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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 2000)
iabruary ML 2000 * J u t a a it^ i Continued from Page 19 “Early on it was really difficult to deal with so many people dying so quickly,” Bean admits. When he started volunteering five years ago, residents rarely lived more than a month. "That was tough,” he says. But he kept showing up to do “what needed to be done in that moment.” “It is a sobering thought how really fragile life is,” Bean says, adding that volunteering helps to keep his life in perspective. “Everybody needs to, in some way or fash ion, find some way to give back somewhere,” he says. “Even if it is just being nice to the peo ple next door.” bureau’s diversity training on sexual minority issues. And once a week Costa travels to rural Yamhill County to deliver frozen meals to peo ple living with HIV and AIDS. Costa thinks one way to build a more uni fied community is to have people in different groups talk with each other. Working with so many organizations over the years, Costa does see the community changing. “It’s exhilarating,” Costa says. “I actually see change and see people actually collaborating and getting along. It makes you feel good!” IP H am bleton P roject P ride N orthwest Organizes community forums and Portland’s annual pride events. Needs “ anyone who can help, we’ll find you a job.” Contact: (503) 295-9788, www.gaypdx.com/pride Offers networking and direct services to les bians with cancer. Needs direct service providers (lawn mowing, housecleaning and more). Contact: (503) 642-1007 Portland Women’s Crisis Line 24-hour hot line offering support for women, advocacy, transportation, support groups, community education, a senior citizen cri sis response team and a new support group for gay and bi men abused by their part ners. Needs hot line counselors, safe home providers, speakers bureau members and more. Contact: (503) 235-5333, 1-888-235-5333 L esbian G a y B i T rans F il m F e st iv a l Hosts annual film festival. Needs volunteers for festival, corporate spon sors, office space. Contact: (503) 242-0818, www.sensoryperceptions.org, www.pdxgayfilm.com I G a y M e n ’ s H ea lth N etwork M aura King i g ^ |P o r three months of the year it I -could be a full-time job,” Maura i King says about her volunteer efforts helping produce the LG BT Film Festival. But she wouldn’t have it any other way at this point. “1 really believe in the event,” King says adamantly. “It’s so satisfying to do something and have it actually culmi nate in something you can see.” King does it all. She screens films, orchestrates parties, recruits and works with volunteers, writes press releases and even drives around putting up fly ers. She believes the film festival is vital to life in Portland. “There are very few opportunities in the community for people to gather at an event that isn’t in a bar," King explains. f H IV prevention and education programs and events. Needs helpers for Safe Sex Carnival in May. Contact: (503) 203-8453 C itizens F oot P atrol Police-trained and supported volunteers patrolling targeted areas in downtown Portland to report crimes and promote safe streets. Needs volunteers to join groups of six on the beat once a month. Contact: (503) 295-9785 Norm Costa Becky Kennedy fter Norm Costa retired, he decided it was time to give back and get involved. And he did. Today his resume of volunteer work fills two pages. “Our queer community is divided,” Costa says, referring to the fragmentation of the com munity into special interest groups. He wants to help change that. Costa is an organizer of the Gay Men’s Health Network, recruits volunteers for the Citizens Foot Patrol and is the outreach coordi- ere’s the perfect example of someone who had something to give and wanted to vol unteer but didn’t know what to do. “It was my time to give back and to do something,” Kennedy says about a period when she didn’t do volunteer work. But she couldn’t find a project that interest ed her or one for which she was qualified. Even tually an invita tion came to join "Cancer is not a the Hambleton Project, and death sentence! Kennedy realized It is something you being qualified wasn’t an issue. can survive and live “ People are willing to help with and deal with you out and kind and still have a great of guide you and show you the way life .... It's a kind o f once you step in and say, ‘Here I feeling, if it ever am and what happened to me, do you need Kennedy says. I wouldn't be alone." Now the Hambleton Pro — Becky Kennedy ject’s direct ser vices committee chair, she coordi nates practical assistance for lesbians who have cancer and are at home in need of help. The best aspect of her efforts is “seeing that you really do make a difference in someone’s life,” Kennedy says. A “The appreciation is amazing! Every time you go over, they are just so grateful,” she remarks about the clients she serves. Kennedy’s volunteer work has also made her feel more a part of the community. She says she’s learned lessons from her work. “Cancer is not a death sentence!” she says. “It is something you can survive and live with and deal with and still have a great life." But the greater lesson is a more personal one: “It’s a kind of feeling, if it ever happened to me, I wouldn’t be alone,” she says softly. H The film festival provides a way for people to come together and interact, she says, adding: “People are happy that this fun event is going on. It is a good time." The recent college graduate believes in combining personal passions with choices in volunteering. “It isn’t just about going out there and giv ing your time away,” King says. If passion is a part of the volunteer job, “you have a higher chance of having it be reward ing," she explains. “It is important for me to believe in what I’m doing.” "I've always been pretty sensitive to what's going on with people and if something is amiss. It's just something I've known I've wanted to do for a long time. " — Alicia Moore Alicia Moore P ortland Women’s Crisis Line has a new volunteer. While just one of many who keep this vital service afloat, Alicia Moore seems destined to make a difference in people’s lives both at PW CL and everywhere she goes. Her volunteer effort with the crisis line is only a portion of the service she hopes she’ll bring to her community. “We are all struggling to find our own path,” Moore says. She believes her life is about helping others find their way while searching for her own. "I’ve always been pretty sensitive to what’s going on with people and if something is amiss,” Moore says. “It’s just something I’ve known I’ve wanted to do for a long time.” Moore stresses that her role is to offer sup port and to refrain from telling callers what to do. “That would be taking their voice away,” Moore says, “and they’ve already had people in their lives take that voice away.” Moore grew up in a city that she says was very close-minded to part of who she is— a bisexual woman. “Eventually I moved and found a supportive community and came into my own,” she says, and the experience spurred her to try to give that kind of support to other people. “It’s phenomenal. It is one of the most pow erful things there is,” she explains about having someone listen without judgment. “It’s really an important service," Moore says of the hot line, while acknowledging there are many important and supportive roles peo ple can play. “The important thing is ^Jiat we find our community and the space that makes us feel good about ourselves,” Mixire concludes. Continued on Page 22
