Agencies help homeless during winter cold
u L ogan K elly ____________
Sports Editor
Trees, menorahs,
gingerbread cookies and
presents have come to
be synonymous with the
holiday season. Black Friday
came early for the public
when stores opened at
11 p.m. on Thanksgiving
D ay Advertisements with
Christmas jingles started
in early November, but for
the people living below the
poverty line, the holidays are
a much different story.
For Portland area
homeless, conditions are
rough. Temperatures are
dipping below freezing
on a regular basis and
snow has been forecast at
various times. The piercing
winds drop the wind chill
factor considerably making
conditions brutal for those
without shelter.
There are organizations
that make an effort to take
care of people who
are otherwise ignored.
One such organization
is called JOIN. They
believe homelessness is a
complicated issue and that
the community should join
together to help fight and
prevent it. Unlike some
organizations with the same
overall intention, JOIN does
not take referrals from other
groups.
"Our priority is to meet
people where they are at, out
on the street," Will Harris,
Director of Development
at JOIN, said. Their only
criteria for helping is that the
recipient must be living on
the street or in his or her car.
JOIN started providing
basic services to the homeless
in 1998 and now has six staff
members. The majority of
people served are between 35
and 55 years old, but Harris,
sees an alarming amount of
homeless people 55 and older.
"The number of elderly
people we are serving
is surprising to me. It
appears to me that this is a
characteristic of the crisis
that is not talked about a
lot, but one that has grave
implications as the general
population ages," he said.
The organization has housed
about 2,800 people so far.
JOIN does not have an
actual shelter. They go
out and advocate for the
homeless person with private
market landlords. "We go out
and ask the landlords to take
a chance," Harris said.
JOIN is asking the
landlords to take a big
chance. The people that
they help have a record
of evictions, convictions,
bankruptcy and a whole list
of other issues that causes
most landlords to shy away
from allowing them to rent.
"JOIN'S advocacy is not
about the legal right to rent,
Families create own traditions
but about building personal
and supportive relationships
with local landlords that
encourage landlords to
grant people second chances
to renew their lives from
the safety and stability of
housing," he said.
Not only does JOIN help
the homeless find housing
and employment, they help
them make the first deposit
of their first paycheck. They
also assist the disabled fill out
benefits paperwork, get to
the doctor and JOIN has also
also started a program house
to home which challenges
donating companies
employees to contribute all
of the essential items that are
needed in a home.
Troubled youth in the
Portland-Metropolitan area
are served by Janus Youth
Services, which focuses
on providing shelter and
linking them with other help
agencies to help bring teens
off the street and back into
society.
On Christmas, New
Avenues for Youth will be
serving a special holiday
meal and two days later they
will be serving one similar
to their late-night outreach
program participants. New
Avenues expects to serve
around 150 youth and will
provide guests with a special
holiday present.
New Avenues for Youth
serves those age 20 and
younger by offering daily
meals, showers, laundry
and an alternative school for
the youth to complete their
education. Counseling, case
management, a job training
program and transitional
housing are also available for
those who are determined to
leave street life behind.
The three agencies are
not the only organizations
dedicated to helping
the homeless. For more
information on these
agencies, please call 503-232-
4640 for JOIN, 503-223-6090
for Janus Youth Services
or 503-224-4339 for New
Avenues for Youth.
u L ogan K elly ____________
Sports Editor
strips portray Christmas in
America as children running
down the stairs on Christmas
morning chomping at the bit to
tear into their presents. Some
people choose other ways to
celebrate the holidays.
A growing trend is to cut
down on personal gift giving
and to donate to those who are
less fortunate.
Alex Spady, junior, and his
extended family have helping
others for the last ten years,
instead of focusing on gifts.
"My family donates
money to different charities
and organizations every
Christmas instead of doing a
gift exchange between cousins,
aunts and uncles," Spady said.
"We created a Giving Tree.
It is a small Christmas tree
with envelopes attached to it.
Each envelope has a different
charity or organization in it,"
he said.
Some examples of the
charities that the family
supports are Red Cross,
Juvenile Diabetic Association,
Humane Society and Heifer
Foundation."
