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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 15, 1976)
Page 4 Portland O tosrvsr Thursday. July 15th, 1ST* Program aids lost elderly by Naoey M cCarthy A « e a v o tfo a M d hi P s rtf— 4 Wadaseday b etas to place O e aaoM a f former Senator Eogeae M cC arthy. 1 « U perseas signed card« to a— la s ts M cCarthy. If 1 , 5 » a f these are registered vetoes, McCarthy'« aaaaa w M appear aa O e ballet aa an todepeadeat candidate far O e presidency. Elderly and confused. Lost and alone. A woman walks around a strange Al bins neighborhood, tryin g to find hor home. I t is near the large grocery store, she remembers, but where is that store? And where is her house? W hen elderly people get lost it used to take valuable police tune to find their homes. But now the Volunteers of America, a United W ay agency, w ill provide shelter for those who are tem porarily lost. Although the United W ay agency has assisted the Portland Police Departm ent for five years, it recently became the official service agency for the eiderlylost when the Portland City Council approved a small stipend to care for these people. I t seemed natural to name the Volun teers of America, which received $213,000 in United W ay funds this year, as the official service agency. Besides providing shelter to those who are tem porarily lost, it also offers care for troubl od teenage girls, mothers and their child ren. and pre-schoolers. "Sometimes it takes over 12 hours to find out where a person lives." says M a jo r Velm a Burnie. executive director of United W ay's Volunteers of America. “If the police pick up a person during the d»y. he or she is taken to the Adult Service Center where we work w ith him to find his home. " If he is still w ith us at 4:30 p.m., he is given dinner and overnight accommoda lions. T here he w ill continue to work with a social w orker until he finds his home." For the police departm ent, the United W ay agency's service has provided relief. " It is a problem we have had for years," says Portland Police L t. Edw ard Carney. “W e used to bring them in here to the police station, and it would take several hours or even a day to get them back home. W e had no place to put them, no facility for eating. Often, someone would have to watch over them. It wasn't the best thing for the elderly." About 30 people get lost in a year, according to Lt. Carney. "W e get elderly people who don't know who they are or where they are going. Sometimes they have no identification, and they don't know where they «re from." M ajor Burnie and L t. Carney have learned that people wander from any neighborhood and sometimes they cross bridges and find themselves downtown with no way to get back, or they ride buses and forget the trip. “One woman who was found downtown remembered she lived by the Safeway store," recalls M ajor Burnie. “So we drove around the store on S.W . Jefferson Street. Then she remembered the m ortu ary in the middle of the block, but there wasn't a m ortuary downtown. “Finally, a fter several hours of driving and talking, the woman remembered she had ridden the bus to town. It turned out she lived near S.E. Hawthorne Boule vard." Must of the time, elderly people are identified when a missing persons report is filed. “A lot of people a in ’t report the person missing until all reasonable excuses for the person's absence are checked out." says M ajor Burnie. Often they feel silly about becoming panicky." Both M ajor Burnie and L t. Carney hope the elderly-lost w ill be able to re turn to th eir homes faster now. " It is an attem pt to take care of the problem." says L t. Carney. PSU studies food stamps use The Urban Studies Center a t Portland State U niversity has received a $20,925 grant from the U.S. D epartm ent of Labor to study why a high percentage of per sons receiving unemployment compen sation benefits who are also eligible for food stamps do not choose to participate in the food stamp program. Judy Bar mack, assistant profesor in PSU's new School of Urban A ffairs, says a maximum of 40 to 45 per cent of those who are eligible nationwide for food stamps actually participate in the pro gram. H e r research, which w ill focus on the Portland metropolitan area, w ill run from September 15th, 1976 to August 31st, 1977. Some 600 persons who are receiving unemployment benefits and who are also eligible for the food stamp program will be interview ed. Among factors Barmack w ill investigate, are the stigma and gen eral attitude tow ard w elfare programs, demographic conditions, length of unem- ployment, level of education, amount of income generally expended for food, and union membership. The la tte r is included, Barmack says, because many unions are encouraging their