One World, Indivisible
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Sept. 11 anniversary brings message of hope.
See Metro Section, inside.
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Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXII • Number 37
W ednesday • September 18. 2002
Patton Home Change Brings Uncertainty
REVIEW
Life on Alberta 2002
Historic building stops
services to disabled
and some elderly
BY W Y N D E D Y E R
A nnual street fair em braces a
Portland multicultural neighbor
hood. B ridget Sm ith, a 5,h grade
teacher at B oise E liot E lem en
tary, show s o ff som e glass w ork
at the A lberta S treet Fair. This
a n d o th er im ages can be fo u n d
on p a g e A3, inside.
Calif. Family Leave Bill
Awaits Governor’s Decision
LOS A N G E L E S — California is
one step from establishing the
n a tio n ’s m ost sw eeping p ro
gram to give w orkers paid tim e
o ff to care for fam ily m em bers.
U nder the bill, C alifornia w ould
create the first state insurance
program to replace part o f em
p lo y ees’ w ages w hen they stay
hom e to nurture a b aby or help
a serio u sly ill ch ild , p arent,
spouse or dom estic partner.
U.N.: Iraq Accepts
Weapons Inspectors
U N IT E D N A T IO N S — Iraq
agreed to allow the u n condi
tional return o f U.N . w eapons
inspectors, a reversal com ing
d a y s a f t e r P r e s id e n t B u sh
w arned Baghdad to com ply with
U .N . resolutions o r face mi litary
action. T he W hite H ouse dis
m issed the o ffer as a tactical
move.
Yemeni Identified as
Daniel Pearl Killer
K A R A C H I, Pakistan — A n al-
Q aeda m iIitant arrested w ith al
leged Sept. 11 o rg an izer Ram zi
Bin al-Shibh has been identified
as one o f the killers o f Wall
S treet Jo u rn a l corresp o n d en t
D aniel P e a rl,a se n io r police o f
ficial said.
T he P ortland O bserver
On Sept. 5, residents at the historic Patton
H om e w ere asked to pay their ren t. On Sept.
6, they w ere to ld to find a new place to live.
T he 63-unit residence on N orth M ichi
gan A venue w ill soon m ake the co n tro v er
sial sw itch from a residential care facility to
an alcohol and drug-free single room occu
pancy unit for low -incom e single adults.
T he decision o f Patton H om e officials to
abruptly discontinue services as a residen
tial care facility has left 57 low -incom e eld
erly residents, Patton sta ff and m em bers o f
the H um boldt neighborhood in a state o f
uncertainty.
“I t’s so stressful fo r u s,” said lead m ed i
cal aid O nny D escloux. “ W e really d o n ’t
know how to handle it.”
T he notice o f the closure o f services was
a surprise for everyone, she said. W ith the
exception o f the cook, all staff m em bers will
have to find new jobs.
D escloux drives 4 0 m iles to w ork each
day to distribute m edicine and help with
general nursing care at Patton H om e. She
w ould never have accepted the jo b had she
know n it w ould only last four m onths. But
she said her m ain concern is for the dis
placed residents.
“T h is is the first stable p lace som e o f
these people have been in years,” D escloux
said. “W ithout the supervision o f o ur staff,
som e o f them w ould be o u t in the streets or
in ja il. O thers w ouldn ’ t eat for days on end.”
In o rd er to provide stability and supervi
sion as a residential care facility, Patton
H om e m ust turn a profit. In alm ost tw o years
o f operation, Patton has seen losses o f
betw een $10,000 and $15,000 a m onth.
P atto n ’s current annual operation budget is
roughly $900,000, and as a single room oc
cupancy unit, that n u m b er w ould drop to
betw een $250,000 and $300,000.
A ccordi ng to V assar Byrd, m arketing and
Patton Home resident Herman Stevenson offers a piece o f bread to Ally, the medical companion o f a fellow resident. Since
the home is switching from residential care to single room occupancy units for alcohol and drug free adults, Stevenson will
have to find a new home. “I'm leaving as fast as I can," he said.
photo by W ynde D yer /T he P ortland O bserver
program services directo r at Patton, the ser-
v ic e s ju s th a d to b e d r o p i ’ She said ho u s
ing people w ho require ni i ig c a re w a s ju st
too costly.