On Christmas Eve, the
parents give the money they
normally would have spent on
gifts to their children and then
the children decide where
their money should go. The
adults can donate extra money
and often the children do too.
"One time I donated $150
that I had been saving up to
the Heifer Foundation. This
tradition is very special to
my family since it lets us be
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Holiday
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Giving gifts to family and
friends aren't the only choices
for giving. The Giving Tree
offers a great opportunity to
give back to the community.
The gifts go to the children at
the Annie Ross House which
helps homeless families with
children regain a permanent
home, self-sufficiency and
dignity.
The M orrison Foundation
provides health and educa
tional services for trauma
tized youths as well as their
fa m ilie s in Portland and
surrounding areas. There
are around 110,000 children
ijn Oregon in need of mental
health services. To donate,
visit their website at www.
morrisonkids.org.
The H eifer Foundation
helps fam ilies by providing
animals to help them become
self-reliant. Choose the ani
mals or baskets to donate at
www.heifer.org.
World Vision is a Christian
hum anitarian organization
dedicated to working with
children, families and their
communities worldwide by
tackling the sources of pov
erty and injustice. To donate,
log on to www.worldvision.
org and click the "Ways to
Give" tab.
Staff Reporters
Members of junior Alex Spady's extended family choose a charity to
donate money to instead of giving each other gifts. "I think this is a
great tradition because it allows us to help others in need instead of
frivolously spending money on gifts," Spady said.
Photo submitted by Alex Spady
together as a family and it lets
us help the community and the
world," Spady said.
Traditions from other
countries are also a part of
family celebrations. The
Fambachs include the pickle,
which comes from Germany, as
a part of their tradition.
"On Christmas Day, my dad
makes some shtolen (bread
with candied fruits baked into
it and an icing on top) and then
we look on the Christmas tree
for an ornament that is shaped
like a pickle, and whoever
finds it gets to open the first
present," Hans Fambach,
sophomore, said.
Although, Saleh Kekhia,
freshman, is Muslim he
celebrates Christmas in a
traditional way.
"We still have a Christmas
tree and decorations. We also
give presents. The only real
difference is that we don't go
in-depth on the Christianity
part of it," Kekhia said.
Jeff Bandel, senior,
celebrates Hanukkah, "You
think eight days of gifts, this is
fantastic! Well let's examine the
usual gifts received: a pencil,
an eraser, some paper. It's
usually stuff to get you ready
for second semester and most
families don't make it past the
fifth night."
"You wanna light the
menorah tonight?’ 'uhhh nah,
five nights is enough," Bandel
said. "In the past you'd get
some cool gifts, but as those
days have ended and teenage
years are almost over, it’s all
stuff from Office Max that you
need, not want."
Bandel thinks that the only
appealing part of Chanukah
is family and big meals;
like eight days of non-stop
Thanksgiving.
"A lot of people miss out on
Chanukah because it jumps
around each year; sometimes
it happens the same night as
Christmas, and other times
right after Thanksgiving. Most
people just get so confused that
it becomes a guessing game,"
Bandel said.
One of the most stressful
parts of the holiday season
is the evernagging question,
"What is the perfect gift?" This
puzzling question oftentimes
gets answered w ith a last
minute regifting technique,
but this year will be differ
ent. What follows is a list
that acknowledges that your
dad doesn't need another tie
and that your girlfriend really
doesn't want a crockpot.
Male
•Prima Artist Mannequin-
$21
•Garmin GPSmap 60CSx-
$500
•Gift cards
•Space Pen-$22
•Emergency Hand Crank
Radio-$50
•Space Invader Mini Arcade
Game-524
• OtterBox Waterproof Case
for Ipod Nano-$40
•Accepted DVD-520
•Love by the Beatles-$10
Female
•Wireless AIM/AOL Mes-
senger-529.99
•BathPillow-$8
•Pilot Precise V5 Rolling
Ball Pens-510
•Lung Ching Dragonwell
Tea-$15.45
• Recycled Wrapper Clutch-
535
• Shower Radio-516
• High School Musical DVD