Prison Ministries:Service to God and man
PORTLAND
OBSERVER
Volum « 8 No. 62 Thursday, December 28,1978 10c per copy
Vets’ training program rehabs abandoned houses
Three houses that were once a
blight in their neighborhoods have
been “ recycled” and are ready for
new occupants.
One o f these houses, at 78 N.E.
Ivy, was shown to the public in con
ju n c tio n with the graduation
ceremony for eight trainees from the
Vets of Oregon Improver Project.
The Vets o f Oregon Im prover
Project is funded by the Multnomah-
Washington CETA Consortium and
the Portland Development Commis
sion, with additional sponsorship
from the District Council of Carpen
ters and the Associated General Con
tractors.
The graduates were: Tim Biggler,
Shirley Browning, W illiam Burnett,
Robert Dowling, Frenchie Olson,
Steve Twamblcy and Samuel Hill.
The project consists o f two groups
o f ten trainees each in two six month
consecutive cycles. Training is con
ducted by two journeymen carpen
ters union trainers and consists o f
approximately six months intensive
classroom, shop and on-the-job
tra ining. The fu lly equipped
classroom and shop are located at
426 N.E. Ivy on two PDC owned
homes that have been condemned,
unoccupied, and o ff the tax rolls for
years.
Participants have received training
in virtually all aspects o f carpentry
including: carpentry math and ter-
minology, drafting and blue print
reading, form building, framing,
ro o fin g , plum bing and w iring,
alum inum and vin yl siding in
stallation, sheet rock, and interior
finish w ork. In a d dition , two
trainees have been assisted with GED
preparation in the evenings.
Upon completion o f training, the
veterans can continue as Home Im
provers, a new occupational title
created by the carpenters union in
response to the fact that journeyman
carpenters had priced themselves out
of the rehabilitation market for low
and middle income families. They
may also use their training time as
credit towards apprenticeship,
beginning an apprenticeship pro
gram in one o f the many building
trades.
The carpenters union has been in
strum ental in assisting w ith
curriculum development, providing
top quality training, and assisting
trainees into apprenticeships. Four
o f the in itia l ten are in appren
ticeships currently. Seven o f the
current group have applied to and
been tested by the apprenticeship
board but results won’ t be known
until January.
Time spent in the training program
is recognized and accredited by car
penters union as time and points
towards apprenticeship.
Other minor house repairs have
Soldiers aid recruiters
Two young Portland men are in
town to tell interested individuals
about their experiences in the U.S.
Army. Both men have been assigned
as “ recruiter aide” for thirty days.
A lthough
not
doing
actual
recruiting, they w ill provide
“ straight talk” for area residents
who are considering Army careers.
Samuel D. Stewart, Jr., 18, is the
son o f M r. and Mrs. Samuel D.
Stewart. A 1978 graduate o f John
Adams High School, he enlisted in
the A rm y and completed basic
training at Fort Gordon, Georgia.
He was then trained as a Wire In
stallation Specialist and is now
assigned to the 21st Replacement in
Germany.
Bennie E. Blanton, 18, the son of
Mrs. Shelly Blanton, is a 1978
graduate o f Grant High School. He
completed his basic training in Sep
tember at Fort Jackson, South
Carolina. After basic, he was trained
as a Food Service Specialist and is
now assigned to the W ist A ir Mobile
D ivision at Fort Campbell, Ken
tucky.
Both men will be available to talk
w ith interested young men and
women at local schools and in the
recruiting station at 3637 N.E. Sandy
Boulevard.
been done fo r the elderly and
disabled as a community service in
the neighborhood. About 65% o f the
materials removed from the first
house in preparing it for remodeling
were re-used in the building process.
One o f the goals o f the program is
to provide training to unemployed or
unemployable persons. O f the
nineteen enrollees, all were unem
ployed when selected fo r the
program. Five were collecting unem
ployment compensation: three were
receiving AFDC.
Fourteen had high school
diplomas. Three had GEDs. Two
earned GEDs while in the program.
Thirteen enrollees were white, five
Black and one Japanese.
The rehabilitation o f these houses
is part o f a “ Recycled’ ’ House
Program which was developed by
PDC to deal with the problem of
vacant and abandoned structures.
The program is funded by a $600,000
Innovative Grant from HUD.
Sales price o f the two Ivy Street
houses will be $32,000. (They were
purchased by PDC for $8,025 each,
rehabilitated for $21,500. Inclusion
o f closing costs determined the
$32,000 sale price). A 5% down pay
ment will be required and purchasers
must be low to moderate income fa
milies who meet PDC guidelines.
Two local banks are participating
with PDC in financing o f the mort
gages, combining their market rate
funds with Federal 312 funds at a 3%
interest rate to make possible a below
market rate interest on the m ort
gages.
A public drawing o f the names o f
qualified buyers w ill be held in early
January to determine future owner
ship. Individuals interested in pur
chase should contact PDC im
mediately. Sale o f the houses w ill
return the city its investment
allowing rehabilitation o f additional
structures.
