Committed to Cultural Diversity www.portlandobserver.com M etro ilìl ^lortlanò (Observer C o ni ni u n i t y a I e ii d a r Gallery of Visual Arts View art from talented local art ists o f all ages throughout the month o f August at the Inter state Firehouse Cultural Center, 5340 N. Interstate Ave., from 9 a.m .-6 p .m ., free. Woman in Community Service In celebration to its 40 years of operation, the Negro Council of Negro W omen is holding a spe cial concert on Sunday, August 22 at Bethel AME Church at 4 p.m. Several area churches will be represented. Ready for School Back to the Future School Sup plies G ive-A-W ay is from 1 to 5 p.m. on Aug. 29 at the Chevron Gas Station parking lot at 3435 N.E. Martin Luther King Blvd. Get supplies while they last. Call 503-890-0070. Golf Challenge Tournament raises donations for SEI See story in Sports, page B2 Touching People Community Care Day Help to beautify the grounds of local Portland Public Schools on Saturday, Aug. 21. It may in volve picking up litter, cutting brush, pulling weeds, planting flo w e rs and o th e r o u td o o r projects. To volunteer, call 503- 614-1531. August 18. 2004 Changing Lives Church testifies to faith after years of struggle J ohanna S. K ing T he P ortland O bserver by Once a church with a congregation no larger than a handful o f people made up o f mostly immediate family m em bers, Life Change Christian Center, 3635 N. Williams Ave., now operates in a state-of-the-art building and supports nearly 500 members. After an arson fire in June o f 1996 struck its North Ivy Street location, the form er Im m anuel F ree M ethodist Church was left gutted and broken, but not hopeless. “We had a dream as a congregation o f one day buying the old C raigo’s supermarket property and making it our church,” said S enior P astor M ark Strong, referring to an abandoned gro cery storejustafew blocks away. “Back then it was an area covered in violent Stay Healthy ■A The new Life Change Christian Sankofaa Health Institute offers a free diabetes support group from 6 to 7:30 p.m. every third Thursday at Alberta Simmons Plaza, 6707 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. For more informa tion, call 503-285-2484. Center replaces property once blighted by crime ju s t down from North Beech Street between Williams and Vancouver avenues. An old photo ofCraigo's market before it was abandoned. Voter Registration Register to vote and learn how to register your friends, family and others in the community Saturday, Aug. 18, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. at Hollywood Library;4040 NE Tillam ook St. Refreshment will be provided. To learn more, v is it o n lin e at h ttp :// www.multcolib.org. continued Raising Girls with Confidence Girl Scouts reach out to area residents Interest in Adoption? Work For Change Home Improvement The Com munity Energy Project holds free workshops on water conservation and weatheriza tion. For more information, call 503-2844962. Aquatic Fitness W om en in N A A C P, a new women’sgroup.meetsfrom 10:30 a.m. to I p.m. the first Saturday of each month at the American Red C ro ss B u ild in g , 3131 N. Vancouver. For questions, call 503-249-6263. NAACP Meetings The Portland Branch o f the NAACP holds two monthly ex ecutive com mittee meetings, on the second T hursday o f the month and the Thursday before the fourth Saturday o f the month. General membership meetings are held on the fourth Saturday o f each month. For more infor mation, call 503-284-7722. Tap Dancin ’ on My Last Nerve Mental health forum for black women Com munity Advocates invites those interested in protecting children from abuse to become an event volunteer, event out re a c h , te c h n o lo g y e x p e rt, graphic artists or office support team member. For more informa tion, call 503-280-1388. Women in NAACP on page H6 M N M N M I A free information meeting for prospective adoptive parents is held the third W ednesday of every month from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Belmont Public Library, 1038 S.E. 39“' Ave. For more informa tion, call 503-226-4870 or visit www.openadopt.com . Providence has a full schedule o f fitness classes including w a ter exercising at the Providence Aquatic Center,4805 N.E.Glisan. Fora schedule, call 503-215-6301. crime with drug dealers on just about every street com er. O ur vision was to bring the hope o f Christ back into our dying community and see change take place." The transition did not come easily. There was