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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 1993)
♦ »4 Z» V oinnin XXIII. N um ber 41 > «V « ■« <• V »"< V»-« "Serving the c o m m u n ity through c u ltu ra l diversity. O ctober 06. 1993 L ife in the P ortland M etropolitan A rea (Etje ^pnrtknnh (iDlisertrer Food Stamp Benefits To Increase October 1 will bring a small in crease in the amount o f food stamps received by nearly 125,000 Oregon families. Each year food stamp benefits increase slightly in October to offset higher heating costs in fall and w in ter. In addition, the maximum amount o f food stamps a family can receive is adjusted each O ctober to reflect changes in the cost o f food. This year will bring a very small increase be cause the cost of the governm ent’s “market basket’ of selected food items went up only marginally, also con tributing to the current increase is an adjustment in the “standard deduc tion” used in figuring food stamp benefits. The exact amount o f the October increase seen by a family will vary depending on family size, income and expenses. Approximately 286,000 working and unemployed low-income Oregonians are helped by food stamps each month Two divisions of the state Department of Human Resources, Adult and Family Services Division and Senior and Dis abled Services Division, administer the program, distributing just over $ 19 mil lion in stamps each month. The cost of the food stamps is paid by the federal government, with administrative costs shared by the state and federal govern ments. B L O O D D R IV E PCC Cascade Campus 705 N. Killingsworth Portland 97217 in the nam e o f Kyle Bach October 4 ,1 9 9 3 7 to 11:15am Gymnasium PBL, MOA, & MRT programs Portland Christian Schools Reaches Out The Youth Leadership Com m it tee o f the Black United Fund o f O r egon inv ites all adolescent and young adult to “come on down” and register now for their third a nnual Youth Lead ership Conference, entitled: “Getting Back To M oving O n” . The confer ence will be held at Portland State U niversity’s Smith Memorial Cen ter, Saturday, October 9, from 10am to 5pm. concurrent with the Black United Fund’s “Reclaiming Our Chil dren” education conference. The conference, entirely designed and planned by committee members aged 12 to 20, addresses leadership issues including community involve ment, cultural identity, and social responsibility from the perspective of youth. “We chose the theme Getting Back To Mov ing on" because we be lieve that it is important to look back at the experiences of those who came before us as we, the children who are the future, shape the future,” ex plains Aisha Irving. Portland Com munity College student and founding In school competitions PCS has garnered a reputation for the quality of both its students and it's program Portland C hristian School in a continued effort to diversify reaches out to N.E. Portland. The 43 year old private institu tion w ho’s history of Christian educa tion for children, grades K-12 has been m arveled by o th e r private schools. PCS is a non denom inational, evangelical school with a com m it ment to quality and excellence lead ing to community based accountabil ity as well as morale security o f mind. PCS promotes parental involvement/ motivation via commitment toward their children’s excellence. W ith a current student popula tion of nearly 1,000, PCS boasts a zero% drop out rate directly attrib uted to academic over achievement. In fact, the kindergarten program is proud to admit “our kindergartners upon completion arc able to both read and w rite.” The high school gradu ates’, 80% o f whom go on to higher education re-enter society with such positive contributions as doctors, law yers, missionaries, authors, research ers, and even a graduate of West Point. In school competitions PCS has garnered a reputation for the quality of both its students and it’s program. The student body is very diverse, com posed o f students from over 187 churches in the Portland-Vancouver area. We have enrolled students from Russia, Japan, Iran and various na tions o f Africa. Teacher and staff have an ex pressed loyalty toward bringing out the absolute best in a student. A great many schools of today are merely postulating. We at PCS believe in 1) in Christ, 2) in empow erment. giving students the necessary tools to be successful in life, 3) in transform ation, changing perspec tives and changing understanding. For more information about enroll ment at PCS contact Pastor Steve Holt-Minority Student Development Consultant, 12456 N.E. Brazee, Port land, OR 97230, 503/256-3960. Temporary Sales Tax For Schools The Portland Rainbow Coalition endorses Ballot Measure #1, a sales tax to fund public education, as a