Committed to Cultural Diversity www.portlandobserver.com March 10. 2004 High School Basketball All Stars M etro Jefferson Coach Marshall Haskins and seven of his players lead all-city honors See S p o rts, Page B6 ïl!' ^Iortlanh (©hserlicr SECTION o in in u n i t y a le n d a r C Reunion Watch A B COMMUNITY Form er students and faculty o f G irls Polytechnic, Jam es M on roe and W ashington-M onroe high schools have the 66lh an nual all-school dinner at 5 p.m. M onday, April 12 at O ur Lady o f S o rro w s S ch o o l, 5 2 3 9 S.E . W oodstock Blvd. Tickets are $15. For m ore inform ation, call 503-236-6557. S ________________ ■ f ___ > OFFICE ■ ■■HH ■ FT a Packy Turns 40 Packy, the O regon Z o o ’s el ephant which becam e nation ally renow ned as the first Asian elephant born in the W estern H em isphere in more than 44 years, celebrates his 40"’ birth day with a cake stom ping from 10a.m. to 4 p .m . April 14.Com e by to sing happy birthday to Packy, and have a piece o f cake for yourself. For more inform a tion, visitw w w .oregonzoo.com . Honor Political Women T he O regon H istorical S ociety p resen ts a p rogram honoring th e a c c o m p lis h m e n ts o f w om en in the histo ric 1970s le g isla tu re (in clu d in g M ayor V era K atz) in conju n ctio n w ith W o m e n ’s H is to r y M o n th . C o n v e rsatio n s are at the H is torical Society, 1200 S.W . Park Ave. from 7 to 8:30 p.m. T hurs day, M arch 18. F or m ore infor m ation, call 503-222-1741. Trees Need Friends Friends o f Trees will plant trees and shrubs in the H illsdale/ M a rk h a m a n d B e a u m o n t- W ilshire/C oncordia neighbor hoods on M arch 13. If you want to be a help Io your com m unity and environm ent, call 503-284- TREE or v is it w w w .friendsoftrees.org. * Wellness T he second annual H olladay Park Plaza Com munity Wellness Fair is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday.M arch 19at 1300N.E. 16"’ Ave. For more inform ation, call 503-280-2221. Minority Business Boost A Sm all B usiness Econom ic D e v e lo p m e n t C o n feren ce hosted by H U D is designed to help m inorities and fem ale busi ness ow ners participate in fed eral g o v ern m en t co n tra ctin g prospects. The conference is at the D oubletree Hotel in Jantzen Beach, from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p. m . March 18.Pre-registration is$35. For inform ation, call 877-741- 3281 o r visit w w w .hud.gov/ Washington. photo by Ctriturally-specific services help Portland women by J aymee R, C uti T he P orti . and O bserver Lianne Roland was very proud o f her clients at last Friday ’ s celebration at Ugaza Jam ii, w here she w orks as a dom estic vio lence facilitator. For the last several m onths, sh e’s been following African A m ericans through their self discovery and self im provem ent as they work through counseling program s and other culturally specific services to get their lives back on track. Roland know s the road is long, as she is a graduate o f Ugaza Jam ii, herself. The program , translating to “healing com m u nity,” conquers heavy topics such as traum a, parenting and substance abuse to help participants find em ploym ent, hous ing and raise their children in w ell-ad ju sted families. “ I’d been to countless other treatm ent facilities and I alw ays ended up relapsing because I d id n 't have the support I needed from my com m unity,” says Roland, w ho changed her life around after 25 years o f substance abuse, dom estic violence, in Health For Everyone The 6'h annual Health Fair featur ing “H ealth Issues that Affect E veryone” is from 9:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Saturday. March 13 at the A insworth United Church of Christ, 2941 N.E. A insw orth United Church o f Christ. The event is free, and lunch is pro vided. For more information, call 503-284-8767. NAACP Meetings T h e P ortland B ranch o f the N A A C P will hold tw o m onthly executive com m ittee m eetings, one on the second T hursday o f the m onth and the T h u rs day before the fourth S a tu r day o f the m onth. G eneral m em b ersh ip m eetings are held on the fourth S aturday o f each m onth. For m ore inform ation, call 503-284-7722. carceration a n d a separation from herchil- dren. “I w as able to relate to the facilitators (at U gaza Jam ii) because they looked like me, understood my language and I was m ore able to model their