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V oinnin XXIII. N um ber 41
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"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
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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
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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
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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.