temporary stop-gap to halt the dete rioration of our schools. We are no cheerleaders for the sales tax. It unfairly hits working people and continues the long-term shift of the tax burden from busi nesses onto individuals. But Measure 5 and the failures o f the state legisla ture forces us to choose between a bad tax and bad schools. We made this difficult choice because the schools arc hurting now and will be further damaged if no new funding is in place. The sales tax “sunsets” in four years and buys us time to fight for a progressive, ability-to-pay tax sys- tem. Al ready class sizes are ex p a n d ing, teachers lack basic supplies, and p ro g ram s a re being slashed. T he R a in b o w ’s constituents: the poor, the w orking class, people o f color, im m igrants, the inner-city and rural children a re being hit h a rd e st. Program s designed to com p en sate for years o f exclusion, to provide equal access and o p p o rtu nity have been battered. In P o rt land, E arly C hildhood E ducation, E nglish as a Second L anguage, S p e c ia l E d u c a tio n , S u m m e r School, integration activities, V o catio n al V illage, altern ativ e ed u cation and tu toring a rc ju s t a few such p rogram s w hich have su f fered cuts. Leading promoters of Measure 5 continue to oppose any and all plans for stable school funding and con tinue to demand that more so-called “frills” be cut from the schools. Many of them seem to have a hidden agenda: to divert funds from public to private education. Using the smoke screen of a property tax revolt, they would cripple inner-city and rural schools in order to stampede middle class fami lies into pulling their kids out of the public school sy stem. We believe, as the majority of O regonians believe, th at quality eduction is not a private privilege for the well-to-do but rather public in vestment in our common future. self-regard and social competence. G randmothers arc often the most si lent source of knowledge about child development for parents in the A fri can American community. Grandfathers are also important figures in the lives o f their grandchil dren. Their presence is especially valuable forgrandsons w hoaregrow - ing up in female-headed households. G randfathers’ masculine behaviors are important to the developm ent of fcminilty among their granddaugh ters. OCOC has asked the national Foster Grandparent Program to help us with various issues and/or prob lems that Bridge Building (BB) fam i lies has brought to our attention. The local program in which you will be involved is the Metropolitan Family United Way of the Columbia-Willamette The Urban League of Portland Guild has elected Peggy C. Ross president for 1993/95. The Guild is a volunteer auxiliary of the Urban League that supports the League with special events, fund raiseis and ser vice programs. Peggy is Development Services Manager with Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs. An Ar kansas native, Peggy has lived in Portland since 1977. She was for merly the G uild's vice president. Also elected to tw o-year term s w ere: • Faye Burch, Vice President • Seona Baldwin, Secretary • Myra Tukufii, Treasurer M v P.O.I.C. 717 N. KILLINGSWORTH COURT PORTLAND, OREGON 97217 GET YOUR HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA OR A GED Mid-County Child & Youth Center S erv ice F o ster G ra n d p a re n t Pro- g ra in (F G P ) se rv in g C lack am as, M u ltn o m a h , a n d W a s h in g to n c o u n tie s.T h e FPG w as designed to prov ide m eaningful vo lu n teer op- p o n u n itic s lo r low -incom e o ld e r ( 6 0 years) adults w h o offer sup- p o rtivc, individualized services to children w ith special o rex ccp tio n al n e e d s. T h e d e fin itio n o f th e se needs is m ade by F G P ,O C O and die parent, and u su ally m eans ch il- dren w h o have v ario u s problem s adjusting to ad opted fam ily living, arc d ep rived o f identification w ith a c u ltu re ap p ro p riate ad u lt, o r need ex tra attention on a o n e-to -o n e ^ a s ’s - . . . If any family is interested in this scrvicc write me with yourrequest for services. can ,4 • ) « « • * « « • * fel Peggy s number one goal is to "make the Guild a strong supporter for Urban League programs, espe cially youth programs The Guild is an excellent way to get the commu nity more involved in the Urban League.'she said The next Guild event will be an overnight trip to Ashland. Oregon on the weekend of October 30-31 to see a production of the August W il son play “Joe Turner's Come and Gone.” Cost of the package (includ ing hotel, round trip coach, the play and a reception with the cast) is $ 117 per person. $169 per couple For more information, contact Mike Pullen at 280-2615. CONTACT: BILLY MOORE 735-1825 