EPAP Plan & Updates

COMMUNITY BUILDING

CB.1 Increase interaction among cultural communities and geographic neighborhoods

CB.1.1 Promote block parties and develop a block party kit that can be distributed to existing organizations, neighborhoods and community events.

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ONI and EPNO work with PBOT to process block party applications. However additional support has not been prioritized by ONI's BAC or EPNO community leadership as a priority for funding.

Crime Prevention Begins at Home program invited Powellhurst-Gilbert Neighborhood Association to let program participants know how they can become involved in their neighborhood association life and events, such as block parties and movie in the park.

CB.1.2 Engage ethnic communities in neighborhood activities; provide translation/language services to remove barriers; improve messaging and invitations.

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Several neighborhood events have significant engagement of diverse ethnic communities such as the East Expo multicultural event. Several event announcements have been translated. ONI funds five community of color, immigrant, refugee organizations, (Diversity and Civic Leadership Program), most of which are increasingly engaged in outer East community organizing and leadership development. East Portland Aciton Plan established a Civic Engagement Subcommittee that focuses on support and development of language and culturally-specific community involvement. EPAP provides interpretation, translation, and childcare upon request for all EPAP meetings, community functions, public testimony, and advocacy with Commissioners and Councilors. EPAP often uses phone interpretation to communicate effectively with EPAP members. The EPAP grants programs have funded several ethnic community projects and built partnerships between these communities and neighborhoods. EPAP Civic Engagement Subcommittee members have provided guidance and have partnered on inclusivity from Sunday Parkways to Gateway Celebrations to mobile playground program development to successfully advocating for multilingual distribution of student health clinic brochures through East Portland schools.

Russian Speaking Network is preparing Children Stresses classes for Russian-speaking community. We are recruiting actively people for this program.
We did advertising on Radio 7 in air.

Crime Prevention Begins at Home program provided Civic Engagement event for Russian-speaking community on the 14th of April of 2012. Presenters from the city of Portland, New Portlanders Office and Human Right and Equity were present to let community know what resources and assistance they can get to have equal opportunities.
Since all presentations were interpreted into Russian, the audience could clearly communicate with the presenters and ask important questions.
Presenters from East Portland Action Plan impressed participants and inspired them to invest their time in community building and neighborhood livability.

This garden has brought to gathered a number of communities in the neighborhood such as Vida Abundant Fellowship (Hispanic congregation), Oromo Church (Ethiopian congregation), David's Harp (adult mental health day center). Each of these communities have taken part in the garden.

Participants in the Building Cultural Bridges video project participated in the Friends of Trees community project, attended the Bhutanese civic education classes' graduation ceremony, and interviewed city leaders like Amanda Fritz. The youth group that learned video skills was pulled from two different geographical locations, and traveled around Portland to film sections of the film, which encouraged new relationships amongst people and places. The final project, which is in Nepali and English, will also provide access to information about services in Portland in a visual format, which helps break down information barriers.

The third annual East Portland Exposition was held July 23 and 24 of 2011. Through support from the East Portland Action Plan, the event has successfully evolved into the largest multicultural event in Portland. In 2011, the event included 22 cultural performances, 6 multicultural Villages, mostly culturally inspired foods, exhibitors, and inflatables for kids. The event was also held in conjunction with Movies in the Park and included a movie each night. Attendance over the two days, including the movies each night, is estimated to be approximately 6,000 people.

We addressed goal CB.12 through our "Subotnik" project, by rallying all community members for event participation via numerous flyer campaigns, posters, and door to door recruitment. Potential language and cultural barriers were addressed by utilizing existing and community resources to provide culturally competent support. The Springwater community boasts a wide representation of nations, ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. Families from Ukraine, Russia, Latin American countries, and the Middle East participated. This project was also multigenerational; ages ranged from pre-school children to middle aged parents, aunts and uncles.

CB.1.3 Create an annual event to celebrate the ethnic cultures of East Portland.

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EPNO and EPAP provided significant grant, resource, and staff supported coalition-wide multi-cultural event, East Portland Exposition, for 3 years. EPNO is now supporting neighborhood-scale events with ethnic components rather than single annual event.

The fourth annual East Portland Exposition (EPO XPO) was held July 21, 2012. EPO XPO is now the largest multicultural event in the city of Portland. This year, the event venue was changed to Earl Boyles Park and was reduced to one day. The event featured live cultural performances, culturally-inspired Villages with educational and interactive activities, exhibitors, and mostly culturally-inspired food.

Russian-speaking participants of Crime Prevention Begins at Home program were informed about Annual East Portland Expo XPO from past years. we encourage all participants to attend this event in July 2012. They will learn more about culture of other neighbors and local businesses.

The Iraqi community participated actively in East Portland Expo. It was a great achievement of the project, because it was the first time for Iraqi residents of Portland to participate in such a culturally diverse event and meet and share activities with other communities of East Portland.
Also, on December 4, we had a graduation dinner for Iraqi Society of Oregon’s “Social Adjustment and Integration of Iraqi Population in East Portland” workshops series. A dinner for about 50 people including the Iraqis and American friends went off without a flaw. City Commissioner Amanda Fritz, accompanied by Hazelwood NA Chairman Arlene Kimura, and Parks & Rec’s Outreach staff Alejandro Vidales. Comm Fritz handed completion certificates to some very proud New Portlanders.

Done- youth participated in tabling during the East Portland Exposition Event

The 2011 East Portland Exposition will be on July 23 and 24. Gates open at 11:00 a.m. For more information go to the event Internet site at www.epoxpo.org.

The East Portland Exposition is an annual event in the Powellhurst-Gilbert Neighborhood designed to promote East Portland with an emphasis on multiculturalism and children and families. The event will conduct its third event in 2011. The event includes culturally-inspired performances and interactive activities. It has quickly become the largest multicultural event in the City of Portland.

CB.1.4 Organize walking or biking tours through the area.

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EPAPbike continues to have community bike rides, often with an educational theme, every two months, on average. We usually have 4-9 riders per ride. We advertise on our own list-serve of 114 members, as well as the S.H.I.F.T. blog and with PBOT Transportation Options. We also have "breakfast on the bridge" events at the Burnside 205 bridge twice a year, with 75+ cyclists passing through, and 30+ stopping to chat.

We had 8 rides in 2011, 6 rides in 2012.

This is a brief summary of our 2010 EPAPbike-sponsored rides: We had 12 riders for an April test ride in Hazelwood, Woodland Park, & Parkrose Heights; we had 9 riders for our May Planning Loop ride in Hazelwood, Glenfair, Wilkes, & Centennial; 16 for our June Art on I-205 MUP ride through Powellhurst-Gilbert, Lents, & Hazelwood; 9 for our August Parkrose Farmer's Market ride; 9 for our September Volcano ride through Powellhurst-Gilbert, Pleasant Valley, Lents, & Hazelwood; and 10 for the Sacred Spaces ride in October through Russell, Parkrose Heights, Hazelwood, (Maywood Park), Parkrose, Argay, & Wilkes; for a total of 65 participants for the 6 rides. We also had 65 riders for the co-sponsored Equity Ride in August through Hazelwood & Powellhurst-Gilbert. We plan on doing an additional ride in November. So far in 2010, we have had rides in all 13 East Portland neighborhoods, as well as Montevilla, the City of Maywood Park, and Wilkes-Gresham.

CB.1.5 Provide full/additional resources for community organizing efforts that support ongoing community building and development work (including community small grants program).

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Neighborhood Small Grants, EPAP Grants, EPAP Civic Engagement Grants, and EPAP Projects provide limited resources to community organizations. EPNO provides ongoing communication, leadership development, capacity building for neighborhood associations. EPAP has implementation differences between grant and project funding programs that serve to build community capacity at different stages. EPAP provides grant proposal assistance and project support. EPAP accepts grant proposals and evaluations in all languages and provides language interpretation and translation upon request.

Neighborhood Small Grants, EPAP Grants, EPAP Civic Engagement Grants, and EPAP Projects provide limited resources to community organizations. EPAP assists with directing community members to other grant resources, offers to assist in grant proposal writing, accepts grant proposals in any language, and provides interpretation as requested. EPNO provides ongoing communication, leadership development, capacity building for neighborhood associations. EPAP Civic Engagement Subcommittee provides a forum where cultural and language-specific community members have made it their purpose to be available to work with neighborhoods to address inclusivity. East Portland Action Plan grants have funded several projects that include the commitment of cultural communities to work with and refer to Neighborhood Associations. EPAP has also facilitated partnerships between Neighborhood Associations anc cultural communities in grant submission.

