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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 11, 1996)
.5 . . Í«PPS’• S h ^ V S fö U * :r . .*’T”c¿|p x*t«v* r w s *'» /’ *’ *«*•*'* ‘ * » S !afts&i«tH¿ T he P ortland O bserver • S eptember 11,1996 P age CS Observador 1996 Community Betterment Award Winner Hacienda Community Development Corporation by S ean C ruz , P ortland O bservador low-income families, and in the way they address cultural differences and language barriers between the most ly Spanish-speaking residents and the neighborhood and community- at-large which surrounds them When the non-profit Hacienda Community Development Corpora tion purchased four rundown and overcrowded apartment buildings at the comer o f Killingsworth and Cul ly in 1992, it was d iffic u lt to see a future for the complexes that did not feature a wrecking ball. The four buildings, plus the Aero Manor Apartments, were responsi ble for as many as 1,470 arrests in a single year (1.4% o f the Portland Police Bureau’s total arrests from June 1992 toJuly 1993), and— thanks in large part to the absentee apart ment owners— residents and neigh bors alike appeared to be locked into a perpetual blight o f poverty and neglect. Villa de Clara Vista's unique solution Public costs were enormous The public cost for this small patch o f real estate was enormous. Apart from the drain on the Portland Police Bureau and area emergency resourc es, the court system, and the impact on neighboring property values, there were the short- and long-term costs that victims as individuals— and so ciety as a whole— pays when condi tions such as these remain unad dressed. The complexes housed many ch il dren livin g in deplorable conditions. Many tenants spoke little or no En glish. Many parents worked fu ll time at d iffic u lt or dangerous jobs that offered low pay and no health bene fits. C hild care was largely unavail able. School drop-out rates were h igh. There was I ittle or no access to health care. The cycle o f poverty, crime and hopelessness was relentless here. Residents were also victims I am pleased and honored to be included in the first edition o f The Portland Observador. I am confi dent that the Observador w ill play an important role in serving the Hispanic community in Portland. As with other major metropolitan newspapers, it is our intention to keep our readers well informed o f all major news events, and to keep you abreast o f business and social developments that would have an impact on your livelihood and/or your investments. As the Portland Observador’ s guest writer on business and eco nomic developments, I w ill con tribute articles concerning business and financial planning, retirement, college and tax planning, among other topics. Unfortunately, economic and de mographic trends reveal that many people simply w ill not be adequate ly prepared for either retirement or for providing for a college educa tion for their children. In these pag es, I w ill illustrate methods to per haps help you to prepare for these and other eventualities. Additionally, I w ill be reporting on trends in the financial markets, utilizing resources from some o f the best minds on W all Street as interest rates, the stock market and other important financial develop ments are examined. To those o f you who are wonder ing who I am and where I come from. I ’d like to offer a short bio graphical sketch. I was born in El Salvador, and my ancestry in this beautiful Cen tral American country goes back to the 17th century, when my prede cessors arrived from Spain. M y fam ily was involved in agriculture and was very active in politics. M y great- Visionary Villa de Clara Vista developer 1996 CBA winner. The acute shortage o f affordable housing was driving low income peo ple into these apartments, where the rent even here was often more than one fam ily could afford, and as many as 15 people were crowded into a one-bedroom unit. These were easy victim s for criminals o f all ages and all types. Language difficulties made these people even more vulnerable and exploitable. Vision— Si, wrecking ball— no Four years later, however, the Ha cienda CDC and its consortium o f neighborhood, city, county, state and federal service providers has trans- formed the infamous Galaxy, Cully, W e n do rf and Townhouse Manor apartments into a successful urban renewal model called the V illa de Clara Vista. The V illa de Clara Vista now o f fers 178 units o f one- and two-bed room housing and several key on site outreach services, such as the Oregon Department o f Employment, OSU and PCC extension classes, and La Clinica de Buena Salud, a prima ry care health clinic operated by the Multnomah County Health Depart ment. Through these facilities at the V illa de Clara Vista, these agencies ics. become a general agent for various life insurance companies. In 1974, I returned to El Salva dor with my w ife to help w ith the family business, and during our stay there we were blessed with the birth o fa son and daughter. Unfortunate ly, this was a tumultuous period for El Salvador and the rest o f Central America, and during this bloody era we lost the fam ily business. Being faced with an uncertain future and a w ife and two babies, we made the decision to return to the United States and settled in Port land, where my wife has roots in this beautiful state dating back to the old Oregon Trail. In 1983, I returned to the finan cial services industry and spent 12 years with Paine Webber. In 1995, I was offered an opportunity by M errill Lynch to open a new office in Lake Oswego, where I currently serve as Vice President and Senior Financial Consultant. For the last five years, I have worked with many individuals who have been “ outplaced” by their firms, and have become almost by demand a specialist in helping indi viduals deal with uncertainty. I often speak to groups and o ffe r sem