Page 14, Portland Observer. February 26. 1986
Committee Steps Up Anti-Crime Campaign
fn Hub Lothian
George Mueller, his wife and two
daughters live in a modest house they
are buying near the comer o f Union and
Fremont
When out for a walk with his
daughters, Mueller said he hales to be
confronted by prostitutes and drug
pushers "Every lime I see them the
first thing I do is call 9 | | . ” he said
Such pressure pays o ff The prosti
lutes and dealers have all but disap
peared from those comers that have
been called to the attention of police by
persistent callers, according Io Muel
ler He suggested that if residents up
and down Union kept the heat turned up
by calling 9 | I. street crime could be
greatly reduced
"The police aren't going Iodo some
thing unless somebody is com plain
ing." said Mueller, who believes that
getting nd o f prostitutes and dealers is
necessary to revitalize the community
Mueller is co-chairman o f the
Eliot/King Crime Prevention Commit
tee The comm ittee, which formed
early last summer, has pulled together
residents of inner Northeast neighbor
hoods in an anti crime campaign that is
building momentum
I'heir biggest
success to date was the highly-
publicized effort tocliminate- drug deal
ing from the corner of Alberta and
Grand, near King School With a march
along Alherta attended by the mayor
and city officials, follow-up survcil-
lence by police and neighborhood resi
dents, and “ court w atches." where
citizens attend dealers' trials and ask for
maximum sentences, the problem has
decreased significantly " I hat is due to
concerned citizens." Mueller said
I he committee is gearing up now for
a spring offensive Plans include anti
prostitution billboards on Union, a
crime prevention poster campaign in
neighborhood schools, and a summer
youth film program at Malt Dishman
Center
Anti street crime education forchil-
Friends to the
Elderly
f riends to the Elderly, a pilot project
funded by the Ered Meyer Charitable
Trust, began in August of I9H5 to help
facilitate tlic provision of in home ser
vices to the elderly by community vol
unteers This grant is unique in that
three agencies. Catholic Family Ser
vices. Jewish f amily and Child Ser
vices, and Lutheran Family Services,
ure working together to plan, develop,
and implement this program within the
greater Portland area
The goals o f this project are
threefold The primary objective is to
assist and support elderly individuals
who remain in their homes I he second
objective is to facilitate the creation of
social networks whereby trained volun
teers, under the supervision o f proles
sional caregivers, can establish mean
ingful relationships with elderly people
in the community who meet the prog
ram s criteria f inally, this grant ena
bles three social service agencies that
share a common commitment to family
life to work together and to pool re
sources and expertise in an effort to
establish interagency cixiperalion
In order to accomplish these goals,
trained professionals from each agency
enlist volunteers, train them, then pair
each volunteer with an elderly mdi
vidual However, the specific manner
hi which this program is implemented
vanes somewhat within the three agen
cies Each agency has hired proles
vion.il stall to work through congrega
lions, parishes, synagogues and other
community
Current volunteers have received ten
Io twelve hours of training and already
provide a host ol services to those el
derly people who have been matched
*
with a volunteer Ihese services in
elude friendly visitation, relief and
support of family members, assisting
with routine personal hveiene needs,
transportation and assisting clients to
identify and utilize other community
services and resources for the elderly
A second volunteer training has taken
place in January
dren i% important, because "They arc
either our future drug dealers and ad
dicts or our future bank presidents and
teachers." Mueller said
I he rate of burglaries remains high in
inner-Northeast neighborhoods. and
the committee is urging residents to
break the chain by refusing to buy prop
erty which appears to he stolen, and by
organizing neighborhood block watch
groups, which reduce burglaries by ap
proximately 35% on participating
blocks
Even Domino's Pizzadnsers arc get
ting into the act As they drive through
neighborhoods delivering pizzas, the
d n sers will be alert for potential crimes
and report any they sec
In addition. Ed Blackburn has been
hired as the city's new street crime pre
vcntion organizer Blackburn is coot
dinating neighborhood efforts that
could lead Io a city-wide grassroots
movement against prostitution and drug
dealing
What I’ve seen so far is a big prob
lem and not enough resources to fight
it." said Blackburn, former aid to state
representative W ally Priestly and
founding member of the Portland Rain
bow Coalition
Mueller wants to lum the tide of
"disinterest and "disenfranchise
ment
Observing that many families
moved into the area Io lake advantage
o f low housing costs and to raise
fam ilies, "I can't sec how people have
allowed this to happen," he said "It's
cither going to turn into a ghetto or a
real community "
To gel involved or offer suggestions,
call the Northeast Crime Prevention of
ftcc. 24» 4763
Honorary Chairpersons. Kiki Van
deweghe and Tauna Vandeweghe help
launc h project Second Wind by coming
to the "Build a Mountain o f Food"
kick-off at the Portland Building. Fri
day. Feb 2»th at 4 (JO p m and bring
ing a can o f food for the "mountain "
Exchange your can of food for a ticket
to enter a drawing for a pair o f Blazer
tickets There will be five winners
Kiki Vandeweghe. leading scorer for
the I railBlazers. Tauna Vandeweghe.
Olympian in swimming and volleyball
and student leaders will be on hand to
challenge students to compete for the
handsome traveling trophies and to help
z d Blackburn
end hunger in Portland The 12 trophies
were donated by KATU's Great Kids
Program and will be on display II re
mains to be seen if last year's winners
will he able to keep them!
The food drive is the first week in
March Support the students in your
neighborhood by giving when asked of
taking a donation to the sch<*'l nearest
you Food Bank agencies are reporting
a 9% increase over last year in requests
for emergency food Actually, the 4th
quarter showed an alarming 31% in
crease So please, give generously
Eor more information contact Doris
Marsh. 239-5437, Interagency Food
Bank
I Photo by Richard J. Bniwni
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Volunteers Wanted
I'he Neighborhood Crime ,’reven
lion Program is looking tor volunteers
to coordinate Portland's participation in
America'* Night out Against Crime
America's Night Out Against Crime
is a national crime prevention project
that encourages neighbors to ban Io
gether Io light after dark fear of crime
Activities include block parties and
other festivities along with an evening
o f active neighborhood watch Portland
has participated in the project since its
beginning three years ago This year,
"Night Out" will be held on August
12
The Project it coordinated nationally
by the National Association of Town
Watch and locally by the Office of
Neighborhrvxl Associations
Anyone interested in being involved
should contact their local neighborhood
office or ONA at 24» 4519
“Build a Mountain of Food”
Rally and Kick-Off
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