A 2012 EPAP grant partially funded a staff position at The Rosewood Initiative. Additional funding came through Portland Development Commission, Multnomah County and private donations.

This position supports the efforts of The Rosewood Initiative to do ongoing community organizing and community development work in the area of SE 162nd Ave and Stark.

During the grant period, we completed a community mural by supporting a local artist and community members, held community meetings with many partners, hosted youth events, and planned our community space to establish a place for the work to continue.

Grow Portland's Eastminster community garden was created in 2012 with help from the small grants program, and provides a platform for community building. Different nationalities and ethnicities work side by side, learn from each other and share successes (as well as nutritious food). In 2012, participation from a diversity of gardeners including those from the countries of Burma, Loas, Ukraine, Moldova and Somalia.

EPAP grant funding supported an AmeriCorps Community Organizer trained in Asset Based Community Development to focus within a specific East Portland neighborhood now known as Rosewood. Additional support for this position came from the Centennial Community Association President, the East Portland Neighborhood Office, staff of Second Stories, EPAP Advocate, Crime Prevention Specialists, The Rosewood Initiative Board, Portland Police, EPAP members, and community stakeholders in Rosewood. Time was spent in the neighborhood building relationships around what community members care about, their dreams, and projects they prioritized. This began with listening to individuals one-on-one, at meetings and in group gatherings. The organizer started a process of linking neighbors in ways that empower their ability to support each other, address concerns, and achieve shared goals. Neighbors started to identify, plan and implement "neighborhood bettering" activities. These are ongoing to date, and growing in scope and significance in terms of addressing broader community issues.

Russian Speaking Network completed the Crime Prevention Begins at Home Project on 4/14/12.This 6-workshop crime prevention and civic engagement educational program was designed specifically for Russian-Speaking community. With each workshop we reached the following four aims: (1) to raise the understanding, knowledge, and trust in the Russian-Speaking/Slavic community of local East Portland law enforcement and the American judicial system; (2) to train and motivate East Portland Russian-Speaking/Slavic community members to engage in crime prevention and law enforcement awareness activities in the East Portland neighborhoods where they live; (3) to expand the scope of involvement of the Russian-Speaking/Slavic community to prevent crime and improve livability in neighborhoods with a high concentration of our community; (4) and to prepare graduates for the next step of civic engagement and demonstrate the way of involvement in the East Portland Action Plan.

Slavic Community Center held classes that taught how to pass a citizenship class, which involved lots of effort from the attendees.

Having English as their second language, it was beneficial, as the students had told us themselves, that we had a teacher that was fluent in English and Russian languages. This really gave a boost for the students to be able to learn everything quicker and to be able to retain the information.

During the class we also taught the importance of voting once they become citizens, also we explained the importance of selective services and most of all we encouraged them to be involved in the community projects and provide their useful cultural knowledge to enrich other people of Portland with their uniqueness and creativity.

As the classes were coming to an end, students started begging us to not finish these classes with this, but to continue on next year.

We had success stories right away, since a few of our students had to go and take citizenship test during the time that our classes were still going on. They passed the test and came back to class and encouraged other students that these classes helped them to pass since they did not pass before.

Used EPAP grant funds to give all East Portland Neighborhood Association and EPAP websites the capability to add RSS feeds to their neighborhood web pages. The administrator has the ability to add feeds that are important to their projects and to give residents one website location to get local, relative East Portland news and updates.

A manual for Culture Adjustment for refugees is provided in English and Arabic languages, which can be used for other communities. It is loaded on the website of the Iraqi Society of Oregon www.IQSOR.org.

* Maxaction provides safety vest for volunteers at many community events
* Maxaction is working with Trimet to develop and implement an Adopt a Station program.

The garden supports the ongoing community development work of the church by bringing together church members, neighbors, hispanic church members, pre-school students and clientele of David's Harp both working in the garden and in the harvest dinner. It gives us a chance to meet each other and work together in a way we would not otherwise. It creates pride in the neighborhood. Neighbors who do not participate in the garden often stop to chat and ask questions about it.

We have a gardener who grows tomatoes only. The gareden was over flowing with tomatoe plants. We were able to sell tomatoe plants at Gateway Area Business Association Fun~O~Rama. These plants where heirloom plants.

CB.2 Empower and engage East Portland residents and businesses in civic decision-making

CB.2.1 Build ongoing East Portland Action Plan advocacy group to sustain action plan efforts over time.

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STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY: FOCUS EAST

The Skanner Foundation’s Project FOCUS EAST organized the event GET READY! at the Midland Library on SE 122nd Saturday August 4. Funded by the East Portland Action Plan and The Skanner Newsgroup, the project’s goal is to bring together African Americans in East Portland to discuss common issues of the community. The project focuses on three prevalent issues identified by the community: Economics; Crime Prevention; and Health.

Workshops offered at the August 4 event were attended by a number of community members and vendors. Professionals in the fields of law enforcement, business, and health provided information and opportunity to converse and create relationships among attendees. African American individuals interested in leading additional activities that support communication are being identified to build an information infrastructure that will benefit residents of East Portland.

The FOCUS EAST event was modeled after the successful African American Alliance for Homeownership’s (AAAH) annual outreach event supporting individuals interested in purchasing homes. Vendors representing the home buying industry are invited to present information at the free event. There are many give-a-ways, including food. Breakout workshops throughout the day provide additional information to attendees with follow-up opportunities to help individuals purchase homes. In 1998, the first AAAH event was attended by 150 prospective homebuyers; since then attendance has reached to over 500 annually. To read their success story, go to www.aaah.org

Efforts will continue by the sponsors of FOCUS EAST to identify and engage African Americans living in East Portland who possess and exhibit a vested interested in improving the community through an annual event such as the FOCUS EAST event.
Future activities for this project include identifying individuals who will attend a fall forum to discuss moving the project forward. 75 Copies of the recorded August 4 workshops will be provided to forum attendees.

Interested in attending the upcoming fall forum? Call NPMTC and leave a message for Bernie Foster: 503-285-5555, ext. 521 or email npmtc [at] comcast [dot] net

The FOCUS EAST project of The Skanner Foundation, funded by The City of Portland East Portland Action Plan announces its first event, GET READY, on Saturday August 4, 10:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. at the Midland Library Parking Lot, 805 SE 122nd Ave. Plan on a family affair with prizes, food, and community workshops. Meet up with your neighbors or meet new neighbors, it’s time to GET READY!

Identifying community leaders in East Portland is the rationale behind FOCUS EAST. The event will provide a place for dialogue among community members and will focus on three prominent issues facing the community: Law enforcement; Health; and Employment. Three workshops on these issues will be offered at the GET READY event and are open to the public to attend. Those attending the workshops will be entered into a drawing to win a digital video recorder to support future community building efforts and to provide additional visibility to the community.

For more information, please go to http://www.theskanner.com/article/Are-You-Ready-2012-07-02

Sponsored by the City of Portland East Portland Action Plan, The Skanner Foundation, Portland Parks and Recreation, Multnomah County, Highland Christian Center, Portland Prime, and the African American Alliance for Homeownership (AAAH).

July 23, 24
Benedict Community Park
EPOEXPO:
Bernie Foster sponsored a booth promoting the Focus East Project and The Skanner Foundation.

Aug 25
LENTS
EQUITY BIKE RIDE - Bernie Foster Spoke about Focus East and upcoming events at the Equity Bike Ride.

Aug 31 - Sept 15
The Skanner Foundation Offices
Bernie Foster met with EAST PORTLAND community leaders to discuss upcoming FOCUS EAST events. "East Portland meets North Portland" is an added value event planned for October to promote FOCUS EAST events. Bernie stated that "The FOCUS EAST project has been very inspiring and motivating."

CB.2.2 Host Elected Officials week or Leaders Forum in East Portland.

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This specific action not been prioritized by community leadership. However, other efforts have been utilized to reach decision-makers such as candidate forums, inviting elected officials to meetings and walking tours. EPAP developed and established an on-line Candidates Forum. The general monthly EPAP meeting typically includes participation from multiple elected officials, as equals at the table in EPAP information sharing and decision-making.

CB.2.3 Develop and hold leadership and civic engagement classes/programs for East Portland citizens to build capacity for participating in lobbying, advocacy, board participation, partnerships, etc.