disappointment after re peated attempts o f trying to secure the money to purchase the storefront prop erty. Without a building, com mitted members had to follow a nomadic pat tern, attending worship services practi cally everywhere from King Elementary School’s cafeteria to a tent in a parking lot to Jefferson High School’s football field. “Our big joke to visitors was if you can find us, you can worship with us,” recalls Strong. But the congregation persevered, in tensified by a maturing faith. “We simply had the word o f God to stand on,’ said O dessa M angum, a founding member. “A ftergiving all we had in our finances and on our knees it was time to wait on the Lord and watch him come through on our behalf.” Donations to rebuild poured in from across the country as a result o f the fire though double o f what was given by individuals and organizations was confis cated by the greater Free Methodist denom i nation. Soon thereafter, the congregation decided to break away from their mother church and change to non-denominational status. Afteryears of waiting fora miracle, it came when an anonymous man sent a check to the church for $ 165,000 that enabled the congre gation to finally purchase the forsaken prop- J Young women from north Portland build life skills by participating in Girl Scouts. BY JAYMEE R, C U T l T he P ortland O bserver Some local families living in public hous ing and struggling to make ends meet have one less thing to worry about. Their « Some o f the highlights o f the sum m er’s scouting events included aself-defense work shop, poetry writing seminars and a building and construction session with the Oregon From,” a production com pany, with an emphasis on diversity and tolerance. “Girl Scouts is so awesome because it's about girls and adult partnerships," said Samantha Keeley, the membership daughters are being taught self-respect C iir l ic C /l manager for the Girl Scouts, Columbia and empowerment and given opportu- l f I IJ A(7 Ri verCouncil. “A lot o f the homes we nities their families may not have been n W P V i M W tiPC'CI I / CZJ i t ’c serve are led by single parents who able to afford through Girls Scouts. U C L U U it ll A don’t necessarily have a lot o f extra The Portland Housing Authority has n h o U t o i v l c a n d SI f i l l ! t money to do extra things like maybe teamed up with the Girl Scouts’Colum- K 1' tS U r lU C i a U l l band lessons or violence prevention bia River Council to serve girls in sev- 7 3 /7 VC Id i n v programs.” eral public housing buildings. buildings. r U' eral public housing K eeley is seeking d onations o f More than 40 girls from grades one Samantha Keeley, Girl Scouts membership manager time and funds to support Girl Scouts through nine from the St. John's neigh activities and field trips. She is also b o rh o o d o f n o rth P o rtla n d an d th e Trades women Association, where girls used looking for anyone in the com m unity Rockwood neighborhood o f Gresham are tools to make picture frames. They also w ith a skill to teach and share w ith the earning recognition badges and selling cook learned about conflict-resolution strategies troop. For more inform ation, call 503- ies, as well as learning real-life skills. with Renee Davis, ow ner o f “W here I'm 598-6531. Local African-American leaders and national experts in health will de- stigmatize mental illness and help black women learn ways to keep them selves mentally healthy during Tap Dancin’ on My Last Nerve: A Sym posium on Mental Health & the Afri can American Woman. The Thursday, Aug. 19 and Friday, Aug. 20 conference at the Portland Downtown Hilton is co-chaired by State Sens. Margaret Carter, Avel Gordly, and Jackie Winters, and will feature health experts Dr. Marilyn Martin and Dr. Carolyn West. Martin is authorof the widely praised book, “Saving Our Last Nerve: The Black W om an’s Path to M ental Health.” She specializes in psychiatry and public health as the medical direc tor and vice president for medical services for Maryland Health Part ners. West is currently working on “Ste reotypes of Black Women: The Psy chological Effects” and is the editor of “Violence in the Lives of Black Women: Battered, Black and Blue.” Her doctorate is in clinical psychology from the University of Missouri (St. Louis). Other featured speakers include Dr. Ann Beckett of Oregon Health and Sciences University and Dr. Patrice Harris, president-elect of the Black Psychiatrists of America. To register and for more informa tion, call 503-282-6846.