"It is sim ply not susiainable to operate
w ith those losses,” B yrd said.
Patton H om e has seen a lot o f changes
since its inception in 189L is a “H o m efo rth e
A ged and Friendless.”
D uring the 50s, 60s and 70s, Patton pro
vided traditional single-room occupancy for
low -incom e single adults. By the tim e the
historical building wAs purchased in thv
early 90s by Ecum enical M inistries o f O r
egon, the building w as disintegrating. Tim e
had taken its toll. A ftera$6.1 m illion facelift
and luxurious interior redesign, Patton Home
reopened in late 2000 to serve the needs o f
low -incom e disabled and elderly people.
B yrd explained that a residential care
facility is one step before assisted living. All
residents receive m edical attention from
nurses, m edical aids and personal service
assistants. But Patton H om e w as overly
am bitions about the costs o f the services it
provided. Revenue projections assum ed that
100 percent o f Patton’s residents w ould need
M ed icaid-paid services. In reality only
tw othirds did.
“So w e had to drop the services,” Byrd
said.
c o n tin u e d
on p a g e A 6
College Band Puts Spotlight on Vanport
World’s Oldest Person
Greets Her 115th Birthday
North Carolina A&T's marching band,
the Blue and Gold Marching Machine,
performs at Pioneer Courthouse
Square Friday as part of the Second
Annual Vanport Invitational, a celebra
tion of the rich history and diversity of
the Portland community and a tribute
to the unique past o f Portland State
University. Vanport, a largely African
American city, and Vanport College
were washed away in a devastating
flood in 1948. However, the college
lives on today in PSU and the people
of the city are reflected in the culture
and diversity of Portland.
T O K Y O — K am ato Hongo, the
w o rld 's oldest person according
to the G uinness Book ofR ecords,
turned 115. Hongo slept through
the m orning o f her birthday but
planned to celebrate with her fam-
ily in the afternoon, Japanese
m edia reported.
Jury Decides Death for
Westerfield
SA N D IE G O — A ju ry decided
that D avid W esterfield should
die for killing 7-year-old neigh
bor D anielle van D am , the little
girl w ho vanished from her bed
room in the first o f a string o f
high-profile child abductions
across the country this year.
M ark W ashington /
T he P ortland O bserver
photo by
Florida Anthrax May Have
Spread Via Photocopier
BO CA R A T O N , Fla. — FBI in
vestigators believe photocopy
m achines w ere the reason an
th ra x s p o r e s w e re s p r e a d
throughout an office building
w hereatainted letter w as mai led
in last y e a r’s attacks, according
to a published report.
oting Debacle Smacks Florida Once Again
^ACP calls primary election for governor a travesty of justice; plans a second lawsuit
U ry .4 Rational
a tio n a l Association for the Advance-
C'okircd People blasted Florida’s
Colored
Florida's poor
;ofits
gubernatorial primary and pointed
' s m
’ofitsgubematorialprimaryandpointed
less as the source for the remedy,
a sheer travesty o f justice that many
- J
i Florida were disenfranchised for the
time in as many years," said Kweisi
.N A A CP president ami chiefexecutive
"Congress bears much o f the blame for
not passing a federal bill that would institute
minimum election standards for
.<n<ss
the nation.
VJfumc said the NAACP is pla mg to file
another lawsuit against the Florida ekx iionofti-
cials amid reports that voters complained about
polls opening late, election w o rk struggling
with new touch screen voting machines, and
voter contusion about polling plat s because o f
new precinct boundaries.
In addition, some poll workers talks) to show
up; several polling places opened late; some
v oters were wrongly turned away for not show
ing a picture identification.
In response to complaints on election day.
S ept IO.Gov JebBushextendedpollmgbytwo
hours - but that led to yet more abuses In
Hollywood. Fla., workers at one precinct who
had not been told o f the extension, hckl the door
shut and cursed at voters.
‘i t is as if Fkxida officials totally ignored the
election debacle o f November 2000,” Mtume
said
Just a week earlier, the NAACP settled a
lawsuit against the state after many African
American and other voters werediscn franchised
during the presidential election on Nov. 7,2000.