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The charge of the East Portland Action Plan is to build community capacity to "provide leadership and guidance to public agencies and other entities on how to strategically address community-identified issues and allocate resources to improve livability in East Portland." To actualize this requires empowering and engagine East Portland residents and businesses in civic decision-making processes. EPAP is operationally concensus-based and this builds member capacity to engage in effective negotiation and decision-making. EPAP has general monthly meeting where coordination and consensus happens; monthly committee and subcommittee meetings that opporate as working groups; and Representatives that are issue-specific spokespeople for the EPAP. EPAP develops and actively advocates for an annual list of priorities related to the Action items; this advocacy builds the capacity of EPAP members to be empowered spokespeople and to negotiate in decision-making processes. The EPAP grants programs empower and engage East Portland residents and businesses in actively contributing to their community. Consensus development of grant criteria and review builds the capacity of EPAP members to understand and be involved in decision-making processes. The EPAP Project funding program builds the capacity of EPAP members to partner with and advise municipalities as they address Action items. EPAP Civic Engagement Grants and Neighborhood Small Grants have supported a number of leadership and advocacy trainings. EPNO, ONI, and other coalitions provide limited range of trainings, including neighborhood board orientation trainings. DCL program (see above) provides such leadership development for communities of color, immigrants and refugees.

Portland has the 9th largest urban Native community in the country. There are over 40,000 Native Americans in Multnomah County. Our population is young and growing, 61% under 35 years old. The Portland State University and Coalition of Communities of Color report, “The Native American Community in Multnomah County: An Unsettling Profile” details an array of disparities that exists for our community. For example, the average poverty rate is 34%, unemployment rate is 31%. Despite the challenges we face, our community is resilient and we have strong indigenous values and worldviews that contribute to the livability and uniqueness of Portland. During 2012 NAYA Family Center partnered with a variety of community leaders and organizations to bring six workshops focused on a variety of topics relevant to the East Portland Action Plan. Demographic information shows that there are increasing numbers of Native Americans living east of 82nd avenue. Workshops included:

• Housing. Participants learned about Rental Assistance and other anti-poverty resources available through Community Alliance of Tenants, Siletz Tribal Office, as well as public housing and Sawash’s Kah San Cako Haws (East House), a project in NAYA’s housing portfolio.
• Food Security and Economic Justice. Participants discussed the importance of Indigenous food systems and food justice as well as opportunities for micro enterprise. The community views community gardens as a source of accessing healthy foods as well as a place to organize and share information. The Native American Community Advisory Council formed in partnership with Portland Parks and Rec. to explore the development of Tribal Gathering areas in our park systems.
• Education and Public Safety. Space was created to discuss rethinking and building upon current practices in our education systems. The group identified the importance of reclaiming Native American culture as a way to effectively reach our youth and create wellness among our families. Graduation rates are unacceptable; in Parkrose School District alone 85% of Native students did not graduate. Upcoming conversations will occur to learn in more detail the potential of creating a Native American Safety Patrol to address areas of concern community members, like the Elders, feel around safety issues.
• Civic Engagement. The community participants identified that it is valuable to be prepared to talk about disparities that impact Native Americans, but equally important to highlight community strengths and solutions to addressing the disparities. East Portland will continue to see an increased presence and visibility of the Native American community and increase support for civic engagement and advocacy activities through housing development, economic enterprises, and culturally specific programming focused explicitly on East Portland residents who self-identify with the Native American community.

Many of the workshop participants were community residents that were interested in learning more about the Native American community and the cultural aspects that are unique to Native American people. Creating space for cross-cultural sharing was a very valuable component of this series of engagements. We brought together a wide range of people to share information and discuss issues, identify common concerns and desires, and deliberate over planning priorities. The presenters that offered information at the workshops took away valuable insight about the history and traditions of Native people and fostered social ties that have and will continue to grow. In all, 38 differnt community members participated in the series of workshops. This is a testament to the success of the EPAP small grants opportunity and partnership with culturally specific organizations and groups serving the needs of our diverse community.

The (VNCO) Vietnamese Community of Oregon worked together in partnership with (APANO) Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon to bring helpful workshops over a range of issues to the East Portland Vietnamese Community. The 2012 workshop series - The East Portland Vietnamese Leadership Network - was divided into one needs assessment workshop and four skill building workshops: Education, Public Safety, Civic Engagement, and Community Resources.

The workshop series objective was Community Building 2.3. We were successful in bringing a wide range of participants and leaders from the East Portland Vietnamese community together to have meaningful, productive discussions, and planted the seed about the need for more younger leaders on behalf of the Vietnamese community and paved the way for future leadership development workshops that will build on the solid foundation from this workshop series.

The East Portland Vietnamese Leadership Network workshop series strengthened existing ties between APANO and VNCO and its ability to support and cross promote events. It will also lead to a future training by APANO for VNCO's board and staff on how to more effectively engage their membership and how to be a stronger advocate and lobbying voice for the Vietnamese community.

The Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO) continued to work with community leaders/organizers from language specific groups in the second half of 2013 providing support for civic engagement and advocacy activities for these communities. A workshop was held for the Tongan community August 23rd at IRCO and was attended by 27 people, with guest speaker Fipe Havea from the Asian Pacific Islander Network of Oregon (APANO). Ms. Havea presented the Coalition of Communities of Color report on economic and education indicators specific to the Pacific Islander communities of Oregon. The community also discussed the importance of voter registration for the upcoming election and subsequently had the largest voter turnout from the Tongan community to date.

The IRCO EPAP grant also supported a workshop among a parent group at Floyd Light Middle School in East County. On November 15th, 12 participants attended the workshop given in Spanish by the Immigrant Law group on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. These participants recorded sharing the information with 222 other community members reflecting the members increasing roles as community leaders and helping the broader community access information and resources.

