of a condominium in Portland or a smaller home in outlying areas. PHC assists home buyers provide  down payments options and financing.  They will “walk  beside the buyer”,  but stressed that it is the home buyer who is responsible for taking the initiative.

URBAN LEAGUE OF PORTLAND

As an early advocate for fair housing and employment, the Portland Urban League was instrumental in helping to shape he City of Portland we know today.  Their mission is to empower African Americans and other Oregoians to achieve equality in education, employment, and economic security.  The League carries out its mission at the local, state, and national levels through direct services, advocacy, research, policy analysis, community education and mobilization, coalitions and collaborations and communications.

Speaking at the November Interfaith Alliance meeting were Danetta Monk, Housing Program Manager, Ruthie Carver, Community Health Worker and Outreach & Engagement Specialist, and Cayalaya Sand, Housing Specialist and Community Health Worker

Housing - The Portland Urban League has trained, experienced housing counselors and support staff to provide a wide range of homeownership services in both one-to-one and group settings.  Services include:

• One-to-one foreclosure prevention counseling
• Pre-purchase one-to-one homebuyer counseling
• Pre-purchase and post-purchase group homebuyer education
• Financial education
• Reverse, or Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) assistance
• Home maintenance
• Rental housing assistance
• Homeless and Homeownership services .

 Dr. Bethel,  Senior Pastor at Marantha Church and President of the Albina Ministerial Alliance shared his perspectives as a pastor and civil rights activist over the past 60 years.  His stated goal has been to bring people together to promote education, health, housing,  community, and justice.

DECEMBER INTERFAITH ALLIANCE MONTHLY MEETING

 Beth Neel, Pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church  will host the December Interfaith Alliance Meeting, to be held at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1624 NE Halsey, on Thursday, December 7, at 12:00 PM.

Beth Neel was ordained to the ministry in 1993, and was called to Westminster in 2011 to serve as co-pastor with her husband Gregg. We are told that “Beth knows her way around a committee meeting, potluck, and energetic Bible study.  When not at church, she enjoys reading books that might not have anything to do with faith, walking in rain or sun, trying to comb the dog, and having opportunities for hilarity with family.”

Guest speaker will be Mary Li, Director of the Multnomah County Idea Lab whose motto is  BUILD SMALL – LIVE LARGE.  The Multnomah Idea Lab (MIL), housed within the Multnomah County Department of County Human Services (DCHS),   tests new policies and innovations that help people and communities thrive.  Partnering with the national Family Independence Initiative (FII) and the Department of Human Services (DHS), MIL works to establish peer groups for families who have recently left the Temporary Assistance to  Needy Families (TANF) program.  The FII model engages families to share resources, provide support to one another, act as role models, and set their own goals.

GOOD BOOK READ - “Nickel and Dimed” by Barbara Ehrenreich

New York Times writer, Barbaraa Ehrenreich, traveled across the country working   at minimum wage jobs to learn first hand what it takes to survive with limited resources,  now revealed in her book, “Nickel and Dimed.”

''There are no secret economies that nourish the poor,'' Ehrenreich writes. ''On the contrary there are a host of special costs. If you can't put up the two months' rent you need to secure an apartment, you end up paying through the nose for a room by the week. If you have only a room, with a hot plate at best, you can't save by cooking up huge lentil stews that can be frozen for the week ahead. You eat fast food or the hot dogs and Styrofoam cups of soup that can be microwaved at a convenience store.' Without health insurance you risk a small cut becoming infected because you can afford neither a visit to the doctor nor antibiotics.

''Most civilized nations,'' Ehrenreich writes, ''compensate for the inadequacy of wages by providing relatively generous public services such as health insurance, free or subsidized child care, subsidized housing and effective public transportation. So what should we think about the fact that in America we are sending the poor out to make it on their own on little more than a quarter of a living wage?    Shame,” Ehrenreich suggests, “might be an appropriate response.”

NOVEMBER 2017 INTERFAITH ALLIANCE ON POVERTY NEWSLETTER

THANKSGIVING REFLECTIONS

“I do not think of all the misery, but of the glory that remains. Go outside into the fields, nature and the sun, go out and seek happiness in yourself and in God. Think of the beauty that again and again discharges itself within and without you and be happy.” ― Anne Frank

As we gather together this Thanksgiving, Anne Frank’s words challenge us to look beyond the darkness of our day, its violence, poverty and sorrow, to see the bright beauty of God’s glory that is within and surrounds us, and in that vision  be truly thankful.  B. Gregg

PCC  November 7 Bond Measure  - EDITORIAL COMMENTARY BY LES WARDENAAR, Interfaith Alliance Advocacy  Action Team 

Experts agree that EDUCATION is the most effective way to lift people up and out of generational poverty. This is why our Portland Community College system is such a critical resource in the fight against poverty in our Metropolitan area. It provides accessible, affordable and confidence-building education and training to a population that needs it most.  And this is why--even if you are suffering from "voter fatigue" or think that single issue election doesn't matter--you need to cast your ballot.

If passed, the PCC Bond Measure would authorize $185 million in bonds over a 16-year period, money that would enable:

• (1)modernization of the college's workforce training center in Northeast Portland;
• (2) construction of a Child Development Center on the Rock Creek Campus;
• (3) renovation of the  Health Technology Center on the Sylvania campus;
• (4) modernization of technology and equipment;
• (5) creation of additional training spaces for health care professions programs.

These effects are in addition to basic maintenance, extended life, and the "greening" of PCC facilities and processes. Because this is a sustaining bond measure rather than an entirely new spending authorization, it is not expected to increase the tax burden on Portland homeowners.

In the current Portland economy, many high-paying, family-sustaining jobs remain unfilled for lack of qualified candidates. PCC is our most obvious resource to strike a blow against poverty by bridging this gap, but it needs more resources, more program capacity, and more efficiency in its training. Meanwhile, a wide variety of non-profits are working hard to provide poverty-entrapped youth and adults with the awareness, self-confidence, and sustaining support to go after these opportunities. But all of these programs depend on a vital and expanding community college system.

PCC tuition costs roughly half that of a state university (one-tenth that of a private college), not to mention convenience and lower cost living expenses. Offering degrees and certificates in more than 100 areas of study, PCC ranks #1 among all Oregon higher education institutions in terms of graduates' earnings compared to tuition costs (2017 Portland Business Journal).

According to PCC sources, every dollar invested in the PCC system returns $12.50 to Oregon's economy in added state revenue and social savings (e.g. medical, elfare, unemployment payments). Our community not only needs this resource, but it turns out to be a great investment of taxpayer dollars.

The simplest yet most important action that Interfaith Alliance members can take against Poverty is to VOTE for measures and candidates that are the most likely to yield positive results. Keep that in mind as November 7 approaches!!!

PORTLAND PRIORITIES for  $258 million affordable housing bond

Source:   Oregon Live, Jessica Floum,   October 11, 2017

The Portland City Council approved spending guidelines  for the $258 million to focus on people of color, families with children, and the homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.  Dan Saltzman proposed  and the City Council  approved adding kids aging out of the foster system.

Mayor Ted Wheeler said, “The time for action is clearly upon us,  Portland families need safe accessible and quality housing and I believe this strategic framework provides us a direction for accomplishing that.”

1,300 affordable housing opportunities are required by the bond to accommodate those who make 60%  or less than the area median income,  and 600 units must be  available to those who make 30% or less,   In addition, 300 of Portland’s lowest income earners will be provided access to medical, mental health, addiction, and other social services.

NOVEMBER 2 INTERFAITH ALLIANCE MEETING – 12:00-2:00

You are invited to join the work being planned by the Interfaith Alliance at their next meeting being held  at Genesis Community Fellowship, 5425 NE 27^th Avenue.

 The meeting will be hosted by Genesis Pastor Donald Frazier.    Ordained in 1983,   Pastor Frazier received  his Masters in Specialized Ministry in 2004 from Western Seminary.   The first few years of his ministry Pastor Frazier was bi-vocational, working as a manager at the State of Oregon Children Services Division.  In that role, he  developed culturally sensitive training for employees to insure that culturally competent programs were developed for ethnic clients. He states that his “ twelve years with CSD deeply burdened his heart for ministry to young people, family, and racial reconciliation.”

He has also been a leader with Promise Keepers   while pastoring at Mt. Sinai and   began the Bridge Ministries Program, designed as an outreach program aimed at reaching gang affected youth and their families. High risk and at-risk youth were referred to the program by the State of Oregon, Juvenile court, local high schools, and the community.  In addition to working with the youth, his work included a component of racial reconciliation to promote cross-racial understanding within churches. These experiences eventually led to his present position as the founder and Senior Pastor of Genesis Community Fellowship, a relevant, non-traditional, multi-cultural church in Northeast Portland.

Pastor Frazier has invited Dr. T Allen Bethel to join us the meeting.  Dr. Bethel has been Senior Pastor at Maranatha Church for fifteen years,  and also serves on the faculty of North Portland Bible College and Warner Pacific College. Dr. Bethel is  president of the board for Albina Ministerial Alliance, a group of spiritual leaders who speak out on issues of police accountability.

 Featured speaker will be Felecia Tripp, Deputy Director of the Portland Housing Center,

The Portland Housing Center   was formed 23 years ago in  partnership with the City of Portland and local banks to assist first-time home buyers in obtaining mortgages.  It has since helped more than 7,000 families become homeowners.

NEW ZONING FOR  MOBILE HOME RESIDENTS

Members of the Interfaith Alliance are joining with Living Cully, St. Charles Church and a collaboration of non-profit organizations to establish a new zoning overlay designation to protect low-income housing for the residents of 62 mobile home parks in Portland.  The Cully neighborhood alone has five mobile home parks at risk     The new zoning law would make it more difficult for owners to shut down parks to allow construction of housing too expensive for mobile park residents.

City Commissioners Chloe Eudaly and Amanda Fritz are already on board in support of the new zoning designation, and efforts are underway to persuade May Ted Wheeler to add his support as well.

Postcards have been prepared for individual citizen’s signature requesting the mayor to approve the new zoning designation.  The cards are being distributed among Interfaith Alliance faith-based communities and non-profit organizations including Habitat for Humanity, Verde, ANAYA, and Hacienda.     The postcards will not be mailed, but will be  hand delivered to city hall on November 13.

NOVEMBER 15  SUPPORT NORMANDY APARTMENT RENTERS AT RIGLER SCHOOL- 5:00 PM -  By Marilyn Mauch, Interfaith Alliance Advocacy Action Team

Come at 5:00 pm and enjoy music and enchiladas made by Rigler School families.The program begins at 6:00 pm and includes a skit dramatizing the reactions of the 18 families of the Normandy Apartments and their 26 Rigler school children when they were informed by landlords that their rents were being raised by 100%!

To avoid having the school children’s learning and living circumstances disrupted, Living Cully, an anti-poverty advocacy group located in the Cully neighborhood stepped forward to help the families find nearby housing.    Multnomah County has allocated $48,000 to cover the rent increases that have threatened displacement of the schoolchildren and their families.  City officials are also being invited.

DECEMBER 7 INTERFAITH ALLIANCE MEETING  12:00—2:00 PM

Westminster Presbyterian Church will host the December 10 Interfaith Alliance Monthly Meeting.  Featured speaker will be Mary Li, Director of the Multnomah Idea Lab.

. VETERANS’ DAY

On November 11, 2017, we commemorate the bravery and sacrifice of those who have committed their lives in defense of our country and the values of democracy.  Again,  Canadian Lt. Colonel, John McCrae’s words inspire us.

IN FLANDERS’ FIELDS  ….. the poppies blow between the crosses, row on row, that mark our place; and in the sky the larks, still bravely singing fly, scarce heard amid the guns below.  We are the Dead.  Short days ago we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, loved and were loved, and now we lie in Flanders fields.  Take up our quarrel with the foe.  To you from falling hands we throw the torch, be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep,   though poppies grow, in Flanders fields.

In 2017, our fallen warriors have been transported from battlefields in Afghanistan, Niger, Iraq, etc.,  to    cemeteries across the U.S.A.     Therefore, we, too, must keep the faith, carrying high the torch now passed to us, honoring those who have given their lives so that we and the rest of the world may know the blessings of liberty. B. Gregg

OCTOBER 2017 INTERFAITH ALLIANCE NEWSLETTER

The  October 5th  Interfaith Alliance meeting will be held in Room 27,  at Augustana Lutheran Church, 2710 NE 14th Street, from 12:00 - 2:00 PM.

Rev.  Mark Knutson, Pastor Augustana Lutheran Church

The October 5th  Interfaith Alliance meeting will be held in Room 27,  at Augustana Lutheran Church, 2710 NE 14th Street, from 12:00 - 2:00 PM.

Rev. Mark Knutson, will reflect on  "Poverty in Portland”, as he has experienced it through his 22 years as pastor of Augustana Lutheran Church.

He advises that  he came to Augustana  in 1995 in response to "God’s call and the possibility of growing a multicultural congregation that is unafraid to step out in faith on the important issues of our day for the well being of all."

 He says that the biggest challenge now is "Discerning what the cutting edge issues of justice, peace, diversity, equity, reconciliation and inclusion are going to be and helping to position the church to be ready and relevant to be proactive with others as a voice of conscience and a move in action always ready to step out in faith to do what is right."

Following Rev. Knutson’s remarks, Interfaith Alliance Co-Chair, Carol Turner, will lead a discussion of ways the Alliance may work to improve poverty awareness and assist those in poverty during coming months

SMALL STEPS, RESPECT & A $20 BILL -- Based on Presentation by Israel Bayer, Executive Director of Street Roots, and Lori Lematta, Street Roots Vendor , by B. Gregg

When Street Roots Executive Director, Israel Bayer, spoke to a meeting of the Interfaith Alliance on Poverty, held at the Madeleine Church, on August 31^st, he was asked  how the Interfaith Alliance could help the homeless. Israel said, “Small steps, they make a difference.”  He also emphasized the importance of treating everyone with respect.

In the last month, we have witnessed how hurricanes, fire, earthquakes.  and flood can  render people homeless.   In the blink of an eye,  the accumulations of a lifetime are gone.  We all grieve and dig deep in our pockets to help as we can.

Those surviving on the street of Portland  may have survived circumstances every bit as harrowing as a hurricane or earthquake, but that is not how we perceive them.  We are more inclined to view them as victims of their own making  We look away, not wanting to touch or be touched,  afraid to admit our common humanity, to see ourselves in them and  realize that “there but for the grace of God go I.”

Israel explained that our current level of homelessness was caused by the confluence of many factors: the elimination of Federal low cost-housing, the rise in property values and rent, the decrease of affordable housing, the de-institutionalization  of the mentally ill, the rise of veterans produced by middle east wars, the increase in addiction, and the impact of the 2008 recession causing women and families to join the ranks of the homeless, etc.

In his September  1, 2017   Street Roots editorial, Israel wrote:

 “We're making a difference on homelessness, even if it's hard to see. For every person the system finds housing for, there are more people becoming homeless

“Thinking about solving the issue of homelessness can feel almost impossible. For the general public it’s hard to understand the relationship that nonprofits and government play in working to give people a safe place to call home. It’s understandable. Why, after spending all of this money, are people still sleeping on our streets? It’s a valid question.

“If you commute into downtown every day for any length of time, it may be hard to notice a difference in the numbers of people that are visibly homeless. It’s because you’re probably not.

“Let me explain.

“We do know how to give people a safe place to call home.

“Last year, both Portland and Multnomah County helped nearly 5,000 individuals and families find housing placements in the region. An additional 6,000 people received prevention services, such as rent assistance, to help them stay in housing.

“What the public doesn’t always see is that for every person the system finds housing for, there are more individuals and families becoming homeless on what feels like a daily basis. The struggle is real.

In short, the reason you’re not seeing a visible difference in the homeless population isn't because we don’t know how to house people; it’s because we can’t stop the flow of people hitting our streets.

“In short, the reason you’re not seeing a visible difference in the homeless population isn't because we don’t know how to house people; it’s because we can’t stop the flow of people hitting our streets. Of course, any logical human being understands that when you have the kinds of rent increases the region and state are experiencing -- without any regulations  --there are bound to be thousands of people left out in the cold. Not to mention funding for housing itself, which was once a federal priority, has been cut to the bone.

We all end up paying the price. Don’t let anyone fool you. The housing crisis that Portland is experiencing is also being experienced in communities all over Oregon.

“I believe the lack of investment in affordable housing statewide has many more residents from around the state coming to Portland to seek services.

“The rich may be coming here from California, Texas and points beyond, but poor folks are migrating to Portland from small communities and suburbs across the state. 

“It’s a perfect storm for Portland.

“If the federal government doesn’t prioritize housing, and the region and the state aren’t going to prioritize affordable housing, then it leaves Portland to its own devices.

“In many ways, it’s an example of what’s happening politically and socially in our country.