Over the next fifteen months twenty
other vacant or abandoned struc
tures in Northeast Portland and forty
city-wide will be purchased by PDC,
repaired and then sold to families
who qualify under program income
guidelines.
Jeff graduate joins Globetrotters
Ron Cole has achieved the goal
that many young boys all over the
world dream about — playing with
the Harlem Globetrotters. Cole, a
Jefferson graduate is a rookie guard
with the Globetrotters.
Cole, the son o f M r. and Mrs.
Samuel Cole, Jr., was a member o f
the 1972 Jefferson basketball team
òr
ftf
Ron Cole
Jefferson High School, 1972
which won the State Championship
from Benson. He had attended
Humboldt, Ockley Green and Wilson
before transferring to Jefferson.
After graduating from Jefferson,
Cole attended Mesa Junior College
in San Diego, then went to the
University of San Diego, where he
majored in behavioral sciences.
During the 1976-1977 season at
San Diego, Cole made his mark with
over twenty points in seven games.
The 6’4” guard spent the summer
working as a program coordinator
with Maurice Lucas’ youth program.
In his senior year. Cole was draft
ed by the San Diego Clippers. One
o f the last to be cut from the team,
he was advised to get some experience
in the WBA and try for the NBA
again. In the meantime he had been
noticed by a Globetrotter scout and
was one o f thirty men to try out for
the Globetrotters — and one o f four
men selected.
Dubbed “ Sugar” Cole, he started
the season with the Globetrotters in
Halifax, Nova Scotia. The 1979 team
will include most of the U.S. east o f
Denver and w ill include a trip to
Africa. Although the Globetrotters
have played in N orth and East
Africa, this will be the first trip to the
western part o f the continent —
Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Gabon.
The trip will include visits with heads
of State, state dinners, ceremonies
and parades, and a visit to Juffure,
the village o f Kunte Kinte o f
“ Roots.”
The G lobetrotters were firs t
organized on the “ Savoy Big Five”
in Chicago in 1926. Disbanded
within two months because o f lack o f
funds, the 23-year-old coach, Abe
Saperstein, called the team together
again in New York, playing their first
game on January 7, 1929. Fifty-two
years later, the team has appeared in
92 countries, is on television, in
movie shorts, and holds all the
known records — scoring records,
attendance records, season records,
game records, games played, games
won, etc.
Cole plans to stay with the Globe
trotters. His future plans include a
business o f his own, international
marketing and, perhaps, running for
Mayor o f Portland.
The Christmas season is a time
when thoughts tu rn to assisting
fellow human beings. The Salvation
Army pots are filled — the people
contribute food to the poor and gifts
to the children. Carolers visit the
hospitals. Soon the joyous music and
the happy chatter fade away. The
tables are empty again, the hospital
corridors are quiet.
One couple that cheer and love
and lend kindness the year around is
Reverend and Mrs. John Parker,
who spend hours every week o f the
year visiting men and women in the
prisons and jails, counseling their
families, finding work and homes for
those who serve their time.
11, is in the sixth grade at Maranatha
Christian School; Malcolm, 7, is a
second grader at Eliot; and Angela is
in Head Start at Beech School.
A fte r graduating from Warner
P acific, Parker went in to the
m inistry fu ll tim e, firs t as an
assistant at Maranatha Evangelistic
Center, doing prison work and
visiting the sick. In 1974 he became
interim pastor for eighteen months.
After Reverend John Garlington was
hired to pastor Maranatha in 1976,
he decided to devote all o f his time to
prison work. Prison Ministries, Inc.,
a non-profit corporations, was in
corporated in 1975.
Reverend Parker had planned to
Christian Church, D ufer; Center
ville, Washington, Christian Church;
First Presbyterian, Portland; Church
o f Christ Apostolic, Oregon City and
Zion Lutheran, Oregon City.
Although there are a few pro
grams around the co u n try that
are similar to Prison Ministries, as
far as the Parkers know they are the
only Blacks involved in this way.
Black chaplains are rare in prisons,
as are Black a dm inistrators and
superintendents.
The Parkers do not minister only
to Blacks, “ We see people o f all
races and all rel.gions. We don’ t
lim it our contacts to people o f any
particular denomination like many
I
Reverend and Mrs. John Parker visit at Rocky Butte.
Reverend Parker explains his
mission as, “ It is my answer to a
divine call. I believe God has called
me to this ministry. The ministry
doesn’t have to be just preaching
from a pulpit each Sunday; it should
be where the person feels most com
fortable and I feel more comfortable
working in the prisons.”
Parker was raised in Missouri and
came to Oregon in 1958, after
leaving the service. He worked for
the General Services Administration
from 1959 until 1965, then went to
the U.S. Geological Survey, where he
worked until 1973. While employed
he attended Warner Pacific College,
graduating in 1973 with a bachelor of
science degree.
In the meantime he had married
his wife Viviane. Mrs. Parker had
come to Oregon in 1944 with her
parents, who were involved in war
work. She graduated from Jefferson
High School in 1958. A musician,
she qualified as a music teacher
through the Sherwood School and
until recently gave piano lessons.