inars, ra n g in g from sm all businesses to Fortune 500 companies. I look forward to continuing my involvement with the community and in p ro v id in g a d vice and information to the readers o f the Portland Observador. Se habla espanol. As a bilingual financial specialist, I look forward to oppor tunities to serve your needs. I first became involved in the fi nancial services industry in 1971, when I was hired by a financial plan ning firm, and eventually went on to M aurice Valdivieso can be reached at Merrit Lynch in Lake Oswego at (503) 699- 7201 or (800) 667-9346. grandfather was the President o f El Salvador from in the late 19th centu ry M y fam ily emigrated to the U nit ed States when I was at an early age, and I grew up in New York. After completing high school, I joined the U.S. Arm y and served as a para trooper in the Dominican Republic during the c iv il war there in 1965. I was injured during the Dominican Republic deployment and was un able to go on to Viet Nam with the rest o f my unit. A fter the army, I went to C alifor nia to complete college and earned a BS degree in marketing and econom The Oregon Hispanic community is growing at Four Times the State Average! Do you have an effective strategy to win a share o f the business this vital and resourceful population represents? You can wait until they call you..,, or call us now! Ouatra Research Group (503) 977-0358 Specialists in Marketing and Communications to the Hispanic Community S U B S C R IP T IO N Subscribe to the Observer and receive the Observador also! Only $30 for one year! Suscríbase al Observer y reciba el Observador también! Solamente $ 30 por un año! Cclii (503) 2xSS-OO33 To Subscribe Photo by Timothy Collins also offer services to residents o f the entire central northeast region o f Portland. A national model Hacienda CDC views the project as a redevelopment model designed to address the needs o f low-income seg ments o f the nation’s growing Hispan ic population in particular, but the Clara Vista serves the Portland com munity regardless o f race or ethnicity. A committment to opportunity The V illa de Clara Vista arose from one o f the most dangerous and ugly sites in the greater Portland Metropolitan area. The Hacienda Community Development Corpora tion and its al lies are to be commend ed fortheir commitment to providing safety, decency and opportunity for V o u ip who arrived from Los Angeles last year, “ is that they have a lot o f things going for the children." This transformation is the result o f dedication and much hard work by a great many people. The working coalition The V illa de Clara Vista realized a unique redevelopment vision which teamed up these elements: "non-profit ownership by Hacienda CDC; p ri vate development and management expertise; public funding from city, county, state and federal sources; public safety through the Portland Police Bureau; neighborhod advo cacy; social, health and educational services from Multnomah County, Portland Public Schools, private non profit agencies, and other organiza tions representing the Hispanic com m unity.” — (C u lly/K illin g sw o rth Revitalization Plan, June 1995). The V illa de Clara Vista is also a successful model o f community po licing, where the tenants, manage ment, neighbors, the Portland Police Bureau and Clara Vista’s own secu rity force working together have dra matically reduced the opportunties for criminals to operate and the inci dence o f crime in the neighborhood. Encouragement and change At the same time that crime is discouraged, opportunities for self- help are encouraged through on-site employment and educational servic es and various support groups. V isi tors to the V illa de Clara Vista are immediately impressed by the obvi ous pride in which residents maintain their dwellings. Flowers and shrubs grow in apartment boxes. Children play in clean and well-maintained common areas. People one encoun ters are friendly and smile readily. “ What I like about these apart ments,” said Julie Arteaga, a resident Agencies and organizations who have been playing important roles in revitalizing this neighborhood via the V illa de Clara Vista include: Multnomah County Community and Family Services Division and its Hispanic Services, Health Depart ment, and Community Action Pro gram Offices; Albina M inisterial Alliance; Camp Fire Boys & Girls, El Program a H ispano; O regon ChicanoConcilioon A lco h o l& Drug Abuse; Ecumenical Ministeries o f Oregon; Head Start; Portland Hous ing A uthority; Central Northeast Neighbors; C ully Association o f Neighbors; Oregon Human Devel opment Corporation, Hispanic A c cess Center; the Employment De partment and Vocational Rehabilita tion Divisions o f the Oregon Depart ment o f Human Resources; the Com munity Policing, Police Activities League and Sunshine Divisions o f the Portland Police Bureau; and the V illa de Clara Vista Com ite de Vecinos, or Tenants’ Council. The Observador applauds Hacienda CDC The Portland Observador ap plauds the vision and the work o f the Hacienda Community Development Corporation and its supporting cast o f agencies and neighborhood asso ciations. Congratulations, and wel come to the neighborhood. Hacienda CDC may be reached at 668-4115. V illa de Clara Vista at 284-3985. Coming in the next Observador: The Villa de Clara Vista faces a threat from the past. a d v e r t i s e m e n t in t k e O b s e r v a d o r w ill re a r k 27,000 r e a d e r s w i i k e a c h Call (503) 288-0033. is s u e . L a s t W e e k , W e W a l k e d I n t o U .S . B a n k A n d L e f t W it h 2 B e d r o o m s A n d A B a t h . ex, ling ,i h o m e is so m e th in g yon should he able to do. Even if you d o n 't m ake a m illion dollars, drive a fancy car, o r have m o re credit than D o n ald T rum p. T h a t’s w hy w e ’ve designed H o m e P a rtn e rs“1 loans. 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