behaviors.” Ugaza Jamii celebrated the accom plish m en ts o f p a rtic ip a n ts last F rid ay at Lorenzen A uditorium at Legacy Emanuel Hospital. T he program is nearing a close because its grant is running out, but a new program , W eku, focusing on pregnant w om en and m others with children less than 12 m onths o f age, will persist in teaching parenting and life skills with cu l tural sensitivity. “If we can get a pregnant w om an in treatm ent, the chances o f del i vering a c lean and sober child are greater, or if she al ready has the child, we can provide devel o p m e n ta l s e rv ic e s ,” sa id S h errily n n Blanton, clinical resource coordinator for Project N etw ork, the parent program o f U gaza Jam ii and W eku. Project director Jeanne Cohen and other facilitators are pitching the benefits o f culturally specific treatm ent to areajudges and district attorneys, hoping that som e day. clients will be referred to treatm ent with Project N etw ork instead o f serving jail time. For m ore inform ation, or to enroll in Weku, call 503-335-0855. An Anniversary to Remember Stick Up for Seniors Elders in A ction is sticking up for seniors with a W eb Evalua tor T raining from 9:30 a m. to noon on W ednesday, March 31 at the PCC Southeast Center, 2305 S.E. 82 Ave., Room 119and an O m budsm an Training from 9 :30 a.m. to 3 :3 0 p.m. M arch 29 through April 1. For more infor mation,call 503-823-5269 orvisit w w w .eldersaction.org. M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver Kathaleen Huff (from left), Sherrilynn Blanton, Charee Bailey and Lianne Roland discuss a schedule o f workshops sponsored by Ugaza Jamii, a counseling program for African-American women. photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver Willia Ida Williams reflects on 5 9 years at Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church. W illia Ida W illiam s, once the presi dent o f the music department at V ancouver Avenue F irst B aptist Church, is s till an active member o f the church her late husband. Rev. O.B. W illiam s founded. The church w ill celebrate its 59th anniversary with music, food and good people during special events all week. including a potluck supper on Satur day, March 13 and concluding anni versary celebration at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 14. Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church is at 3138 N. Vancouver Ave. The church is one o f Portland's oldest African-Am erican congrega tions. Cascade Campus Expansion Builds Skills Tom as R om ero is the jack-of-all-trades at Portland From grading to fram ing to finishing work, R om ero Com m unity C ollege C ascade C am p u s' construction is there from start to finish. He estim ates he w orks on sites in north Portland. 15-20 jo b sites a year. On one rainy day, he was Rom ero is a labor apprentice and w orks on every assisting a fellow w orker in surveying the foundation thing, from operating heavy m achinery to applying o f the new technology building. This will enable them carpentry skills and any task in-betw een that needs to to res, the slabs o f concrete evenly, w hich will be the be done. “It's a jo b that gives me an opportunity to learn new things,” he said. For the last six years, the A loha resident has been an basis o f the first floor. There are many things he must keep in mind as he works. “The toughest thing about my jo b is trying to stay sharp, ” Rom ero said. “There are so many things going apprentice with W alsh C onstruction. He is in the midst on at the site, from people, vehicles and heavy m achin o f several construction projects at the C ascade C am ery, I m ust stay alert. And I have to be as accurate as pus, all progressing at a dram atic rate. In conjunction with the recently renovated Terrell Hall, W alsh Co. is overseeing construction o f the new 1 can with my m easurem ents. My cow orkers have to be able to trust m e.” Rom ero, w ho is engaged to be married, cam e to technology classroom facility, a rem odel o f the old O regon 13 years ago from M exico City at the age o f 16. Tomas Romero gains job skills during the construction o f new Renaissance M arket for public service education pro buildings on the Portland Community College Cascade Campus in continued on pane H5 north Portland. Romero is an apprentice with Walsh Construction. grams, and the physical education building. I