Volume X X V I, Num ber 26
C om m itted to cultural diversity.
(Tlje
^ o rtla n h (Observer
ú m nt u n i t u
a I r n b a r
It’s “ Good
The 1996 Portland International Per
formance Festival “ Revisiting I lome” July
19 - August 15, 1996 Ticket Purchase &
Information at PSU Ticket Office, 506 SW
Mill, 725-3307 General f estival Informa
tion: For performances, events, courses
and workshops, call 725-4862, or 1-800-
547-8887. ext. 4862.
Readings At
Powell’s
l.iteraturein Performance, MondayJuly
I, 1996 at 7:30 pm. Vana O 'Brien and Ted
Rosium read from the works o f Raymond
Chandler. For more information, please
contact Pow ell's Publicity at 503/228-
14651.
The Pied Piper
Presented by Blue Parrot Theater. Co
lumbia Arts Center, 400 W. Evergreen
Blvd. June 27-30. 7:00 p.m. on July 5th.
2:00 on July 6th. 693-0350.
Days Tasten’n
Toast
Fort Vancouver Days Tasten’n Toast
June 28 at Red Lion Inn at the Quay.
Showcase o f local eateries and wineries. 7
to 9:30 p.m. Tickets available at all North
west National Bank Branches. 694-2588.
Art in the Wild
Jesus Northwest
Festival
Clark County Fairgrounds. Three day
Christian festival featuring popular Chris
tian recording artists and speakers. Recre
ational activities for individuals, families
and church groups. (503) 393-881 I.
Camas Days
Community
Festival
Down Town Camas. Community festi
val with crafT commercial and food ven
dors. Parades, carnival, bath tub race, wa
ter ball competition, local talent perfor
mances, children's activities, street dance,
and beer garden with continuous live mu
sic. 834-2472.
SUBMISSIONS: Community
Calendar information will he given
priority if dated two weeks
before the event date.
I
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NECDC Makes House Buying Affordable
in L ee P erimax
NECDC deliberately targets its advertising
he largest CDC in the northeast
and outreach to the area.
is the Northeast Community De
NECDC also work with other residents
velopment ' Corporation. Since
and community groups on projects such as
1 9 9 0 it has built and sold 1 1 1 houses
in prevention and neighborhood clean
crime
the Boise, Humboldt, King and Vernon
ups. They are about to undertake their first
neighborhoods, and 4 3 more are under
rental and mixed-use venture with proposed
construction.
55-unit Gladys McCoy Village project at
Zoo Campaign
Announces Grand
Kick-off Party
July 6-7 "O lde-F ashioned Fourth”
20902 N.E. I ucia Falls Road, Yacolt. Come
enjoy patriotic activities including old fash
ion baseball game in the Back 40. Farm
depicts farm life ofthe 1920's Historic six
bedroom log home & operating black
smith shop. Sat. 11-4 p.m.. Sun. I t o 4 p.m.
$3 adults, $1.50 kids 3 -1 1 686-3537.
B
"Good In The Hood” begins on Friday and runs through the
weekend. I he event is located at the Holy Redeemer Area School
Campus, at 127 North Portland Boulevard.
To celebrate the many excellent features ofN orth and Northeast
Portland, the Neighborhood Outreach Association has created this
three day event. Festivities include a parade, musicians, food,
ethnic arts and crafts, a children's program, and other entertain
ment. I he proceeds for this event provide educational scholarships
and contribute to the neighborhood groups working to bring about
positive changes in North and Northeast Portland. Our mission,
“Community Unity” encourages other members o f the greater
metropolitan area to join in celebrating this festival. A portion o f
the funds earned will be retained as seed money to repeat the event
in 1997.
Friday's events run from 5pm to 10pm. The day kicks-off with
"Charles Moose Day" and continues with the “Community Unity”
Parade ot Nations. The parade is in conjunction with Blazer Boys’
and G irls' Club and will start at the Club and ends at Holy
Redeemer. Friday will also have Main Stage Entertainment and the
Food/Beer Garden.
Saturday the "Main Stage Entertainment" will continue with a
"M ulticultural Stage". The events start at noon on Saturday, and
continue till 10pm.
Sunday, beginning at noon and continuing until 6pm, are the
"Kidspace", and the “Ethnic Marketplace", “Food/Beer Garden.”
"Good In The Hood" runs from June 28th through June 30th,
and is sponsored by the Neighborhood Outreach Association. The
daily entry fee is $5 for Families, $3 for Adults, and $ I forChildren.
Family and friends of all ages gather
every year at "Good In The Hood” to enjoy good
food, good music, and a variety of activities.
Columbia Arts Center July 1-3 presents
I a 3 day camp at Battle Ground Fake State
Park. 693-0350.
Pomeroy Living
History Farm
Special Event
SECTION
The 4th Annual
Music and Foo
Portland
International
Festival
The Better Zoo for Animals and You!