“People and communities begin to do more with less and develop a scarcity mentality that creates a dynamic that we should only take care of our own. Unfortunately for the poor, in some communities, the mentality is that poverty has become a burden. It’s a sad affair.

“These realities are playing out in local politics and on the national stage with devastating impacts to our country. Everyone begins to point their finger at someone else. It’s a never-ending cycle, unless we as a community choose to rise above the noise and rhetoric.

“The reality is, of course, that Portland and Multnomah County should continue investing in affordable housing and homeless services. It’s not only the right thing to do; it’s the smart thing to do.

“When we support and invest in affordable housing, we are not only investing in Oregonians today, but we are investing in future generations. Affordable housing, like our roads and parks and schools, plays a vital role in maintaining a healthy society for generations to come.

“All of this is to say that it’s true: It is hard to see how we are collectively making a difference when we continue to see thousands of people sleeping on our streets. For the thousands of people we are supporting with a safe place to call home, it makes all the difference in the world.”

When asked  how the Interfaith Alliance could help, Israel said, “Small steps, they make a difference.”  How you interact with those you meet on the street is important   Israel   encouraged   congregations to consider giving a “Street Roots” vendor the opportunity to sell his/her newspapers after Sunday services.  Several Interfaith Alliance Churches are now considering this possibility

Street Roots Vendor, Lori Lamatta, shared her personal story, overcoming   emotional trauma, problems of health and addiction, and escaping homelessness.  She told about life on the streets, constantly having to wait in lines,  having to be out of the shelters by 7:00 AM,  having no place to rest in the daytime, how some shelters treat you like children,  being bound to the streets,  the smell of “death” in the air, never taking a vacation, buying a new outfit, etc.

She confided that one year at Christmas she was so depressed she had considered suicide.  She contemplated “writing the note”.  She said you may think about suicide, but it isn’t real until “you write the note.”  Then she said a woman stopped beside her and gave her a $20 bill, wishing her a “Merry Christmas”.  She said that turned everything around.  She bought a pizza and shared it with a friend on the street.

Lori sells her newspapers by a bakery, and on Sunday mornings at Westminster Presbyterian church.  That is where she and Carol Turner, Interfaith Alliance Co-Chair got acquainted.    Before selling her papers at the coffee hour following church services, Lori attends services herself.  She confided that sitting in the pews and listening to the music and pastor’s sermon is an uplifting experience.  The parishioners now know her as “Lori” and she knows them by name.

Selling “Street Roots” allows the homeless    to become independent entrepreneurs adding to their income.  It enables Portlanders   to purchase a “cutting edge” newspaper at a bargain price.  But it does much more.  It provides an opportunity for both buyer and seller to get to know each other.  Although vendors   understand   life on the streets, they also share the common concerns of those who buy their papers – the latest  weather forecast and whatever is happening in the nation, the world, and people’s lives.  Therefore, selling newspapers becomes a human exchange, not dependent upon economic or social status.

None of us is born a success or failure, although the circumstances may point us in one direction or the other.    None of us want to be seen as poor, homeless, addicted, or an object of pity.  We want respect!   After telling her courageous story, Lori emphasized the importance of treating others as you, yourself would want to be treated, as a  fellow human being, sharing life’s journey,  in need of love, respect, and occasionally a helping hand or a $20 bill.  B. Gregg

October 5 -   Street Roots Breakfast Fund Raiser  at Oregon Convention Center, Ballroom 254. Doors open at 7:30 and the program will be from 8:00-9:00 am. For more information  contact the Development Director, Sarah Cloud at scloud@streetroots.org

FAREWELL LETTER FROM ISRAEL BAYER

Dear Street Rooters,

I almost can’t believe I’m writing this, but I’m announcing today that I’ll be departing Street Roots at the end of this year. I’ve lived and breathed Street Roots and homeless advocacy for the past 15 years of my life. I’ll be taking six months off to write a book and to take a breather before deciding what’s next in my life. Concerning Street Roots, the organization has never been in a better place. Under the leadership of Executive Editor Joanne Zuhl, the newspaper is thriving and will continue to do so. The organization itself is in the best financial standing it’s ever been, and we have a great team of dedicated staff, a strong board of directors and an amazing readership that will lead Street Roots into the next era. Street Roots is currently working with our board of directors on a transition plan.

How to give context to the past 15 years at Street Roots? It’s hard to describe. I’m letting go of something I’ve loved with all of my heart for most of my adult life. My love for Street Roots, the neighborhood I’ve worked in for years, and the city I live in is bigger than anything I could describe. First and foremost, the hundreds upon hundreds of hours I’ve spent with people on the streets has been by far the most rewarding. It’s also been the most heartbreaking. Being able to take part in seeing so many people rise above the trauma of homelessness and go on to do great things is inspiring. Witnessing the power of the human spirit when faced with some of the harshest living conditions in the modern world is both daunting and hopeful. It’s the reason that regardless of any of the hardships we face at Street Roots, we always remain optimistic. I’ve also witnessed more people die on the streets that I can count. Their ghosts haunt me at times, and I will also have a place in my heart for those who didn’t make it out of the hell that is homelessness.

Things I’m the most proud of are that together, as a team, we have inserted ourselves into the local media landscape, while becoming a fixture of hope and dignity for both people on the streets and readers a like. Street Roots has become an award-winning weekly publication, helping change the face of homelessness in Portland.  

I’d argue pound for pound we are one of the best street newspapers in the world and one of the best newspapers in the Pacific Northwest. Street Roots has worked with Multnomah County and the medical examiner’s office to create an annual count of people who have died on the streets. We helped deliver Portland’s first affordable housing public ballot initiative. We continue to fight for the civil rights of people on the streets. We’ve helped maintain housing for hundreds of individuals and families. The list goes on. Street Roots isn’t afraid to think big, to plan thoughtfully and to execute. That couldn’t be done without the amazing team we have at Street Roots.

Personally, I’ve always tried to lead the organization in a way that wasn’t geared toward doing the popular thing, but the right thing — for both the organization and people on the streets. It has meant giving my blood, sweat and tears, while also experiencing some of the most traumatic and joyful times of my life. It has not always been easy to navigate the small world of Portland politics. It has meant speaking truth to power and trying – to the best of my ability – to always think about moving the issue homelessness forward, regardless of the consequences. I’ve always tried to do so with integrity, sometimes getting it right and sometimes not.

When I first started at Street Roots, there was a World War II vet named George who was sleeping on the streets near the office. I’d always go and talk with him about everything from life to Street Roots to times long gone. The most important advice he gave me when I was starting was that there are going to be times in this job when it feels like the whole world is bearing down on you — simply breath and think about who you’re here to serve. “It’s the people,” he would say. “If that’s the only thing you accomplish, than you’ve done your job.” George has long since passed on, but I still think of him and those words, especially today as I write this column and reflect. I hope it’s the people that I’ve ultimately served.

Honestly, there are so many mentors and friends I’d like to thank for helping me along my journey at Street Roots. When I took over Street Roots I had no nonprofit training or political lens in which to look at the world. It was with the help of many friends and Street Roots supporters that I owe my gratitude. I love and appreciate all of you dearly, wherever we might find ourselves on the long road.

Lastly, over the next six months I will be working with the organization to make sure that Street Roots remains strong and vibrant throughout the transition. Ultimately, from a reader perspective, you’re not going to see much of a change. The organization will march on through the good times and bad, just like it always has. The reality is Street Roots is so much bigger than any one person. I can’t say how thankful I am to have been able to take part of leading this organization and being a part of such a beautiful story. Let’s continue to make it so.  ………..Big love! Israel Bayer

Affordable Housing Bond – Update by John Elizalde

Last November Portlanders agreed to give the city of Portland the authority to sell general obligation bonds in order to build housing affordable to people earning up to 60% of the average median income for the Portland area. The bonds authorized were $258 millions dollars and included an amount for administration. That’s a ton of money to this writer. However, projections at the time were that only 1,300 homes could be build with this amount. Since then construction, labor and material costs have continued to rise as the housing boom lingers (and now the national housing industry will be responding to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma and the related destruction).

The voter approved measure also called for a citizen oversight committee to assure that the bond funds are invested in housing that will meet the needs of struggling Portlanders. It is important that the bond can only be used for housing that will be owned by the city. Hence, public values will be made manifest by the use of the bonds. The city housing bureau created a ‘stakeholder group’ to create a policy framework for bureau and oversight committee to use when making investment decisions. (The Interfaith Alliance on Poverty Advocacy work group will follow the oversight committee work.)

The draft framework hit the streets for public review on August 18 and the comment period closed on September 23. The Interfaith Alliance on Poverty Advocacy work group had been attending stakeholder group meetings and following the development of the draft policy framework. We submitted comments.

The framework does a good job of describing the demographic groups that should receive priority housing; generally these will be folk who haven’t been targeted for such housing and have suffered the consequences of racism and exclusion. High priority locations are called out in the framework so housing will go near where people live now or at least so as to avoid displacement or in school areas where children move in and out too frequently for their educational needs. Not surprising there are tradeoffs in these objectives and the framework is designed to allow explicit decisions about location, demographics, displacement, etc rather than leave decisions to a random process.

The Interfaith Alliance on Poverty comments focused on costs that seemed to get short shrift in the draft. We thought there needed to be site specific criteria for cost based decisions; there is no mention of site specific cost analysis in the draft. We are concerned about the city’s ability to meet the goals for the bond funds: 1,300 total units, 650 units for family size units (2 or 3 bedroom), 600 units deeply affordable for incomes up to 30 AMI.

The policy calls for 300 units to receive significant services for residents but it was unclear whether bond funds could be used for construction of facilities for such administrative work. And, it was unclear as to the use of the rents collected for the units. Portland property owners will pay of the housing bonds but we don’t know where the rents do and what sort of oversight there will be of those funds.

Lastly our comments addressed the idea of the bond funds being used to buy land. We are concerned that construction costs may make new construction difficult given the cost constraints of the bond. So purchasing land and allowing other developers to build affordable housing on that land using other funding could stretch bond dollars. The draft policy didn’t address this.

In general, we found the process used to create the framework to be inclusive, open and thorough (and slow, very slow). Sometimes intensive public involvement is a time consuming task. Keep in mind the vote on the bonds was November 8, 2016 and the framework will go the city council for their consideration 368 days later. And, this is in the middle of a housing crisis.

Of course, realistically the bond fund housing will make but a small contribution to solving the housing crisis. The city needs some 20,000 affordable units for struggling families. The wheels of progress move slowly but at least for the housing bond they are moving.

Find the draft policy framework here: https://www.portlandoregon.gov/phb/article/656538.  For a copy of the Interfaith Alliance on Poverty comments write to john_elizalde@hotmail.com

John Elizalde, Advocacy Workgroup

.

Comments of the Interfaith Alliance on Poverty

Re: Affordable Housing Bond Draft Policy Framework

September 23, 2017

Thank you for the opportunity to observe the stakeholder process and comment on the draft policy framework. We will not comment on all that we agree with except to say that the values expressed in the populations to serve and the locations for affordable housing are appropriate. We look forward to the housing bureau achieving both the construction goals and the public policy objectives expressed in the draft framework.

We have four areas of concern, all focused on costs. Portlanders provided the city with a strong vote of confidence and a lot of money. The affordable housing constructed with the bond proceeds needs to repay Portlanders for their trust.

Site specific cost analysis and cost control:

The policy framework doesn’t address this issue. There is reference to the city performing a due diligence review that could be presumed to include a cost analysis. That’s it. We believe strongly that the construction goals need to be front and center in the analysis of each project as it is proposed. City staff has many projects ‘on the desk’ right now according to banter during the stakeholder meetings. This framework should include a description of how the costs of these projects will be compared just as it addresses location, development processes and target populations.

In short, bringing a good mix of residents in the right locations following an equitable development process but only constructing 1000 units will be seen as a failure in the eyes of a good many Portlanders.

The stakeholders haven’t spent time on this topic and need to before the final policy is completed. The policy needs to address site-specific costs.

Administrative space in full service buildings:

The policy doesn’t address whether the bond proceeds can be used to construct the administrative space needed for permanent supportive housing or resident services. Given the tight construction cost environment, the costs being spread over the affordable units could be important in deciding which projects to pursue.

Use of rents: Presumably the construction costs for the housing will be paid for with bond proceeds. Those costs will then be paid off by property taxes levied on Portland

property owners. Rents will not be used to pay for the construction costs and related bond financing and interest. Thus, rents will be set to cover other costs. However, the framework doesn’t address those costs nor does it provide information on how those costs will be controlled. In short, how will rents be set and what is there intended use? These costs should be included in the regular reporting from the housing bureau.

Land purchases: The policy framework does not address the topic of using the bond to purchase land. Other funds or funding strategies would be used to fund construction of affordable housing with the city maintaining ownership of the land and requiring affordable housing pricing for all units on that land. This suggestion came up at several stakeholder meetings but wasn’t addressed in discussion or in the policy framework draft. It should be assessed and explicitly dismissed if it is a flawed strategy for stretching bond proceeds.

Creating such a store of land would give the city a valuable resource. It would be important to specify that the land not be traded for another ‘project of value.’ It is intended for affordable housing. Any promise to build affordable housing in exchange for one of these land parcels should require that the affordable housing be occupied before any development on the land is occupied.

Again, thank you for the opportunity to comment on this important policy framework.

John Elizalde, Interfaith Alliance on Poverty, Advocacy work group

Book Review:  HILLBILLY ELEGY by George Johnson, Rose City Presbyterian Church

HILL BILLY ELEGY is a book about an ignored component of American life – white, working poor. he author was reared in Middletown, OH after his family migrated from a “holler” in KY in search of a better life. Hillbilly culture was foreign to the family’s new environment causing difficulties in adjustment. His greater family, however, was largely successful in achieving financial gain until the “rust belt” phenomenon destroyed the economy of the city. Vance’s immediate family was dysfunctional. His mother was incapable of motherhood, and he was essentially reared by a “crotchety” grandmother who had the most influence is his life.

Vance has been successful in leaving his life of generational poverty and overcoming childhood “demons” that still haunt him. He now is a successful lawyer with a law degree from Yale. How did he succeed when many friends are dead or in Jail - questions he dwells on throughout the book as he describes the story of his life? While reading HILLBILLY ELEGY one feels how he escaped hopelessness and lack of direction through hard work and strength from his grandmother and sister. The reader understands how the social capital of his hillbilly and poverty culture was inadequate to aid his advancement, especially when he entered

SEPTEMBER 2017 INTERFAITH ALLIANCE NEWSLETTER

By all these lovely tokens September days are here, With summer's best of weather And autumn's best of cheer. Helen Hunt Jackson

Labor Day Reflections

There is a lot of talk about “jobs” these days,--jobs lost overseas, factories closed,  stagnating wages, racial discrimination, disparity in pay,  unequal distribution of wealth, etc. Consumed by today’s concerns,  we forget how far we have come from the problems of the past.

.In the late 1800s, the average American worked 12-hour days and seven-day weeks in order to eke out a basic living. Children as young as 5 or 6 toiled in mills, factories and mines across the country.  People of all ages, particularly the very poor and recent immigrants, often faced extremely unsafe working conditions, with insufficient access to fresh air, sanitary facilities and breaks.   In protest, workers banded together to demand a ban of childbor, and lobby for worker benefits including a 40-hour week, minimum wage, workplace safety,  workman’s compensation, unemployment benefits, employer provided health care, pension plans, unpaid family leave, whistleblower protections  and social security.

The struggle was not easy. The first strike broke out in 1892 at Carnegie Steel in Homestead, Pennsylvania.  The following year, a 4-day Pullman strike caused riots in  Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and St.  Louis.  Over 50 lives were lost.     President Grover Cleveland called out Federal Troops.  But labor had made it’s point.  The engines of industry could not run without labor, so by the beginning of the 20^th century,  laborers were able to negotiate changes and congress began to enact legislation to improve the lives of American workers. On June 25, 1941, Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802, which banned “discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries or government because of race, creed, color, or national origin.” 

 A Nationwide Holiday

The idea of a “workingmen’s holiday,” celebrated on the first Monday in September, caught on in industrial centers across the country.  In 1887, Oregon became the first state to make Labor Day an official holiday, with Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York quickly following. However, it wasn’t until June 1894 that   President Grover Cleveland declared it a national holiday.  B. Gregg

INTERFAITH ALLIANCE CLERGY & MEMBERS JOIN  “MARCH FOR JUSTICE”

In our nation’s capital, on August 28^th, the anniversary of Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech,  clergy   of all faiths from Protestant preachers to Jewish cantors to Catholic nuns,   demonstrated   for racial justice.  Wearing stoles, robes and yarmulkes, about 3,000 participants proceeded  on a 1.7-mile route from the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial to the Justice Department. The turnout was larger than anticipated, the event having been titled    “One Thousand Ministers March for Justice.”

