T he P ortland O bserver • O ctober 4, 1995__________________ _______ __________________ ______ _________________________________________ P age B5
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Celebrating
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Family Matters:
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My matronly neighbor with the
old VW Van has been gone a few
years, but you can bet she is sorely
missed. Not just by the scores of
children who called her “the Van
lady” or ‘van mama”, but missed like
a member o f the family, by adults
like me - I always thought o f her as
“operation intercept,” a neighbor
hood institution.
I suppose it had been six years,
now, since she moved to California
to be with an aging mother who need
ed intensive care. It is not just her
cosmetics and toiletries customers
who miss her wares and advice but a
diverse ramshackle crowd o f ‘little
ones’, her ever-changing ‘extended
family’ who were always falling
through the cracks o f what we like to
think of as a normal, ecstatic, gig
gling five to eight-year old child
hood. Her children just didn’t fit.
“Van mama” had taken it upon
herself to gather up her little bedrag
gled charges early each school morn
ing, the confused and hungry ones
with their special “consanquinity.”
The word is defined as “common
ancestry” and their was poverty, ne
glect and being relatively unloved.
Before their caring, brown benefac
tor moved into the neighborhood,
many o f the children were missing
school halfthe time -- and many were
not immediately returning home if
they did.
The good lady had not been ‘in
residence’ more than six months,
before , in that mystical way they
have o f communicating with each
Winter Coats For Kids Drive Begins
You can help thousands o f
needy children in the Portland
tri-county area stay warm this
winter through The Salvation
Army’s “Coasts for Kids” drive
in October.
Public donations o f coats
in all sizes are needed. Fifty
members o f the Oregon Dry
Cleaners Association are col
lecting and cleaning the coasts.
Look for Coats for Kids posters
in neighborhood dry cleaners
suchas HalseyCleaners, North
west Leather, New China Laun
dry & DRY Cleaners, Majestic
Cleaners & Laundry, Village
Cleaners, The Cleaning Bar,
M arbee’s Cleaners, and Alpine
Cleaning & Laundry, or call
The Salvation Army at 234-
0825.
etter Believe It
other, the little ones had performed
their own “needs assessment” and
the word was out. If you had been
leaving home without breakfast, there
was a place you would be fed. If the
older kids com plained that you
smelled bad and commented unfa
vorably on your bloodline, why then
there was this lady who would throw
you in the tub and put some clean
underwear on you. (“ Make you wash
your teeth too, man”).
Before long, everyone got ac
customed to seeing the van sail by in
the m orning with a much better
dressed and better behaved crew o f
former neighborhood delinquents.
All ofa sudden you noticed that there
was not that motley crew o f cussing,
yelling, quarrel ling youngsters at key
times o f days. We were all happy to
make contributions o f clothes and
money to the “van lady." You know,
sometime I entertain a thought that
perhaps there should be a chain o f
neighborhood “comfort houses” sort
o f order on the “Safe houses “ for
children.
But, then, one is forced to think
again. Many o f the delinquent par
ents o f the children w e’ve described
had nerve enough to start delivering
their children to the “van lady’s”
house, instead o f school; still unfed
and unwashed. One supposed they
then returned home to drugs, alcohol
and, probably an untroubled sleep.
Oh, by the way; we were all aware o f
the existence o f Children’s Services
and a host o f other intervention -
type.
I w ould n ote tw o things here.
F irst, w hen I w as a kid, there
w ere inn u m erab le "V an m am as”
and form al and inform al A frican
A m erican in stitu tio n s w ho p e r
form ed “ S o cial in te rv e n tio n ” in
the gh etto n e ig h b o rh o o d s. And if
you still m anaged to get to school
in bad shape, th e re w ere c o m p a s
sio n ate te a c h e rs w ho had a sp e
cial ra d a r for d e te c tin g em pty
stom achs and acted a c c o rd in g ly .
T hey w ould a lso d isp atch p e r
sons to the hom es o f the ill-tre a t
ed, o ffic ia l and u n o ffic ia l. They
w ould in terv en e in no u n certain
/
m anner.