Nombre del Proyecto: Conexión Latina
Nombre del Contacto del Proyecto: Claudia Carrillo
Información del Contacto: clauca10315 [at] yahoo [dot] com [dot] mx
Agencia Patrocinadora: Hazelwood Neighborhood Association
Action Plan por realizar: Realizar tres clases en Ventura Park Elementary School, con los temas: Consulado Mexicano, DHS y Violencia Domestica.
Subsidio Total: $ 3,000.00
Después de hacer los contactos precisos en Ventura Park Elementary School, con el Director Jakob Curtis se procedió a invitar a las familias latinas en las conferencias de padres de familia los días 8 y 9 de Noviembre en la misma escuela. La invitación se abrió para las tres charlas antes mencionadas.
En la primera charla titulada “El Consulado Mexicano” el día martes 29 de Noviembre de las 4:30 a 6:30 pm, asistieron 22 personas y con un servicio de cuidado de niños de 33. A las 3:00 pm en Ventura Park Elementary School, el grupo Conexión Latina, inició a preparar y organizar las instalaciones de la cafetería de la escuela, para recibir a los invitados de esta charla con un tema alusivo al pueblo mexicano con unos sombreros charros y dulces tradicionales. Se ofrecio comida y bebidas a los asistentes.
A las 4:05 pm empezaron a llegar invitados y miembros del Consulado Mexicano entre ellos el Cónsul Lic. Jorge Torres y Lic. Gilberto Juárez. Exactamente a las 4:30 PM el Director de Ventura Park Elementary School, Sr. Jakob Curtis dio las gracias a los presentes en la charla y presento a Claudia Carrillo como Coordinadora de Conexión Latina y ella a la vez hizo mención de los orígenes del grupo , donde East Portland Action Plan es el responsable de nuestro trabajo en la comunidad, por el compromiso que estos tienen en el desarrollo integral de sus habitantes, antes de darle la palabra a los miembros del Consulado para que iniciaran su exposición; Claudia Carrillo presento los demás miembros de Conexión Latina, siendo estos María Luisa González, Norma Moreno, Rosa Hernández, Rosenda Gavin y Patricia Reyes.
Inmediatamente El Lic. Jorge Torres inicio su exposición presentando a su grupo de colaboradores. Explicaron lo que es el Consulado Mexicano, sus funciones, servicios que ofrecen a la comunidad con los siguientes temas: doble nacionalidad, Visa tipo U y sus beneficios, Protección Civil, Revalidación del Bachillerato, Ventanilla de Salud, Matricula Consular, como obtener becas de estudio binacionales, la forma de obtener libros gratuitos para los niños y el sistema de educación abierta para adultos que se provee en diferentes plazas comunitarias en Portland como El Programa Hispano y Hacienda CDC, además hablaron del “Club del Gerundio” que contribuye con en el desarrollo de las comunidades en México.
Para estimular la participación de los invitados Conexión Latina condujo una dinámica llamada “El Cartero”, en este juego algunos presentes hicieron preguntas relacionadas con los temas expuestos para los miembros del Consulado Mexicano.
Lore Wintergreen nos visito y conoció al director de la Ventura Park Elementary School y comprobó el interés de los participantes en los temas ofrecidos por el Consulado Mexicano.
Al finalizar la charla y para dar las gracias a los participantes se rifaron cinco canastas con artículos varios.
En la segunda charla presentada el Jueves 8 de Diciembre, los miembros de Conexión Latina se presento a las 4:00 pm en Ventura Park Elementary School, para preparar el salón. Se ofrecio comida y bebidas a los asistentes.
A las 4:15 pm, la Sra. María Prado expositora de DHS y los 23 participantes y 31 niños en cuidado infantil empezaron a llegar. La charla inicio como una conversación abierta con los temas relaciones al cuidado de niños y lo que el Departamento de Servicios Humanos del estado de Oregon, hace para garantizar la seguridad y bienestar de los menores de 18 años. La Sra. María Prado, también explico el procedimiento de abrir casos de denuncias de maltratos a menores y el proceso de remoción de estos niños de sus hogares. Se determinó lo que se considera abuso, maltrato y negligencia en los menores de edad y la responsabilidad de los padres en garantizar su seguridad. Al final de esta charla se rifaron 6 canastas con artículos varios.
Para finalizar este proyecto, el día Martes 13 de Diciembre, dimos paso a la última charla titulada “Violencia Doméstica” conducida por UNICA con la Sra. Leticia Villegas. Se ofrecio comida y bebidas a los asistentes. A las 4:20 pm llegó la expositora Leticia Villegas y a la vez los 15 participantes y 31 niños de cuidado infantil. La charla se inicio con una lluvia de idea para conocer los tipos de abuso que la gente conocia y entre los que podemos mencionar: sexual, emocional, fisica, económica y verbal. Tambien explicó el perfil de un abusador y las etapas por las que el abuso va incrementando su severidad. Por otro lado, la mujer manifiesta culpabilidad y vergüenza al aceptar o tolerar el abuso. La Sra. Leticia Villegas, se enfocó mas en violencia domestica, debido que el grupo presente eran solo mujeres adultas. Al final entregó su tarjeta personal porque quedó comprometida en darle seguimiento a los casos que requirieran confidencialidad. Como siempre Conexión Latina rifó al finalizar la charla seis regalos con articulos especificos para la mujer y seis arreglos de mesas.
Conexión Latina y sus miembros abrió las puertas en la comunidad de Hazelwood procurando integrar a los participantes a estas charlas proveyendo un ambiente cómodo, seguro y divertido a las familias que asistieron a las charlas, en busca de cambios que generen mejoras en la familias Latinas. Conexión Latina tenia como objetivo integrar a personas de diferentes areas de Hazelwood en las tres charlas, para lo cual habia hecho gestiones en Head Start – Hazelwood site; pero los padres de familia de Ventura Park Elementary School mostraron mucho interes en asistir a todas, argumentando que en este centro de estudio era la primera vez que habian recibido clases en su propio idioma y con temas de mucho interes para ellos. Por ejemplo, en la charla del Consulado Mexicano muchos mostraron intenciones en tomar clases para completar su titulo de GED y obtener mejores trabajos en el estado de Oregon, otros preguntaron en como se inicia el proceso legal para tramitar la Visa Tipo U de esta manera cambiar su estatus migratorio. Mientras que en la charla de DHS, los participantes mostraron interes en educarse como ciudadanos conociendo el sistema del Departamento de Servicios Humanos de Oregon, sus responsabilidades y derechos como padres de familia. En nuestra ultima charla de Violencia Domestica, las participantes mostraron mucho interes en como protegerse ellas mismas y en sus derechos. Porque la mujer es la unica que puede romper el silencio al abuso y maltrato. En todas las charlas hubo material escrito para llevar a casa para los que estuviesen interesados.

The following update is written in both English and Spanish. For English/Spanish translations or more information please contact Latino Network, Victor Salinas, victor [at] latnet [dot] org, 503-283-6881.

Description
Latino Network facilitated a Summer Leadership Seminar on July 13th and 14th , 2012 to develop civic engagement and leadership capacity for Latino community members in East Portland. This two-day seminar focused on:

• social justice
• leadership development
• civic engagement
• community organizing
• government structures

The enthusiasm was awe-inspiring with 33 community members in attendance for the seminar. We facilitated the workshops Spanish to empower those who experience language barriers in access to resources to building capacity around community organizing and advocacy. Food and childcare were provided.

The following is the agenda of the event followed by a narrative:

Agenda
Academia de Lideres Latinos
Seminario de verano 2012
St. Peter Church-School House
Portland
8623 SE Woodstock Blvd.
Portland, OR 97266

Objectivos
• Los participantes abran conocido la realidad de la comunidad latina en este país y la ciudad de Portland.
• Los participantes entraran en confianza y se conocerán.
• Los participantes abran entendido los conceptos básicos de Liderazgo.
• Los participantes abran entendido las bases de la Organización Comunitaria
• Los Participantes conocerán como esta compuesto el gobierno de E.U. Oregón Y Pórtland.

Viernes, 13 de Julio 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm de la tarde

4:00 – 4:30 Bienvenida e introducción: EPAP, ONI y La Red Latina Comida y refrescos Revisar la agenda
4:30 – 5:00 Dinámica para conocernos.
5:00 – 6:00 Película: “Viva la Causa”
6:00 – 7:20 Reflexión sobre la película(trabajo en equipo).
7:20 – 7:35 Dinámica
7:35 – 7:40 Evaluación
7:40 – 7:50 Despedida

Sabado, 14 de Julio 9:30 pm – 3:00 pm
9:30 -10:00 Desayuno
10:00 - 10:15 Bienvenida y introducción: EPAP, ONI, y Red Latina
10:15 - 10:30 Revisar la agenda

10:30 - 11:00 Taller 1: Tres Gotas de Agua
11:00 - 12:00 Taller 2: Nuestro Gobierno Regional
12:00 - 12:30 Lonche
1:00 - 2:00 Taller 3: Teresa Ríos Organización y Participación civic y el liderazgo de la comunidad
2:00 - 2:20 Compromisos y próximas actividades comunitarias (La telaraña).
2:20 - 2:40 Entrega de diplomas
2:40 – 2:50 Evaluación.
2:50 – 3:00 Agradecimientos, despedida y Avisos. Invitación al comité de Lideres DE LN.

Para más información sobre la Red Latina y nuestros programas, llame at Jackeline a 503-283-6881 Ext. 117 o jackeline [at] latnet [dot] org y Victor Salinas victor [at] latnet [dot] org Ext. 114. El programa de Liderazgo y Enlace de la Red Latina es apoyado por medio de donaciones de City of Portland Office of Neighborhood Involvement y East Portland Action Plan.

Narrative
We began Friday evening with some teambuilding activities followed by dinner and a viewing of Teaching Tolerance: Viva la Causa; a film about the struggle of farm-workers in California, lead by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, for the human rights non-violent effort for justice in their working conditions which resulted in the first Farm-workers Union in the history of the United States. After the film we brokeout in small groups to identify ways in which communities and individuals can bring about justice in their communities. We invited each group to answer the following questions based on the film:
1.-¿Qué o quien te inspira para hacer cambios positivos en tu visa y en la vida de otros?
2.-¿Qué problemas o acontecimientos en tu comunidad te gustaría hacer cambios? 3.-¿Qué ejemplos actuales de Justicia Social harían Martín Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi o Cesar Chávez como protesta?
4.-¿Qué quiere decir ser empoderado ? (en términos de la comunidad)
5.-¿Qué factores podrían motivarlo a luchar por una causa?

Saturday morning we began with a continental breakfast and a session to increase awareness and understanding about LGBTQ rights, including Immigration, coming out issues, marriage equality, and suicide among LGBTQ youth, unconditional love and human rights. We began with a screening of Tres Gotas de Agua; a documentary about three Latina immigrant mothers talking about their children’s coming out processes, conveying powerful messages of unconditional love and acceptance of LGBTQ people as part of Latino families. We followed with a group discussion about social justice issues in the Latin@ LGBTQ community.

