4
Street roots
Nov. 8, 2013
For the
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A compilation of tacts, large and
small, about our community
• Percentage of Multnomah County
population who have a high school diploma
or higher: 89
• High school graduation rate in
Multnomah County: 63 percent
• Percentage of children in Multnomah
County who experience food insecurity
(food insecurity is defined as not knowing
where one’s next meal will come from): 24
• Median household income in Multnomah
County: $50,726
• Number of oceangoing vessels making
calls in the Port of Portland this year: 382
• Number of World War II veterans still
living in Oregon as of 2012:23, 837
P H O T O C O U R T E S Y O F T H E PSU V E T E R A N S RESO U R CE CENTER
Visitors to the Veterans Resource Center gather around the map in the front o f the office. A ll visitors are encouraged to p u t a tack on the map
wherever they were stationed and/or deployed. They have different color tacks for each branch o f service. “I t starts a lot o f great conversations,
says the center’s director, Ray Facundo.
• Median home value in Multnomah
County: $281,900
• In Multnomah County, the four-year
graduation rate for the class of 2011-12
was 52 percent. For black students, 65
percent for all students, and 70 percent for
white students
• Multnomah County black males age
25-64 are 1.7 times as likely to be
unemployed or out of the labor force as
are white males
• Percentage of women callers seeking
resources at 2111nfo’s call center: 73.
Sources: US Census Bureau; American Community
Survey, 5year estimates 2007-2011; Greater Portland
Pulse, 2007-2011; Children First For Oregon; 2012
County Data Book; ODE; 2009-11 ACS PUMS,
211Info;
Soldiers on campus
Portland State gets back to its roots with a new resource hub fo r returning veterans
BY ALEX ZIELINSKI
S T A F F W R IT E R
isconnected. That's the word army
veteran Dave Christensen used to
describe his first year on the
Portland State University campus.
“It was very difficult for me to get
traction,” said Christensen, a computer
engineering major. “I didn’t feel part of the
community, and veteran services were
spread across campus—I wasn’t sure where
to look.”
To Christensen’s surprise, PSU, a
campus founded by a Navy veteran in 1946
specifically for returning World War II
veterans, had little to offer its veteran
enrollees. Eventually he found a group of
inconspicuous veterans grappling to form
some kind of information hub for like
students. Dubbed Viking Vets, the small
group slowly bloomed into a notable and
reliable resource center for veterans across
campus, fueled solely by student volunteers.
“It was a booming business,” said
Christensen. “We all became quickly aware
of how lost and misguided new student vets
are. We’re not just your average out-of-high
school college student - we have families,
serious medical conditions, side jobs. It’s
different.”
Now, four years after Christensen helped
get Viking Vets off the ground, the
university - that has the highest population
of veteran students in the state at nearly
12,000 — has finally acknowledged the
pressing need for a funded veteran student
group.
Over the summer, PSU hired Iraq War
veteran Ray Facundo to take the reins as
the new Veteran Resource Center’s
D
director. Officially opening its doors on Oct.
1, the center couldn’t have come at a better
time. The center received a wave of
questions about the government shutdown,
its impact on GI Bill
benefits delays and
accessing counselors
who were furloughed.
Veteran-specific
issues like these
further the need for a
social hub on campus.
Many veterans find it
difficult to relate to
the typical student, let
alone the entire
college structure.
“We always say that there’s no reverse
boot camp,” said Facundo. “When you go to
boot camp, they break you down to become
a person that follows orders to a T, working
with a team to get tasks accomplished on
time. Once you’re out, and have no one
scheduling your time, you’re pretty much
on your own. It’s hard.”
Another symptom of the transition from
military to college is the untranslatable
fields of study. While some veterans who
worked in communications or engineering
positions can transfer their field work to
school credits, many find their past
expertise lost in the college curriculum.
Facundo, who was a field artillery
surveyor in the army for six years, found it
hard to bring any of his past experience to
PSU. Instead, he started afresh with a focus
in social work.
Even with the boost of GI Bill support, it
would be easy to feel overwhelmed by the
new, foreign environment of a college
campus without the comfort of a veteran
community like the VRC. Decked out with a
friendly lounge, computer bank and a
information desk, the VRC acts as a haven
for many veterans on campus.
“I never felt comfortable eating in the
main lunch room or studying in the study
hall,” said Air Force veteran Jeff Lamont.
“Students are almost too liberal and happy
here. I felt out of place.”
Lamont said he was close to dropping out
of PSU, due to feeling so out of place.
Luckily, the VRC helped re-guide him.
“There are a ton of us who wouldn’t be in
here if it weren’t for the GI Bill, since it
helps us take care of our families and stay
afloat,” said Lamont. “But it’s hard to know
how to use it correctly. The VRC helped
show me the way.”
Christensen, now Vice President
Program Director, seconded Lamont’s
concern.
“We’ve had numerous people come to us
who are about to run out of GI benefits and
still need to finish their degree. It’s easy to
not maximize the bill’s benefits, just
because of bad planning,” he said. “That’s
where we can help.”
The VRC’s next goal? Lobbying for all
student veterans to receive in-state tuition.
“We have great backing and great
potential to have our voices heard,” said
Christensen.
Looking to the future, Christensen said
that he hopes PSU isn’t just seen as a
campus with a great veteran program, but a
campus that attracts student veterans.
“Our student veterans should never feel
lost,” he said.
Find out more about
Street Roots at
www.streetroots.org
Get Connected. Get Answers.