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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 27, 1983)
Page 8, Section I. Portland Observer, July 27, 1983 Lifestyles:Punching for Amway G R A S S R O O T N E W S . N . W. — Professional boxer Paul Brown has T K O 'd poverty by substituting Am - way products for his boxing gloves. Amway (short for American W ay) is a direct sales operation with MX) products, nine product lines and over a million distributors through out the world. These distributors function as in dependent retailers who are in busi ness for themselves. The key ele ment that separates Am way from Avon, Tupperware and other direct sales organizations is the additional way its distributors make money — by sponsoring. The people a distri butor recruits into Am way become members o f his or her group. Using a complicated form ula, a distributor shares group profits with members he or she has recruited. Introduced into the world o f A m way by a former teacher, Brown's life and financial portfolio hasn't been the same since. He says, “ We sat down for an hour and a half and he showed me the business. Prior to our meeting I thought I knew what Am way was all about. But I didn't.** Fourteen months down the road Brown has made Amway his second nature. O n the surface you might not want to get involved with Amway's complex financial formula. In the beginning Brown had his doubts. “ I really didn't understand why I should start at the three percent lev el and my sponsor at the twenty-five percent level. But what caught my eye was (hat I saw a way for my abil ities to pass him in (he long run. So, it is not like you start and stay at the three percent level. You can always pass your sponsor and get where he is at. The whole idea o f Amway is sharing and duplication.” This sharing and duplication de fined by Brown is part o f a formula utilized by Am way to determine incomes. Brown breaks it down. “ You start with a thirty percent dis count on products you merchandise to friends, neighbors and yourself. You later progress into various bo nuses like Kuby, Pearl, Emerald and Diamond I'm at the Diamond level which makes me a direct distribu to r.” At the moment Brown is the on.y Alro-Ainerican in the metro politan Portland area at this level. “ Now black people can see that this does work. It is about merchandis ing and showing other people the same thing you are doing. “ When you hit the direct distri butor level you no longer deal with the person who showed you the business. You break away from him Lemon juice will produce writing which is invisible when dry, but which stands out in brown when the paper is warmed. • In some parts of the Sahara desert, there are under ground streams. When people dig into the sand for water, they can sometimes catch live fish. • In Tahiti the temperature rarely rises above 94° F., even in the summer months of February and March. Alaska is larger than Texas, California and Montana combined. _ American State Bank AN INDEPENDENT BANK Head Office 2737 N. 6. Union Portland. Oregon 97212 Paul Brown, former profasalonal boxer, la a Diamond-level dlatrlbutor for Amway. (Photo: Richard J. Brown) and begin to deal directly with the corporation. M y sponsor, for intro ducing me to Am way, will get three percent o f my gross volume for the rest o f his life .” Brown estimates this to be a minimum o f four hun dred dollars a month. Brown says he makes $7,500 a month. “ When I was boxing I didn't make that kind o f money. Now I don't have to be an athlete to make that kind of money. It is other people that I've sponsored who en able me to make this kind o f money. There are seventy people io my total organization. I'm able to show oth er people how to make (heir dreams come true. I show them how to make an extra thousand dollars a m onth." Paul Brown would like to be re membered as a man who helped oth ers achieve their financial dreams. “ When I go under I want to be re membered as a man who tried to help others. I want to do something for the Black Educational Center and the community. I f we get larger in this thing we can start financing things ourselves. I'm not just in this for myself. I ’ m in it to help other people make their dreams come tru e ." Thirteen Portland families will be Urban Homesteaders by Charles Goodmacher The average Portland family has no realistic hope o f owning their own home in the near future. None theless, this important part of the American Dream, homeownership, is being made available to a few lucky families through the federally sponsored Urban Homestead Pro gram. Administered locally by the Portland Development Commission (P D C ). the Urban Homestead Pro gram has made homeownership pos sible for 13 Portland families this year. The mailing list o f hopeful appli cants for the program currently has about 3,500 people on it. According to Elaine How ard, who coordinates the program for P D C , roughly one- fourth o f the applicants are minor ities. A ll o f the homes made avail able through the program to date are located in North and Northeast Portland Average monthly payments for the fortunate few in the program are only $191 per month. Most o f the houses would be valued at $30,000 to $40,000 on the open mar ket after renovations are complete. Purchase of the homes through tra ditional private sector sources would have been impossible for the fam ilies whose average income is on ly $12,678 for a fam ily o f three. M onthly payments to a bank or oth er private lender would have been anywhere from $350 to $500 per month or more. Portland is the only city on the west coast and one o f only 27 na- ■ We d ^ o t d o business with South Africa. tionally to be participating in the Urban Homestead Program. And, according to How ard, a special sup plemental request to the Depart ment of Housing and Urban Devel opment will result in seven more homes becoming available through (he program this summer. Under the Urban Homestead Program, properties are given to the Commission by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (H U D ) as part o f their program to dispose o f nortgage foreclosed properties. Tite houses are then transferred "as is” by the PD C to qualified "homesteaders” for their prorated share of taxes, approxi mately $500. Selected homesteaders then agree to repair health and safety code items within six months. These re pairs usually include, but are not limited to plumbing, roof and fur nace repairs and updated electrical wiring. Any other rehabilitation must be completed in an additional six months. A 3% interest loan is provided to make the needed repairs. Homestead properties are avail able to City o f Portland residents who are first-lime homeowners and who meet the income guidelines of the program. For example, a family o f 2 could earn up to a gross month ly income o f $1,537 while a family o f 4 may earn a gross monthly income o f up to $1,921 a month. Homesteaders are further required to live in the properties for three vears after purchase Why yourphone bill is going up. As you probably know, the Bell System ’s sPl’1 aPart* F-ach the nations 22 Bell telephone companies, including Pacific * ------_ I \p. 1 1 I y B /I® " Q 1JI Northwest Belk is becoming a separate business. What difference will that make? For one thing, the rates we charge will have to change. J I® J Goodbye regulated monopoly. « You see, for years PNB provided kK'al phone service at rates far below actual cost, \Ve were able to keep local rates low by using I f 1 money from the Bell Systems long distance rates—which were intentionally inflated, to cover this loss. In other words, long distance revenues subsidized local service. This worked fine because we were one nationwide company. A regulated monopoly. However, because of the major events which have occurred over the last 20 years, the entire telecommunications industry is changing. T he federal courts, the Federal Communications Commission, and Con gress are puqx)sely reshaping the industry because they believe that increasing competition (and reducing regulation) is in the country's best interest. This is being done to provide m ore choices for you, the consumer. Therefore, as of January 1, 1984, T he Bell System will be split apart, and Pacific Northwest Bell will becom e a separate entity. 1 fl^ H y ®H J f ¡ - The bad news. At that point, kK’al rates must begin to reflect the actual cost of the labor, materials, equipm ent and technology necessary to provide you with reliable phone service. And we must do it without the subsidies formerly provided by long distance. Therefore, we will have to raise the rates on local service. ( IMH.I Pfc rfx SivtfiwY« Bdl