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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 12, 1992)
Page 2...The Portland Observer...February 12, 1992 New Employment Program Targets Food Stamp Recipients The Oregon Employment Division, in cooperation with the Division of Adult and Family Services, is offering an enhanced program designed to help individuals who are dependent on food stamps find jobs. The program is being rolled out on the heels of new figures from the U.S. Department of Agricul ture indicating that record numbers of Americans, nearly one in ten, are de pendent upon government assistance to put food on the table. Following a successful pilot proj ect with the Woodburn branch office of Adult and Family Services, the Oregon Food Stamp Employment Transition Program (OFSET) is being offered in all of Marion County to food stamp recipients who are unemployed. Em ployment Division staff will be work ing with food stamp recipients at branch offices of Adult and Family Services to assess job-readiness, identify special needs, provide job counseling, and place clients with employers. “ The long term goal of this pro gram is to help people break the cycle of dependence on public assistance,” said program coordinator Belinda Teague. “ We are combining the re sources of the Employment Division, Adult and Family Services and other community resources to redirect food stamp recipients toward self-sufficiency. We believe this program is the door way to a permanent solution for these people, not just a temporary fix.” The program provides a number of resources to help clients maximize their job searches, including employment action plans, workshops, job coaching, continual case management, and funds for immediate needs such as transpor tation, child care, and clothing. Oregon Adult and Family Services provides funding for the program and works in concert with the Employment Division to simplify forms, eliminate duplication, and track clients through the system. During the Woodburn pilot project these processes were refined and streamlined, and now program organiz ers hope OFSET can be expanded from Marion County to the rest of Oregon. “ In a community that is predomi nantly rural and agriculturally based, we placed clients in a variety of labor markets, including construction, food services, manufacturing, telemarketing, and m aintenance,” said Rosetta Wangerin, manager of the Woodburn Adult and Family Services office. “ Out of 395 referrals, we placed 194 clients with employers. These are strong indi cators that the program can work state wide.” Sickle Cell Anemia May Show Up in Your Back Yard! Who said “ What you don’t know can’t hurt you?” Approximately 350 or more babies die each year on a national level due to undiagnosed sickle cell disease. Early diagnosis can actu ally save the lives of babies bom with sickle cell anemia. How? It’s a proven fact that babies placed on prophylactic penicillin each day survive pneumo coccus pneumonia 99% of the time as opposed to those babies with sickle cell disease who are undiagnosed and are not treated in time. Did you know that one out of every ten Afro-Americans carry the gene, called the trait for this deadly disease? Do you know whether or not you inher ited the sickle cell trait? You could be at risk for having a baby with sickle cell disease and not even know it. If you don’t know whether you carry the trait or have a mild form of sickle cell dis ease and would like to find out, you may do so by contacting Marcia Tay lor, Executive Director of the Portland Sickle Cell Anemia Foundation, lo cated at 3833 N.E. Killingsworth. She or a member of her staff will be very happy to assist you with an appoint ment to learn more about sickle cell and whether or not you have sickle cell trait or disease. Regardless of age or origin, all persons are encouraged to be tested for a cost of $3.00 or free to those who qualify for a test where the blood sample is drawn from the arm and a special test is run called hemoglobin electrophoresis. This same test in your doctor’s office could cost as much as $35-45. Sickle cell does not discriminate, is not contagious and does not just go away. Although most cases of sickle cell anemia occur among Blacks and Hispanics of Caribbean ancestry, some Caucasians are affected as well. Some of you may recall the 89-90 sickle cell poster children. One was Caucasian with Greek heritage and the other was Black. Various groups affected are Arabian, Greek, Maltese, Sicilian, Sardinian, Turkish and persons of south ern Asian ancestry. Included in sickle cell disease are Sickle Hemoglobin C disease, Sickle Thalassemia disease and Sickle Hemo globin D disease. Symptoms include: tiredness, jaun diced eyes, leg or ankle ulcers, short ness of breath, abdominal pain or pain in various parts of the body, tempera tures and anemia. These symptoms vary from time to time in the same person or in different individuals. For further information, testing or counseling, you may call 249-1366. April 4, 1992, will mark the 8th Annual Gospel Benefit where a presen tation will be made to expand the knowl edge o f sickle cell anemia for the gen eral public. This benefit will be held in the New Hope Baptist Church, located at 3725 N. Gantcnbein Avenue, com mencing at 6:00 