SERVING
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• South Portland
• Multnomah Village
• Raleigh Hills • Vermont
Hills • West Portland
INSIDE:
Commissioner
Fish Goes to
Washington
--Page 3
Southwest Portland’s Independent Neighborhood Newspaper
Volume No. 16, Issue No. 12
www.multnomahpost.com
Portland, Oregon
Complimentary
October 2008
New Hamilton Street sidewalks could
be resurrected by neighborhood
By Polina Olsen
The Southwest Portland Post
Marianne Fitzgerald, chair of the
Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc. (SWNI)
Transportation Committee reported the
local improvement district (Halo LID)
project on Southwest Hamilton Street is
dormant but can be resurrected by the
Bridlemile Neighborhood Association.
Halo LID is a funding scheme that
divides costs among property owners
within a defined radius of the sidewalk
construction. With traditional funding,
only abutting property owners pay for
the new sidewalks. “We didn’t want
to go further than ½ mile,” Fitzgerald
said, explaining the different cost op-
tions for the four Southwest Neighbor-
hood Halo Lid Pilot Projects.
When people live more than one half
mile away from the new sidewalks,
they don’t understand why they should
help pay them, she said. Both cost
and design proved controversial with
neighbors choosing between 16 types
of sidewalks and a halo of one-eighth,
one-quarter or one half mile.
Two of the four proposed Southwest
BRIDlEmIlE NotEBook
Halo LID projects are on hold: South-
west Hamilton, from Southwest 39th
Avenue to Southwest 60th Place and
Southwest 35th Avenue from South-
west Stephenson Street to Southwest
Arnold Street.
The other two projects, Southwest
Vermont Street from Southwest 45th
Avenue to the county line and South-
west Vermont Street from Southwest
30th Avenue to Southwest 37th Avenue,
will report their status at the next SWNI
transportation committee meeting. Call
503-823-4592 for the meeting schedule.
Crime Prevention
Bridlemile Neighborhood Associa-
tion History Chair Ginger Danzer re-
ported the Hamilton Park foot patrol
project needs more people. The project
started in response to underage drink-
ing, graffiti, vandalism and general
noise, especially on weekend nights.
“We’ve cut down the amount of
speeding, use of alcohol, and rowdi-
Tanya Ghattas (back row center, glasses, white shirt), the new Bridlemile Elementary
School principal, stopped by the neighborhood meeting to say hello. (Post photo
by Polina Olsen)
ness in the park,” Danzer said. “This
summer was amazingly quiet but we
don’t have the number of people need-
ed to keep [the foot patrol] going well.”
The group works with the city crime
prevention specialist and the police.
“We wear little vests and go out and
walk from 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on
weekend nights, carry our cell phones
and report mischief. It’s a nice way to
walk and visit with your neighbors.”
For more information on the Hamil-
ton Park foot patrol, call Ellen Under-
hill at 503.297.6916.
Land Use
Karen Tabata, Land Use Chair, raised
the question of how to incorporate
adult foster care facilities within resi-
dential neighborhoods. While Adult
Foster Care began with private homes
taking i n a few elderly residents,
(Continued on Page 4 )
Seniors find gardening to be therapeutic at Maplewood retirement home
By Polina Olsen
The Southwest Portland Post
Helen Sandstrom ate beans like that
with olive oil when she was young.
Now, in her nineties, she enjoys them
straight from the vine. As the West
Hills Village Senior Residence group
gathered around their newly grown
garden, they chatted about early
memories and the current harvest.
“There’s a lot of touch and it’s in-
teractive,” said activity director Holli
Wronski about their two-month-old
program with Garden Partners, a
non-profit Portland organization that
brings therapeutic gardening to the
community. “They talk about their
past gardens, their mother’s gardens,
and gardens in their later years.”
Garden Partners started in 1999,
when occupational therapist Mary
Rowan saw a great need for meaning-
ful activity where the elderly could
nurture. She found existing programs
emphasized things being done for
seniors rather than proactive activity.
Rowan hooked up with a nurse and
landscape architect and by 2003 started
programs in long-term care facilities.
Today Garden Partners has pro-
grams in eight Portland locations
including an abused children’s cen-
ter, long term care facilities, and the
Portland Memory Garden (Southeast
104th Avenue and Powell Boulevard),
a park designed for people afflicted
with Alzheimer’s disease.
According to the Journal of Thera-
peutic Gardening, working in the
garden increases attention span and
provides exercise. Rowan also finds it
increases self-esteem and gives a sense
of spiritual fulfillment and joy.
“Nobody is excluded,” Rowan said,
explaining Garden Partners accom-
modates all physical and mental chal-
lenges. “We see people quite advanced
in their disease. When we go to a new
facility residents say, ‘I can’t garden.’
It can easily be setup with the right
planter, wheelchairs in the right place,
handing people the hose, and making
sure tools aren’t too heavy.”
Garden Partner’s volunteers or staff
come once each week throughout the
year and vary sessions according to
weather conditions. In winter, they
give lectures on topics like plant or
tree identification. They prepare soil,
prune, weed, water and harvest during
the summer.
West Hills Village residents enjoy
watching the vegetables, herbs, and
flowers from the small patios outside
their apartments. Tomatoes and cu-
cumbers were particularly good this
year, and the large yellow beans are
firm and tasty. Although the kitchen
uses the fresh produce to prepare the
resident’s meals, sometimes passersby
can’t resist sampling.
“The concept of Garden Partners
is getting the community involved,”
Rowan said about her work with the
project. “It changes the feeling of the
environment because it’s positive
-- people aren’t talking about their
illnesses.” Although she volunteers
full-time with the organization, she
finds it time well spent. “When you
get a strong calling, you want to see
it happen.”
West Hills Village Senior Residence
is located at 5711 SW Multnomah Blvd.
For more information on Garden Part-
ners visit www.gardenpartners.org,
email info@gardenpartners.org or call
(503) 288-1280.
Don’t forget to renew your subscription. Form on Page 2.
The Southwest Portland Post
7825 SW 36th Ave Suite #203
Portland, OR 97219
Anne Dugan and Helen Sandstrom stand next to their Garden Partners project. Both are
residents of the West Hills Village Senior Residence. (Post photo by Polina Olsen)