In Portland, Oregon clergy and members of the faith community  marched as well, saying: “The Department of Justice and the current Administration are undermining Dr. King's Dream.

We are marching to reaffirm that religious leaders will recommit to being at the forefront of social justice and civil rights. As Dr. King marched for 54 years ago, we are still marching for voting rights, healthcare, criminal justice reform, and economic justice.”

Alliance leader, Tom Hering, Rose City Park Presbyterian, in above photo, observed that

 “About 400 (my guesstimate) attended the March this a.m. in downtown Portland. It was powerful to be a part of the MLK march for justice with so many faith communities!

“People I recognized from IAOP were Pastor Lynne Smouse Lopez, Ainsworth United Church of Christ, (one of the organizers of the March), Erik and Diane Anderson, Ainsworth United Church of Christ; Marie Langenes, St.Andrews Catholic Church; Beth Neal, Pastor Westminster Presbyterian; Jim Moiso, Rose City Park Presbyterian, Katie Larsell, Executive Director Unitarian Voices for Justice; David Dornack, Pastor Rose City Presbyterian; and few of the young ministers from Portsmouth Union and Salt and Light Lutheran Church, with whom Marilyn Mauch and I have been working in regard to affordable housing advocacy housing.”

CENTRAL CITY CONCERNS DIRECTOR, ED BLACKBURN RETIRES

Based on interview by  Molly Harbarger, the Oregonian/Oregon Live

In 2008, after serving more than 10 years running Central City Concerns’ health and addiction services, Ed Blackburn became executive director of   homeless service organizations.

“In that time, he helped the organization grow from about 80 employees to 800. He has overseen $200 million in real estate development for housing and centers to provide a wide range of mental health, addiction recovery and other health services, as well as career training and employment programs. Blackburn switched from city planning to working with the city's homeless population as he was searching for spiritual clarity. In a few months, he found a place where the staff literally washed the feet of the poor and sick – in this case, because of bad cases of athlete's foot – and he found his calling.”

Although he is now stepping down, he remains involved   in the development of 380 housing units, built with $21.5 million donated from six Portland health systems. He'll move to emeritus status at the end of September.

In his interview with Molly Harbarger  Ed reflected on how the. homeless population has grown and changed, and how Central City Concern and the city have adapted to the fluctuations.

Is the current level of homelessness is a new phenomenon?   “When we thought of homelessness when I started in 1992, it was mostly what we refer to as "Skid Row," and Old Town and parts of downtown and parts of the Central Eastside. By early afternoon on most days, you'd have a hundred people just in this area of Old Town, passed out in doorways from drinking, mostly from alcohol use, some other drugs.

“Modern homelessness as we think about it today really started increasing in the 1980s when the federal government began de-investing in the building of low-income housing and switched mostly to a voucher system, tapping into the private landlord market, which had some efficacy and worked to some degree.  But now we find ourselves decades later with a huge shortage of housing for those who are 30 percent below the median income. And the marketplace doesn't build a lot of housing for those low-income levels.

Also during that time, in the wake of Vietnam, we saw a big upsurge in homeless veterans. We saw the de-institutionalization of large mental health hospitals, which was supposed to be followed by a lot of community investment in housing and community services, but that investment was never made proportionally to the de-investment in hospitals.

 The Great Recession was really a great depression for a lot of low-income people. I think we had a lot of young people here who didn't get attached to the mainstream economy and a lot of other people who lost their jobs and detached.

The opiate addiction has added a new twist, especially with the migratory population. The presence of heroin addiction is something I haven't seen before in the homeless population. So we have a swarm of things happening.

Was there ever a moment or a decision point that was a turning point?   A part of what's happening is a result of a good economy. You've got all these people moving here because it's a desirable place to live.  I think gentrification in Northeast Portland has resulted in homelessness as families have been broken up. Some of those were efforts to actually improve the neighborhoods, provide mass transportation, make the neighborhoods more desirable. But what happened is higher-income people moved in and bought the property. So a lot of lower-income people were gentrified out to East County and, for some people, they lost family connections, they lost a sense of community.

I don't think anyone anticipated the incredible rise in home prices and the housing market here 10 years ago. When we were building a new clinic in Old Town There were vacancies all over the place.  I think not investing in land banking for the future and the building of affordable housing at the lower income levels was a mistake.

We also lost a lot of single-room occupancy hotels.    Starting around 2003, the city focused on chronic homelessness. Central City Concern helped bring about $9 million in federal money and we did see that population go down. There were nights I'd go out with CHIERS, our outreach program that picks up inebriated people on the streets, and count people. Over time, there were nights when they weren't counting anybody sleeping on the streets  .We were able to get several hundred people off the streets in probably about a year. The idea was the cities were going to demonstrate success and then there'd be a big investment. The investment didn't follow the success.  It was right before the invasion of Iraq and so when those wars really got underway, all that funding stopped.

 Did you see this influx of homelessness coming?

When I think of all the tens of thousands of people moving here, it seems unrealistic to expect you're not going to have homeless people among that migration

How has Central City Concern changed over the tie you've been here?  When I got here in 1992, it was like a $4 million organization with maybe 80 employees -- a lot of those were part time. Many of them making minimum wage, which was pretty minimum back then. We had a few buildings and outpatient drug treatment programs using acupuncture, which was very innovative at the time. But now we're multi-dimensional organization that does really robust health care services. We did addictions treatment back then, but now we also do really comprehensive health care services at our Old Town clinic. It's recognized as one of the best health care of the homeless clinics in the country.

We do specialty mental health services there as well. We have many more units of housing. We had no housing on the Eastside when I came here in 1992. Now, on any given night, we're housing about 2,700 people at our kids and family housing on the Eastside. And we have different types of housing -- for people in recovery, people with special needs, physical health care problems.

We added employment services and, in the last 12 months, we've placed well over 600 people in jobs, working with about 350 employers.   We're probably housing 2,000 more a year .Currently we have $87 million worth of real estate investments.

How did you shape your vision for the organization as the city changed?   When I came here, I didn't come with a vision of ending homelessness. It was more of a spiritual move. I was working on neighborhood crime issues at City Hall. So when I was hired here as the director of the Hooper Detoxification Center, I knew very little about it and I had a lot to learn

We got into health care services  Old Town Clinic, which was run by Ecumencial Ministries of Oregon – were losing so much money  they came to us and asked us to keep it open. Our board chair said we can't let it shut down so  we got into the health care business.

Are there any exciting ideas out there the city is working on now or you like as an effective way to deal with the city's level of homelessness?

Multnomah County and the city significantly upgraded their collaboration in addressing the problem with the creation of the Joint Office of Homeless Services. I think their collaboration on this issue has produced results in the short term. . Shelters ultimately don't help homelessness. It's housing that is going to solve the problem.

As you near the end of your tenure at Central City Concern, are there any people or moments you are reflecting on?  When I first came, I was asked by the executive director then how long I would be staying and I said 18 months. I was going to do a turnaround thing.

But a few incidents really got me. I think the final capping incident was a guy there who was a heroin addict and he had both of his legs amputated below his knees from abscesses that went out of control from shooting up in his lower legs. He was in there almost every day at the sobering station.

I came to work one day and the paramedics were there. He had hypothermia, and they were trying to get an IV needle into his jugular vein. But, the paramedic said these guys become so sensitive to pain and needles that their bodies can sense it.

I went over and, literally, I felt pulled to the ground and I just whispered in his ear and I said, "God loves you, but if we can't get you off the streets and we can't get you clean you're going to die in a few weeks."  He kind of looked at me and a tear rolled out of his eye. Then I left. But the staff got him into a hospital into the suburbs, because quite frankly, no one would take him here. I think they made up an identity for him. He then got out of the hospital and the staff got him into a Transition Projects homeless shelter.

A few weeks later, I get a call. It was probably about 11 o'clock at night. A staff member says, "Ed, you really need to come down." And I say, "Oh geez, what happened?"  So I walk in and I see this guy sitting in a wheelchair in the back. He looked like he was 15 years younger. He stayed sober and just wanted to thank me.

It was not just what happened with him, but the kind of angel trickery the staff were able to pull. I was very impressed. I can see them now excited to tell me they got him into the hospital.  Then I was locked in. It turned into 25 years.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

CULLY NEIGHBORHOOD WALK

You are invited to accompany groups led by Malia Jimanex of Verde and/or Taren Evans of Habitat Walks on excursions around the Cully Neighborhood.  Not only will you improve your fitness,, you will get acquainted with your Cully neighbors and help them keep an eye  on  safety and livability issues.  Once in a while you may help them  pick up some trash.    . Walks start at Living Cully Plaza, 6723 NE Killingsworth.  Ample parking is  available.

For more information, contact Marilyn Mauch at _mauch@comcast.net or Taren Evans at taren@habitatportlandmetro.org

UPCOMING EVENTS

ALLIANCE MEETING – October 5

Next meeting of the Interfaith Alliance will be held at Augustana Lutheran Church, Room 27, from 12:00-2:00 PM.

AUGUST 2017 INTERFAITH ALLIANCE NEWSLETTER

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. Frederick Douglass  The Interfaith Alliance newsletter is produced by the Poverty Awareness & Communication Workgroup. Website:  :allianceonpoverty.org                                  Contact:   Bonniejgregg@msn.com 2017 HOMELESS REPORT FOR MULTNOMAH COUNTY Reported by David Groff and John Elizalde Every year Multnomah  County and the City of Portland  volunteers and outreach  workers combine efforts to do a comprehensive “point in time” count of children and adults experiencing homelessness. This year the count occurred on February 22, 2017, and revealed that “11.6% fewer people” were sleeping without shelter.  It is believed that this is the result of the community’s “investment in rent assistance, housing placements and more than 600 new shelter beds.” “In the Portland area, the average one-bedroom apartment now rents for more than $1,100 a month.“ Rents have grown 20 times faster than the median income since 2015, leaving minimum wage earners with little to cover other expenses. In addition, more than 18,000 people in Multnomah County rely on federal disability checks that top out at $735 a month. For more information, email ahomeforeveryone.net MARK YOUR CALENDAR –      AUGUST 31 YOU are invited to attend the monthly meeting of the Interfaith Alliance which will be held at   the Madeleine Parish Fireside Room, 3123 NE 24,  from 12:00 - 2:00 PM,  Featured speakers will be: Israel Bayer, Street Roots Executive Director and Lori Lematta, Street Roots Vendor Street Roots provides income opportunities for people experiencing homelessness and poverty by producing a newspaper and other media that are catalysts for individual and social change. Israel Bayer has been working at Street Roots, founded in 1998, for the past 15 years.  In Jessica Pollard’s article in the Willamette Week, she says  he has “become one of Portland's leading moral authorities on homelessness." "Personally”  Israel says, “ I've always tried to lead the organization in a way that wasn't geared toward doing the popular thing, but the right thing — for both the organization and people on the streets,"   Lori Lematta has been selling Street Roots for three years. She will share her personal story.  "MAN WITH MANY HATS"- Excerpts from article written by Robin Schauffler ,   STREET ROOTS,  Sept 17, 2016 “Tom Lechner is an art teacher, IT expert, photographer, facilities manager and role model. He’s also the one who makes sure dozens of homeless children get to school each day. "Tom Lechner is also the transportation coordinator at Community Transition School in Portland.  The private, non-profit school for children experiencing homelessness serves about 80 students per day - this year 221 students total, from 121 families.  He sits at a schoolroom-style desk in one corner of a busy office, a computer screen in front of him, folders of paperwork on the desk, pen in hand, phone at the ready. He’s a tall, slim guy with tightly curling black hair showing wisps of gray, and frameless glasses perched on his nose. It’s his job to get 80 elementary school children to school every day, no matter where they may have spent the night. ”All of the CTS students are homeless. They live in cheap motels or doubled-up in the apartments of relatives or friends; they sleep in shelters or in family cars or outside on the street. Some students might be in the school for just a day; others have stayed for years. The average length of stay is 13 weeks. “CTS takes care of these complexities one family at a time, wherever they are. How do they do it? Size and intimacy explain a lot. It’s a small, close-knit school; everyone knows everyone. They don’t have to follow each federal guideline. They can be in touch with every family, answer every call. “ Once a week, Tom teaches a drawing class for a group of lucky students. There are other regular art classes, with all kinds of materials, but in Tom’s class, he said, “we usually just use paper and pencil.” Tom calls it observational drawing, but the kids simply call it Art with Tom. The application process is “astonishingly simple:   no birth certificate, no proof of immunization, no paperwork. And no tuition. Families learn of CTS through word of mouth, and the shelters and other support organizations post signs and help spread the word. CTS maintains a close relationship with those in social services; the school depends on these people to help homeless families learn about CTS. A parent calls,  gives the child’s name and birth date, and most recent grade level, and “in five minutes,”  they’re on Tom’s list for the next morning. “Tom may have to figure out where a family has moved. Once, when parents didn’t call in, Juli Osa told the child, “Find an envelope that has an address on it, and tell us what it says, and then we’ll figure out where to go.” Every day, that second grader read out a new address, and called in to say where she was. She moved 22 times that year. This past year, one student moved 13 times in 110 days, and missed only two days of school. “If a child doesn’t show up at the morning bus stop, Tom or someone in the office will call to find out what’s going on – but if they can’t get through and the child doesn’t show up for a couple of days, they stop sending the bus. It’s a painful part of the job: “You get to know the kids, and then they’re gone.” “A lot depends on the kids’ initiative,” he said. “They have to figure it out. Somehow, magically, they find a way to get here.” It’s a remarkable place, and magic doesn’t seem too strong a word. What would Tom most want others to know about the Community Transitional School? He answers slowly, pausing to think, and finally decides: “That it exists.” NOTES FROM THE CULLY MOBILE PARK WORK CREW “Several of us from the Interfaith Alliance on the Poverty Advocacy group were at the Arbor Mobile Home Park last Friday, July 28,  as part of a Living Cully project.  David Groff, Westminster Presbyterian Church, helped build  a stairway and Les Wardenaar, Fremont Methodist Church helped with window caulking. Marilyn Mauch, Fremont Methodist Church, myself, another Central Lutheran member and a friend of mine prepared a dinner meal for the group.” Sarah Carolus, Central Lutheran Church  “David Groff built the stairs at Cedar Shade Mobile Home Park.  The rest of us were at Arbor Mobile Home Park.”  Marilyn Mauch Fremont Methodist Church  “Thank you for bringing food to the Living Cully work project last night. You probably saw Les who was doing some caulking at the first of two mobile homes we worked on.  “ I worked with a group that built steps for a recently rebuilt porch on the other mobile home.  We managed to finish both sets of steps, which was much appreciated by the owners of the mobile home.  “I enjoyed working with the Living Cully folks.  Cameron is an impressive organizer with excellent Spanish language skills.” David Groff, Westminster Presbyterian Church INTERFAITH ALLIANCE  YEAR-END MEETING Alliance Co-Chair, Carol Turner, Tallies  2016-2017 Achievements On June 29, 2017 members and friends of the Interfaith Alliance gathered to enjoy a potluck and review accomplishments of the past year. Tom Hering, Co-Leader, with Sally Fraser, of the Advocacy Work Group described actions taken to support tenants’ rights,  protest no-cause evictions,   promote  affordable housing and recommend legislation. Working with groups within the community including Living Cully and St. Charles Church, the Advocacy group has been active participating in efforts to produce positive change,  joining a number of  rallies at both the City Hall and the  State Capitol as well as supporting renters  throughout Northeast Portland. Rae Richen, Co-Leader, with Dave Albertine, of the Transition to Stability Work Group, reported that working with the Village Support Network, a number of Alliance churches have been able to assist homeless families   in finding stable housing.  Since the Village Support Network was forced to close on May 1, 2017, the Transition to Stability work group is now exploring other options for helping families out of homelessness. John  Elizalde, Co-Leader, with Bonnie Gregg,  of the Becoming Poverty Aware & Communication Work Group,  reported on activities staged this year. Poverty Curriculum seminars were presented at  Fremont Methodist by Love, Inc.,  and  at Westminster Presbyterian and First Unitarian churches by Rev. Connie Yost. In cooperation with the 15th annual “Everybody Reads Program” sponsored by the Multnomah County Library, the Alliance promoted reading of   “Evicted” by Matthew Desmond. Rae Richen obtained a grant   to enable the Alliance to provide ten Evicted books to each of the Alliance congregations    to share with their members and the community, Holly Schmidt and Claudia Roberts organized a number of events to promote the Everybody Reads program. On May 10, 2017,  Dr. Mandy Davis, of  Trauma Informed Care, presented a 4-hour seminar at the Madeleine Parish which was attended by about 60 people. The Alliance newsletter is beginning its second year of monthly publication, the Alliance website allianceonpoverty.org was launched in March 2017, and the Alliance Facebook page will be available soon. Jessica Rojas,  NE Coalition of Neighbors Program Manager,  shared her personal story. Jessica’s family was poor.  They endured the challenges confronted by poor people everywhere, struggling to find work, food, and shelter.  She also learned that real wealth is found not in accumulation of possessions, but in the relationships we forge within our families and  communities. College educated, Jessica has become a leader among those advocating both for those in poverty and the health of our environment. She observed that we tend to think of poverty in relation to lack of money, but Jessica directed our attention to other factors. When the land, rivers, oceans and air become polluted, other kinds of poverty result.  No longer is there clean water to drink, fresh air to breathe, bees to pollinate our plants, soil to produce healthy crops, seas abundant with life, and forests to cleanse the atmosphere.        Jessica commented that if we do not address   threats to our environment, one day we may see the number of “climate refugees”   rival the number of  refugees now struggling to escape war zones.   When seas rise and crops fail, people will flee. Other types of human experiences reflect poverty as well.     Immigrants  and refugees experience “poverty of homeland” living in daily fear of deportation and broken families.    People of color and different religions  experience the “poverty of discrimination.”   The elderly, the mentally ill, the addicted, the homeless—those who find themselves no longer connected with family or friends who have become strangers in their own communities,  experience  the “poverty of loneliness.”  Mother Teresa has said, “Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.” Jessica observed that faith communities have traditionally responded to those in need. Working together, she is hopeful we can address all issues of poverty and create a healthy, caring community in Portland. df To contact:  Email Bonniejgregg@msn.com The Interfaith Alliance newsletter is produced by the Poverty Awareness & Communication Workgroup. To contact:  Email Bonniejgregg@msn.com

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2017 HOMELESS REPORT FOR MULTNOMAH COUNTY

Reported by David Groff and John Elizalde

Every year Multnomah  County and the City of Portland  volunteers and outreach  workers combine efforts to do a comprehensive “point in time” count of children and adults experiencing homelessness.