p.m. There is no charge, but a free will offering will be taken up. The agency is looking forward to turn ing this exciting event into a cable telethon headed by a celebrity. Letter To The Editor A Dying Breed or Animal Rights To the Editor Black men have been (mainly youth 18-25 years) dying at an alarm ing rate during the recent past history. At first glance it would seem that the individuals involved would be con cerned about their safety and well being rather than continuing to be self-de structive towards one another. It ap pears, secondly, that the family struc ture is such that proper parental con trol and guidance is non-existent for these young Afro-American males in terms of positive role models (i.e. fa thers). Third, the community at large has failed in the sense of not confront ing their young Afro-American males who display inappropriate behaviors, attitudes, or words in the presence of adults, parents and loved ones. The relationship between “ A Dying Breed” or “ Animals Rights” becomes apparent in terms of Afro- American youth vs. endangered spe cies, such as the spotted owl, salmon and the gray whale. That’s to say, many people will attend rallies, join protests and spike trees to save a forest or animals, but will not help a young Afro-American in his psychosocial development by: • 1) providing a safe community; • 2) spending time as an adult role model (i.e., scout master) with Afro- American males; • 3) insuring that each youngster has an education; and • 4) provide the “ rights” for the Afro-American males (and attention/ support) as you would for the above WI je ^ n rilan it (©hseriier torementioned “ animals.” What a sad state of affairs and reflection of one’s priorities, not to mention the cost to one’s wallet, for higher insurance payments, medical, police and fire protection service, for your property and covering medical costs for the indigent youths who seek emergency care. The “ real” question becomes is human life 1) worth less than animal life? 2) can you “ afford” not to be involved? or 3) in the form of Afro- American youths a self-hating activity (by design)? Whose rights come first - the ani mals’ or the youth’s? Steven Smith Portland p — — — — — — — — — — — «I S ubscribe (USPS 959-680) OREGON’S OLDEST AFRICAN AMERICAN PUBLICATION Established In 1970 Contributing W riter* McKinley Burt Bill Barber Sharon Camarda Mattle Ann Callier-Spears P ublisher Alfred Henderson O p e ra tio n * Manager Joyce Washington A cco u n tin g Manager Gary Ann Garnett P ublic R elations Chuck Washington S ale* & P rom otions Tony Washington Production Staff Dean Babb Sharon Camarda Gary Ann Garnett Jennifer Johnson ^Jorllarth (Observer T he P ortland O bserver CAN BE SENT DIRECTLY TO YOUR HOME ONLY $25.00 PER YEAR. P lease fill out , ENCLOSE CHECK OR The PORTLAND OBSERVER Is published weekly by Exie Publishing Company, Inc. 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Portland, Oregon 97211 503-288-0033 * Fax 288-0015 Deadline for all submitted materials: Articles: Monday, 5:00 pm -Ads: Tuesday, noon POSTMASTER: Send Address Changes to: Portland Observer, P.O. Box MONEY ORDER, and M ail to : S ubscriptions T he P ortland O bserver PO Box 3 1 3 7 P ortland , O regon 9 72 08 3137, Portland, OR 97208. Second class postage paid at Portland Oregon. The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper and can not be used in other publications or personal usage, without the written consent of the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. © 1991 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. Subscriptions :$25.00 per year. The Portland Observer -Oregon's Oldest African-American Publication-is a member of the National Newspaper Association-Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc., New York, NY Name ___________ Address____________________ city, State___________________ zip-code ______________ T hank Y ou F or R eading T he P ortland O bserver k _ — ———— ——— j Nike Minority Commitment Update In August, 1990, NIKE made public its commitment to cultural diversity and set out the company’s affirmative action goals in a document entitled, “ The NIKE Commitment.” At that time, our domestic workforce was 14.4% minority. As of December 31, 1991, the number of minority employees working at NIKE is over 18%, and we have either accomplished or made sig nificant progress toward most of the goals we set for ourselves one year ago. Outlined below is a summary of some of the steps we have taken to involve minorities in all aspects of our busi ness. Administration: - NIKE has appointed John Th ompson, head basketball coach at Georgetown University, to its Board of Directors. - NIKE has appointed Michael Jordan of the NBA Chicago Bulls to its Advisory Board. The Advisory Board reports directly to the Chairman of the Board. - NIKE’s external Minority Advi sory Board consults with senior man agement on corporate and community issues, and includes a senior Affirma tive Action officer for the state of Ore gon, the CEO o f the Portland Urban League, two minority business con sultants and the director of the Interna tional Refugee Center, which services Oregon’s Indochinese population. Employment: - NIKE is a leading minority em ployer in its home state of Oregon and has an aggressive affirmative action