eligible members to apply for food stamps. There are several reasons why many eligible persons Jo not choose to partici pate in the food stamp program. F or one thing. Barmack says some persons feel it's too much trouble to go through the red tape to apply. In addition, she adds that some are not aw are that persons w ith a high gross income may still be eligible because net income - not gross income - is the basis for determining eligibility. Barmack said Congress is currently working on ways to simplify the formula and procedure used to determ ine eligibil ity for food stamps. She added that sp; proxiamtely 10 per cent of the American population, or about 18 million persons, are using food stamps, though many more are eligible. School Board iCeat. frees p. 1 eel. 4) erly evaluated, then are the policy and the practice to be modified. Recommend ations talk about further review, evalua lion and study w ith statements of may or should or if time permits . . .* The evaluation accomplished by the school district's team of fifteen persons - two of whom w ere not school personnel designates tw o policies that must be al tered: one on student parent complaint procedure and one on m aternity leaves and benefits. The Board plans to deal with the complaint procedure tonight, but will not complete th work necessary to change the m aternity regulations until later. Some of the areas of concern defined by the administration report are: courses designed for one sex. unequal athletic facilities and programs, sex related job training placements, under represents tion of women in administration and of men in elementary teaching, imbalance in certain non-teaching jobs, lack of policy on selection of custodians, and maternal leave policy. Board member W ally Priestley ask D r. Blanchard to inquire of the regional office of Civil Rights w hether the school dist Contest begins Safeway Stores and the Pepsi Cola Division of Oregon kicked off the Hotshot Basketball Contest for boys and girls ages 9-18 years of age at Safeway Union and Ainsworth at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday July 13,1976. Greg Smith of the Portland Trailblazers was supervising the events along with other officials. Winners will be presented between halves of Blazer O ffi cial Game, and will be based on a national N B A schale w ith Grand winners selected to represent their Closet N B A Team in national competition. rict's participation in the queen selection for the Rose Festival would be considered discriminatory. Bob Rldgley said that the superintendent did not have to comply unless the full board made the lequest. Dr. Blanchard said he preferred to have the question referred to the district's attorney and that because of possible legal involvement he thought It should be discussed in executive session, in private. Also discussed at the meeting was the request of the students a l Wilson High School for a smoking area. A fte r public testimony and discussion. Ridgley moved that the area be established as a pilot project with an evaluation component. Mrs. Wiener supported the proposal; Ms. Ms. York and McCoy. Johnathan New man, and Priestley opposed. Priestley favored smoking areas for students in all Portland high schools on a permanent basis. Question: W hat does the Oregon Em ployment Division do in the field of equal employment opportunity? Answer: Elimination of discrimination in employment is a goal of the Employ ment Division in all phases of its opera tion. Federal and state laws and regula lions make it mandatory that the Division serves applicants only on an “ability to- perform the job" basia when considering for selection or referral to employers, eliminating any factor of race, sex, age. national origin or physical or mental han dicaps. The Division also establishes A f firm ative Action plans, setting definite goals and deadlines to increase the per rentage of women and minority em ployees. not only in number but in pro motion to jobs w ith greater responaibil tty. Reviews are made ir, each local office of the Employment D i’ taion and employees have demonstrated that they are aware of and are complying with the laws in promoting equal employment opportuni ties for applicants. Does your Oubedturchyor • « « »rt w on yndkrü» _ .w ro u to h BOOST serves drop-outs A community d ro p-in/referral center for persons seeking ways to finish, con tinue o r father th e ir education has moved from its Vancouver S tre e t offices into new surroundings in the South East Neighborhood Facility a t 3534 S E Main St.. Portland, 97214. BOOST (B ettering Oregon's Oppor tunities for Saving T alen t, is all moved-in and ready to help dropouts in the 14-27 sge group who need information or coun seling regarding admission to community colleges, four-year