This year the count occurred on February 22, 2017, and revealed that “11.6% fewer people” were sleeping without shelter.  It is believed that this is the result of the community’s “investment in rent assistance, housing placements and more than 600 new shelter beds.”

“In the Portland area, the average one-bedroom apartment now rents for more than $1,100 a month.“ Rents have grown 20 times faster than the median income since 2015, leaving minimum wage earners with little to cover other expenses.

In addition, more than 18,000 people in Multnomah County rely on federal disability checks that top out at $735 a month.

For more information, email ahomeforeveryone.net

MARK YOUR CALENDAR –      AUGUST 31

YOU are invited to attend the monthly meeting of the Interfaith Alliance which will be held at   the Madeleine Parish Fireside Room, 3123 NE 24,  from 12:00 - 2:00 PM,

Featured Speakers will be:

Juli Osa, Developmental Director of the Community Transition School

Juli will share the mission and operation of the Community Transition School.  CTS was  founded in 1990 to provide a haven of learning for homeless children aged 4-14 in Multnomah, and sections of Clackamas and Washington counties. Key to the CTS Education is the CTS Bus. Once referred to the Community Transition School, a student can depend that a CTS Bus will show up promptly every school day morning to take him or her to school. It doesn’t matter whether his or her home is a shelter or the back of a car.

Lori Lematta, Street Roots Newspaper

Lori has been selling Street Roots for three years. She will share her personal story. We learn from the web that Street Roots “creates income opportunities for people experiencing homelessness and poverty by producing a newspaper and other media that are catalysts for individual and social change.

  “A MAN WITH MANY HATS”,  Excerpts from article written by Robin Schauffler ,   STREET ROOTS,  Sept 17, 2016

“Tom Lechner is an art teacher, IT expert, photographer, facilities manager and role model. He’s also the one who makes sure dozens of homeless children get to school each day. C

“Tom Lechner is also the transportation coordinator at Community Transitional School in Portland. The private, nonprofit school for children experiencing homelessness serves about 80 students per day – this year 221 students total from 121 families.

“Tom Lechner sits at a schoolroom-style desk in one corner of a busy office, a computer screen in front of him, folders of paperwork on the desk, pen in hand, phone at the ready. He’s a tall, slim guy with tightly curling black hair showing wisps of gray, and frameless glasses perched on his nose. It’s his job to get 80 elementary school children to school every day, no matter where they may have spent the night.

”All of the CTS students are homeless. They live in cheap motels or doubled-up in the apartments of relatives or friends; they sleep in shelters or in family cars or outside on the street. Some students might be in the school for just a day; others have stayed for years. The average length of stay is 13 weeks.

“CTS takes care of these complexities one family at a time, wherever they are. How do they do it? Size and intimacy explain a lot. It’s a small, close-knit school; everyone knows everyone. They don’t have to follow each federal guideline. They can be in touch with every family, answer every call.

“ Once a week, Tom teaches a drawing class for a group of lucky students. There are other regular art classes, with all kinds of materials, but in Tom’s class, he said, “we usually just use paper and pencil.” Tom calls it observational drawing, but the kids simply call it Art with Tom.

The application process is “astonishingly simple:   no birth certificate, no proof of immunization, no paperwork. And no tuition. Families learn of CTS through word of mouth, and the shelters and other support organizations post signs and help spread the word. CTS maintains a close relationship with those in social services; the school depends on these people to help homeless families learn about CTS.

A parent calls,  gives the child’s name and birth date, and most recent grade level, and “in five minutes,”  they’re on Tom’s list for the next morning.

“Tom may have to figure out where a family has moved. Once, when parents didn’t call in, Juli Osa told the child, “Find an envelope that has an address on it, and tell us what it says, and then we’ll figure out where to go.” Every day, that second grader read out a new address, and called in to say where she was. She moved 22 times that year. This past year, one student moved 13 times in 110 days, and missed only two days of school.

“If a child doesn’t show up at the morning bus stop, Tom or someone in the office will call to find out what’s going on – but if they can’t get through and the child doesn’t show up for a couple of days, they stop sending the bus. It’s a painful part of the job: “You get to know the kids, and then they’re gone.”

“A lot depends on the kids’ initiative,” he said. “They have to figure it out. Somehow, magically, they find a way to get here.” It’s a remarkable place, and magic doesn’t seem too strong a word.

What would Tom most want others to know about the Community Transitional School? He answers slowly, pausing to think, and finally decides: “That it exists.”

NOTES FROM THE CULLY MOBILE PARK WORK CREW

“Several of us from the Interfaith Alliance on the Poverty Advocacy group were at the Arbor Mobile Home Park last Friday, July 28,  as part of a Living Cully project.

David Groff, Westminster Presbyterian Church, helped build  a stairway and Les Wardenaar, Fremont Methodist Church helped with window caulking. Marilyn Mauch, Fremont Methodist Church, myself, another Central Lutheran member and a friend of mine prepared a dinner meal for the group.” Sarah Carolus, Central Lutheran Church

“David Groff built the stairs at Cedar Shade Mobile Home Park.  The rest of us were at Arbor Mobile Home Park.”  Marilyn Mauch Fremont Methodist Church

“Thank you for bringing food to the Living Cully work project last night. You probably saw Les who was doing some caulking at the first of two mobile homes we worked on.

“ I worked with a group that built steps for a recently rebuilt porch on the other mobile home.  We managed to finish both sets of steps, which was much appreciated by the owners of the mobile home.

“I enjoyed working with the Living Cully folks.  Cameron is an impressive organizer with excellent Spanish language skills.” David Groff, Westminster Presbyterian Church

INTERFAITH ALLIANCE  YEAR-END MEETING

Alliance Co-Chair, Carol Turner, Tallies  2016-2017 Achievements

On June 29, 2017 members and friends of the Interfaith Alliance gathered to enjoy a potluck and review accomplishments of the past year.

Tom Hering, Co-Leader, with Sally Fraser, of the Advocacy Work Group described actions taken to support tenants’ rights,  protest no-cause evictions,   promote  affordable housing and recommend legislation.

Working with groups within the community including Living Cully and St. Charles Church, the Advocacy group has been active participating in efforts to produce positive change,  joining a number of  rallies at both the City Hall and the  State Capitol as well as supporting renters  throughout Northeast Portland.

Rae Richen, Co-Leader, with Dave Albertine, of the Transition to Stability Work Group, reported that working with the Village Support Network, a number of Alliance churches have been able to assist homeless families   in finding stable housing. 

Since the Village Support Network was forced to close on May 1, 2017, the Transition to Stability work group is now exploring other options for helping families out of homelessness.

John  Elizalde, Co-Leader, with Bonnie Gregg,  of the Becoming Poverty Aware & Communication Work Group,  reported on activities staged this year.

Poverty Curriculum seminars were presented at  Fremont Methodist by Love, Inc.,  and  at Westminster Presbyterian and First Unitarian churches by Rev. Connie Yost.

In cooperation with the 15th annual “Everybody Reads Program” sponsored by the Multnomah County Library, the Alliance promoted reading of   “Evicted” by Matthew Desmond.

Rae Richen obtained a grant   to enable the Alliance to provide ten Evicted books to each of the Alliance congregations    to share with their members and the community,

Holly Schmidt and Claudia Roberts organized a number of events to promote the Everybody Reads program.

On May 10, 2017,  Dr. Mandy Davis, of  Trauma Informed Care, presented a 4-hour seminar at the Madeleine Parish which was attended by about 60 people.

The Alliance newsletter is beginning its second year of monthly publication, the Alliance website allianceonpoverty.org was launched in March 2017, and the Alliance Facebook page will be available soon.

Jessica Rojas,  NE Coalition of Neighbors Program Manager,  shared her personal story.

Jessica’s family was poor.  They endured the challenges confronted by poor people everywhere, struggling to find work, food, and shelter.  She also learned that real wealth is found not in accumulation of possessions, but in the relationships we forge within our families and  communities.

College educated, Jessica has become a leader among those advocating both for those in poverty and the health of our environment.

She observed that we tend to think of poverty in relation to lack of money, but Jessica directed our attention to other factors.

When the land, rivers, oceans and air become polluted, other kinds of poverty result.  No longer is there clean water to drink, fresh air to breathe, bees to pollinate our plants, soil to produce healthy crops, seas abundant with life, and forests to cleanse the atmosphere.        Jessica commented that if we do not address   threats to our environment, one day we may see the number of “climate refugees”   rival the number of  refugees now struggling to escape war zones.   When seas rise and crops fail, people will flee.

Other types of human experiences reflect poverty as well.     Immigrants  and refugees experience “poverty of homeland” living in daily fear of deportation and broken families.    People of color and different religions  experience the “poverty of discrimination.”   The elderly, the mentally ill, the addicted, the homeless—those who find themselves no longer connected with family or friends who have become strangers in their own communities,  experience  the “poverty of loneliness.”

 Mother Teresa has said, “Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.”

Jessica observed that faith communities have traditionally responded to those in need. Working together, she is hopeful we can address all issues of poverty and create a healthy, caring community in Portland.

NEWSLETTER – JULY 2017

As we celebrate another 4^th of July, we take a moment to reflect on the beginning of our  U.S. democracy  --     On July 4, 1776, 56 men (average age 44), representing 13 former British colonies, assembled as the 2^nd Continental Congress  in Philadelphia to adopt the Declaration of Independence.

When news of the Declaration of Independence reached New York City, it started a riot. On July 9, 1776,  with hundreds of British naval ships occupying New York Harbor,   George Washington, commander of the  Continental Army, read the document aloud in front of City Hall. A raucous crowd cheered   and later that day tore down a nearby statue of George III. The statue was subsequently melted down and shaped into more than 42,000 musket balls for the fledgling American army.  Americans  had had enough of tyranny, and set out to establish a new kind of government which would be ruled not  on the whim of a tyrant, but by  the will of the of the people, where  freedom of speech  was guaranteed, and all men were treated equally,  entitled to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

World War II General, and President of the U.S., Dwight D. Eisenhower advised, “Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men, and so it must be daily earned and refreshed, - else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.”

On a lighter note, American humorist, Erma Bombeck writes, “You have to love a nation that celebrates  its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets  “iffy”, and flies die from happiness.  You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism “

 SALEM RALLY

David Groth, Marilyn Mauch, Claudia Roberts, Bonnie Gregg , Sara Chan, Les Wardenaar,  Sarabelle Hitchner, Rev. Mark Knudson, Carol Turner, and  Sarah Carolus

On June 6, 2017 Interfaith Alliance members representing Westminster Presbyterian, Augustana Lutheran, Madeleine Catholic, Fremont Methodist, First Unitarian, and Central Lutheran Churches together with  Jessica Rojas of the NE Coalition joined a rally on the steps of the state  house, sponsored by the Better Oregon Coalition.  The coalition included parents, students, teachers, nurses, small business owners, unions, social workers, the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, economists, and other community advocates from every region in Oregon.

Their message was simple, Oregon is in crisis and our children, our schools and colleges, small businesses, health care programs, the elderly and people in poverty need help now.

According to studies by the Tax Foundation   Oklahoma, Oregon, and North Carolina have the lowest corporate tax burdens in the nation.  More Oregon corporations are finding a way to avoid being subject to the state's corporate income tax,  In 2004, 35,880 Oregon corporations filed income tax returns. By 2014, that number had dropped to 29,376.   With major cuts on the table due to the state’s $1.4 billion deficit  speakers at the rally  demanded that  legislators take immediate action to address  the need to make corporations pay their fair share.

WE CAN’T WAIT! the crowds shouted!   INVEST IN   PEOPLE, NOT CORPORATIONS!

"When we better fund education, health care and other critical services we improve the productivity and vitality of the our state," said Hanna Vaandering, the president of the Oregon Education Association. "We as a coalition refuse to accept cuts to services for students and those in need as long as corporations in Oregon are paying lower taxes here than anywhere else in the country."

Rev Mark Knudson, pastor of  Augustana Lutheran Church  in Portland declared that our budget expresses the values of the people of Oregon and noted that a society is judged by the way in which they treat the most vulnerable among them, the children, the elderly, the poor, the sick, etc.  Also educated, healthy people are good for our state’s economy.

He quoted from Martin Luther King, Jr. speech in which Dr. King said,  “I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture of their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, men other-centered can build up.   I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive goodwill will proclaim the rule of the land.”    B. Gregg

URGENT: STOP LEGISLATION FROM PUTTING 1,800 KIDS AT RISK OF LOSING TANF      

Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon  advise that on Monday, June 26, 2017, as part of the Human Services Budget (SB 5526)—an Oregon legislative committee passed a cut which  would disqualify 1,800 kids who participate in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) who are being cared for by low-income relatives.

“If this cut passes, Oregon would enact the harshest policy in the country. In fact, only three other states have similar policies. This would likely result in decreased benefits for kids, more kids in foster care and more money spent on administrative costs.

“Not only would this budget proposal cut important benefits for kids, it would make it harder for families to stay together. Currently, when a non-parent relative—grandparent, uncle, cousin, older sibling—cares for a child and earns less than 185 percent of the federal poverty level, their income is not counted against their benefits. By design, this helps keep families together, encouraging relative care over foster care.”

Only two weeks are left in the legislative session to ensure this funding is restored.   Contact your representative to oppose this cut now. John Elizalde

STATE AND FEDERAL LEGISLATORS  NOW DECIDING  

WHERE ”OUR MONEY” WILL GO

While members of the Interfaith Alliance rallied in  Salem, in  Washington, D.C., our representatives are gathering to consider the budget which has been proposed by our President.

ON THE CUTTING BLOCK:

 ----Health and Human Service  cut 12.6 billion - .

$4.2 billion will be  eliminated from community services programs like the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.   National Institutes of Health will be cut by $5.8 billion.

----Education - cut 9.2 billion   -     After school and summer programs will be eliminated. Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant for college students will be eliminated.

----Housing and Urban Development -  cut 4.3 billion  by eliminating Community Block Development Block Grant to fund anti-poverty programs, rental assistance, home ownership programs, and housing initiatives.

 ----Labor – cut 9.6 billion, scaling back job training programs including those aimed at helping seniors, disadvantaged young people and unemployed Americans.  Training grants for occupational safety and health administration would be eliminated.

 ----Diplomacy and development would be severely cut, impacting: the United Nations. Climate-change initiatives at the United Nations would lose all their U.S. funding. The government would cut back its regular contribution to the U.N. and would pay no more than 25 percent of the cost of U.N. peacekeeping operations.

----The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s grants and programs for coastal and marine management, research and education would be eliminated and the Minority Business Development Agency, which supports minority-owned businesses would be reduced..

----The E.P.A. is among the hardest-hit agencies. The budget calls for the elimination of about 3,200 staff positions — over 20 percent of the department.

It would also eliminate all funding for enactment of the Clean Power Plan, the regulations designed to curb greenhouse gas emissions from power plants  Funding for climate change research and international climate change programs would be eliminated.

----Programs to support research of breakthrough clean energy technology, including the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy and the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program   would be eliminated.

----Nearly 20 smaller independent agencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Legal Services Corporation, which finances legal aid groups would be eliminated.

