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