The couple have eight children:
Brent, 19, is in the A ir Force;
Gregory, 17, is a Senior at Benson
High School; Karen, 16, is a Junior
at Jefferson High School; Charman,
15, is a Sophomore at Jackson High
School; Jeffrey, 13, is in the eighth
grade at Pope John X X III; Janette,
do prison work since he was eight or
nine years old and met a man who
visited the prisons. In 1964 he started
going to the City Jail with another
minister, and continued weekly visits
until the jail closed in 1970. In 1968,
a friend asked him to see her son in
the Oregon Correctional Institute.
He began visiting that prison once a
month. The chaplain recommended
him to the chaplain at Oregon State
Penitentiary and he began visiting
there. His ministry soon spread to
the Washington State Prisons at
Walla Walla and Shelton, McNeil
Island, and Nebraska State Prison.
Reverend Parker holds services,
teaches Bible classes, counsels
prisoners and their families. He also
provides a friend or an interested
person to many prisoners who have
no families and no visitors.
Mrs. Parker, who is an integral
part o f Prison Ministries, provides
music for the services, helps coor
dinate activities and helps with the
office work.
Prison Ministries, Inc. is depen
dent on contributions o f churches,
business and individuals. Some of
the churches that make regular con
tributions are: Maranatha; St. An
drews C om m unity Church; First
Church o f God, Vancouver; Oak
view Church o f God, Scio; Dufer
(Photo: Bob Bach, Oregon Journal)
ministers do. We see Protestants,
Catholics, Muslims and occasionally
a Jew, as well as many who have no
church.”
The “ Turning Point,” a small of
fice at 3946 North Mississippi, serves
as an opportunity to reach people in
the street who are headed fo r
trouble. Turning P oint is also a
place to meet and counsel graduates
o f the prisons. Prison Ministries at
tempts to aid the adjustment back in
to the com m unity by o ffe rin g
emergency food and housing, bus
fare, help in finding work, etc.
Reverend Parker explained the
satisfaction he receives from
dedicating his life to others. “ I go
w ith the belief that no person is
hopeless, no matter what they have
done or how many times they have
been in prison. Many o f the people in
prison are creative people — artists,
poets — but somehow they have
gone the wrong direction. Maybe
something I say w ill get them to
th in kin g , get them to decide to
change their lives.
"They learn to trust me, to believe
me. Some o f them have never had
anyone they could turn to — and
maybe I can be that person.
“ I believe I have been called by
God to this ministry and I know that
1 can be used by H im .”
City identifies home rehab loan recipients
As
29
Hv
Ron Cole
Harlem Globetrotters, 1978
The Portland Development Com
mission released a study o f this week,
called “ A Look at the Recipients” ,
designed to provide a picture of the
recipients o f Housing and Com
munity Development loans and to
determine whether they are reaching
the population they were designed to
reach.
The study shows some variation
between Black and white recipients
and between recipients in different
geographic areas.
Between July of 1975 and Decem
ber o f 1977, PDC processed 1,713
loans to Portland residents found
financially eligible fo r subsidized
home rehabilitation programs. In
cluded in the study are recipients o f
four types of loans.
- HCD-3 Loan: Locally funded,
$20,000 maximum, 3 per cent in
terest, 20 years to pay. Income limit
for family o f four is $16,900.
Public Interest Loan (P IL ):
Federally funded, maximum o f
$15,000, interest rate currently 7.25
per cent, maximum 15 years to pay.
Income lim it for family o f four is
$25,350.
Some variation is seen in the loans
advanced in different areas o f the
city. Over half o f the loans were
D PL
(no
interest,
deferred
payment). They made up 56 per
cent o f the sample, but in St. Johns
- Deferred Payment Loan (DPL):
federally funded, maximum o f
$4,000, no interest and payable when
the property is sold or transferred.
Income lim it for a family o f four is
$8,450.
- Section 312: federally funded,
maximum o f $20,000, 3 per cent in
terest, maximum o f 20 years to pay.
Income lim it for family o f four is
$16,900.
Representatives o f the U.S. Forest
Service will be at the offices o f the
Northwest M in o rity Contractors
Association from 9:00 a.m. to noon
on January 5th to interview young
people who are interested in part-
time and summer work with the
Forest Service. These positions can
lead to full-time career employment.
Representing the U.S. Forest Ser
vice are Bobby Campbell, EEO
they accounted for 60 per cent o f the
loans. In Southwest they were only
20 per cent and in northeast they
were >1 per cent.
312 loans were 30 per caent o f the
sample, and made up 39 per cent o f
the loans in Northeast. They were 60
per cent o f the loans in Southwest
and Northwest.
HCD-3 loans made up ten per
cent of the sample, but were 20 per
cent of the loans made in Southwest
and 17 per cent in Southeast. They
were only 7 per cent o f the loans in
N o rtheast
(Please turn to page 2 col. 1)
Program seeks employees
recruiter, and Skip Bracken,
foreman with the youth program.
The N M C A Youth Employmenl
Program also has openings in
hospital and insurance companies.
The Youth Employment Program
provides counseling, training and
employment for young people to
age 22. Persons interested in the
program should stop by the office at
10 N.E. Graham.