BIG WINNER:    Defense Budget Increase by $574 billion.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN CULLY

Cameron Herrington, Coordinator of Living Cully

At the May Alliance Planning Meeting, Cameron Herrington, explained how Living Cully works to expand affordable housing and prevent the displacement of residents threatened by rapidly increasing housing costs. 

Cully is the “the most diverse community in the state”, with 50% people of color, immigrants, and refugees.  Public transportation is limited; parks and libraries are lacking; sidewalks are few and streets have pot holes. Through its work in NE Portland’s Cully Neighborhood, Living Cully works to prevent displacement and assist low income residents in their fight against rising rents.

When residents of the Normandy Apartments,   received notice last December that their rents had more than  “doubled” from $630 to $1320  per month, Living Cully jumped in to help.  They assisted the tenants in organizing a march and   getting an attorney.   The owner agreed to postpone the rent  increase until July 1, enabling children to remain in their current school placement through the end of the school year.

This decision gave the tenants some breathing room, but they still needed to find affordable housing.  Living Cully posted a message on the social media site “Next Door.”  In response, Nancy  Hiss offered an ADU “accessory dwelling unit” that she had built in her backyard to accommodate her parents, who are now deceased.  At $900 a month, it was the answer to  Normandy apartment tenant, Michelle Labra’s prayers.

The Interfaith Alliance has participated with Living Cully in supporting   the Normandy apartment tenants and   Oak Leaf mobile home park residents to achieve affordable housing.  Living Cully partners include  Habitat for Humanity Portland Metro East, Haciendas Community Development Corporation, NAYA  (Native American Youth and Family Center) and Verde.

“KENTON VILLAGE HOME” Fourteen tiny  houses, about 8’ x 12’, have been constructed on a lot in the Kenton neighborhood to  shelter homeless women. Communal kitchen and bathrooms are also provided.  Catholic Charities will offer support services.

SAINT FRANCIS APARTMENTS

Home Forward is partnering with Catholic Charities and St. Francis of Assisi Parish to create an affordable housing community located in   inner Southeast Portland

The plan for the St. Francis Apartments is to develop 102 apartment units that will include 73 studios, 28 one-bedroom units, one two bedroom unit and 33 parking spaces.

Ninety percent of the units will be for families earning less than 60 percent of the median income and ten percent will be units for those earning less than 30 percent of the median income. In addition 25 units will be reserved for victims of domestic or sexual violence.

The building will extend the full length of SE 12th Ave., along SE Stark St. and then continue halfway up SE 11th Ave. The apartment building will cover about fifty percent of the block. Most of the north half of the park will be landscaped as a semi-private open space

The project will replace a private park adjacent to St. Francis of Assisi Parish.  St Francis Dining Hall, located in the basement of the church, serves 150-300 hot meals   daily to the homeless of the area.    Ground breaking for the housing project is expected in December of this year.

Home Forward is now the largest provider of affordable housing in Oregon.  It has served all of Multnomah County, including the cities of Portland and Gresham, since 1992.  The agency owns 2,600 public housing  3,700 affordable housing and administers 8,200 Section 8 housing assistance vouchers.*

NOTE: The Home Forward (HF) Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher waiting list is currently CLOSED. It was last open for five days in September 2016, and prior to that in November 2012. There is no notice of when the list will reopen and vouchers become available.    There are currently 3,000 on the waiting list.  

JESSE JACKSON SPEAKS OF  PORTLAND MARTYRS

In response to the recent hate crimes in Portland, at the invitation of Rev. Mark Knudsen, the Reverend Jesse Jackson spoke to a public press gathering at Augustana Lutheran Church on June 2, 2017.

Rev. Jackson said that we must prayerfully acknowledge the “martyrs among us” whose lives are sacrificed as were the two men  slain while trying to stop an “anti-Muslim” hate rant at the Max train station.  He noted that “we may not be able to stop their crucifixion but neither can they stop our resurrection.  We must become instruments of peace, not hate.”  He recommended that when they march, we stay home, “denying them fuel for their hate.”

He observed that “poverty is an annihilation” and that we must “leave the racial battlefield to seek the economic common ground that will enable us to achieve the moral high ground where all men are treated equally in a global community.”  We must “pull down the walls of ignorance to build bridges of understanding.”  We must “remember that regardless of our color or religion, we live in “one big tent.”  B. Gregg

PRAYER POWER WORKS

“Despite racist threats looming in the day leading up to the event, the 'Good in the Hood' parade went off without a hitch Saturday, June 24. “   (KGW News)

When Good in the Hood organizers received threats of “a blood bath”, they did not cancel their festival.  They contacted the FBI, but did not hire armed guards.  Instead they asked for PRAYERS from the faith-based communities of Portland.   Interfaith Alliance members joined in this effort.  Our thanks to all who participated.

1^ST WORLD DAY OF THE POOR

On June 13, 2017, Pope Francis issued a papal message for the 1st World Day of the Poor, which will be held November 19, 2017.

“Some”, he said, "may think of the poor simply as the beneficiaries of our occasional volunteer work, or of impromptu acts of generosity that appease our conscience.”   Instead he encouraged us  “to see the faces marked by suffering, marginalization, oppression, violence, torture and imprisonment, war, deprivation of freedom and dignity, ignorance and illiteracy, medical emergencies and shortage of work, trafficking and slavery, exile, extreme poverty and forced migration. … [those] exploited by base interests, crushed by the machinations of power and money. … [and] poverty born of social injustice, moral degeneration, the greed of a chosen few, and generalized indifference!"

Pope Francis says “Let us love, not with words but with deeds.”

VOLUNTARY POVERTY

Adapted from the “Art of Letting Go:  Living the Wisdom of St Francis”, by Fr. Richard Rohr

We all know Pope Francis, but are less familiar with his namesake, Francis of Assisi.  Like today, in 1204 the world was obsessed with war, fear, and security.   As a young man, Francis was imprisoned during the war between Perugia and Assisi. When finally released, he saw that greed at the expense of the poor, was causing great inequities and human suffering,

Walking away from a life of privilege, Francis chose to live in close proximity to and solidarity with the excluded ones in his society.  He moved down into the plain below Assisi where there was a leper colony.  “Lepers” did not always have the contagious disease of leprosy, but they were the people society deemed unacceptable, unworthy, or shameful for any number of reasons. Francis not only served the poor, he became one of them.

“Today”, Fr. Rohr says, “our planet is in grave peril largely due to greed, overconsumption, and reckless exploitation. While most of us are not like Francis, willing to dive into a life of voluntary poverty, we must all make choices and decisions to do our part to follow these wise words of an unknown speaker: “live simply so that others may simply live

UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENTS

CULLY STANDS TOGETHER

Community gathering to promote the multi-cultural diversity and resilience of the Cully neighborhood will be held Saturday, July 8 – ll:00AM – 3:00 PM,  at Trinity Lutheran Church, 5520 NE Killingsworth, Bus Line 72.  There will be food, performances and fun for kids

Sponsored by Living Cully, Haciendas, Northeast Emergency Food Bank, Cully Blvd, Naya Family Center,  42^nd Avenue, and Trinity Lutheran Church.  Please bring food to share with neighbors.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED:

Cully Mobile Home Repair/Maintenance

If you have a few hours to spare,   your help is needed to clean up and upgrade Cedar Shade and Arbor Mobile Home Parks.  Marilyn Mauch says, “I’m 83 going on 84 next year, so I can’t do any heavy lifting, but I can sure clean mold.  And,” she added, “It’s a great way to meet your neighbors!”  Whatever your skill level, your help would be appreciated.

Friday, July 6 and Friday, July 7 2-8 Miscellaneous/ General Repairs Cedar Shade Mobile Park, 7120 NE Killingsworth

Friday, July 14, and Saturday, July 15^{th -}  9 Am-1PM   - Roof Repair – Meet at Living Cully Plaza, 6723 NE Killingsworth

Thursday, July 27 and Friday July 28:  10AM-4PM – Miscellaneous/General Repairs – Arbor Mobile Home Park, 6415 NE  Killingsworth Street

Sunday, July 30, 2-8PM, Window Repair – Cedar Shade, 7120 NE Killingsworth, and Arbor Mobile Home Parks, 6415 NE Killingsworth.

To sign up:  Email Brenna Bailey:  bbailey@stcharlespdx.org

June 2017 Interfaith Alliance Newsletter

THE POWER OF EDUCATION  

In June, graduating high school students across the country set out to seek their fortunes. Those   raised in families where there was always food on the table and a place they called “home”, where choices were many, and success the expectation, look forward to graduating from college, maybe backpacking through Europe, then pursuing bright futures ahead.

Those raised in families where food was scarce and shelter uncertain, where choices were limited, and failure the norm, are less sure where their tomorrows will take them.   The fact that they graduated from high school is itself an accomplishment, not all that common in their community. But they are unsure what they should do next, try for a community college, take that job at McDonald’s, or just “hang” w/friends.

Growing up in poverty, college is seldom seen as an option. All kinds of excuses are made for not going.  “If we can’t pay the rent, how can we send you to college?  It’s time you started pulling your own weight!  What would you do- become a doctor, maybe a hot-shot lawyer?  The idea is made to seem laughable. College isn’t for the likes of us.”  Nevertheless education is their key out of poverty, not only for themselves but their children, and their children’s children.

Minimum wage jobs do not pay enough to support the needs of most families. Income sufficient to cover the increasing cost of rent, food, utilities, transportation, clothing, health needs, etc.  is necessary to escape becoming homeless. Government assistance is uncertain and varies with political winds.  Good paying jobs are the answer.  To obtain the skills necessary for 21^st century jobs, education is necessary.   Those who grow up in poverty who attend college, are able to earn 91 percent more over their careers than their peers who have earned only a high school diploma or GED.   Education widens the horizon, making  possible  destinies unlimited by poverty.

John F Kennedy said “Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation.”  And not just strength for our nation, but a way out of poverty for kids in Portland, and those around the globe.

Nelson Mandela stated, “Education is the most powerful weapon which we can use to change the world.” -- Not mighty armies or commercial empires, but EDUCATION can transform this tiny planet we call home.    Knowledge makes it possible to solve the most thorny problems,  Hunger and disease can be eradicated.  Eco-systems can be restored.  Achieving his/her full potential can become the expectation for every child.    Whatever the cost, education is our best investment.  Bonnie Gregg

MAYOR WHEELER’S NEW BUDGET

On May 1,  Mayor Ted Wheeler  submitted his budget proposal, saying,  ”My first budget makes significant investments to address the real concerns of everyday Portlanders.  Topping the list of priorities are livability, road maintenance, community policing, housing, homelessness, and resilience.  These are the issues I hear about the most, things that city government is uniquely positioned to address.”

More than $25 million in General Fund resources  is being allocated to the Joint Office of Homeless Services, matching Multnomah County’s commitment to invest in supportive housing, diversion programs, rapid rehousing shelter, and system coordination.

MARC JOLIN TELLS ABOUT   “A HOME FOR EVERYONE”

 At the April 27^th meeting of the Alliance Planning Meeting, Marc Jolin, head of the Multnomah County Joint Office of Homeless Services, reported that a “Home for Everyone” is a community-wide plan organized in response to the crisis of homelessness in Multnomah County.     During 2015-2016, they served over 25,000 people with some level of housing and support services  This year, they plan to prevent homelessness by 5,000 people; increase permanent housing placements for 4,350; and  expand emergency shelters by 650 beds to double the current capacity for those who remain  homeless.

• Lack of available housing is the biggest challenge. Therefore, they  are offering private landlords financial incentives to encourage them to rent to homeless people.  Last year, they were successful securing 300 more housing units.
• Stable income leads to stable housing. Therefore they have introduced programs which connect rental assistance  with employment training.
• By aligning mental health, corrections, and homeless service systems, they are better able to serve the community. A community-wide data platform has been created to facilitate application processes and make sure people get the services they need.
• Shelter options remain critical to provide basic safety, hygiene facilities, and opportunities to connect with housing, employment, and health services.

Marc indicated everyone’s help is needed.  To find out more visit www.ahomeforeverone.net or ahfe@multco.us  or call 503-988-2525.

BREAKING THE CHAIN OF GENERATIONAL POVERTY, STARTING WITH THE CHILDREN, May 7 2017 By John Elizalde

About 60 people gathered under the banner of the Interfaith Alliance on Poverty to learn about how trauma, especially childhood trauma, impacts our lives and the lives of those living in poverty. Dr Mandy Davis, director of Trauma Informed Oregon (tio.org) led the afternoon workshop. It was terrific!

Medical and social sciences have progressed enough to recognize the long lasting effects that trauma has on our lives. None of us escape without some form of trauma as we grow up, face life on life’s terms, raise families, have jobs, struggle with relationships, money and so many more of day-to-day reality. As Dr Davis pointed out, faith communities are often providers of safety net services. Our members serve meal sites, shelters, offer encouragement and support to families in transition and many other direct service activities. The communities where we live, work, worship and serve are populated with those who have experienced adversity, trauma, and toxic stress. So, with every interaction we have an opportunity to restore, reconnect and repair the people we serve and serve with.

We got a good, working definition of what trauma informed care is: “A program, organization, or system that is trauma-informed realizes the widespread impact of trauma and understands potential paths for recovery; recognizes the signs and symptoms of trauma in clients, families, staff, and others involved with the system; and responds by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices, and seeks to actively resist re-traumatization”

The workshop then took us through the learning we needed in order to realize, recognize, respond and resist re-traumatizing. Just understanding trauma was a chore. It can be a single event, a series of events that may recur over time, there could be interpersonal violence or violation at the hands of a trusted figure, or even events that impact a group or have occurred to family in the past. Many of us found ourselves thinking about our own past and the events that may have impacted us.

It seemed the key was why trauma is important for those of us concerned about poverty, economic justice and making a positive difference in the lives of our neighbors. It is important because:

—Trauma is pervasive.

—Trauma’s impact is broad, deep and life-shaping.

—Trauma differentially affects the more vulnerable.

—Trauma affects how people approach services.

—The service system has often been activating or re-traumatizing.

Thus, if our work is to break the chain of generational poverty we need the awareness of how trauma sets the stage for this generational inheritance. We talk about starting with the children because we learn that science has taught us about

how vulnerable children are (sure we knew this but current research has put a sharper focus on children and trauma). Trauma (toxic stress, adversity) impacts the way our brain develops and functions (neurobiology). We learned that trauma can have impacts that persist across generations (epigenetics). And, we find that adverse childhood experiences are particularly important due to the neurobiology at play with young minds. Dr Davis puts it succinctly: “The take home message about ACEs is that adversity in childhood leads to challenges in health for adults and helped us understand why. It linked adversity to heart disease, diabetes, stroke, copd, etc.” These experiences show up in education results, earning power and can indicate the likelihood for lesser education and economic outcome.

This summary cannot begin to discuss the details of the ACEs study and its findings. Suffice to realize that children are at the foundation of generational poverty and need our support, lots of our support. And, that we can make a positive difference if we look for and develop ways to create safe, stable and nurturing relationships so children can learn skills such that they can reach their full potential.

We learned that our resilience actually allows us to experience positive surroundings that reverse, prevent or heal the disruption caused by trauma. Our service activities and the facilities we work in offer opportunities for us to connect personally with those we serve and serve with. Resilience affords the chance to become self-aware and to learn and understand self-reflection and self-care. This leads to becoming more flexible, curious and persistent and being able to be of service to others. Like so much of life we learn that resilience is a capability we need to develop and nurture if we are to thrive living life on life’s terms.

And so there were concrete steps we could take to enhance our relationships. Creating physical and emotionally safe places for our service is a step in the right direction. Dr Davis provided examples of how we might do that and help restore power and value to the people we interact with. So much of trauma informed care is about the way we work rather than the work we do. The workshop didn’t get deep into skill development but it is clear that being ‘trauma informed’ is an area of development for most of us.

Often we hear it said, “it’s not about the food/shelter/clothes or other direct service. It is about how we provide the food/shelter/clothes or other service.” Dr Davis is likely to endorse that perspective. Those who attended “Breaking the Chain of Generational Poverty: Starting with the Children” have plenty to reflect on. That’s a good thing.

Learn more at Trauma Informed Oregon (tio.org) and get a copy of the handouts from the training by emailing: registerinterfaithalliance@gmail.com.

WHERE THERE’S A WILL, THERE’S A WAY By Rev. Connie Yost,  (Article has been edited for newsletter.  To read full text, see Allianceopoverty.org website.)

“It began in Denver, in July of 2016, when Southwest Airline computers crashed and my flight home to Portland was cancelled. An hour and a half wait in line had me rebooked on a flight out the next evening, and an apologetic $200 voucher was issued, good only on a future, Southwest Airline flight.

“Never one to turn down a good coupon, discount or voucher, that $200 weighed heavily on me. Where to go? Finally, I decided to tour parts of the Midwest I had skipped over (or flown over) in previous trips. My trip began in Detroit, wound through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, ending in Chicago.