This session was followed by another session that was facilitated by Cynthia Gomez to develop an understanding of federal, state, county and city government structures in order to build the communities knowledge on how these institutions work so that they can advocate for critic community and social changes. This was a highly interactive and informative discussion. Participants expressed an appreciation for this session because many expressed a lack of knowledge of resources in Spanish that provide information on this subject.

After a healthy lunch, Teresa Rios a community partner, expert in popular education and community organizing, facilitated a session on community organizing, leadership and civic engagement. Teresa facilitated brainstorming activities to identify community needs stressing the importance on becoming engaged. In addition, developed capacity around how to organize our communities around a cause, and what civic engagement looks like. This session was designed to provide participants with the opportunity to gain and further develop their skills as community leaders.

We closed with a powerful dinámica: La telaraña that exemplified the power the community has when we organize and work together. We followed up this activity with each participant sharing how they will use what gained in their communities and an awards ceremony.

Latino Network is a 501c3 whose mission is to provide transformative opportunities, services, and advocacy for the education, leadership and civic education for our youth, families and communities.
www.latnet.org
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Latino-Network/162336889478

The Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO) is working with community leaders/organizers from 6 language specific groups to provide support on civic engagement and advocacy activities for these communities who often have limited resources and have language and cultural barriers in engagement.

Two workshops were conducted for the Somali community on housing rights and employment rights- topics identified by some community members as greatly affecting them. In February of 2011 the Central Alliance of Tenants spoke to a group of over 30 people about renters’ and property owners’ rights and responsibilities. In March, 2001 a local job coach spoke to the community on employment rights.

Members of the Oromo speaking community also conducted two workshops, one on immigration rights and another on law enforcement rights and responsibilities.

Members of the Tongan community have been involved in meeting with mayoral candidates for the upcoming election and meeting with city commissioners to discuss forming a community non-profit. The community also has identified immigration rights as a priority topic and a local immigration attorney came to speak to them about immigration specific issues.

The Zomi-Burmese community is heavily involved in civic engagement, community building, and leadership activities, which the EPAP project is helping to support. The community attended a Tri Met budget forum and also went to Salem to advocate for the support of TANF in the legislature. The group also had a speaker from Japan discuss refugee rights in Japan with a discussion of the comparison to the refugee experience in the US. The community is currently working on organizing a Union of Burma all-ethnic conference and prioritizing educational issues.

The Slavic community attended a TriMet budget forum meeting and a listening session for Slavic seniors hosted by Multnomah County Aging and Disability Services.

Russian Speaking Network completed CRIME PREVENTION BEGINS AT HOME EDUCATIONAL AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM on 4/14/2012. This 6 4-hour-workshop program was specifically designed for Russian-speaking population in East Portland. With each workshop we reached the following goals: (1) to raise the understanding, knowledge, and trust in the Russian-Speaking/Slavic community of local East Portland law enforcement and the American judicial system; (2) to train and motivate East Portland Russian-Speaking/Slavic community members to engage in crime prevention and law enforcement awareness activities in the East Portland neighborhoods where they live; (3) to expand the scope of involvement of the Russian-Speaking/Slavic community to prevent crime and improve livability in neighborhoods with a high concentration of our community; (4) and to prepare graduates for the next step of civic engagement and demonstrate the way of involvement in the East Portland Action Plan.

Slavic Community Center held classes that taught how to pass a citizenship class, which involved lots of effort from the attendees.

Having English as their second language, it was beneficial, as the students had told us themselves, that we had teacher that was fluent in English and Russian languages. This really gave a boost for the students to be able to learn everything quicker and to be able to retain the information.

As the classes were coming to an end, students started begging us to not finish these classes with this, but to continue on next year.

We had success stories right away since few of our students had to go and take citizenship test during the time that our classes were still going on. They passed the test and came back to class and encouraged other students that these classes helped them to pass since they did not pass before.

The workshops covered the topics that were set by the project (Social Adjustment and Integration of Iraqi Population in East Portland) to provide refugees with basics of adjustment skills for Life in America. The workshops provided information and skills for self sufficiency, and the process of practicing rights and responsibilities. The workshops included orientation on DHS services, finance and tax issues, American culture and values, American law and law enforcement, and psychological trauma and paths to healing. Also, the workshops provided orientation on community organizing and role of civil activism in American system, and the meaning of diversity and inclusiveness.

Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon's(APANO)held 6 workshops over the summer of June-August 2011 focusing on leadership development and youth empowerment in addressing cultural and social issues

Report Back

Summer Seminar | Seminarios del Verano
East Portland Action Plan 2011

Guest Presenters:
Jobs with Justice Organizer, Mr. Marco Mejia
United Way Diversity and Inclusion Director, Maria Rubio

Friday-Saturday, August 12-13, 2011
6:00-8:00pm & 8:00am-3:00 p.m.
East Portland Community Center & Pool
740 SE 106th Ave
Portland, Or. 97216
Food, Transportation, Spanish/English Translation and Childcare Provided

Agenda (8/12/11)
6:00-6:30 Welcome and Introduction: EPAP, ONI, NWHF and LatNet
6:00-7:50 Documentary: A Class Apart
7:50-8:10 Film discussion
8:10-8:15 Upcoming events
8:15-8:20 Closing remarks

Agenda (8/13/11)
8:00-9:00 Breakfast
9:05-9:05 Welcome and Introduction: EPAP, ONI, NWHF and LatNet
9:05-9:15 Agenda Approval
9:15-10:00 Dinámica
10:-11:00 Workshop 1 w/ Marco Mejia:Community Organizing for all
11:05-12: Workshop 2: Introduction to leadership
12:00-1:0 Lunch
1:00-2:00 Workshop 3 with Maria Rubio: Our Regional Government
2:00-2:20 Next Steps and upcoming steps
2:20-2:50 Diplomas
2:50-3:00 Closing remarks

Notes

On August 12-13th, Latino Network conducted two seminars focused on civic engagement and leadership at the East Portland Community Center and Pool. Made possible through grants from the Office of Neighborhood Involvement, Northwest Health Foundation, and the East Portland Action Plan, the Summer Seminars series launched a new outreach effort in East Portland for Latino Network.

With the growing presence of Latinos east Portland and recognizing the need for increased civic enagagement, the Latino Network developed this seminar to give Latinos leader the tools to be agents of change in their community. In addition, Latino Network developed a leadership curriculum for the children in attendance.

On Friday (Aug 12) at 6pm, the first seminar kicked off with the screening of the documentary "A Class Apart". The film analyzed the historic achievement of a small group of Latino lawyers who took their case of institutional discrimination against Latinos to the Supreme Court in 1954. Seminar participants had a lively discussion on the progress made by Latinos in the U.S. since the landmark ruling and the challenges we still face.

The following day, the participants returned at 8am for breakfast and to resume the dialogue on what constitutes being an effective leader. The first workshop was presented by Marco Mejia, an organizer with Jobs with Justice and a member of the New Sanctuary Movement. Marco talked about strategies and how to mobilize the grassroots community.

Maria Rubio, the New Diversity and Inclusion Director of United Way, shared her knowledge of local, regional, and state governance with the participants. She explained the functions of the state legislature, the City of Portland, the jurisdictions of Counties, and the various agencies and bureaus--such as Metro, DHS, and PPS. The last portion of the time was dedicated to devising a plan for communication and working together on upcoming events and actions pertaining to immigration, health, education, and the build environment.

In all, we had 22 folks attend the seminars. Latino Network couldn't have done it without the support of our partners and the community. The work is ongoing so keep an eye out in 2012 for our Summer Seminars in East Portland!

A Project of East Portland Action Plan

Dialogue with the Latino community and U.S Attorney for the District of Oregon Dwight Holton: Meeting Notes

Leadership Academy Workshop

Guest Presenters:
U.S Attorney for the District of Oregon, Mr. Dwight Holton
Victim-Witness Unit, Gerri Badden
Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent, Mario Galindo

Wednesday, July 20, 2011
4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
East Portland Neighborhood Office
1017 NE 117th Ave.
Portland, OR 97220
Light Refreshments, Spanish/English Translation and Childcare Provided

Agenda
4:00 Welcome by Cynthia Gomez, Program Director of
Civic Engagement and Leadership Programs
4:05 Introductions and Dinamica/Icebreaker
4:20 Guest Presenters & Dialogue
5:00 Q & A
5:20 Closing Activity and Dinamica/Icebreaker

Notes
Mr. Dwight Holton spoke about the Criminal and Civil Rights divisions in his office. His agency works at the federal level with large-scale prosecutions such as fraud, white-collar crime, environmental violations, identity theft, hate crimes, and violators of civil rights. Community was encouraged to communicate with police first. If there are doubts, community members can always call US Attorney office for details and clarification.

