Page 10, Portland Observer, February 11, 1987 Woman ChangesAbandoned House ToHome B e lly Carter w as livin g c o m fo rta b ly in Berkeley. C alifornia, earning $19,000 a year w o rk in g 30 ho urs a w eek as a housekeeper W h ile visitin g her uncle in P ortland last M arch, she m et a m an They de veloped a rela tio n sh ip and planned to be m arried in A pril So Carter q u it her jo b and m ove d to P o rtla n d to get m arried "O n c e I reloca te d here, this m an decided tha t he w a n te d to rem ain a bachelor and to ld me to leave his house I decided not to leave his house u n til Sept 4th This was dangerous, because he had taken e ve ryth in g aw ay fro m me and hidden th e m ,” Carter recalls Eventually. Carter m ove d o u t o f the m an'-, house and ren te d the base m ent o f a lady ho m e for $150 00 a m o n th She fe lt depressed, being a stranger in to w n w ith no place to live It w as then th a t Carter realized she w.ts one o f the 9000 hom eless people in P ortland W h ile w a lkin g d o w n N o rth e a st 16th, C arter n o tic e d th is a b a n do ned house and decided th a t she w a n te d to m ake it her ho m e That same day she called the c ity to lo cate the o w ne r o f th e house She fo u n d that the ow ner h a d n 't paid taxes on the p ro p e rty for the past 2'/> years, and the house c o u ld n 't be sold u n til 1988 Carter said she c o n ta c te d th e ow ner o f the house and to ld her tha t she w a n te d the house but d id n 't have any m oney to purchase it O nce Carter m ove d in to the house, she realized she had ple n ty o f w ork to do on the house Her n e w ho m e had been vacant for six years and had be com e a haven for dru nks, d ru g a d dicts, and the hom eless "The w alls were p a in te d black, the yard w as cove red w ith raspberry bushes, and the house was filled w ith trash I had to get tw o large du m p ste rs to rem ove all of the trash fro m th e house I've w o rk e d on the house everyday since Sept 26th O nce I cleaned th e raspberry bushes fro m the y .iid I discovered a p a tio and three fru it trees " A lth o u g h m u ch w o rk still m ust be done on the house, C .irtei has done en ou gh repairs on it to m ake it livable Hei m am co n ce rn at the present tim e is fin d in g fin a n c in g to buy the house and fo i repairs She has been ta lkin g to tfie P o rtla n d D e velo pm e nt C o un cil IP D C l tryin g to get help re p a irin g the house Carter said the PDC has been h e lp fu l but she is n 't satisfie d w ith th e service she has ret eived fro m PDC I here ie a lo t of string s a ttach ed b e fo re you < an receive assistant e fro m them firs t you m ust have m oney I've spent over $5000 on the house on p lu m b in g supplies and h a vin g the fu rn a t e reb uilt new w irin g and new lig h ts I don , have the m on ey C artel said P h o to b y R ic h a rd J B r o w n I to ld her tha t I w a n te d to repair the house and get it fin a n ce d so I c o u ld buy it The o w ne r to ld m e she d id n 't w a n t to m ake a lo t o f m on ey on the house, tfia t she had $10,000 in vested in it A fte r ta lk in g w ith the ow ne r, I w e n t to the house, c ra w le d th ro u g h th e fro n t w in d o w , and n o tic e d tha t som eone had a fire g o in g in the firep la ce H o w eve r, n o b o d y w as in view I stoo d in the livin g ro o m and said. 'I realize th a t a n ytio d y w ith o u t a hom e w o u ld stay in an aban do ned house B ut as o , n o w this house is no longer vai .n il W hoever is in here m ust leave b e fore I re tu rn ' W hen I returned they had le ft . " sard Carter B e tty C a rte r an d her R ead ers ly D ig e s t D o It Y o u rs e lf m a n u a l are tu rn in g Ih e re are p le n ty o f ab andoned houses in P o rtla n d that are lo ttin g away that cou ld be used fo i th e hom eless A lte i re .ih z u g lic it I w as hom e less I signed up for the C ity H om estead P rog ram I w .isn I eligible for it a o n c e v a c a n t h o u se in to a h o m e b e i ,iu se Hi o rd e r to q u a lify o n e m u s t p a y $ KXX) d o w n p a y th re e m o n th s id v .im e a n d h a v e a ( e rta m in c o m e T hese re q u ire m e n ts d is q u a lify m o s t o f th e h o m e le s s I th in k tin s is a bar k w a rd p o ln y l e n t in Carter feels that the c ity is n 't addressing th ■ h o m e le s s pro blem adequate An A fro-A m erican In terracial C elebration The Interracial Fam ily N e tw o rk in vites you to An A lio A m erican Inter racial C elebration w ith a speech by Herb C a w th o rn e and featured pe rfo r m ances by Rolea Pow ers and The W o o d la w n A frica n Dance Troupe On display w ill be books, a fn ca n c lo th in g and o th e r item s fro m The Talk mg Drum B oo kstore, w h ic h w ill be available for purchase, black dolls from C onstance H a m ilto n 's co lle ctio n , and Black m em o rab ilia and racial arti fa c ts fro m Darrell M illn e r's re n ow ed co lle ctio n The A fro A m erican Interra cial C elebration w ill be held S unday, February ,5 at 4 00 p m at The M allory A venue C hristian C hurch ,2 6 N E Alberta A p o tlu ck dinner fo llo w s at 6 00 p in Film s w ill be available for c h ild re n 's vie w in g d u rin g H erb C a w thorne s p re sen ta tion I ' > hour) S BBQ OFF C A M P U S DELI b Featuring Bakers Ca|un Sause Suprem e S P E C IA L BBO Bee, San w ith savory ho m e m ade BBQ sause f t p o ta to salad Only $3.50 420 S W C ollege near PSU HRS. Mon Fri 7:30 AM 6 PM Sat. . Phone 228 6482 MRS. C’s WIGS SALB W E A V IN G H AIR $18 50 8 up or by the ft $4 b up Bulk H um an Hair $23 95 b up * u > b . MAOMI M M 8*'*» C*6 n* P' op' * '