NECN Awards $33,469 in Grants for Community-driven Projects

From NECN:

Mobile vendors supplying food deserts with healthy, affordable meals, spring break programs pairing sixth-grade girls with high-school mentors and a food and culture festival highlighting senior hunger are just three of sixteen innovative projects funded by the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods’ Small Grant Program in 2012.
With a goal of building livable, equitable and sustainable neighborhoods and communities for all, the Office of Neighborhood Involvement allocated funds to NECN for two funding categories: Neighborhood Small Grants as well as for Graffiti Abatement Projects. The Coalition received fourty-four proposals, with requests totaling $123,921.
With the support of Commissioner Amanda Fritz, NECN incorporated economic development as a funding priority this year. Both Oregon Outreach’s certified nursing assistant job training program and Port City’s creation of a micro-enterprise, training adults with developmental disabilities to remove graffiti on businesses on N Williams Avenue fit into this category.

The following projects are excellent examples of how people in inner north and northeast Portland are working together to improve the quality of our neighborhoods by building community, increasing volunteer capacity and forging new organizational partnerships (listed alphabetically):

Neighborhood Small Grants

Access to Healthy Food through Community-based Mobile Vending
Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives, Inc. (PCRI) Granted $1,488
PCRI and Fork In The Road propose to provide low-income individuals with access to affordable, healthy food by bringing mobile vending into areas of concentrated need.

After-School Chess Programs at King, Woodlawn, Vernon and Faubion
Chess for Success Granted $1,500
Now in its 20th year, this project funds after-school chess clubs at Faubion, King, Vernon and Woodlawn schools.

N/NE Economic Development Panel Discussion

Join the NECN Community Economic Development Council for:
A Framework for Community Economic Development in N/NE Portland

Learn how current state, regional and city policies shape neighborhood-level community economic development. Panelists will address how governmental policies and programs set the stage for local work and translate into community benefits.

Join us on Wednesday, February 1st at St. Andrew Catholic Church, 806 NE Alberta, Portland. Doors open at 6:30pm for networking and refreshments, program from 7:00pm – 9:00pm.

Panel Speakers include:
• Karen Wilde Goddin, Managing Director of the Business, Innovation and Trade Division, Oregon Business Development Department
• Charles A. Wilhoite, Commissioner, Portland Development Commission and Managing Director, Willamette Management Associates.
• John R. Williams, Deputy Director – Planning and Development, Metro
• Rey España, Director of Community Development, Native American Youth and Family Center
This event is part of an ongoing series. Please join us for this and future events as we explore economic development. For additional information please see the attached flyer, visit necoalition.org or call 503.823.4575.

Click here for the flyer:ExploringEconomicDevelwSpeak

Occupy Portland Health Fair: This Sat., Jan 28th, in King N’hood

Portland Occupy Health Fair

January 28th, 2012

11am until 4pm

4867 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Portland Occupy Health has organized an Occupy Health Fair to empower the community to reclaim their health. This unique event is meant to create dialog between Healthcare Organizations and Communities, provide information on alternatives to the current profit-driven insurance model of care, and educate on broad-spectrum health.

This is a grass roots organization of citizens and professionals dedicated to empowering communities to take control, and positively transform their health and the healthcare system. We are bringing awareness to the community about solutions to the current broken model of healthcare and educate them on solutions available to them currently.

Many uninsured and underinsured do not know that there are alternatives to a costly trip to the ER or waiting until you are seriously ill to seek help. Moreover, there is a need to educate the community on ways to stay well and keep not only their body healthy but the surrounding community.

For a list of presenters and providers will be attending, please see https://sites.google.com/site/portlandoccupyhealth/events-schedule

 

Video from Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service

It’s just like being there–except you won’t get dirty! Thanks to everyone who made this project possible and stay tuned for your opportunity to join in on a future work day. We’re on the verge of finishing the job and getting the area planted with natives.

Neighbors, PTA Pitch In on MLK Day of Service

The community turned out on Monday, January 16th on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service to make a dent in the weeds and trash at King School Park. English ivy had taken over the south side of the parking lot at the King Neighborhood Facility and was hiding all manner of things thereunder. A robust group of neighbors, King School PTA members, and invasive species foes dug, hacked snipped and pulled all day. The result is that the strip of land is now nearly completely cleared and several truck loads were hauled away.

Thanks to a grant from NECN and the East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District, the area will be re-landscaped with native plants that are not invasive and that will thrive in the location while providing an easily maintained habitat. There are tentative plans to finish the clearing on President’s Day, February 20th.

Special thanks go to all the volunteers, Portland Farmers Market, Whole Foods, Starbucks, and Metro.

From soil to soul: check out upcoming Urban Growth Bounty classes.

City of Portland’s Urban Growth Bounty series returns with classes on growing, preparing and preserving food

From cheesemaking to beekeeping to urban gardening to food preservation, Urban Growth Bounty provides all the tools you need to do it yourself.

 

Since its kickoff in 2009, thousands of Portlanders have been able to explore the world of urban homesteading (and to meet others who share their interest) through the Urban Growth Bounty classes. Now entering its fourth year, the 2012 series includes courses on beekeeping, urban livestock, cheesemaking, food preservation, and multiple types of gardening. On-line registration is available at http://www.portlandonline.com/bps/ugb.

“The Urban Growth Bounty classes are a great value and a wonderful way to kickstart your 2012 food growing season,” says Portland Mayor Sam Adams. “There’s always more to learn about how to grow, preserve and eat sustainably on a budget.”
Presented by the City of Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, 2012 brings back an exciting lineup of expert instructors and an array of classes for all skill levels. Courses will take place from February to July at locations across the city.