Also, speaking o f a “common
ancestry” or bloodline, I am remind
ed o f a National Geographic article 1
saw years a go w i th the most wonder
ful photographs. It described the eco
nomic activities o f some amazing
black women on the West Coast o f
Africa (either Ghana or Nigeria - or
both).
Driving along winding, poorly-
maintained roads that led from the
hilly interior to ports on the coast,
they pushed their 18-wheeler trucks
to the limit, getting agricultural prod
■t tc
ucts to the docks.
The vehicles (M ercedes - Benz
diesels) were affectionately known
as “Mammy Wagons” and were of
W orld-W ar II vintage. One set of
endearing photographs showed one
woman stopped to pick up several
wandering children who had been
outlined in her headlights, wander
ing through the jungle night. Y ou just
know that when I think o f the “Van
lady”, I also think o f that article.
It's all smiles for the
proud owner of this
donated coat (left).
The boy joined thousands
of needy children who
recieved coats last winter
through The Salvation
Army's annual ‘Coats for
Kids” program.
◄
■
IJJien J o r o tv up
Anniversary Celebration - Paul and Geneva Knauls renewed marriage vows of 30 years and Ken
and Harriet Adair, celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary aboard the Royal Caribbean. Others on
the 4 day anniversary cruise to Catalina Island and Ensenado Mexico were Jean Stewart, Paul
Geneva, Rose Marie Johnson, Maxine Paden, Kelvin Pe’a, Dianna Smith, Ruth Harrington, Jackie
Fair, Helen Colman, Frank Fair, and Earl Johnson. Not pictured were Mary Alice Evans, Alina Malray
,| and Keith Berry.
Forum To Address Tenant Rights
Area renters are invited to a fo
rum to learn their rights under the law.
The Oregon Housing Now Coa
lition is sponsoring the session on
Tuesday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. at the
Portland Temple Church, 2030 S.E.
Hawthorne.
A panel o f tenants, housing and
legal experts will present informa
tion and answer questions about the
Landlord/Tenant Law in Oregon. Re
source materials will be available
and there will be discussion on what
renters in Oregon can do to strength
en their rights.
Oregon Housing Now receives
many calls each week from renters
experiencing housing problems be
cause they do not understand their
rights under the law.
Renters, who make up 47 per
cent o f Portland's housing units, are
experiencing incicasing difficulties
as the housing marking becomes more
expensive and competitive.
The forum will address issues o f
concern for renters and let them know
how to strengthen their rights as rent
ers. The event is free and childcare
will be available. For more informa
tion, or to register for childcare, call
288-0317.
Looking For The Best Value In Advertising?
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(Tbc
ODbseruer
)
Clackamas
Women’s Services
You can make a big differ
ence in the lives o f women and
children fleeing domestic vio
lence by becoming a volunteer
for Clackamas Women’s Servic
es. We are currently looking for
volunteers to work during the
weekday to provide children’s
services and to mentor parents
in our Transitional Program.
The next volunteer training
begins October 10,1995. To re
ceive a packet o f information
about how to join the ranks of
compassionate, caring C W S vol
unteers call Carol at 654-280’’ .
I f you have a few hours a week
or more, you can help change
the lives of battered women and
children.
A ll across Oregon, kids have dreams o f w hat th e ir futures m ay hold. W hatever
they aspire to be -
doctors, musicians, astronauts -
public education helps
makv those dreams become a reality. Last spring, Oregonians voted to help fund
Oregon’s public schools w ith Oregon Lottery dollars. And just as it has for the
past 10 years, Lottery dollars w ill continue to help build Oregon's economy
and create jobs. That way our c h ild re n ’s dreams o f tom orrow can happen rig h t
here in Oregon. The Oregon Lottery is proud to help strengthen Oregon’s most
valuable resource - our kids.
OREGON
LOTTERY
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//tv O r e y o n l o t t e r y - p r o u d Io be a p a r i o f O r e y o n
ù f u lu re .
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