Mr. Holton also spoke briefly about the current effort to research alleged violations committed by the Portland Police Bureau.
Mr. Mario Galindo spoke about the FBI. There is a Adult and Youth Academy (see below), partners with Victim-Witness unit, and offered himself as an advocate and contact.

Mrs. Gerri Badden spoke about her office. They provide information about the court system, are present at the crime scene, works closely with FBI, collaborates and refers community to services, tracks down attorneys and others who are in the system, have materials in Spanish and Spanish speaking staff.

Open Discussion Community members had doubts and questions about how immigration status affects access to these services. Mr. Holton made it clear that he is working closely with Secure Communities to ensure that those who are deported are those with prior convictions, deportations and offences. He receives reports that show that there are an insignificant number of immigrants who are deported who do not fit the aforementioned description.

Community members also asked about “redadas” or round ups where if in search of specific offenders, others with no prior convictions are also deported. He is open to continuing the discussion.

Actions Items
• Anti-Bullying Curriculum: Information will be provided by Mr. Holton’s office. Test run was completed at Irvington School with teachers, parents and students. Run by Mrs. Holton.

• FBI Adult and Youth Academy: A program for emerging and established leaders, this is an opportunity for community to learn their rights and how to advocate. This is a free federal service. Holly, through Mario’s office is the contact.

• Substance Abuse Commission: Claudia (ALL alumni) was asked to provide feedback to the commission as they are seeking voices that can speak to the issues.

• Community Relations Service: Information available about this service that addresses racial tensions. Currently working in Umatilla with White and Native Indian community members.

• Opportunity to improve Crime Reporting: Mr. Holton expressed an interest in moving forward with an initiative to improve services. Partners identified: U.S Attorney’s office, Oregon Commission on Hispanic Affairs, and Latino Network.

• Univision: Hilda (ALL alumni) is interested in having Mr. Galindo on Univision (Spanish Language TV) to share information about the FBI.

• Courtroom Tours: Mr. Holton offered to host a tour of the courthouse. Jackeline, LN Program staff, has ideas to work this into the ALL curriculum.

• Portland Police Bureau Investigation: The US Attorney’s office if conducting an investigation of violations by the PPB to see if there are systemic problems that lead to these violations. He seeks the communities assistance. Latino Network has access to this information and may assist in distributing the reporting opportunities to the larger community. See below for copy of e-mail correspondence:

As you are aware, on June 8, 2011, the United States Department of Justice (Department) opened a civil investigation into allegations of use of excessive force by members of the Portland Police Bureau (PPB), in accordance with the pattern or practice provision of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.

As you may have seen in the press release announcing the investigation, throughout the course of the investigation, the Department will seek to determine whether there are systemic violations of the Constitution or federal law by officers of the PPB.

The Justice Department will consider all relevant information, particularly the efforts that Portland has undertaken to ensure compliance with federal law. The Department has taken similar steps involving a variety of state and local law enforcement agencies, both large and small, in jurisdictions such as New York, Ohio, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, Louisiana and California.

As we discussed, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon in conjunction with the Special Litigation Section of the Department’s Civil Rights Division will be conducting interviews at all levels of PPB, the city, and the community, during the first week in August.

We also discussed that the Department wants to include individual community members, including those who live on the outer east side who have had interactions with PPB, whether good, bad, or indifferent. We request any assistance the Latino Network can provide in helping to reach out to community members to participate in individual interviews.

Contact the U.S. Attorney’s local Civil Rights Hotline at either 503-471-5577 or by email at usaor [dot] civilrights [at] usdoj [dot] gov. Members of the public who do not desire an individual meeting, or for whom we are unable to meet with individually may also provide any information about PPB that they would like to share by emailing community [dot] portland [at] usdoj [dot] gov or by calling 1-877-218-5228.

The library has two priorities that speak to community building:
• Resources for immigrants - Immigrants will have the information and resources they need to participate successfully in life in the United States; and
• Facilitating civic engagement - Patrons will have access to resources that support, create opportunities for, and inspire participation in our community, as well as address issues of public concern.
As part of meeting these priorities, the library offers a series of six citizenship classes where attendees:
• Learn about the process of becoming a citizen
• Prepare for the citizenship interview
• Study United States history and government for the examination

Midland library is hosting citizenship classes this fall and winter, with full enrollment expected (20-25 attendees).

Another program is Intercambio/Language Exchange, is also offered at Midland. This program gives participants an opportunity to practice English or Spanish and help other learners in a friendly atmosphere. Participants speak half the time in English and half in Spanish.

Pageturners, the library’s monthly book group program, is offered at every library location. These groups engage in stimulating conversation about books, exchange perspectives about characters and plot, and get to know their neighbors. Pageturners is sponsored by the Friends of the Library.

Everybody Reads, the library’s annual community-wide reading project, asks the question, “What if everybody read the same book?” with the goal that we'd talk to each other about issues that matter and we'd celebrate the power of books in creating a stronger community.

The Everybody Reads 2011 selection is The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore, the story of two kids with the same name and similar backgrounds but very different destinies. While one went on to become a Rhodes scholar, decorated combat veteran, White House Fellow, and business leader, the other is serving a life sentence in prison. The author asks "How did this happen?" and explores the impact of personal choices and the influences of environment and community on today's youth.

The library’s meeting rooms are available to public groups and individuals for meetings and programs that serve an educational, cultural, civic or recreational purpose. Meetings and programs held in library meeting rooms must be free, open and of potential interest to the general public.

CB.2.4 Develop an ongoing program to assess and improve East Portland's participation in City and County policy making and budget setting activities.

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EPAP's Committees, Representatives (including several Budget Advisory Committees, the Planning & Sustainability Commission, boards, Citizen Working Groups,and Comprehensive Plan Policy Expert Groups), one-on-one advocacy with elected officials, and annual reports before Portland City Council and Multnomah County Commission improves East Portland's participation. Effectiveness will be assessed throught the EPAP Updates and the East Portland Action Plan audit. EPNO's neighborhood association chairpersons group, and ONI BAC are other opportunities for community input relevant to providing input to ways ONI can advocate for policy and budget change.

In process of developing public participation framework for transit-dependent communities, primarily from East Portland, to influence TriMet policy decisions within their Transportation Improvement Plan

CB.3 Involve East Portland residents in community projects and building community identity

CB.3.1 Develop survey instruments and tools for community conversations.

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Supported survey and canvassing of the Glenfair neighborhood and a portion of the Centennial neighborhood through an AmeriCorps position and a neighborhood small grant. EPAP MAXaction, Youth, and Economic Development Subcommittees have used survey instruments and tools to facilitate community conversations.

Russian Speaking Network created survey for Crime Prevention Begins at Home (CPBH) project. This survey contains 10 questions.CPBH participants answered such questions as "Did you gain more trust for Law Enforcement entities." All participants answered YES. Some participants said that their false impression that Police discriminates Russian-speaking population dissolved. To the Question, “Why did you decide to take Crime Prevention Begins at Home training?” a participant answered, “We all live in America with the limited knowledge of laws. My goal is to gain more knowledge and share with friends and relatives to prevent and avoid crime in my family and to make my neighborhood a safe place to live.”
to the question, “What training workshops did you find the most valuable for you and your family? And Why?” a participant answered, “Parenting and Connecting with Kids class was very important to hear for me, because if we have strong families--we will have strong country, that is why I hope to attend more of those classes and invite my friends.”

This survey was available in two languages--English and Russian.

Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon's (APANO)youth created a survey tool to ask other youth and adults in their communities about cultural identity and education.

Developed and implemented bus rider survey to identify and prioritize transit concerns for East Portland bus riders.

CB.3.2 Establish a "listening post" or information center at existing community-based events.

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The East Portland Action Plan and EPNO have representation at many East Portland-based events throughout the year. At each event members ask for input, suggestions, and solicit involvement in organizing to address issues in East Portland.

Maxaction is working with Trimet to establish community bulletin borads at area max stations.

CB.3.4 Initiate "community conversations" at community forums and with existing groups to lay the foundation for community identity.

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The East Portland Action Plan monthly general meeting serves as a forum for community conversation and decision-making. The EPAP Subcommittees function as groups that lay foundation for East Portland community identity. Supported organizing efforts through an AmeriCorps position working in the Rosewood area (Portland/Gresham border at Burnside). Supported a drop-in place for the local community members to gather for safe/positive interaction, and a monthly meeting of community members and agency staff to talk about issues and activities in the area. The Rosewood Initiative has now been established as a non-profit and continues to receive EPAP grant support.