program which has increased the num ber of minorities in the company’s total workforce of 4500 to 18.8% as of December 31,1991, compared to 11% in January 1989. Over ten percent of NIKE’s minority employees are Afri can-American. - NIKE has an internal Minority Advisory Board comprised of minor ity, disabled and female employees who review the company’s recruitment and training programs and make recom mendations to management on how to improve them. - NIKE uses more minority con tractors in the production of its adver tising than most U.S. companies, in cluding black-owned agencies like Spike Lee’s 40 Acres and A Mule, which, under contract with NIKE, creates, produces and directs parts of the com pany’s television ad campaigns. NIKE’s Design department also contracts with minority designers and print shops. - NIKE holds accounts in two minority-owned banks: The American State Bank in Portland and Tri-State Bank in Memphis. Both banks arc owned by African Americans. - NIKE received a citation from the American Bar Association in 1991 in honor of its participation in the ABA’s Minority Counsel Demonstration Pro gram. During the past year, NIKE re tained ten minority law firms around the country to handle various corporate legal matters. - NIKE is the first corporate member of the Association of Black Sporting Goods Professionals, a group dedicated to furthering the interests of minorities in the sports goods industry. A NIKE employee sits on the Board of Directors of ABSGP. - It is NIKE’s policy to make good faith efforts to involve certified minor ity and women-owned businesses in the selection and bid process whenever the company requires the services of independent contractors or makes pur chases from outside vendors. NIKE’s Minority Business Development pro gram actively seeks to identify minor ity businesses which provide required services and link them up to appropri ate departments within the company. Philanthropic Activity: - Approximately 75% of NIKE’s philanthropic dollars are directed at minority organizations and concerns. These funds reach Hispanics, Native Americans and Asians as well as Afri can-Americans. NIKE’s corporate giv ing program, the “ Just Do It Fund,” focuses on providing unique educa tional opportunities for inner city kids. - NIKE has provided a grant of $5 million to the Children’s Television Workshop (producers of Sesame Street) to underwrite a new multi-media liter acy program directed primarily at low- income, minority children. Other pro grams funded by NIKE’s Just Do It Fund include “ Just Do It/Stay In School” teachers grants o f $1 million for inno vative dropout prevention programs in urban schools, and major sponsorship of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, which has 1200 clubs nationwide, 132 of which are located in urban housing projects. - NIKE has spent $5 million on prime-time advertising for its “ Stay In School” campaign featuring minority role models like David Robinson, Bo Jackson, Michael Jordan and Spike Lee. NIKE has also created a national bill board campaign featuring David Robin son urging kids to stay in school which appeared in cities around this country. - NIKE is a major sponsor of the national United Negro College Fund “ Parade of Stars” telethon and offers minority scholarships and internships for UNCF students. NIKE also contrib utes scholarship funds to a variety of other minority organizations, includ ing the National Hispanic Scholarship Fund, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Ur ban League of Portland and the I Have A Dream Foundation of Oregon. - N1KE has donated nearly 100,000 pair of shoes to homeless shelters over the past two years and is a major sup porter of the Comic Relief Comedy Marathon, which raises millions of dollars annually to aid the homeless. NIKE also donates products to a wide variety of social service agencies, both locally and nationally. - NIKE is one of the largest corpo rations in the nation to include The Black United Fund in its annual Em ployee Giving Campaign, and the only Oregon company which matches con tributions made by employees to Black United Fund on a dollar for dollar basis. NIKE also matches gifts made by em ployees to other non-profit minority organizations through its Just Do It Matching Gifts Program. Committee Helps Pinpoint Needs of Community Security Pacific Bank in Oregon and Southwest Washington has found a way to get a bigger bang for its commu nity reinvestment buck. The bank has created a special Community Advisory Committee de signed to review the bank’s community reinvestment efforts, and to make sug gestions for improving, widening or focusing those efforts to achieve maxi mum results. Community reinvestment is the term given to actions a bank takes in order to make sure that credit needs are being met for all residents in a com m unily- especially the needs of low-to-moder- ate income individuals and minorities. These efforts may include offering low- interest mortgage loans for low-income families, developing loan programs to encourage development of minority- owned and operated businesses, and developing products like low-cost check ing, which provide all residents with easy and economical access to bank products and services. The 14-person committee is chaired by a member of the