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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 29, 1997)
m - P age A3 I ut P or n a \ u O bserver * O ctober 29, 1997 ^ p r tla n b G -■• (Dliscrucr Governor Urges Support for Oregon HEAT G G eneral Electric. Pacific Power and overnor John K itzhaber the city of M ilton-F reew ater The visited the hom e of Mrs m axim um level o f assistance is $ 125 V alerie Fuqua today to a year a per household They must pay eall attention to O regon HF.AT. some am ount tow ard their overdue nonprofit organization that pros ides bills and are encouraged to take some em ergency energy assistance for low- action to reduce energy bills - insu incom e households during the heat lating the w ater heater or installing ing season w ater-saving show erheads. for e x "They often must choose betw een paying for heal and paying for food, ample. "B y im proving the energy effi m edicine or some other basic neces ciency o f their hom e and giving them sity." the G overnor said. "S om e sim a little help to pay overdue energy ply turn off the heat or keep it very bills, they usually can reduce their low - and endure the cold. dependence on energy assistance." "O regon H E A T will provide bill said Jay Form ick, d irector o f O regon assistance for 5,000 fam ilies this year HEAT. so they can keep their hom es w arm ." O regon H E A T also serves house O regon H EA T is funded by and holds w ho heat with oil. The o rg an i serves the custom ers o f Portland zation em pties oil from tanks being d e c o m m is s io n e d -- s a v in g th e hom eow ners a pum ping fee -- anil delivers the oiled to people w ho need it. T he largest and fastest-grow ing population that Oregon H E A T serves are single parents with two or more children - and a job — who are in crisis because o f an illness or an accident or because their em ployer cut back their work hours. Many clients are seniors w ho are on a fixed incom e and c a n ’t afford to cut back on m edication or other e x p en ses. "W h en w e find th e m ." Form ick said, "th e y 're living in a cold h o u s e ." O re g o n H E A T a lso p ro v id e s PGE Energy Expert Mel Edridge shows Gov. John Kitzhaber that saving money on your heating bill can be as simple as insulating pipes under the kitchen sink. PGE Energy Expert Met Edridge teaches Valerie Fugua, a low-income Salem resident, how to save money on her heating bill this winter by checking the seals on her refrigerator. Mel went room to room in Valerie's home showing her a variety of energy saving tips, from wrapping pipes to sealing windows. em erg en cy en erg y a s sista n c e to people with disabilities, many of whom are unable to work a living- wage jo b "They often do not have family Io help out or any resources other than the com m unity social ser vice netw ork,” Form ick said Because the com m unity action agencies that distribute funds for O re g o n H E A T a ls o p r o v id e vv eaterization services for people with low incomes, m any get signed up for w eatherization too. Form ick said But dem and for w eaterization services lar outstrips funding. T w o out o f three low -incom e h o u se h o ld s in O re g o n -- som e 150.000 -- live in unw eatherized homes, and as much as a third o f the Network supports affordable housing Network for Oregon A ffordable Housing (NOAH) announced that its has selected six affordable housing projects in Oregon as recipients of its new Resident Services Funding Pro gram. Under the program. NOAH pro vides a reduced interest rate on se lected perm anent mortgage loans al lowing the ow ners ol the affordable housing to use the savings to provide a variety of supportive services to resi dents. Hie selected projects are Madras I 'am- ily Housing Center, sponsored by Cen tral Oregon Community Action Agency Network; Sommerville Place in Harris burg. spt insored by 1 .innCounty Afford able Housing: M yrtleTenace in Myrtle Creek, sponsored by Umpqua Com mu nity Development Corporation; Otesha Place in Northeast Portland, sponsored bySabinCommunity Development Cor poration; West Place in'llie Dalles, spoil sored by Columbia Cascade Housing C orporation; and H ailey Place in Pendleton, sponsored by LINK Com munity Development Corporation. NOAH created the Program in recog nition of the importance of service-en riched housingtolowerincome families. "Housing for lower-income families means more thanjust providing shelter." in ited I Jon Johnsi in, NOAH BixirdChair- man and Senior Vice President in US Bank's Commercial Real Estate Group. It means creating places where people are supported in their efforts to build stable lives for themselves and theirchil- dren. That requires making the resi mrces that they may need as accessible as pos sible. Our Resident Services Funding Program provides the funding to put those resources directly on-site, literally within walking distance of the families who need them." The Resident Services Funding Pro gram is a unique commitment by the financial community to fund more than the physical housing development. 