A 2012 EPAP grant supported a staff position to carry out the work of The Rosewood Initiative. During the grant period, 4 community meetings were held in Rosewood to connect neighbors and partners and build community identity and pride. Through these meetings as well as Board meetings, we are working to open a community space for Rosewood to base our community development work. We also held a 4 part "Rosewood Revitalization" series and a holiday party attended by more than 200 people to continue our efforts in building community identity. During the holiday party, neighbors were asked to participate in conversations and activities about the community and what they would like to do to build a safer, healthier and more prosperous neighborhood. This feedback is used to drive the work of The Rosewood Initiative with all of our partners.

Russian Speaking Network held "community conversations" to identify common community needs and issues. Russian-speaking (people from Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, Belorussia, Georgia, Armenia,etc) people stated that they would love to see MEASURE 11 AND TYPES OF CRIMES as a mandatory class in Middle/High School, so that their kids would know the clear difference between Bad and Good.

For the Building Cultural Bridges project, two community brainstorming sessions happened in East Portland. One involved over 20 members aged 5-75, and the other happened amongst students in the Bhutanese student club about their experience coming to school in America. Together, members of the Bhutanese community discussed common experiences of coming to America, life in the camps, and the realities of transition. After this, the team of students at David Douglas and two representatives from the community meeting (a boy and a girl) were chosen to learn video skills. They then conducted inter-generational dialogue with their elders at two different community testimonial sessions, where over 40 community members turned out for a day of taped discussion. By having the film be screened and talked about in public with the community on December 17, we also built points of discussion amongst the community members with the final product as the beginning point.

We addressed goal CB.3 by the very nature of our "Subotnik" event – a collaborative, community project requiring the participation of East Portland residents living at Springwater Commons. The event provided a forum for multicultural interaction and ongoing discussion. The event was represented by a diverse group of families hailing from many nations, including Iraq, Honduras, Russia, Ukraine, Romania, and other countries. Families representing many cultural and ethnic backgrounds came together and collaboratively rebuilt, restored and revitalized their community.

Convene monthly Bus Riders Unite! general membership meeting for residents of East Portland to discuss transit-related concerns and develop solutions

CB.4 Create community gathering places in East Portland to increase community identity and pride

CB.4.1 Develop areas that are a source of community pride and identity: foster an 'eastside downtown' and community gathering areas and/or farmers markets.

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The Rosewood Initiative completed a community mural in August of 2012 at SE 162nd Ave and Stark.

The mural serves as a visual sign of hope and change in the community, to those that live in Rosewood and those that pass through. We partnered with local artist Antwoine Thomas, mural artist Addie Boswell, Regional Arts and Culture Council, and East Portland Neighborhood Office, as well as hundreds of neighbors to complete the mural.

The community has an incredible amount of ownership and pride in this mural and it has truly transformed a crime-ridden intersection.

The garden has been around for three years and each of those years we have had a Harvest Festival to celebrate what has been grown in the garden and the celebration of community (meaning the people) who have worked together to keep the garden looking so good.
A number of people who live the neighborhood walk by and comment:
"The neighborhood looks better with the garden here and I enjoy watching it grow"
"You have done a great job with the garden"
"I'm glad your are helping the people of David's Harp learn to grow organic food"
"This garden is beautiful and they are doing a great job keeping it growing

CB.4.2 Identify target areas for holding community organizing activities such as commercial nodes or neighborhoods focal points such as schools, parks or community centers.

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Focal areas for organizing identified on a project by project basis. EPAP actively worked with the Portland Development Commission to establish four Neighborhood Prosperity Initiative areas in East Portland. These areas are to suppliment the Gateway and Lents commercial nodes as main street areas. EPAP member were also influencial in developing the Outer Powell Blvd. Conceptual Design Plan that establishes improvement to Powell Blvd in alignment with main street infrastructure development. EPAP has created an East Portland facilities list that is frequently requested and utilized city-wide. EPAP is working with the Gateway Education/Economic Development Center to position Gateway as a true Regional Center as it is stipualted to be in the METRO 2040 Plan.

The Rosewood Initiative organizes community activities at and around the area of SE 162nd Ave and Stark.

The commercial center at this intersection struggles to be the safe and vibrant place the community needs it to be. We have identified this as the focal point for The Rosewood Initiative's community organizing and development activities.

The Eastminster and Parkrose UCC congregations have been devoted to making their large property at NE 125th and Halsey into a hub for community organizing. The two initiatives which have facilitated this most are hosting a homeless shelter and creating the community garden. Grow Portland partnered with the congregations and took the lead on developing the garden including raising over $40,000 for its construction. Grow Portland hosted two volunteer work days that brought over twenty gardeners together. Gardeners provided 2,500 pound of food local charities including Snowcap. The garden is a source of pride and interest for garden participants and those who utilize Parkrose UCC for social or religious services.

Russian Speaking Network identified Russian-speaking community gathering centers such as local community churches and apartment complexes. These are places where we mostly found people to recruit for the Crime Prevention workshops, as well as organized classes, such as ESL, Parks and Recs announcements. We also distributed valuable resources at these places.

In the early building of the community garden we had a youth group from Idaho come and help build some of our raised beds as a community service project.
We added three raised beds this year and the last one to go in was worked on by our joined youth groups from Parkrose United Methodist and Parkrose Community United Church of Christ. These youth worked together in the garden and produced a number of tomatoes plants from their raised bed and made a number of canned items.

CB.4.3 Develop gateway plans for key entries into East Portland.

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CB.4.4 Support East Portland as the location for a citywide Multicultural Center.

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ONI already funds IRCO (Immigrant Refugee Community Organization) for civic engagement efforts. IRCO has several community centers including their primary complex on Glisan and 103rd. ONI also funds Center for Intercultural Organizing which has been a strong advocate for a multicultural center. East Portland Action Plan is currently working with their Civic Engagement Subcommittee members and language and culturally-specific grant awardees to advocate with the Mayor's Office East Portland Arts Collective to pursue developing partnerships for the utilization of the former Marshall High School as a short-term temporary Multicultural Center. EPAP's work with the Gateway Education/Economic Development Center includes developing a partnership with METRO to establish a Multiculutral Center in the Gateway Transit Center area.

Community visioning sessions in East Portland were conducted for the Building Cultural Bridges project. One East Portland based community wide meeting happened to develop ideas for the film, and another full day of testimonials and interviews that included over 40 members of the Bhutanese community aged 5-75 were conducted. B Media Collective met with members of David Douglas High school's Bhutanese student group over the course of 5 months to do skill-based teach ins, and film sections of the film. Members of the youth video team attended the community civics class at the East Portland Community Center to invite their elders to participate in the project, and document their graduation ceremony. All together a rich series of community meetings happened in East Portland over the course of this project.

CB.5 Foster and market East Portland's positive attributes

CB.5.1 Promote positive media stories for East Portland.

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Positive stories and activities are promoted through the East Portland Neighborhood Association News, a quarterly newsletter that is mailed to 7000 East Portland addresses. East Portland Action Plan submits positive media stories to every issure of the East Portland News and coordinates representatives to speak with media on a regular basis. East Portland Action Plan developed a brochure with a front page that states: "Pride in East Portland A Great Place to Live and Grow". EPAP funded an East Portland Economic Development Assessment that they made sure acknowledged East Portland attributes. The EPAP website focuses on East Portland attributes, including updates to the Action Plan. One of 5 priority strategies for the EPAP Economic Development Subcommittee is "Market East Portland as a Place to do Business".

The Rosewood Initiative has been featured in the Oregonian and 3 times in the Gresham Outlook. East PDX news has printed 2 stories about activities at Rosewood. Our mural at SE 162nd Ave and Stark is featured on the Regional Arts and Culture Council website. Venture Magazine from Mount Hood Community College printed a feature story about Rosewood. Our work has also been in The Skanner News.

Maxaction has help 5 cleanups along the Max Blue line during 2011. Three of these evets have been covered by local media as positive neighborhood events.

Direct link: http://eastpdxnews.com/general-news-features/parkrose-heights-gardeners-...

The Building Cultural Bridges Project as a whole is worthy of press, considering the deep youth-elder mentorship component, and the popular education models that were experimented with and developed in the project. See the Oregon Live coverage at: http://blog.oregonlive.com/my-portland/2011/12/documentary_film_coming_t...