bank’s Board of Directors, and consists of five of the bank’s top senior managers-including Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard M artens-and eight representa tives from community service agen cies. The committee’s recommendations are sent directly to the bank’s Board of Directors. “ Security Pacific is the only bank in Oregon, that I’m aware of, which has formed an advisory committee to evalu ate community reinvestment efforts ... Certainly, its the only committee with direct access to the company’s board of directors,” said Security Pacific Bank’s Community Reinvestment Officer, Ed DeWald. “ Wc felt that, since the board members are responsible for overseeing the bank’s community reinvestment activities, they needed first-hand, im partial knowledge of how well our poli cies and practice are working, “ De- Wald said. “ The results, so far, have been very positive. Ours is one of the best-informed boards in the state, and the committee’s input has already re sulted in concrete improvements to our community reinvestment plans.” For instance, committee member Charlie Harris, executive director of Community and Shelter Assistance (CASA) of Oregon, an agency which tries to develop farmworker housing, suggested expansion of the bank’s SmartStarl home loan program, which offered low-interest loans to people in North and Northeast Portland. “ SmartStart is an excellent pro gram, but I thought it should be imple mented statewide, and not just limited to the City of Portland,’ ’ Harris said. As a result of his recommendations and input, the bank expanded its SmartStart program statewide at the beginning of this year. “ At other institutions, agencies such as mine deal primarily with one com munity reinvestment officer, and you can only help your dealings with that particular person are fruitful. Through this committee at Security Pacific, we can be sure we’ve at last been heard, because the senior executives from the bank are right there on the committee and you have direct access to the board of directors. Committee Chair, SPBO board member Betty Roberts cites its worth: “ This on-going input is vitally impor tant for us to evaluate progress and set policy.” “ W e’ve brought lots of things to the table which have been very well received,” agreed Sam Brooks, execu tive director of The Oregon Associa tion of Minority Entrepreneurs. “ I think all financial institutions should follow Security Pacific’s example and form a community advisory committee. Un less they do something to keep in touch with their constituents, they’re in dan ger of not providing the types of service people really need and can benefit from.” “ It’s been a rewarding learning experience for all concerned,” said Security Pacific Chairman and CEO Richard Martens. “ W e’re now hearing directly from men and women who are out there in the community working with low-income and minority residents. They’re telling us which programs are succeeding, which need work, and which areas we’re missing. It’s encouraging to learn that, for the most part, our efforts have been right on target.” “ And it’s rewarding to hear about families w ho-for the first times in their lives-have an opportunity to own their own homes. That’s what community reinvestment is all about,” Martens said. Other community members serv ing on the committee include Grace Gallegos, president of Impact Business Consultants, Inc.; Sally McCracken, Board member of Central City Con cern; Steve Rudman, resource develop ment manager for the City of Portland’s Bureau of Community Development; Jakie Walker, Executive director of the Northeast Community Development Corporation; Edwin K. Englestad of the 13th Regional Corporation, a Na tive American Tribal holding company; and Helen Barney of the Housing Au thority of Portland. John Jacob to Address Urban League of Portland’s Equal Opportunity Dinner John E. Jacob, president and CEO of the National Urban League, will be the guest speaker at the Urban League of Portland’s 1992 Equal Opportunity Day Dinner February 13th at the Port land Hilton. A reception begins at 6:15 p.m., with dinner at 7:15 p.m. As leader of one of America’s oldest and largest civil rights organizations, Jacob is an often quoted commentator on national issues affecting minorities, particularly African Americans. In his annual “ State of Black America” address last month, Jacob challenged this year’s presidential candidates to adopt his “ Marshall Plan for Amer ica” to invigorate U.S. cities and in crease America’s competitiveness. In Portland he will be guest speaker at the Urban League of Portland’s major annual fundraiser. The evening will include the presentation of the Equal Opportunity Award to several local citizens who have made contributions to the goal of equal opportunity for all. This year the award will be presented to: Multnomah County Chair Gladys McCoy; Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon Executive Director, the Revei- end Rodney Page; and Portland Public Schools Superintendent Matthew Prophet, Ph.D. Tickets for the dinner arc $ 125 per person, or $ 1,250 for a table of ten. For more information, contact the Urban Leaeuc of Portland at 280-2600. Portland Observer encourages our readers to write letters to the editor in response to any articles we publish.