colleges or vocational training. BOOST is a federally funded program operated through the State System or Higher Education. I t is available to youths from culturally or economically disadvantaged backgrounds who have the desire and the potential to pursue post-secondary educational training. The program encourages and assists high school dropouts in getting th eir G ED (high school equivalency diploma), helps parents and potential students in filling- out college application forms, and pro vides students w ith up-to-date informa tion concerning special programs and training options available. A small staff of six operate the BOOST office and also reach students in the high school, and occasionally in the home. As sistant director Madeline Jepson said, “M any clients are first told of the pro gram through friends who have visited the facility." Referrals are also made by o»h®. agencies. Jepson said that last year more than 600 dropouts w ere placed in continuing education programs and this summer s- lone the number should exceed 300. Adding to the attraction the program has for young people is the age of the staff. The oldest staff member is 28. thus, Jepson said, the counselors are concerned and in touch w ith problems and concerns of the young. Jepson is 26. Persons visiting the'B O O S T office are advised according to th e ir particular needs and desires. Although BOOST deals prim arily w ith students with prov en ability to succeed academically, the student w ith a poor academic background w ill be referred to others who can help him or her w ith th eir particular problem. Realizing th a t many students do not attend college because of financial hard ship and lack of knowledge of financial aid programs, Jepson said that qualified stu dents are encouraged to apply for finan cial aid and, “that in some cases of ex trem e hardship 100 percent of the costs may be financed through state and gov ernment college aid programs." BOOST also helps prospective college students register for classes. The office has current Oregon university, college and community college catalogues. Should a student wish to speak with an adviser a t a specific institution regarding programs offered BOOST counselors will be happy to arrange the appointment. F o r more information drop by the BOOST office at 3534 S .E . Main Street, or call 238-7430. Salem disturbance (Ceut. frees p. 1 eel. 61 the Portland press, and that it had not been racial in nature. She denied that there had been any type of “coverup" by the city and reported that the actions of the police departm ent had been proper and th a t city officials were cooperative. “M ayo r Bob Lindsey and I have been in constant contact. H e has been very re sponsive and very supportive of our posi tion th a t w e pull together a steering committee to study the m atter. H e offer ed all of the resources of the city.” T w o young people who w ere involved' Jim Harrington and Rich Davis, both 21, made a public statement, asking young people to refrain from fu rth er trouble making. They said the confrontation be- grn as a beef hmong friends. " It w ill be p re tty much our responsibility if the sit uation becomes v io le n t W e put a lot of ideas into their heads and it really got hot a t the time. W e are anxious to get thing« settled before it turns into a racial con frontation." They said the reason for the outbreak was that "W e just party all the tim e and there's nothing else to do but start trouble." They expressed a desire to help a ir the problems that have led to tensions among young people in Salem. M rs. W inters said the Salem Branch of the N A A C P has had good support and she believes it is contributing to the com munity. The Branch just celebrated its first anniversary w ith a fashion show and wine sip w ith over 200 present. Over 450 people have attended the branches three social events. Membership has increased from 60 to 115 in the las«, year. The Branch has established an office with a full tim e community liazon workee, Ms. M olly Gils. One of the recent activi ties of the Branch was assisting w ith the w ritin g of the Salem Public Schoofs af firm ative action plan. ...We’ve got an idea just for you!!! The Portland O b s erv er tree to help your organization put extra money In Me treasury k_S eraa t Ä now IB a Contact The O b s e rv e r and w ell H n woota yearly eubecrlptlone organization your way Your put you you « ¿ F lo r e a d of the eubecrlptlone you lor » 7 .8 0 » you have •150" H your church, du b , or each eoN 3 then you’ll make 200 •1900". ThaT* a let etack d greenback* to pile your The P ortland or just your O b server organization to of In America. FOR MORE INFORMATION WRITE OR CALL The P o rtlan d O b s e rv e r P. O. Bos 3137 PoctlsnO, Oregon 9 7 2 0 «