diverted from the Juvenile Court system to the Child and Youth Centers (CYC). Mid-County Child and Youth Center (MCC YC) is one of six such program s in the county . MCCYC is a new center, created due to a realignment o f district bound aries because o f population growth in this area. In addition to providing an a 1 ternat ivc to Juveni le Court involve- ment for minor offenses. MCCYC provides counseling, case m anage ment, m ediation, Big Brother/Big Sister matching, and youth job refer rals. Families with youth under 18 years of age can receive s e n ice paid by County property tax dollars. This past year has seen both an increase in the number of referrals for Diversion, and an increase in the severity of the offenses Both thefts and vandalism have involved much higher dollar amounts than in past year. As a result, consequences for offenders have been more serious In an effort to create uniformity o f consequences between the six CY C's, a grid exists with a range of consequences for each level of sever I • A S * • * ' YLC member. Participants will: dialogue with speakers Joyce H arris (N orthw est Regional Education Laboratories) and Kamau Sadiki (Corps of Engineers); enjoy a luncheon presentation by Re gent Adelaide Sanford of New York, as they join the Black United Fund 's larger conference for lunch; and en gage in a thought-provoking panel discussion moderated by Kevin Fuller o f The Oregonian and featuring youth of many ages and cultures. Partici pants vvi 11 al so have the opportunity to attend one of three workshops moder ated by local community leaders, in cluding Richard Brown of the Black United Front and Herman Lessard o f the Urban League of Portland. The cost for the day -long confer ence is $5.00, which includes the luncheon and refreshments, and schol arships are available. For details and registration information, contact the Black United Fund of Oregon at 282- 7973. The YLC looks forw ard to shar ing this important event with you. Peggy Ross Elected Urban League Guild President 228-9131 Foryoung law violators, an alter native to the Juvenile Court exists in Multnomah County. Youth can be diverted to Child and Youth Centers (CYC). As part of the sy stem to pro vide consequences, each CYC has a volunteer Neighborhood Accountabil ity Board (NAB) which hears cases an£j contracts with the youth. Adult nab members commit to two year m cmbcrshipandyouthmcmbcrscom- m it t0 a two yCar membership and youth members commit to one year. Boards meet one evening per month, for two to three hours Volunteers arc recruited, selected, and trained by CYc staff Presently, Mid-County c h ild and Youth Center, 4 110 NE , 22 Suite 130, is in need of several NAB volunteers Gary McCIclan at 256-233O can provide more details for (hosc ,ntcrcstcii Dcspitc c(Torts of votcrs (Q rc. duce the size of government. Measure 5 has not reduced juvenile crime. In M ultnom ahC ounty.juvcnilcoffcnd- ers who commit minor law violations Adoption Grandparenting: Defining The Role BY HARVEY K. RICE Happiness is being a grandpar ent. Foster parenting “Good For Your H eart”. These sim ple statem ents broadcast from countless license plates across the country and the state of Oregon. We read and hear about adop tion parenting and foster grandpar ents, but what about adoption grand parent? At O ne C h u rch O ne C h ild (OCOC) we believe, based on re search, the importance o f including grandparents in services for African American families and Bridge Build ing services to non-minority families with African American children in their homes. Importantly, grandpar ents have been found to enhance the development of their grand-children by giving them a sense of positive Youth Call Upon Youth: Look To Past While Building Future * V A • ity of offense An older child, for example, will receive more hours of Community Service than a younger chid, and stealing more involves more consequence than stealing less In addition to holding youth ac countable for their offenses, MCCYC works to help prevent illegal behav ior. We offer a four session class at MCCYC for youth and their parents to gain skills helpful in avoiding vio lence The independent classes cover Recognizing Clues, so that students can spot when they arc starting to get angry and take steps before violence occurs; “1" Statements, so that they can practice sharing feelings in a way that docs not escalate situations. Self Talk, so that they can realize the things they say to them selves that lead to violent behavior; and the Cycle of Violence, so that students can sec what is happening in their lives. By offering the class in the evenings at MCCYC. we can include parents, and some siblings, so that the youth can be helped at homes with the m a terial we offer.