A story about NW Garden Academy has been published and advertising purchased in the Mid County Memo. This is a local newspaper that reaches thousands of households in the local community. In addition, gardening sessions and workshops have been listed on the iFarm link of "Friends of Family Farmers" and the Oregonian event pages. The Academy has been presented to Argay and Parkrose Neighborhood Associations as well as the Midway and Parkrose Business Associations. Finally, signage and an information box has been erected at the garden site on NE Shave St and NE 122nd Ave and Parkrose Community Foundation had an information booth set up at the Parkrose Farmers Market distributing brochures for four weekends.

CB.5.2 Develop a marketing campaign about why East Portland is a great place to buy a home.

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CB.5.3 Inventory East Portland's unique assets and create a long-term marketing/media campaign to publicize; include development of website.

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EPNO has developed eastportland.org to provide information on East Portland. EPAP has a presence on the EPNO website as eastportlandactionplan.org, this includes the development of an Action Plan Updates page were everyone can track their contribution to address of Action items. East Portland Action Plan Economic Development Subcommittee, through EPAP Project funding, produced the East Portland Economic Development Assessment. This document inventories some of East Portland's unique assetts and establishes five strategies as next steps economic development initiatives. The first initiative is to "Market East Portland as a place to do business". The EPAP Economic Development Subcommittee is actively working to advocact for address of the elements established to move this initiative forward. EPAP has actively worked with the East Portland Arts Collective, which is developing an inventory of East Portland's arts and culture assets.

Zenger Farm, Audubon Society, Johnson Creek Watershed Council, Environmental Education Assoc. of Oregon, Leach Botanical Garden, and other interested parties who share the area from 116th to 128th and Foster have been meeting quarterly to discuss common ground and programs. One major conversation focuses on how to reframe the geographic node in people's minds with an eye toward positive future investment and image. We've taken to calling this area "Eastern Eden", thinking of the potential for a 'green zone' with 10/10/10 characteristics anchored in the enviro-argicultural-botanical-cultural landscapes.

CB.6 Strengthen and increase participation in neighborhood services

CB.6.1 Provide annual mailing to all East Portland addresses about role of neighborhood associations and how to become involved.

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EPNO outreach mailings are done by the East Portland Neighborhood Association News with a goal of covering the entire area once a year. The newsletter highlights wide range of community advocacy efforts, events, meetings and volunteer activities. East Portland Action Plan developed a brochure with a front page that states: "Pride in East Portland A Great Place to Live and Grow". EPAP funded an East Portland Economic Development Assessment that they made sure acknowledged East Portland attributes. The EPAP website focuses on East Portland attributes, including updates to the Action Plan. One of 5 priority strategies for the EPAP Economic Development Subcommittee is "Market East Portland as a Place to do Business".

CB.6.2 Develop and implement outreach program to residents typically underrepresented in East Portland neighborhood associations: renters, youth, disabled, diverse race and ethnicities, etc.

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ONI Diversity and Civic Leadership program funds five community of color, immigrant, refugee organizations to provide civic engagement, leadership and cacacity building resources for their organizations. Those groups are increasingly engaged in targeted outer East outreach efforts. East Portland Action Plan has funded and EPNO staff has supported work being done to coordinate and expand the PP&R summer youth activities, which has engaged leadership from East Portland Action Plan Civic Engagement language and cultural-specific communities and neighborhood associations. East Portland Action Plan has a Civic Engagement Subcommittee that is representative of diverse race and ethnic groups. This group establishes criteria and application development for the East Portland Civic Engagement Grant program. The East Portland Action Plan has actively sought and involved representation from renters, youth, disabled, diverse race and ethnicities, and LGBTQ communities

EPAP grant (2011) funded AmeriCorps Community Organizer helped establish outreach work in the Rosewood area. A majority of the residents in the immediate community are underrepresented, coming from diverse ethnic backgrounds, age, and income and education levels. Through listening and engaging many residents, neighborhood association participants have a deeper understanding of the north section of Centennial Community Association. CCA events and gatherings are now promoted through and supported by the Rosewood network. The organizer worked with The Rosewood Initiative to begin holding gatherings with community members and partners in a new community space at SE 162nd Ave and Stark. Community members from traditionally underrepresented populations are now engaged in building Rosewood Cafe as a community center and hub for neighborhood transformation. They are also engaged in ongoing community building activities and improvement projects throughout the neighborhood. This continues to enable CCA to build relationships with more neighbors and partners in business, government, faith organizations, nonprofit, social service, and more.

Slavic Community Center held classes that taught how to pass a citizenship class which involved lots of effort from the attendees.

As the classes were coming to an end, students started begging us to not finish these classes with this, but to continue on next year.

The project (Social Adjustment and Integration of Iraqi Population in East Portland) was a real learning process through its successes and challenges, taking into consideration the very young age of the Iraqi organization and the Iraqi community in Portland. It is big step in closing the cultural gap between the mainstream culture and the new comers’ culture, and it is a courageous and far sight by EPAP to fund our project. It is very ambitious to bring psychosocial change in 5-6 workshops, this process will take years but I am confident it is going to succeed since people now are willing to engage in community activities like in the Health Equity campaign, and we started a solidarity fund for the Iraqi community.
The project included eight workshops that were held at: East minister Presbyterian Church, East Portland neighborhood office, East Portland Precinct, and East Portland Community Center. The average number of participants was around 20-25, and they were men and women of different ages (17-55y.o). These workshops in were the first opportunity for the Iraqi community in east portland to meet the wider community of elected and governemental officials and residents.

Bus rider outreach program is designed to reach residents from East Portland's diverse and underrepresented communities, specifically low-income, transit-dependent, youth, elderly, disabled, people of color

CB.6.3 Create an advocate position to seek funding for livability improvements, neighborhood associations and groups.

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Established EPAP Advocate position to coordinate community participation in EPAP advocacy efforts. EPNO has several community organizing staff working with neighborhood and other community stakeholders utilizing Neighborhood Small Grants and other funding sources when possible. East Portland Action Plan works to build the capacity of involved Neighborhood Association members, uses the EPAP grants programs to recruit for and build partnerships with the Neighborhood Associations, and provides process and advocacy support regularly to Neighborhood Associations upon request.

Lore Wintergreen has been the East Portland Action Plan staff Advocate since 2009. Through her efforts, the community has received from the City over $150,000 annually for community small grants and projects, as well as $130,000 for funding her position and operating funds for the EPAP.

Richard Bixby has been running the East Portland Neighborhood Office on an even smaller shoestring budget, for the past several years.

CB.7 Enhance East Portland's sense of community through historic resource identification and preservation efforts

CB.7.1 Gather information regarding historical resources and determine focus areas for additional research and potential historic preservation efforts.

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to go along with my update from 11/15/2010, here is a link to the document that was produced for the study:

http://www.portlandonline.com/portlandplan/index.cfm?a=346260&c=51427

Leach Botanical Garden possesses a substantial collection of physical objects, images, documents, and other ephemera from the historic collection of John and Lilla Leach. Much of this is from or referential to the developments in Lents, East Portland and outer Southeast. In acknowledgement of our 30th anniversary as a public garden, we are exploring creation of a video production rooted in the Leach story, including their expeditions of plant discovery around the Pacific NW.

The City of Portland received a small grant from the State Historic Preservaion Office to conduct a survey of "mid-century" residential areas developed in the 19040's - 1960's. The survey is complete and Bureau of Planning and Sustainability staff will provide a briefing to the Landmarks Commission on November 22nd 2010 at 3:15pm. The surveywork will enhance our understanding of the building history in Portland's eastside neighborhoods. Information and photos from the survey will be entered into a state database and will be available to the public for mapping, planning, and neighborhood character illustration.
For more information contact Liza Mickle at Liza [dot] Mickle [at] portlandoregon [dot] gov.

CB.7.2 Initiate oral history project for East Portland - integrate results into broader historic resources work.

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Powellhurst-Gilbert Neighborhood Association has established a Historian. East Portland Action Plan has assisted the David Douglas School District historian and provided historical documentation materials from the Senn's Dairy Park to the Parkrose Neighborhood Association. East Portland Action Plan is consulting with Portland State University Masters of Urban Planning Students to organize an oral history project focused on one of the East Portland Neighborhood Properity Initiative areas. East Portland Action Plan grant funded Gateway Green to develop an oral history project video for the Gateway area.