“Between booking the trip and taking the trip, I had gotten more involved with the Interfaith Alliance on Poverty in Portland, specifically researching programs that have effectively moved people and communities out of poverty. I remembered studying the Chicago-based work of Bethel New Life when I was in seminary some years back. I was in luck – Mary Nelson, one of Bethel’s founders and executive director for many years was still living in the community, and she would be happy to talk with me and show me around.

When I arrived at Bethel ,I was  flabbergasted at the size of it! I had no idea that their offices were in a former 465-bed hospital and nursing school, now a senior independent and assisted living facility they purchased and rehabbed.

Mary, having retired as Bethel’s executive director in 2006, lived in an apartment there, and still had an office in the old nursing school section. She was nimble and jaunty in her clogs and patterned loose pants, not nearly as old looking as I thought she would be.   Mary told me the story of Bethel New Life, which was born out of Bethel Lutheran Church where her brother became Pastor in 1965. Three days later, riots broke out.

In 1965, Bethel Lutheran Church had 35 elderly white members. By then, the surrounding community was overwhelmingly black. White flight had accelerated over the years, but with the riots, the community shut down completely. Businesses left, banks left, landlords stopped maintaining buildings. Residents found there were few jobs nearby, and even those with a good income couldn’t get a home loan in this “risky” neighborhood. By 1979, the area was losing 200 housing units to demolition each year. There was no major grocery store, few good doctors, no local bank and too few jobs. West Garfield was in a tailspin, and almost no one from the outside seemed interested in saving it.

Yet a new community organization found that there were plenty of resources available within this worn-out neighborhood. There were local people willing to put abandoned buildings back together again, families who pitched in to start a food co-op, older men who would comb parks and alleys for aluminum cans worth a penny or two each. There were church members and neighbors who couldn’t spare much, but who were willing to give a little to see their community grow again. There was hope, the will to rebuild. And that was enough to start.

I am sure that those 35 members of Bethel New Life never imagined what their faith and hope would start in motion. With a commitment to be of service in their community, they opened their doors to the neighborhood. Pastor Nelson went door to door and invited people to come in. They opened the church to black groups, started an afterschool program, and provided a convocation for their local teachers, most of whom did not live in the neighborhood, teaching them the realities of the people’s lives.

By 1979, it was clear that there was a housing crisis. By then, Bethel Lutheran had 70 members who voted to do a housing ministry, though no one knew how to do it. They just knew it needed to be done. “All we knew about housing,” said one church member, “was that it was long and hard and complicated.”   They went to the bank and applied for their first loan, and when the bank asked for collateral, they voted to mortgage the church building. And when they ran out of money, they used their personal credit cards to buy the things they needed to rehab the buildings.

Fast forward 10 years, and they had grown into a $4.5 million per year organization with 350 employees. In their first three decades, Bethel built 1,200 affordable homes, advocated for social reforms, provided in-home care to the elderly, welcomed people home from prison to find legal employment, provided programs for neighborhood youth, were instrumental in the development of community investment vehicles such as the New Market Tax Credit program and led efforts at the local and national level in community development and transformation.

Rev. Connie’s report  demonstrates how people of faith can overcome the most formidable of obstacles to achieve astounding results.  In these challenging, sometimes discouraging times, it is a message we all need to hear.

“Escalating Inequality and Poverty”  Course for Churches

The Rev. Connie Yost, affiliated community minister of First Unitarian Church, is available to teach “Escalating Inequality and Poverty” at your church.  The course is designed as four, weekly sessions of two hours each, but Rev. Connie is willing to work with you to tailor to your needs.

Rev. Connie advises “In this four week course, we will explore economic inequality and poverty in the United States and specifically here in Portland.  We will engage with the complex history and realities of economic inequality which exists at every level of human community, from local to global, and is composed of overlapping and interrelated systems of education, income, housing, taxation, democracy, banking,  public health, workplace policies, and many others.  We will gain an awareness of how structures of oppression affect the systemic nature of economic inequality.  Finally, we will explore ways in which inequality and poverty can be reduced.  Come and be inspired to be part of the solution to escalating inequality.    Contact Rev Connie at cyost @ uuma.org or 503-885-0155.

UPCOMING ALLIANCE MEETINGS – All are welcome!

Thursday, June 1, 7:00 PM, Evicted” Book Discussion at Madeleine Catholic Parish, 3123 NE 24th Ave, Fireside Room, led by Dave and Peggy Albertine.

Monday, June 5, 12:00 noon-2:00 pm,  Transitioning to Stability Work Group of the Alliance, Agenda: Review effective national models,  Rose City Park Presbyterian Church, 1907 NE 45^th Street, Library (enter ramp by awning)

Friday, June 16, 9:30-11:30 AM, Advocacy Work Group, Grace Memorial Episcopal Church, 1535 NE 17th  

 Thursday, June 29, 12:00 Noon-2:00 PM, Monthly Meeting of the Interfaith Alliance on Poverty, Westminster Presbyterian Church,  1624 NE Hancock, Fireside Room; Share pot-luck lunch!!

UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENTS  - Join us!

 World Environment Day  Global Goals Fair, Saturday, June 3, 2017, 12:00 4:00 PM:   Portland Hawthorne Hostel, 3031 SE Hawthorne Blvd. --  Live music, local food & drink vendorsl

On May 8, 2017, United Nations Deputy Secretary General, Amina Mohammed, said,

“Eradicating poverty remains the greatest global challenge.   Poverty is more than the lack of income and resources to ensure a sustainable livelihood. Its manifestations include hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social discrimination and exclusion as well as the lack of participation in decision-making. Economic growth must be inclusive to provide sustainable jobs and promote equality.”

June 6 Salem Rally To Protest 1.6 Billion Budget Cuts –by Tom Hering

Last Friday, the Advocacy workgroup of The Alliance unanimously voted to support a Salem rally sponsored by A Better Oregon coalition. As you know, Oregonians are bracing for $1.6 billion in budget cuts as a result of Oregon’s lowest-in-the-nation corporate taxes.

If lawmakers do not show leadership and ask corporations to pay their fair share the results will be devastating:  350,000 Oregonians would be kicked off their health insurance and severe cuts to public education could occur with greatly increased class size. We need to tell our elected leaders it is outrageous to ask Oregonians to accept deeper cuts that directly impact people living in poverty while Oregon has one of the lowest corporate taxes in the nation.

• What:Legislature Rally to voice our opinion about budget cuts
• When:June 6th, Leaving Portland at 10 a.m.
• Where:Salem on the Capitol Steps at Noon
• Why:To Ensure $1.6 Billion in Cuts Don’t Impact Programs with Poverty Implications
• How:Traveling by bus, van or carpool;  Register here for free lunch: https://fastfor.ms/E58F2.

May 2017 Newsletter

NEWSLETTER – MAY 2017 The Interfaith Alliance newsletter is produced by the Poverty Awareness & Communication Workgroup. To contact:  Email Bonniejgregg@msn.com

MAY 14 -HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY

God could not be everywhere;  therefore, he made Mothers.”  Rudyard Kipling

 MAY 29 -MEMORIAL DAY REMEMBRANCE 

As we commemorate those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in defense of liberty, we  remember some of the words of our nation’s presidents.

 “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”  John F. Kennedy

 “This world of ours... must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect. Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”  Dwight D. Eisenhower

BREAKING THE CHAINS OF GENERATIONAL POVERTY,    STARTING WITH THE CHILDREN

On Sunday, May 7^th,  the Interfaith Alliance is  offering an opportunity for members and friends to hear Dr. Mandy Davis, Executive

Director, Trauma Informed Oregon, Portland State University explain:

Do you want to understand how the services you provide at meal sites, food pantries, etc., can impact people who have had these traumas?

Do you want to learn about the changes you can make so your service can be more welcoming and effective?

Do you realize that providing services can impact us as providers and what care we might need to serve more effectively?

Then join us for Dr. Davis’ presentation at Madeleine Parish, 3123 NE 24^th from 1:30-5:30 PM on Sunday May 7.  Light refreshments will be provided.

To register, Email John Elizalde registerinterfaithalliance@gmail.com   $10.00 Fee payable at the door (cash or check, please) -  no one turned away for lack of funds

  TRAUMA OF HAVING PARENTS IN PRISON  

PTSD “Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome” is a term most of us know.  We normally associate it with veterans returning from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, but PTSD is experienced not only among veterans, but by men and women who have never worn a uniform, and sadly among children as well, especially those who have one or more parents in prison.  Since approximately 50 percent of  those incarcerated in U.S. prisons are parents, over 2 million of their children suffer from mental health and behavioral problems associated with their parents’ incarceration.  Having a parent in prison also contributes to child homelessness and poverty which in turn intensifies intergenerational inequalities.

NORTHWEST FAMILY SERVICES

Marianne Kersten, Program Manager for Youth Solutions Student Mentoring at Northwest Family Services, in Portland, Oregon

Few events can be more traumatic for a child than witnessing the arrest of a parent. Speaking before the April 3 meeting of the Madeleine Parish Altar Society, Marianne noted that seldom do parents arrested  “go quietly.”  To see uniformed police enter the sanctity of a home, whether that home be a house, apartment, trailer, or tent, and then to see mom or dad placed in handcuffs, with or without a fight, assaults a child’s perception of his/her well being.  Gunshots may not be fired, but the memory of words spoken, anger expressed, fear exposed, and grief overwhelming the family can never be forgotten.

In the child’s eyes, both their parents and they themselves are the victims of injustice, a system stacked against them.

 Marianne advised that often it is the incarcerated parent who is the “better parent,”  because in 95% of the cases, the parent left to care for the family is addicted to drugs or alcohol.  Barely able to take care of themselves, they cannot take care of the children.  Therefore the children frequently end up on a path to foster homes; however, not always. The majority of children referred to Marianne’s Mentoring program   are still living with one parent.

She has 25 children in her group with a waiting list twice as long.  They are between the ages of 8 and 18.  All meet some level of “adverse experience criteria” which means they have been homeless or hungry, experienced violence, have first hand knowledge of drugs and alcohol, and a negative impression of the police and social services.  Without intervention, they are at risk of repeating the behaviors of their parents.  However, empowered by mentorship programs such as provided by Northwest Family Services, they are able to pursue education goals and  lead successful lives.

The mission of Northwest Family Services focuses on “core issues that support individual success, family stability, and child well-being”.   They have an array of services   ranging from “professional counseling, job readiness and placement, work solutions, positive youth development, healthy relationships, gang prevention, school site management, financial literacy, parenting, anger management, etc.”

Marianne said that there are no “quick fixes”, which is the reason mentors volunteering for her program need to commit to a minimum of 1-year,  typically involving contact every week.  Usually she says a meal is involved and an activity which appeals to the child’s interests. Letting them know “somebody cares” makes all the difference.   According to Northwest Family Services, “Children who have a meaningful relationship with a non-parental adult

• Are 46% less likely to start using drugs
• Are 27% less likely to start drinking
• 1/3 less likely to resort to violence
• Skip ½ as many days of school.
• Are more competent in their ability to do well at school
• Have more positive relationships with their peers
• Improve their appearance
• Take more positive risks
• Decrease hostility and have fewer disciplinary referrals
• Are happierVolunteers are carefully matched with children to produce the best bonds.  Marianne says she has seen lives transformed.  She told about two young women she is currently mentoring who once thought college an impossible dream.   By utilizing federal programs they are now attending institutions of higher learning on their way to stable, successful lives.  To volunteer or obtain more information, call 503-548-6377 or visit the web at http://www.nwfs.org

 SB 241 CREATES “BILL OF RIGHTS FOR CHILDREN OF INCARCERATED”

 State Senator  Michael Dembrow reports that Senate Bill 241     creates an Oregon Bill of Rights for the Children of Incarcerated Parents  to ensure that they   are given the justice they deserve and are not punished as a bi-product of the crimes of their parents.

 “WINDOW OPENED AT CITY HALL” by Bonnie Gregg

Chloe Eudaly, City Commissioner, and  Jessica Rojas,  Community and Environmental Manager,   NE Coalition on Neighbors

At the invitation of Jessica Rojas, as a representative of the Interfaith Alliance on Poverty, I attended a gathering of community activists at the NE Coalition of Neighbors office to welcome City Commissioner, Chloe Eudaly, on April 17.

They say that City Hall isn’t the same since Chloe came.  It’s as if “a window has opened” in the old building.  She does seem to bring a breath of fresh air with her.    When she entered the room, we knew immediately she was one of us.  We were a mix of folks from the NE Coalition, neighborhood associations, environmentalists, business advocates, churches, and other groups.

Chloe knew first-hand the causes for which we spoke, the need for:

• More public bathrooms to accommodate the homeless;
• “Affordable housing”’ and a system to support stable housing;
• Renters relief;
• Reducing gentrification;
• Opportunities for those re-entering the community after incarceration;
• Education;
• Economic development supporting small businesses;
• Community partnerships;
• Fair distribution of contracts;
• Safety and stability;
• Racial equality;
• Criminal justice reform;
• Clean air;
• Clean water;
• More parks;
• Land and nature conservation;
• Redeveloping “brownfields”;
• Reducing oil transport;
• Reducing diesel emissions;
• Supporting “green energy”;
• Supporting legal and legislative actions to effect change.

A pastor at the meeting observed that when our community reaches its full potential, it’s going to be “beautiful” and we are going to work to keep it that way.

Chloe Eudaly grew up-- in her words, “in the country around Portland,”-- coming to the city as a teenager.  For 18 years she raised her son and operated a book store.   However, she acknowledged that as ”a capitalist”, she has been “a failure.”   Always a renter, she became appalled by the high cost of rents for minimal accommodations, sometimes little more than “a shed.”   She reached out to the community to express her outrage on pdx.rentersunite.  Soon she had a following of hundreds who shared her concerns.   Her political career followed.  As City Commissioner, she now has what she describes as a “dream job”, which she says can also be a “nightmare.”  There is just so much that needs to be done.

During her first three months in office, shelter space has doubled and efforts are being made to improve affordable housing,  The renters re-location assistance ordinance has been approved by the City, and House Bill 2004A to extend its passage has been passed by the Oregon House.

She encouraged community to report “Zombie Houses,” derelict structures commonly owned and abandoned by absentee landlords. She hopes that the houses can be reclaimed to become affordable housing.  Contact her at officeofComm.Eudaly.gov.

After the meeting, I talked to Tanisha Jones, Communications Manager and Marketing Consultant for “Homegirl Consulting.”  She said “I think I’ve heard about your organization.  Do you know Marilyn Mauch?  She told me about you.”  Why, yes, I did, I acknowledged.  “She is the founder of the Backpack Lunch Program.”  Tanisha said “I call her “Miss Marilyn,”  We agreed that the world is a better place because of Marilyn Mauch..

I then talked to Commissioner Eudaly.  She said she “is excited about all the good work the Interfaith Alliance is doing.”   Jessica Rojas told her that when she had called out for assistance regarding two apartment complexes,” the Alliance had been the first to respond!” 

In our efforts “to alleviate poverty in Portland”, we as an Alliance may be taking small steps, but I believe we are fortunate to have arms linked with such community  partners as Jessica Rojas, NE Coaltion of Neighbors, City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly, and of course, our own Marilyn Mauch.

For more information, refer to  website:  allianceonpoverty.org – News Room -City News.

 ALLIANCE PLANNNG MEETING

At the March  30 Alliance Planning meeting held at Westminster Presbyterian Church, John Elizalde, Alliance work group leader welcomed guest speakers, Diane Yatchmenoff and Ana Hristic, representatives of the Trauma Informed Oregon.

UPCOMING ALLIANCE MEETINGS

Sunday, May 7, 1:30 PM-5:30 PM  “Breaking the Cycle of Generational Poverty: Starting with the Children”,  sponsored by the Alliance,  Madeleine Parish, 3123 NE 24th Ave. To register,  email  John Elizalde at registerinterfaithalliance@gmail.com  

Monday, May 15, 12:00 noon-2:00 pm,  Transitioning to Stability Work Group of the Alliance, Agenda: Review effective national models,  Rose City Park Presbyterian Church, 1907 NE 45^th Street, Library (enter ramp by awning)

 Friday,  May 19,  9:30 AM- 11:30 AM,  Advocacy Work Group of the Alliance; Grace Memorial: 1535 NE 17th Ave, downstairs in the Mason-Burnham room.