Committee will be holding a party a kick
off the campaign for the Zoo Bond, which
will be appearing on the September mail-
in ballot. The party will be held at the
World Forestry Center at I 1:30 am, Sun
day June 23rd. The World Forestry Center
is in Washington Park, right across from
the zoo. Sunday, June 23rd at I 1:30 -
PM. For information call 229-0484.
June 26, 1996
T
J
Unlike HOST, which shuns direct govern
m ent assistance, NECDC used federal
Nehemiah funds to cut the price o f each house
by $ 15,000. Another aid is the use o f six house
designs created by local architects, all attrac
tive and designed to blend in with older north
east neighborhoods, yet cheap to build. Ac
cording to Teri Duffy o f NECDC, the average
cost to their buyers is still just over $65,000.
Monthly payments are $444 compared to $942
for comparable private market purchases.
Buyers must be first-time home buyers
and meet federal low-income guidelines. They
do not need to be northeast residents, but
Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard
and Prescott Street.
"Buyers...have a stable home environment,
not vulnerable to the whims o f landlords,” an
NECDC fact sheet says. “Their housing costs
are fixed, not rising with every rent increase,
and they have the chance to accumulate some
wealth.”
However, for many poor families - those
earning 50 percent or less o f median income -
even NECDC’s houses are beyond their means.
At the other end of the scale in terms o f
volume is Habitat for Humanity, an interna
tional organization founded by former pres-
ident Jimmy Carter. In Portland Habitat has
completed 21 houses in 15 years, and has
three currently under construct ion (four com
pleted homes and one being built are in
Woodlawn near the HOSI project), accord
ing to director Cynthia Winter, they sell for
$40,000 to $50,000 for people living in sub
standard homes. Buyers are selected based
on their need, willingness to contribute to
community projects, and their ability to ob
tain a mortgage, first and foremost, they must
contribute 400 hours of "sweat equity" by
helping to build their own and their neigh
bors' houses.
I labitat doesn’t share HOS I s concern about
the quality of volunteer work "All our houses
have to meet city codes and inspections," Win
ter points out. “Sometimes they're stronger
than contractor-built homes. Where a con
struction worker might hammer one nail, a
volunteer might haniniei four just to be sure.”
Habitat has a concern of its own - that its
ultra-cheap houses not just create windfall
profits for one family. Thus, it retains the
right o f first refusal to buy back the house if
it is sold within 20 years, and a rate that will
only compensate the owner for the equity he
or she has into the house.
An even smaller operation carries this
concept even further. The Sabin Community
Development corporation, created by the
Sabin Community Association in 1993, has
rehabilitated 27 houses and build two. Until
recently it provided only rental housing, but
it is now has a pilot rent-to-own program.
Candidates for this must be low-income.
They do not necessarily have to quality for a
mortgage at first - in fact they must rent for at
least a year to “prove" themselves - but they
must show an ability to assume a mortgage
within five years, further, as with Habitat,
there are restrictions on resale. For the first
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Continued to page A7
Les Femmes 1996: Forty-Five Years of Youth Service
he year 1 9 5 1 was historic for 2 1
Afro- American mothers who rec
ognized the urgent need for a
program to encourage social growth and
development of girls.
T
Accordingly, on August 8, 1951 at St.
Philip’s Episcopal Church Parish Hall, these
women founded Les Femmes. They estab
lished moral codes, educational standards
and developed highly structured activity pro
grams and Senior girls were presented to the
community. Les Femmes was the first orga
nized group to introduce the Debutante Ball
to Portland. Mrs Minne Belle Johnson, Char
ter Member and Past President, is yet an
active member o f Les Femmes.
Early Balls were elaborate presentations
o f girls in hoop-skirted ball gowns carry ing
large bouquets o f roses making their debut at
the Portland Masonic Temple. The late six
ties reflected a changing social climate and
interests. Balls were discontinued until 1979,
however the program continued and Seniors
were presented scholarships. Educational sti
pends continue to be given. The Debutante
Ball resumed in 1979 with another first- the
presentation o f our Cavaliers. Prior to this
time our Junior and Senior male youth, the
“Cavaliers," participated in group activities
and were trained to serve as escorts and
ushers at the Balls. Our presentation then
31 seniors make up this years Debutantes and Cavaliers o f 1996.
became “Les Femmes Debutante and Cava
lier Ball." Response to the joint presentation
was so favorable that in 1987 Mr. Lelsie E.
Hurst became the first volunteer Director of
Cavaliers. He served in that capacity until his
death in 1990. Mr. Kevin Fuller, 1984 Cav
alier, became Director o f Cavaliers in 1991
He developed a "Rites o f Passage" program
which focuses on responsibility, self-disci
pline and cultural awareness. Les Femmes
sponsors two Step Teams: “The Cavaliers,”
organized and directed by Mr Fuller and
1
"The Ladies o f Distinction," organized and
directed by Andrea Stephens and R ica Brooks,
pas, Debutantes.
I heir precision step performances have
become a popular demand throughout the
community.