The City of Portland is now accepting applications for their 1% for Green program. This program provides money for green infrastructure facilities that manage stormwater, preserve or mimic the natural hydrologic cycle, control flow, improve water quality, enhance livability and provide other environmental benefits. Projects such as green Street swales, curb extensions, planters, vegetated infiltration basins and porous paving are eligible.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Fundraiser at Widmer Gasthaus for Loaves and Fishes
Fans of Widmer Brewing and the Widmer Gasthaus can spend an enjoyable evening out while helping to feed homebound seniors at the same time.
From 4 until 10 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 20, half of all proceeds earned at the Widmer Gasthaus will go to support the Martin Luther King, Jr. Loaves & Fishes Center. Patrons are encouraged to come early or after the dinner hour to ensure that the restaurant raises as many funds as possible. Parties of five or more are asked to call ahead and make a reservation.
About Loaves & Fishes Centers:
Since 1970 Loaves & Fishes Centers has provided a nutritional and social lifeline for seniors through 33 meal sites in Multnomah, Washington and Clark counties and Meals-On-Wheels delivery to homebound seniors. With the help of more than 8,200 volunteers, the nonprofit, secular organization now serves 5,000 meals daily and more than 1.4 million meals each year. Loaves & Fishes celebrates 40 years of service to seniors in 2010. Visit: www.LoavesAndFishesOnline.org.
Where:Widmer Brothers Gasthaus, 955 N. Russell, Phone: 503.281.3333
When: Wednesday, October 20th, 4:00-10:00 pm
For more information, contact:
Julie Piper Finley, ABC, Director of Marketing & Communications
Loaves & Fishes Centers, The Meals-On-Wheels People
503.953.8136 or 503.318.1362
jpfinley@lfcpdx.org
MLK Center Loaves & Fishes, 5325 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. (503)-953-8207.
www.loavesandfishesonline.org
Housing Bureau Seeks Members for Housing Advisory Committee
via the Portland Housing Bureau:
Interested in weighing in on investments of public resources in housing? Want to serve as a sounding board on significant housing policy issues? Want to be in a position to officially advise City Council and City staff on matters relating to housing issues?
The Portland Housing Bureau invites you to apply for membership on its new Portland Housing Advisory Committee (PHAC). The Portland Housing Advisory Committee (PHAC) is a new volunteer public advisory body that will advise the Director of the Portland Housing Bureau (PHB), the Housing Commissioner, and the Portland City Council on a range of housing policy and program issues.
Home Energy IQ Workshop at Kennedy School
Pacific Power is sponsoring a Home Energy IQ Workshop on October 6th from 6:00–8:30 p.m. at the McMenamins Kennedy School Gymnasium, 5736 NE 33rd Ave. The event is free for all Pacific Power customers and includes dinner!
However, seating is limited and we are asking that everyone register ASAP to ensure we have enough catering and seating. You can register at www.pacificpower.net/energyiq .
Pacific Power is working with Energy Trust of Oregon to deliver this workshop that will educate homeowners about improving their home’s energy efficiency and lowering their electric bills. Attendees will learn how to:
• Identify your household energy use and how it changes over time.
• Take a whole-home approach to energy efficiency.
• Recognize the most cost-efficient energy improvements for your home.
• Save energy and improve your home’s comfort, health and safety.
• Reduce your environmental footprint.
• Save money with Energy Trust incentives.
Participants will receive a free Energy Saver Kit, including:
• Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) that use 75 percent less energy, last up to seven years – depending on your daily usage – and give off natural-looking light.
• High-performance faucet aerators and showerheads that reduce water heating costs by using up to 20 percent less water – compared to standard fixtures – without impacting water pressure.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to contact:
Kari Greer
Community Relations
Oregon Energy Efficiency
Pacific Power
825 NE Multnomah, Ste 2000
Portland, OR 97232
(503) 813-5642 office
(503) 816-9032 cell
(503) 813-7274 fax
kari.greer@pacificorp.com
PCRI: Working for a Good Cause but Neighbors Question How Successfully
If you live in Northeast Portland, chances are that Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives is one of your neighbors. As one of the largest community development corporations in North and Northeast Portland with 700 rental houses and apartments, PCRI helps define what our neighborhood is like.
The non-profit organization was born from the housing discrimination scandals of the ‘60’s through the ‘80’s such as redlining and the abandonment of the area by traditional lenders culminating in the Dominion Capital case where aspiring homeowners were being bilked with excessive interest rates and contracts designed to prevent the accumulation equity. PCRI executive director, Maxine Fitzpatrick sat down with me to discuss PCRI’s mission, operations, and recent incidents at one of their complexes. Ms. Fitzpatrick explained how PCRI set out to keep housing in the long-term, mostly minority residents’ hands and slow the wave of displacement taking place due to gentrification:
“The Oregonian did the exposé that exposed Dominion Capital and their fraudulent practices. After that exposé they filed for bankruptcy so rather than let those 350 families that were living in those properties be displaced and the properties picked up by speculators, they formed PCRI to purchase the homes. At the time about 70 of those properties still had an active land sale contract so our goal was to work with those families to make them legitimate owners and keep the other 272 as affordable rentals because that’s what they were at the time. So that’s how we were formed—to purchase that portfolio.”
King neighborhood, once overwhelmingly African-American and mostly poor by the late ‘80’s, is now much more diverse ethnically, economically, and culturally. With diversity, often comes strain and misunderstanding. While residents generally value the improvements in the housing that has come with the influx of new, younger, residents fixing up older homes, community development corporations strive to provide the most housing for the very limited available dollars. Standards for housing construction, maintenance and upkeep, as well as resident screening and oversight are set by the CDC which has a primary mission to provide housing for the surplus of those who cannot afford market rate options. As a result, homeowners and subsidized housing residents’ dreams of living in safe and peaceful neighborhoods sometime intersect with the jarring realities of life.