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)
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