11 k bankingcommunity generally would not subsidize community serv ice programs, but working through NOAH, the bank ing industry can provide a valuable addi donai serv ice A ccording to G ustavo W ilson. Community Services Administrator for Oregon Housing and Com munity Ser vices Department, "This is an excel lent example o f the continuing public- pri vale partnerships that make Oregon a national leader in creating the kinds of affordable housing and resident ser vices that effectively change the lives of lower income Oregonians NOAH is a non-profit consortium of nineteen Oregon financial institu tions prov iding permanent mortgage financing for m ulti-family affordable housing across the state. Since incep tion in 1990, N( )AH has provided $53 million in financing for the develop ment of 22(H) affordable apartments. 2% Down May Boost Home-Buying Sales “ H o u s e -b u y in g s h o u ld g et a m a jo r b o o st fro m the re c e n t T V. an d ra d io a n n o u n c e m e n t o f th e 29i o n ly d o w n p a y m e n t n e e d e d to p u rc h a s e a h o u se in t o d a y 's m a r k e t,” sa y s A lfre d P o rte r, a re a l e s ta te c o n s u lta n t an d in v e s to r, 8 3 0 6 W ils h ire B lv d ., S u ite 4 8 8 . B e v e rly H ills. C A 9021 I . He p r o v id e s a " f r e e " re p o rt w h ich in c lu d e s in fo rm a tio n ab o u t th e 2C( d o w n o n ly p a y m e n t to a s s is t firs t tim e h o m e b u y e rs . “ T h e m e n tio n o f 2% d o w n is o n ly w in d o w d r e s s in g .” he c o n tin u e s. " B e c a u se the U .S. G o v e rn m e n t h as b ee n g iv in g th e low to m o d e ra te in c o m e fa m ilie s a s s is ta n c e in h o m e -b u y in g fo r ag e s. A ll p r e v io u s a n n o u n c e m e n ts just fell oil d e a th e a rs. W e h av e s h o rt-te rm m e m o rie s. T h e a v e ra g e p e rso n w ho liv e d in th e 6 0 s an d in th e e a r ly 7 0 s d o e s n 't re m e m b e r a n y th in g ab o u t the $ I h o m e s th a t w ere a v a ila b le n o r a b o u t th e g r e a t m o v e -o n h o u se an d u n its p r o je c ts ." P o rte r a d v is e s all to w rite for h is s p e c ia l re p o rt th a t g u id e s on e to th e g o v e r n m e n t s o u r c e s ol fu n d in g , m o rtg a g e s and ju s t good o ld g e n e r a l in f o rm a tio n . "W e g iv e u p d a te d in fo rm a tio n , o r d i re c t y o u to g re a t r e s o u r c e s and s o u rc e s w h e re you m ay be ab le Io o b ta in th e n e e d e d h elp and g u id a n c e in p u r c h a s in g y o u r h o m e ," sa y s P o rte r " M a n y o f the p ro p e r tie s from th e g o v e rn m e n t to d a y are g e a re d to w a r d th e f ir s t lim e h o m e - b u y e r ,” n o te s P o rte r. " T h e re a re n u m e ro u s h o u se s an d in c o m e u n its a v a ila b le at r e m a rk a b le an d s u r p ris in g ly low p r ic e s ," sa y s P o rter. Make your oil heat home comfortable This is your last chance to m ake your oil healed hom e m ore co m fo rt able and affordable this w inter and win free heating oil for a year. The O regon O ffice o f E n erg y 's S tate H om e O il W e a th e riz a tio n (SH O W ) program offers free hom e energy audits, free furnace efficiency test, and cash incentives to help O r egonians who heat with oil save on their hom e heating bills. T hrough the free hom e energy audit, hom eow ners and renters can learn w hat they can do to save the most money. T rained energy sp e cialists will check the insulation in the attic, w alls, and doors, inspect the w indow s and perform a furnace efficiency test. A w ritten energy analysis helps the hom eow ners and renters understand w hich actions m ake the m ost sense for them. The SH O W program offers all households that heat with oil cash rebates o f 25 percent of the cost of insulation o r o f a new high efficiency llam e retention oil burner. Funding for the rebates is lim ited and will be available with no m axim um income limit on a first-com e, first-served basis until the m oney is gone. The m axim um rebate is $400. L ow -interest loans arc also avail able to pay for those m easures and for new . energy sav ing w indow s or high efficiency replacem ent oil fur naces. The loans are offered by par ticipating lenders throughout the stale at 6.5 percent