A brand new class, Introduction to Food Preservation, Jams, and Jellies debuts in May. Returning also are the most popular classes from the past two years, Cheesemaking with Claudia Lucero and Edible Landscaping with Jen Aron.

For detailed Urban Growth Bounty 2012 descriptions and registration information, visit http://www.portlandonline.com/bps/ugb or e-mail food@portlandoregon.gov.

‘Interrupting Racism’ workshop at Resolutions NW.

Interrupting Racism for Everyday Living

Saturday, February 11, 2012

8:30am – 12:30pm

Location: Resolutions Northwest, 1827 NE 44^th Ave. Suite 300, Portland OR 97213

This interactive actionshop will explore what it means to be an ally and tools for interrupting racism.  Participants will practice-practice-practice!

This workshop is being offered on a sliding scale basis; see our website registration page for more detailed information.  Space is available for 6 – 26 people; 1^st come, 1^st serve. Please register at www.resolutionsnorthwest.org.

No mediation experience required; no one will be turned away for lack of funds. For accessibility information, please contact us.

Please also note other Resolutions Northwest upcoming trainings:

• Getting Your Group to Decide! March 2  – 12:00pm – 5:00pm
• Connecting Across Differences in Intercultural Conflict March 9 & March 10  – 8:00am – 5:00pm
• The Power of Empathy March 21  – 6:00pm – 9:00pm
• Race & Mediation Actionshop April 4 – 5:30pm – 9:00pm
• Liberating Conflict: Mediating from the Heart April 21 & April 22 – 9:30am – 5:30pm
• Aikido-Inspired Conflict Resolution April 21 – 1:00pm – 5:00pm & April 22, 2012 – 10:00am – 4:00pm

Lew Frederick on the 1% and Martin Luther King Jr.

Listen carefully and you will hear the 1% taking power

The following is part of a speech made by Rep. Frederick at the 27th Keep Living the Dream Celebration for Dr. King at Highland Church.

Good afternoon, I’m Lew Frederick, State Representative from House District 43, North and Northeast Portland.

I think this holiday is one that many people think they understand very well, after all, it is of relatively recent origin. And Dr. King is a hero of my lifetime, not of the deep past. I grew up with him as the father of my playmates. But the holiday is also poorly understood, because the history of Dr. King’s legacy and that of the Civil Rights movement have been stripped of much of their nuance, sophistication and complication over the years.

Dr. King’s final book, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? is not referenced very often when folks are finding meaningful quotes for our annual speeches. In it, we see how his ministry had expanded, how his leadership on civil rights, or let’s say “human” rights, though grounded in the racial struggles of the time, was clear in its purpose of addressing oppression in its many manifestations. He made a compelling argument, in 1967, for a guaranteed income. He wrote:

The contemporary tendency in our society is to base our distribution on scarcity, which has vanished, and to compress our abundance into the overfed mouths of the middle and upper classes until they gag with superfluity. If democracy is to have breadth of meaning, it is necessary to adjust this inequity. It is not only moral, but it is also intelligent. We are wasting and degrading human life by clinging to archaic thinking.

Read the rest at BlueOregon.

Is Your 2012 New Year’s Resolution to Learn Spanish?

From TierraCenter:

Learning a new language is one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions, perhaps because achieving this particular goal makes it possible to meet so many other goals in life. Whether you want to travel abroad with greater ease and understanding, advance your career, or enrich and expand your universe, learning a new language can also be one of the easier goals to attain.

With the increasing need for Spanish in today’s society, there exist many methods and opportunities to help you reach this goal. Popular at-home methods such as online programs can be useful tools to introduce and reinforce vocabulary and basic grammar, but they don’t offer opportunities to practice speaking and to receive feedback or ask questions. The numerous Spanish conversation clubs or language exchanges around town provide speaking practice, but again, do not offer feedback from knowledgeable teachers who are trained to explain why you should use “ser” instead of “estar,” for example.

We have found that the most effective and efficient way to really learn a new language is through professionally guided instruction and practice within a small group of language learners who are near the same level.
This is precisely what makes Tierra Educational Center in NE Portland an excellent choice for your Spanish study goals; Tierra provides a safe and encouraging environment for students to use Spanish to interact with their peers while being thoughtfully corrected by highly skilled teachers.

So if you really want to meet your New Year’s resolution to learn Spanish in 2012, enrolling in one of Tierra’s small group classes is the best way to start the year off on the right track. And, it’s always easier to keep your resolution if you have a resolution-buddy, so consider asking a friend to join you in your pursuit to learn Spanish.
Visit www.tierracenter.com for details, or call 503-213-3677.

Feliz Año Nuevo y buena suerte!

ABC’s of Land Use Workshop Returns

Are you interested in learning more about Portland’s land use and development process?  Neighborhood associations and leaders often are asked to respond to land use notices or to help neighbors who are struggling with a land use issue. Many neighborhoods have a land use chair or other volunteer who is the point person for responding to these requests.  It can really help to learn more about how the land use system works and how to advocate for the community’s interests most effectively. Also, it’s often comforting and helpful to share experiences with other neighborhood activists facing the same challenges. 

The ABCs of Land Use workshops were designed to meet this need. The neighborhood coalitions, the Planning Bureau, and ONI have teamed up to host ABCs of Land Use workshop in different parts of the city a few times each year.  The next ABCs workshop is being hosted by Southeast Uplift Neighborhood Coalition on Sat. January 28, 2012, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Southeast Uplift office.

You can register for the workshop on line at:

http://www.portlandonline.com/oni/index.cfm?&c=57317