 Thursday, May 25, 12:00 Noon-2:00 PM, Monthly Meeting of the Interfaith Alliance on Poverty, Speaker will be Cameron Herrington of Living Cully, at Westminster Presbyterian Church,  1624 NE Hancock, Fireside Room

“Evicted” BOOK DISCUSSIONS:

Sunday, May 14 & May 21,  9:00 AM, Central Lutheran Church,  1820 NE 21st Ave

Thursday, June 1, 7:00 PM, Madeleine Parish, 3123 NE 24th Ave, Fireside Room

 UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENTS

 A HOME FOR EVERYONE (AHFE) COORDINATING MEETING

WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, ​3:00 to 5:00 pm Meeting Location: Multnomah Building 3rd Floor, Room 315, 501 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland OR 97214, For more information, contact    john_elizalde@hotmail.com

LEGISLATURE: HOUSING OPPORTUNITY DAY  – Thursday, May 18   9:30 AM-4:30 PM

Meeting Location:  The Mill at the Willamette Heritage Center, 1313 Mill St. SE, Salem, Oregon, Morning snacks and lunch provided.  For more information, contact     John  Elizalde @ john_elizalde@hotmail.com  or Tom  Hering @ tehering@gmail.com

April 2017 Newsletter

 NEWSLETTER – APRIL 2017 

The Interfaith Alliance newsletter is produced by the Poverty Awareness & Communication Workgroup.

To contact: Email Bonniejgregg@msn.com

William Shakespeare says: “April hath put a spirit of youth in everything.” After the winter we’ve had in the Pacific Northwest, we surely need it! Our very bones creak. All those days staring out the window onto frozen streets. Going out meant bundling against the cold and watching our step on slippery sidewalks.

Now, seeing skies of blue, pink blossoms on the tree, and feeling the sun warm upon our shoulders, life surges anew. We throw off our parkas and get out our gardening tools. We vow to lose the blues, reform and reclaim our lives, and reach out to those in poverty, so they can reclaim their lives, too.

Springtime is all about rebirth and renewal, which is why most of the world’s religions embrace this season.

Martin Luther said, “Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time”. 

MAYOR’S VISION FOR PORTLAND

Excerpts from Ted Wheeler’s March 24 remarks before City Hall)

“Some call Portland the Rose City. Some call it Stump Town. Blazers fans call Portland Rip City, while Timbers fans call it Soccer City USA. Some people just call Portland Weird. And guess what? We are all that and more.

“Many people have referred to the West Coast as the last line of defense against forces that seek to roll back the progress we’ve made on health care, on education, on the environment, on reproductive rights, on LGBT issues and issues of race. While this may be an apt description, I say this: I am not satisfied with Portland merely being the last line of defense. I want our great city to be the first line of offense.

“A safe, affordable place to live is a home base for any family. It’s a place from which parents go to work and kids go to school. It anchors that family to a community. It’s where parents and kids do the most important thing any family can do: spend time together.

The cost of housing is the major obstacle to securing housing, but it is not the only obstacle. Renters, in particular, face many hurdles, including applications, credit checks, security deposits, and

more. Additionally, tenants and landlords alike are often not aware of their rights and responsibilities under the law.

“Whatever we do, I am determined that it benefit everyone in the community, and that any housing that is created includes all levels of affordability. And however we do it, I am determined that we lead the nation in ensuring that women, people of color, and underserved communities participate in the economic benefits of the project through a strong commitment to minority and women-owned contracting principles. We have a chance to reshape the face of our city. I also believe we have a chance to reshape our spirit.

“My final thoughts are these. We are not some monolithic, homogenous city, and we don’t want to be. By coming together, embracing our shared values and acting on them, we can ensure that Portland’s character will endure for generations to come. That Portland will continue to be a place for all people. That we will continue to be an example to our neighbors, the nation, and the world. 

APRIL: AMERICAN ARAB MONTH 

Although April is “American Arab Month”, the Portland Arab American community hold their “Mahrajan” celebration in late summer.

“Arab” refers to those who speak Arabic as their first language. and who are united by the culture and history of their native lands primarily in the Middle East and Northern Africa. Most Arabs are Muslims but there are also millions of Christian Arabs and thousands of Jewish world wide. During the revolutionary war, Algeria provided horses to the American cavalry, and Morocco was the first country to officially recognize the U.S. as a new nation. However, it wasn’t until 1867 that Syrians began immigrating to America. A hundred years later, in 1967, following the 6-day Arab-Israelis war, Palestinians arrived in large numbers as well.

Today Arabs make up 1.2 % of the US population. They have made important contributions to the U.S. culture and economy, frequently pursuing professional careers; therefore, poverty is seldom an issue in their communities. However, the same cannot be said for their relatives who are being driven out of their homes into refugee camps by middle east wars.

Of the 4.8 million Syrian refugees, half are children. We may think of Arabs as a nomadic people roaming the desert, but those arriving in refugee camps from Aleppo were accustomed to all the culture and conveniences of a modern city. Most of the children have survived traumatic events including gunfire in their streets, the destruction of their homes, and the death of family members and friends, followed by a hard journey to the camp. Instead of a 3-bedroom apartment, they now live in a

tent. They hang on to hope that their life in the camp is temporary.

Unfortunately, their path to resettlement is not easy. War continues to bar their way home. Other countries are no longer welcoming. Procedures for resettlement are lengthy. First a United Nations representative decides if the person fits the definition of refugee. Less than 1% of refugees meet that criteria. The entire process can take up to two or more years.

The PEW Research Center indicates that worldwide, because of wars and climate change, “nearly 1 in 100 people are being displaced from their homes.” To find food, water, and a place to live, they are willing to walk miles, risk drowning in a packed boat, take shelter on city streets or in a crowded refugee camp. To build a global community, free of war, where everybody has a home, may be the greatest challenge of the 21st century. 

> Myth: "Growing up in poverty doesn't affect children as long as you raise them right." 

Fact: Poverty affects the healthy development of every child. 

The AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION indicates that ”children who grow up in generational poverty suffer chronic stress, anxiety, depression and low self esteem. This in turn affects their behavior, social development, academic performance, employment readiness, and personal relationships”. 

“They will become part of a vicious, intergenerational cycle that curtails children’s opportunities, deepens inequality and threatens societies everywhere. 

“Trapped in a cycle of disadvantage, children from the poorest households, are effectively pre-selected for heightened risks of disease, hunger, illiteracy and poverty based on factors entirely outside

their control. They are nearly two times as likely to die before the age of 5. They are also far less likely to complete school, meaning that those who survive this precarious start find little opportunity to break free from their parents’ poverty and to shape their own futures.

“Around the world, children make up nearly half of the almost 900 million people living on less than U.S. $1.90 a day. Their families struggle to afford the basic health care and nutrition needed to provide them a strong start.

“This challenge is compounded by the increasingly protracted nature of armed conflict. Nearly 250 million children live in countries and areas affected by armed conflict, and millions more bear the brunt of climate-related disasters and chronic crises.”

The UN projects the world is facing its worst humanitarian crisis since World War II, with 20 million people facing starvation and famine.” The U.S administration is now proposing to cut foreign aid by 30%

LEARNING FROM OTHERS

by Rae Richen 

In our work to end houselessness and provide support toward housing stability, the Transitions Workgroup of Interfaith Alliance has recruited teams that support with families moving into homes.

At the same time, members of the Transitions workgroup have decided to take an in-depth look at models of support that work in other cities. We find that from Baltimore to Winnepeg, cities are demonstrating that having a safe place to live is the first and most important step toward solving the problems that keep people in poverty. This approach to caring for the houseless is called ‘Housing First’. 

Before Housing First became widely known and demonstrated success, most programs to address homelessness were based on what was often called ‘Housing Readiness’ model. Many cities still use that older model. The Housing Readiness approach assumes that homeless people should be treated for complex problems while living in residential treatment or transitional housing. Treatment will create healthier people, able to end their own homelessness with a little help.

Housing First turns the Housing Readiness model upside-down. Housing First is based on the idea that permanent housing is a person’s first and foremost need and a basic human right. Once a person is safely housed, then all other needs can begin to be addressed and health and social participation can improve. Housing First makes certain that supports are in place so that people can become stabilized while in their new home.

In the next months, we will report to you on the best models of housing and support that we discover in these efforts to provide stability

March 2017 Newsletter

NEWSLETTER – MARCH 2017 The Interfaith Alliance newsletter is produced by the Poverty Awareness & Communication Workgroup. To contact:  Email Bonniejgregg@msn.com

 “When Irish eyes are smiling, all the world is bright and gay, but when Irish eyes are crying, sure they’ll steal your heart away!.”

 Most of us know the tune that goes with these words.  March is Irish Heritage month and on St. Paddy’s Day we wear a bit of green, march in parades, and tell Irish jokes.   It doesn’t matter if we’re Irish, we’re proud to claim Irish heritage.  It makes us feel a little lighter somehow, better able to see the “sublime”, especially after a couple of Guinness. But that wasn’t always the case.

In 1850, at the peak of the Potato Famine,  more than 200,000 Irish immigrated to the United States and Canada.  A celebrated orator, Orestes Browson, declared, “ Out of these narrow lanes, dirty streets, damp cellars and suffocating garrets  will come forth some of the “noblest sons of country” whom she will delight to own and honor.” Americans didn’t see them that way.  The Chicago Post wrote, “The Irish fill our prisons and our poor houses.  Scratch a convict or a pauper, and the chances are  you will tickle the skin of an Irish Catholic.  Putting them on a boat and sending them home would end crime in this country.”  Ads also  specified that job applicant must be Protestant or American, effectively banning Catholics.  

In 1862, Miss Kathleen O’Neil wrote and sang the following song (excerpts below):

“I’m a simple Irish girl, and I’m looking for a place, I’ve felt the grip of poverty, but sure that’s no disgrace. ”Twill be long before I get one, tho indeed it’s hard I try,         for I read in each advertisement,    “NO IRISH NEED APPLY”

“Now I wonder what’s the reason that the fortune-favored few, should throw on us that dirty slur, and treat us as they do.  Sure they all know Paddy’s heart is warm, and willing is his hand,   They rule us, yet we may not earn a living in their land.   Now what have they against us, sure the world knows Paddy’s brave, for he helped to fight their battles, both on land and on the wave.“Ah, but now I’m in the land of the Glorious and Free” And proud I am to own it, a country dear to me.  I can   see by your kind faces, that you will not deny, a place in your hearts for Kathleen, where    “ALL IRISH MAY APPLY”

Kathleen’s  Irish wit smiles  throughout her song.  Within the next 100 years, the Irish were assimilated into every venue in the country, achieving success in politics, business, entertainment, sports, and the arts.  An Irish Catholic, John Fitzgerald Kennedy became the 35th U.S. president.

From 1845 to 1851, hundreds of thousands of immigrants entered the United States, not only from Ireland but   other countries in Europe and around the world.  Their arrival upset the previous wave of immigrants who were now established and saw themselves as the true  “Americans.”   In 1866, the Ku Klux Klan became a national movement.  advocating for “white supremacy”, white nationalism, anti-immigration, anti-Catholicism, and anti-semiticism.  We see some of the same attitudes expressed toward today’s immigrants, refugees, and members of the Muslim faith.

ROB JUSTUS EXPLAINS  HOW TO “BUILD AFFORDABLE HOMES AFFORDABLY”

 Rob Justus shared his view on creating affordable housing with members of the Interfaith Alliance at their February planning committee meeting.

In 1992, Rob Justus, a social justice activist, with a Masters in Divinity, founded JOIN, launching the “home first” program, working one-to-one with homeless individuals and families to move them from sleeping on the streets into permanent housing. Concerned about the lack of affordable housing, in 2001, he left JOIN to establish Home First Development, a company governed by what he describes as a “moral compass.”   “Home First Development is driven by the belief that decent affordable housing is fundamental to the health and wellbeing of a community.”

Justus’s goal is to provide quality units that rent for $600 which are at the same time reasonable for owners to operate and maintain.  Working with independent contractors, Justus has been successful in building multiple housing complexes for a cost of $68,000 per unit, compared to the industry average of $250,000.

He has had used no public money, but has worked with non profits and private donors. He has also collaborated with CASH Oregon in creating innovative approaches to increase income for low income Oregonians.  A number of faith-based communities have cooperated in selling their property for affordable housing projects.      Home First has built 257 units locally and has other projects underway in east Portland, Bend, LaPine, and Sisters.  He encouraged the Alliance to support zone changes affecting church properties to allow construction of low-cost housing

 CITY HALL APPROVES RENTERS’ RELOCATION ASSISTANCE

Chloe Eudaly - Photo Credit -April Baer – OPB

Newly elected City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly and Mayor Ted Wheeler campaigned on a promise to help renters and led the effort to amend the Affordable Housing Preservation and Portland Renter Protections to add relocation assistance.  Interfaith Alliance members joined a rally led by Portland Tenants United outside City Hall on February 2, 2017 in support of this amendment.  The City Council voted unanimously to approve an emergency ordinance to require landlords to pay moving costs for tenants evicted “without cause.”

The new ordinance will require tenants to receive a 90-day notice for a no-cause eviction and landlords to pay relocation assistance.  Mayor Wheeler said, “It is a huge step forward in terms of renter protections as they exist in the community today.” The ordinance states that: “The average Portland tenant is paying between 45% to 49% of their income on rent, which puts them at significant risk of becoming “severely cost burdened” paying over 50% of their gross monthly income on rent.”

“Rent increases of 10% and higher have the effect of constructively evicting tenants (“Economic Evictions”) resulting in  involuntary displacement.  Involuntary displacement occurs not only as a result of economic evictions, but also when a tenant is forced to leave their home through no fault of their own through  “no-cause eviction.”  This has resulted in a 28% increase in newly homeless individuals, including 48% increase in persons of color and a 24% increase in families with children.

Relocation expenses associated with involuntary displacement such as application fees, security deposits, double rent, moving supplies, storage, and lost wages present a significant challenge to Portland renters.

COMMUNITY ACTION SUPPORTS RENTERS

A mass “no-cause eviction” notice was issued to 72 renters of the Titan Manor Apartments in north Portland, following the sale of the property in October 2016.  The Community Alliance of Tenants (C.A.T.) directed a letter to the new owners asking that the notice be withdrawn.  The C.A.T. initiative was supported by the NE Coalition of Neighbors and the Interfaith Alliance among other organizations.  On February 24, the notice was withdrawn, allowing the residents to remain in their current housing and their 59 children attending Portland Public Schools to remain in their current placement..

When the Normandy Apartments on NE Killingsworth  were recently sold, renters learned their rent would be “doubled.”  The Alliance joined with the Cully Association of Neighbors in a Feb 26 “Renter Solidarity March  & Rally” to support the renters . 

INTERFAITH ADVOCACY DAY IN SALEM

On Tuesday February 7, 2017   members of the Interfaith Alliance joined with representatives of the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon and other faith communities to advocate with legislators  for compassionate legislation regarding housing, hunger, health care, gun safety and climate justice. In above photo, Interfaith Alliance members are preparing to meet with Rep. Michael Dembrow.

MULTNOMAH COUNTY LIBRARY

Who does not love a library?  All those volumes of books and now E-books, audio tapes, CD’s, films, classes, and technology -- whatever you want to know-- is yours, “free for the taking.”  If education is key to escaping poverty,  the library provides the gateway through which many pass on their path to knowledge.

The Library has expanded its mission beyond loaning out books.  The “ Everybody Reads,Program” is an annual  Multnomah County Library reading project supported by the Library Arts Foundation.    The 2017  selection is Matthew Desmond’s book, “Evicted”.  The Library Arts Foundation encourages Portlanders  to:

 “Join the library in discussing and envisioning real solutions to our housing crisis.  Let's learn from each other, promote greater understanding and celebrate the power of books in creating a stronger community.”  Library Director, Vailey Oehlke, says, “We consider ourselves part of a reading ecosystem.  Democracy is under a lot of pressure. There are fewer places for people of different classes and viewpoints to come together.” 

What is now the Multnomah County Library dates back to 1864, when Portland was a frontier town with frame buildings and muddy streets.

An early 1900s bookmobile delivered books to rural Multnomah County residents.  Just 13 years after the city’s incorporation, a small group of businessmen organized a Library Association of  Portland.   In 1900, John Wilson donated his collection of 8,000 books and $2,500 in gold coin to establish the library. A block, then on the outskirts of downtown Portland was purchased and Albert Doyle was hired as architect to construct a new library.

Mary Frances Isom was employed as head librarian. Mary pushed Doyle to design one of the nation’s first “open-stack” libraries.  He designed a building clad in brick, with stone benches outside and marble stairways and Georgian revival rooms inside, at a cost of about $1 million in today’s dollars. It opened in September 1913.  Today the Multnomah County Library system is second only to the New York Public Library in circulation volume.

AN EVENING WITH MATTHEW DESMOND, sponsored by the Library Arts Foundation, will be held Thursday, March 9, at 7:30 pm, in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.   Author of “Evicted”, Desmond is a Harvard Associate Professor of Social Justices, whose work has focused on the causes, dynamics, and consequences of eviction among the urban poor.

