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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 5, 1998)
• f. AMM • • ■ « ./ AJÍ“ <?♦ •*v • w *w5Xi -.»■ ’ M M M M Page B6 --------------------- (The ^Jnrtkuiö CObevruer —_________ MAYS, 1998 (Eíje ^ o rtla n h (Bbserucr 6th Annual Walk for Humanity Celebrates Community Transformation On Saturday, May 2, commu nity residents, employees and volunteers will celebrate the re development and improvement of more than 70 Northeast Port land properties at the 6th an nual Walk for Humanity. The Walk for Humanity be gins with registration at 9:30 am at Irving Park, NE 7th Av enue and Fremont Street, Be fore setting out on a 5-m ile walk ing or 10-mile bicycling tour of sites improved by event host Portland Habitat for Humanity and 17 o th er N o rth e a st nonprofits, participants will have an opportunity to sample the ac- struction experts David Ewing of Ewing Design Concepts and Scott Hanley o f Scott Contractor ti vity the Walk celebrates: con- Services will lead others in build- Express your love fo r Dad on Father's Day by placing a personal announcement in the Portland Observer. Call Tony or Mary at 288-0033. (Deadline: June5) ^ ing and raising eight walls for Habitat homes. W all-building will take place between 9:15 am and 9:45 am. The Walk ends with a free lunch for par ticipants at the King Neighbor hood Facility, 4815 NE 7th Av enue; and an Alberta Street Fair, on Alberta between 15th Av enue and 33rd Avenue from 11:30 to 6 pm. For more information about the Walk for Humanity, please contact Coordinator Darcy Varney at Port land I labitat for Humanity: 287-9529. Poor Can’t Find Affordable Rent B y LAWRENCE L. KNUTSON A record 5.3 m illion A m eri can fam ilies with low incom es have been bypassed by the boom ing econom y and face a crisis o f unaffordable rent, a c cording to a report issued re cently by Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo will try to use the re p o rt’s findings to persuade C ongress to approve President C lin to n ’s pending budget re quest for hundreds o f m illions o f dollars in additional hous ing assistance. “The report m akes it clear that the federal governm ent must significantly enhance its efforts to create more a ffo rd able housing o p p o rtu n itie s,” C u o m o s a id . “ T he s tro n g economy that has brought pros perity to m illions o f Am ericans has not reduced the affordable housing crisis for m illions o f o th ers.” Cuomo said the 5.3 m illion low -incom e households re p re sent some 12.5 m illion people who are eligible for HUD-sub- sidized housing but c a n ’t get it because o f lack o f financing. The D epartm ent o f Housing and Urban D evelopm ent’s re port found: W h ile th e o v e ra ll U .S . econom y was good and getting better, A m erican households with acute housing needs grew by nearly 400,000 over five years to 5.3 m illion in 1 995. It has held steady thereafter. The num ber o f affo rd ab le a p a rtm e n ts for p eo p le w ith v e ry low in c o m e s fe ll by 900,000 from 1993 to 1995. The num ber o f poor, w ork ing fam ilies needing housing a s s i s ta n c e in c r e a s e d by 265,000, or 24 percent, from 1991 to 1995. The num ber o f su b u rb a n households with serious ho u s ing n e e d s in c r e a s e d by 146,000, or 9 percent, from 1991 to 1995. The C linton adm inistration is asking C ongress for $585 m illion for 103,000 rental a s sistance vouchers; $135 m il lion for expanded hom eless grants; $1 1 m illion for a new HOME bank to finance a ffo rd able housing and an expansion o f the low -incom e housing tax credit. S e a firs t R ated “O u ts ta n d in g ” fo r Community R einvestm ent A ctivities For the fourth consecutive time, federal banking regulators have given their highest rating — an “outstanding" to Bank of America NT&SA for its suc cess in meeting the credit needs o f low-income communities. Bank of America recently re leased its performance evalua tion by the Office of the Comp troller of the Currency (OCC), one o f several regulatory agen cies that evaluate bank compli ance with the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). BofA received its last evaluation in May 1995. The OCC's current report evaluates the bank's per form ance from January 1996 through June 1997. The Comptroller’s Office gave its highest CRA rating not only to Bank of America NT&SA, but also to the bank’s operations in California, Washington, and the Portland/Vancouver metropoli tan service area. Together, these three territories account for over 80 percent of BofA’s U.S. lend ing activities. The bank received “satisfac tory" ratings in Alaska. Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and the Las Vegas metropolitan ser vice area. Declaring that BofA “contin ues to demonstrate its com m it ment to lending, investing and servicing all segments of the states in which it does business,” the OCC commended the bank’s record of providing "an excel lent level of all types of credit to low- and moderate-income ap plicants.” The regulatory agency reports that BofA made 363,000 loans for almost $3 billion to low- and moderate-income borrowers. It also credits the bank for making 265 com m unity developm ent loans worth nearly $462 million. In addition to its lending per- Check OUt OUT form ance, the bank invested $406.7 million “for the capitali zation of loan pools, community development corporations, syn dicated community development participations, government sub sidized programs, municipal se curities financing affordable housing, tax credits and the sup port of nonprofit developers, so cial s e rv ic e s , and su p p o rt groups.” Finally, the bank received high marks for an extensive branch and AI M network that helps meet the financial needs o f its entire service area, and for its expand ing telephone and personal com puter delivery capabilities. “Coming on the heels of a rig orous six-month evaluation pro cess, the OCC report confirms our determination to build economic opportunity,” said Donald A. Mullane, Bank of America’s ex ecutive vice president of corpo rate community development. “ By increasing production lev els, expanding delivery capabili ties and effectively managing risk, we continue to find profitable ways to meet the credit needs of underserved communities.” ¿Llect Pam Arden County Commissioner M ultnom ah C ounty, D istric t 2 Experienced - Thoughtful - Effective When our youth come home excited about achievement, we all win. I ^Jnrtlanò (©bserùer Web-Site! http : / /PortlandObserver. net North Portland Bible College "It's more than just a Bible School" ----------------------------------------------------------- It s a community resource, developing new ways to deliver the education and skills people want and need in North/Northeast Portland. We are developing summer and fall classes in computer keyhoarding in Windows and Word software, and in basic English language skills. Contact our office for more details. Are you looking for continuing education workshops, to equip you fo r excellence in serving God in your church and community? Then don 7 miss the Albina Christian Workers Conference, on May 16 (Saturday), 8:00— 4:00, at Berean Church, 4822 N. Vancouver Avenue, sponsored by NPBC. We will feature workshops on conflict resolution, Sunday School innovation, understanding Jehovah s Witnesses, beautifying the church worship center, keeping your youth walking with ( hrist, and f inding multicultral materials for teaching tools. Alt taught by qualified C hristian workers. Registration is only S I5 in advance, including a wonderful lunch. Call now and register. H e also offer a Marriagejfnriehment Seminar on Saturday, May 23, at the NPBC campus. T ree and open to alt, the seminar is taught by Dr. Otis F. Brown, our president, and Dr. Johnnie Brown, his wife, well known conference speakers. Are you looking for answers concerning the future, from the Bible? Then sign up for our summer course, NT141: The Revelation. It starts August 4, and is available for credit or personal enrichment. Don't miss the opportunities in your community! North Portland Bible College, 4905 N. Vancouver Avenue, phone 288-2919. The National Urban League is proud to have State Farm Insurance Companies as a partner in our Campaign for African-American Achievement. STATI FA R M IN S U IA N C I