interest to O regonians who heat their hom es w ith oil. A nyone who has not had an energy audit and requests one for their oil heated home by October 31st will be entered in a drawing for free heating oil for a year, up to 5(H) gallons Only Oregon customers are eligible and only for one free home energy audit. If you have not taken advantage o f this ser vice. now is the time to call SHOW toll-free at I-8ÎXI-452-866O to sched ule your free home energy audit. Let us show you how you can save. Central City Concern Awarded Grant for New Housing Central City Concern was aw arded a $ 5 .0 0 0 grant from the L orene Sails H iggins C haritable Trust for their latest developm ent project, the Rose W ood A partm ents Central C ity C oncern will rem ove a motel on 48th and NE Sandy Blvd for 35 units o f housing for people will low or no incom e living with H IV /A ID S The building will open in early 1998. R ic h a rd L. H a rris. E x e c u tiv e D ire c to r o f C e n tra l C ity C o n c e rn , w as th r ille d w ith th e T ru s t's s u p p o rt. "It is g r a tify in g to know th a t in o u r c o m m u n ity , a p ro je c t lik e th e R o se W o o d A p a rtm e n ts re c e iv e s so m u ch p u b lic an d p r i v ate s u p p o rt. P a r tn e r s h ip s w ith o r g a n iz a t i o n s lik e th e L o r e n e S a ils H ig g in s C h a rita b le T ru s t re a lly m ak e a d if fe r e n c e in th e q u a lity o f life fo r all O re g o n ia n s ." The Lorene Sails H iggins C h ari table T rust was established in 1968 for broad charitable purposes in the service o f O regonians heat they pay for is lost through holes and cracks and uninsulated walls, floors an attics Even through many households will still need help pay ing their heat ing bills if their hom es are w eath er ized. less heat and m oney will be wasted. They can use the money w eatherization sav es to pay for other necessities. P o rtlan d G en eral E le ctric took the first steps to w ard w ea teriz in g th e F u q u a s ' h o m e d u r in g th e G o v e rn o r's visit to show how e f f i cien cy im p ro v e m e n ts red u c e h e a t ing b ills T he ev ent today w as one o f se v eral a c tiv itie s c a rrie d out by P o rtlan d G en eral E lectric, the O r egon O ffice o f E n erg y . N W N a tu ral. P acific P ow er and the P o rtlan d E nergy O ffic e to raise a w a re n e ss of hom e en erg y issu es d u rin g O c to b er. n atio n al E nergy A w aren e ss M onth. C ontributions to O regon H E A T are tax-deductible. Portland G eneral Electric and Pacific Pow er cu sto m ers w ill get a donation env elope with next m o n th 's bill. D onations may be sent to P.O. Box 127. T ualatin. O R 97062. C o m m u n ity a c tio n a g e n c ie s an d th e S a lv a tio n A rm y w ill b e g in a c c e p tin g a p p lic a tio n s fo r e m e rg e n c y e n e rg y a s s is ta n c e th e first w eek o f J a n u a ry . F o r m o re in fo rm a tio n , ca ll O re g o n H E A T at ( 5 0 3 )6 1 2 - 3 7 9 0 . Peak Investments “Owner Financing” Peak Investm ents, a m ortgage investm ent brokerage w hich spe cializes in structuring and buying privately held real estate notes, a n nounces the opening o f its new office in B eaverton. T his may be of great interest to developers and other property sellers' in need ol creative financing to close sales. Strong lending guidelines m ake it difficu lt for m any p eo p le to qualify for a traditional hom e loan, particularly the self-employed. This lim its the num ber o f potential buy ers, often resulting in offers far below the appraised property value. Peak Investm ents can show a seller how to broaden their m arket by offering “ow ner financing." W ith no fee or contract required, sellers are advised on how to structure a note w ith a buyer, w hich is typi cally purchased by Peak Invest m ents at the sam e closing table w here the real estate transaction takes place. T his innovative con cept allow s sellers to close quickly on their property and gives un qualified buyers a chance at hom e ow nership. A nd everyone saves big on closing costs. Peak Investm ents is also inter ested in existing m ortgage paper. F o r m o re d e ta ile d in fo rm atio n please call (503) 6 4 9 -PEA K or fax 848-6271. UPS Is Hiring Nowl Great Part-Time Opportunities! Rated as the #4 Most Admired Employer in the Nation by Fortune Magazine $8 $9.00/hr to start ‘ Opportunities for advancement ‘ Part-time temporary work through the holidays ‘ A variety of shifts available ‘ Must be 18 years or older COME VISIT UPS AND APPLY! In Person at: Northeast Workforce 4106 N. Vancouver Portland, Oregon Hrs. 8 am - 5 pm October 30 - 31 An Equal Opportunity Employer C s ¡O 7?