 EVERYBODY READS “Evicted”   Programs are planned at many locations including the following: 

• SISTERS OF THE ROAD will be showing a film, “On The Ground” on Saturday, March 4, from 2:30 to 3:30, at the Multnomah County Central Library in the U.S. Bank Room
• FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH OF PORTLAND will have an event including a panel discussion on housing issues in Portland, a small group discussion of “Evicted” and a presentation by the Oregon Housing Alliance.  The date will be March 12, from 1:30-4:30 pm, in the Buchan Room.
• FREMONT UNITED METHODIST BOOK CLUB is reading the “Evicted” and there will be a discussion open to the neighborhood on Monday, March 13^th at 7:00 pm at the church located at NE 26^th and Fremont.
• ROSE CITY PARK PRESBYTERIAN. Several regular book groups will be reading “Evicted” during February and March. In April   a church wide discussion will be held that will be open to the community.  Rose City Park is located at 1907 NE 45^th in the Hollywood district.

UPCOMING EVENTS

 ESCALATING INEQUALITY AND POVERTY by Rev. Connie Yost -   Mar. 1, 8, 15; 7–9 pm

     -- “In this four week course,” Rev. Connie states, “ we will explore economic inequality and poverty in the United States and specifically here in Portland.  We will engage with the complex history and realities of economic inequality which exists at every level of human community, from local to global, and is composed of overlapping and interrelated systems of education, income, housing, taxation, democracy, banking,  public health, workplace policies, and many others.

We will gain an awareness of how structures of oppression affect the systemic nature of economic inequality.  Finally, we will explore ways in which inequality and poverty can be reduced.  Come and be inspired to be part of the solution to escalating inequality.”

Facilitator: Rev. Connie Yost is an affiliated community minister with First Unitarian Church, Portland.  She is the founder of Friends Stay Warm which provides utility assistance and advocacy to farm and other low-wage workers.   She is on the board of Farm Ministry NW and the planning committee of the Interfaith Alliance on Poverty.

Presentation will be at  First Unitarian Church, 1211 SW Main St.  For more information,     Please contact Rev. Connie Yost at cyost@uuma.org

LOBBY DAYS IN SALEM

Stable Homes for Oregon Families Day, March 2: This is a day focused solely on tenant protections. There will be an opportunity to visit with legislators  as well as a public hearing on House Bill 2004. That bill will eliminate the ability of landlords to evict people without a reason, and allows local jurisdictions to try rent stabilization to help slow the rate and speed of rent increases.

Housing Opportunity Day, March 22 (the Housing Alliance's advocacy day).   It will start around 8:30 AM and go until about 4:00.   Focus will be on the full Housing Opportunity Agenda including both tenant protections and new resources.

SAVE THE DATE = SUNDAY AFTERNOON, MAY 7, LOCATION TBD “BREAKING THE CHAIN OF GENERATIONAL POVERTY” The Interfaith Alliance on Poverty will host a presentation by Dr. Mandy Davis, LCSW,   Co-Director and Trainer of Trauma Informed Oregon, Portland State University School of Social Work

There are no “poor children.”   But, there are children living without the critical resources needed to achieve normal development. Come for an afternoon exploring the role poverty plays in the lives of children and limits them to lower educational and economic outcomes. Learn ways we, as individuals, people of faith and faith communities can make a difference in their lives.  Learn techniques and skills to be of more caring direct service.  And, how we can help break the chain of generational poverty.

MARCH 30 -  INTERFAITH ALLIANCE PLANNING COMMITTEE will be held at 12:00 at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1624 NE Hancock.  Representative from the Trauma Informed Oregon will be guest speaker.

February 2017 Newsletter

“On A Mission to Alleviate Poverty in the Portland Region”

The Interfaith Alliance newsletter is produced by the Poverty Awareness & Communication Workgroup. Deadline for submission of news articles is the 25th of the month. Newsletter staff: Jon DeBellis and Bonnie Gregg. To contact: Email Bonniejgregg@msn.com

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Featured in this issue:

• Comments by Dr. Martin Luther King from "I Have A Dream Speech", Nobel Prize acceptance address, and Speaking of Poverty presentation.
• February - Black History Month
• Portland's New Mayor - by Bonnie Gregg
• Carol Turner's Remarks at Mayor Wheeler's Swearing In
• "Evicted" Book Review by Bonnie Gregg
• Volunteers Needed for Everybody Reads by Carol Turner
• City Purchases 263 Unit Ellington Apartments by Rae Richen
• Escalating Inequality and Poverty by Rev. Connie Yost
• Upcoming Events

MLK

On January 16, our nation celebrated the life of civil rights champion, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Excerpts from Dr King’s “I Have a Dream” Speech: “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning, "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrims' pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

In his Nobel Prize acceptance address in Oslo, Norway, 1964, Dr. King stated: “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why, right temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”

In his presentation regarding poverty, unemployment, homelessness, hunger, malnutrition, illiteracy, infant mortality, etc., Dr. King stated, “Ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation. No individual or nation can be great if it does not have a concern for ‘the least of these. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

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FEBRUARY IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH.

Since 1926, the second week of February has been set aside to celebrate Black Americans’ freedom from slavery. The date was selected to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln. In 1976 the week was expanded to a month to recognize the many accomplishments of Black Americans. Unfortunately, the realization of Dr. King’s dream is not among them.

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PORTLAND’S NEW MAYOR

by Bonnie Gregg

During the month of January, in the nation’s capitol, state houses, and city halls, our newly elected leaders have taken oaths of office to assume roles of leadership. Typically, the “oath of office” is administered by a judge or county clerk, but this was not the case when Portland Mayor, Ted Wheeler took his oath on January 4, at Jason Lee Elementary School. He was sworn in by the students of the school, who stood in line to administer the oath.

The selection of Jason Lee as the site of the swearing in, was a departure from normal practice, but it was an important symbol for our new mayor.

He wanted to demonstrate that the “east side” of Portland matters as much as the more affluent west. "The challenges, the issues of east Portland, are the challenges of all of Portland," he said. He indicated his desire for a more “pluralistic society”, and being “a city that works for everybody”. He stressed the importance of nurturing our youth. "It's cliche," Wheeler observed. "We've heard it a million times. You know why? Because the children are our future." He concluded, “Talk is cheap. Action is what matters!”

As one of his first actions, on the freezing night that followed his swearing in, he cancelled the sweeps of homeless camps and opened City Hall to provide Portlanders shelter against the cold.

Interfaith Alliance Co-Chair, Carol Turner, was among the four speakers invited by Ted Wheeler to speak at his swearing in ceremony. They included representatives from the Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde, and the Coalition for Justice and Police Reform.

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CAROL TURNER’S REMARKS AT MAYOR WHEELER’S SWEARING IN

“Good morning. The Interfaith Alliance on Poverty is honored to be invited to this important event… the official launching of our new Mayor Ted Wheeler. David Groff and I serve as Co-Chairs of the Alliance and we are pleased to have some of our members in attendance today.

“The Interfaith Alliance on Poverty is a growing network of Portland faith-based communities and congregations. We are on a common mission, working to alleviate poverty in our Portland region. “As a communal voice grounded in our sacred texts, we have three major goals: 1) To increase our understanding of generational poverty. 2) To advocate for systemic change to help eliminate poverty- and yes, we have already been to City Hall for such a purpose. 3) And work directly with families living in poverty to help them move to stability- in partnership with the New City Initiatives

“By observing how the incoming Mayor has worked as a public official in recent years- and we are blessed that he brings such expertise… it is clear that he approaches challenges through learning about and understanding complexities. We know there is nothing more complex than the poverty that is visible daily in our city and the poverty which is invisible, with too many people living in the shadows, always anxious about the next paycheck and always on edge.

“Ted Wheeler is an authentic, collaborative leader who listens to voices in the community including those that are not often heard. He is strategic about what actions to pursue and has the fortitude to make a difference.

“The current focus for the Interfaith Alliance now is to help vulnerable families gain stability through access to homes that are affordable to them over time. It is great to hold this event in a public school- since we know that the real ticket out of poverty is to graduate from high school and succeed with advanced learning opportunities. For this to happen, families need to settle into stable, safe homes where their children will be in one school over a period of time- so they can breathe a sigh of relief not worrying about where they will sleep that night- and can bring all their energy and their brains so they can focus on achieving academic success.

“We look forward to Mayor Wheeler beginning his work in our city. We know there will be many challenges that arise, and it is all too easy to get off track with the latest problem or the latest solution de jour. We ask you to clearly establish your priority goals and strategies and sustain these efforts over the long haul. We know that Portland has strong public services, dedicated and intelligent City and County Commissioners, involved business community, effective non-profits, groups such as ours – filled with people who have the will to tackle the economic disparity that we face. “And really in the end, and certainly compared to other cities… we are confident that with all these resources and the City’s leadership Portland definitely has the capacity to move the dial on alleviating poverty well into the next generation.

“So, Mayor Wheeler, we are excited to work with you on this challenge. As you accept this mantle of public service and leadership, we wish you all the best. Thank you on behalf of the Alliance for this opportunity.”

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BOOK REVIEW

“EVICTED” by MATTHEW DESMOND

by Bonnie Gregg 

Matthew Desmond, Associate Professor of Social Sciences and Co-Director of the Justice and Poverty Project at Harvard University, devoted more than two years to the research of his book, “Evicted.” Living in trailer parks and low income housing, among those struggling   to feed and clothe their families on the few dollars left after paying the rent and utilities, he saw firsthand, how eviction destabilize the lives of renters, forcing them into homelessness.

By telling the true stories of individuals he met during his research such as Arlene (the single mother of two boys, one with asthma), Lamar (a man with no legs trying to get out of debt), Tobin (who runs the worst trailer park in Milwaukee), and Sherrena (a former school teacher now a wealthy, low rent landlady), Desmond explains the serious issues surrounding the need for affordable housing, not with statistics, but by the lives of those affected.

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EVERYBODY READS “Evicted” BECOMES “BIG INTERFAITH ALLIANCE EVENT”

by Claudia Roberts

“Everybody Reads” is becoming a big event for our Portland Interfaith Alliance on Poverty. We have distributed brochures about the event to all of our participating faith communities and have recruited volunteers to help with some of the planned community events. A number of congregations   will be holding book discussions for their communities and some are also opening the doors to their neighbors. It is not too late for any of the other congregations to set up their own discussion group or partner with another congregation that has already scheduled an event.

The list includes the following events scheduled during February and March

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN –will host an “Evicted” book discussion open to the community on Wednesday, February 22, at 7:30 pm.

FREMONT UNITED METHODIST BOOK CLUB   is reading the “Evicted” and there will be a discussion open to the neighborhood on Monday, March 13^th at 7:00 pm at the church located at NE 26^th and Fremont.

FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH OF PORTLAND will have an event including a panel discussion on housing issues in Portland, a small group discussion of “Evicted” and a presentation by the Oregon Housing Alliance. The date will be either Sunday, February 26^th or Sunday, March 5^th. More details to follow.

ROSE CITY PARK PRESBYTERIAN. Several regular book groups will be reading “Evicted” during February. In mid-March they will hold a church wide discussion that will be open to the community. They are located at 1907 NE 45^th in the Hollywood district. A specific date for the community event will be provided later.

THE MADELEINE CATHOLIC PARISH is planning to have one or more“Evicted” book discussion group meetings during the month of March.

In addition, we encourage everyone to attend one or more of the many community events that are part of Everybody Reads.  

PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY will be the site of a “Poverty Simulation” to be held at Hoffman Hall on Saturday, February 4, from 12:30pm to 4:30 pm.   Participants will gain understanding about what it is like to live on the edge of poverty

MULTNOMAH COUNTY CENTRAL LIBRARY will be holding   a Panel Discussion on “How We Can End Homelessness On Wednesday, February 22, from 6:00-7:30 pm in the U.S. Bank Room..

SISTERS OF THE ROAD will be showing a film, “On The Ground” on Saturday, March 4, from 2:30 to 3:30, at the Multnomah County Central Library in the U.S. Bank Room

All of the library branches are also hosting book discussion groups so go to www.multcolib.org for information about dates and times in your area.

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VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR EVERYBODY READS

by Carol Turner 

A number of Alliance congregations will be holding community book discussions on “Evicted” during February, plus there are other related events, including:

FEBRUARY 4, 12:30-4:30pm: Poverty Simulation at Portland State University. Two more volunteers from the Alliance are needed to assist in following areas:

* Registration: Help check people in and assign participants their roles in the simulation.

* Support Staff/Resource Roles (such as banker, teacher, social services worker, etc.): Play the role of a support staffer during the simulation. The experience of the simulation will be different from playing the role of a person experiencing poverty. You will still walk away with new insight and observations and participate in the group debrief after the simulation. You will receive your role description in advance, and there will be an optional support staffer orientation (date to be determined once all volunteers are known) to learn more about the simulation and the expectations for your role. If a volunteer cannot come to the earlier orientation session they can come a bit early the day of the Simulation for some orientation.

FEBRUARY 11, 2:00-3:30pm: Craft a Valentine and Donate event at Central Library. Need 1 volunteer from the Alliance to monitor food donations for Northwest Pilot Project

FEBRUARY 12, 3:30-4:30pm: Craft a Valentine and Donate event at Midland Library . Volunteer needed to monitor food donations for SnowCap (emergency food program in southeast Portland).

Interested volunteers should contact: Claudia Roberts – clarobb@juno.com - 503-407-6005 or Holly Schmidt – Schmidt.holly@gmail.com - 503-244-4080

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CITY PURCHASES 263 UNIT ELLINGTON APARTMENTS

by Rae Richen 

Effective the first week of February, the Portland Housing Bureau has announced that bond funds approved by voters in November, will be used to purchase The Ellington Apartments, along Northeast 66th Avenue between Broadway and Halsey. Built in the 1940’s, the Ellington became a low-rental housing complex in 1991. When this designation was lost in 2005, rents were raised.

Inclusionary housing programs in local cities were prevented by state law until passage of Senate Bill 1533 during the 2016 legislative session. When that prevention was removed, Commissioner Dan Saltzman and the Portland Housing Bureau began development of an inclusionary program, working with experts representing housing, development and community members.

When renovated, the Ellington apartments will offer family-sized units larger than most units currently being built. They will include 2 studio units, 10 one bedroom, 211 two bedroom units and 40 three bedroom units, as well as providing space for neighbors to congregate and children to play.

The cost (including 10 million for repairs) is $47 million dollars, or approximately $168 thousand per unit. Answering doubts about buying a complex that has been historically under-maintained, Commissioner Dan Saltzman stated that “the proposed purchase is not based on the past, but is premised on an immediate need to prevent displacement and to provide long-term affordability for Portland families well into the future.

“We’re going to acquire it as a means to prevent displacement of existing residents, but also we’re going to keep the units affordable, We’re also going to make sure we have about 80 units that are for very low-income people, those making sort of zero to thirty percent of the average median income,” he said. “It’s about 263 units on eleven acres of land. Someday it will have a great redevelopment potential, too, so it’s really good that it will be under city ownership."

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ESCALATING INEQUALITY AND POVERTY

by Rev. Connie Yost 

“In this four week course, Rev. Connie states, “ we will explore economic inequality and poverty in the United States and specifically here in Portland. We will engage with the complex history and realities of economic inequality which exists at every level of human community, from local to global, and is composed of overlapping and interrelated systems of education, income, housing, taxation, democracy, banking, public health, workplace policies, and many others. We will gain an awareness of how structures of oppression affect the systemic nature of economic inequality. Finally, we will explore ways in which inequality and poverty can be reduced. Come and be inspired to be part of the solution to escalating inequality.”

Facilitator: Rev. Connie Yost is an affiliated community minister with First Unitarian Church, Portland. She is the founder of Friends Stay Warm which provides utility assistance and advocacy to farm and other low-wage workers. She is on the board of Farm Ministry NW and the planning committee of the Interfaith Alliance on Poverty.

Details: First Unitarian Church, 1211 SW Main St., Portland. Four Wednesdays: Feb 22, Mar.1, 8, 15; 7–9 pm Fee: First U Pledging $25 / Non-pledging $35

Reference #: C32WS17. To register, email: http://tinyurl.com/1stCh-Registration

Class code= C32WS17; Class title= Escalating Inequality and Poverty/ Scholarships are available. Please contact Rev. Connie Yost at cyost@uuma.org

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UPCOMING EVENTS:

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 9 AM – 4 PM INTERFAITH ADVOCACY DAY IN SALEM WITH ECUMENICAL MINISTRIES OF OREGON. 

February 7 has been set aside for people of many religious traditions come together for a day of prayer, dialogue and advocacy with state legislators. Anyone interested in attending this event is asked to register on the EMO website Link: .https://www.eventbrite.com/e/interfaith-advocacy-day-2017-tickets-292-637-10546 Those needing transportation are asked to contact Sarah Carulous scarolus3@gmail.comor or by phone: 503-284-9231.

FEBRUARY 24, 12:00-3:00, Interfaith Planning Meeting, is scheduled at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1625 NE Hancock.