March 16, 2005
'r*!‘‘ JJortlaub © bseruer
PageAS
H ousing
Upward Bound Fights Bounce Out
Anti-poverty program
faces Bush cut
con tin u ed
fro m F ront
is a non-partisan issue."
“I feel w e’re really m aking ad if-
ference,” he said. "O ne question I
ask every student is ‘If you w ere to
apply for a job, w hat w ould be your
most positive skills?’”
He said students have a hard
"T hey help you step by step,”
said A bel K ahsay, also a senior at
Benson H igh School and second
year student at U pw ard Bound.
“ B efore, I w ould occasionally do
hom ew ork. 1 d id n ’t know the pro­
cess o f getting into college. W ith­
out it, I 'd probably be a lot o f steps
behind, scram bling to get my grades
I d o n ’t know what I ’d do
without it. They teach me
how to teach myself.
— Hanlbal Gebremedhin, Benson High School senior
tim e finding their strengths, but by
the time they graduate from his
program , they’re able to sit in front
o f a college acceptance com m ittee
and tell them exactly why they
should be there.
“W e give them the ability to ex­
press w ho they are,” D irks said.
“It’s am azing that students can go
from having few abilities to becom ­
ing lawyers, doctors and teachers.
W e’re in the business o f pulling
dream s dow n into reality.”
Hanibal G ebrem edhin, a senior
at Benson High School and third
year student with U pw ard Bound,
is alarm ed at the thought that the
resources h e’s had to help him col­
lege could be elim inated for future
stu d e n ts.
“W hat’re they gonna do? W here
are they gonna go?” he asked. “It
m otivates me. It keeps me on track.
I d o n 't know w hat I’d d o w ithout it.
They teach me how to teach myself.
I w ant them to have the same path
I did. It’s a good place to go to.”
up, to get my classes do n e.”
A m a n d a M a rtin e z -T e lle z , a
sophomore at Franklin High School,
said that com ing to U pw ard Bound
has her getting straight A ’s, w hich
will help her w hen she begins ap ­
plying to colleges.
“It’s a place to w ork other than
hom e,” M artinez-T ellez said.
A sophom ore at Jefferson H igh
School, Q uai B aker said U pw ard
Bound has helped her raise her
grades in her toughest subject -
math.
“I can com e here and get help. I
know I w ouldn’t have a good grade
in m ath w ithout U pw ard Bound,”
B aker said.
In addition to helping out stu­
dents, m entor program s benefit the
tutors as well.
“It feels good. I ’m helping them
out,” said Jesse Elizondo, a PSU
senior. “A fter aw hile you feel like
y o u ’re m aking a bit o f difference.
Y ou can w atch them im prove and
get better at dealing with new , con-
photo by K atherine K ovacich /T he P ortland O bserver
Jefferson High School sophomore Quai Baker (left) asks Upward Bound mentor Theresa Logan about a school project she s working on.
ceptual things w hich is im portant
w ith life skills.”
T heresa L ogan, an o th er PSU
senior and tutor said she can relate
to her U pw ard B ound students.
“R ecently I’ve been w orking in­
tensively on helping them write
college scholarship essay s,” she
said. " I ’m taking them through and
helping them through the process
o f w riting. T h ey ’ve w ritten som e
really good essays.
“Y ou can com e in here and get
one-on-one help, w hich a lot o f
them need,” Logan continued. “The
kind o f help I can give them is not
som ething they can get som ew here
else. It provides after school activ­
ity. H aving adults take an interest
in your academ ic career is really
im portant. A lot o f kids m ight slip
through the cracks, but if you have
people w ho are alw ays on you, it
m akes a huge difference. They give
kids lots o f opportunities w ith in­
ternships and cam ps. T hey open
their eyes to w hat else is around
BANK
Jason W. Ruecker L o a n O ffic e r
them .”
For m ore inform ation on the
U pw ard B ound and Educational
Talent Search program sat PSU ,call
503-725-4010.
My first
priority is your
best interest!
T h e O re g o n D e p a rtm e n t o f
R evenue rem in d s ta x p ay e rs that
A pril 15 is the filing d ea d lin e fo r
the D isabled C itizen Property T ax
D eferral P rogram and the S en io r
C itizen Property Tax D eferral P ro­
gram.
Both d efe rral pro g ram s allow
q u a lifie d ta x p ay e rs to d e fe r p a y ­
m ent o f th e ir p ro p erty ta x es on
th e ir hom es. T he state p ay s the
ta x es to the co u n ty , m ain tain s
the ac co u n t, an d ch a rg es 6 p e r­
cent sim ple in terest, w hich also is
d eferred . T h e d efe rral ac co u n t
b alan c e is g en e rally due w hen
the ta x p a y e r re c e iv in g the d efe r-
Toll Free:
Cell:
t=l
Would yon like to ovn your own homed
Would \on like to refinance your current
home, to lo wer your monthly payments?
W aterfront Park on southw est River
D rive betw een southw est M ont­
gom ery and R iver Parkw ay.
T he Strand is the largest rede­
velopm ent project on PD C prop­
erty since the P ioneer Place retail
center in dow ntow n Portland. C o n ­
struction is set to be com pleted by
early 2007.
PD C C hairm an M att H ennessee
said developm ent o f T he Strand
will continue redevelopm ent long
envisioned for P ortland’s d ow n­
tow n w aterfront, and w ill support
future investm ents in infrastruc­
ture, jo b s, open space and a mix o f
housing in the N orth M acadam
U rban Renew al Area.
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503.722.8878
Charlotte Martin
111 N.E. Park Plaza Dr. Suite 115
Vancouver, WA 9 8 6 8 4
(SJ
HOMELOAN SOURCE
Property Tax Deferrals for Seniors
Deadline April 15
FAX:
503.223.2162
503.223.2163
800.280.4187
503.803.5177
Jason.tuecker@fl8gstaf.com
Construction Underway on
the Strand at Riverplace
ral d ie s, sells th e p ro p e rty , p e r­
m a n en tly m o v es o f f th e p ro p ­
e rty — o th e r than fo r h ealth re a ­
so n s— o r if the p ro p erty ch an g es
o w n ersh ip . H o w ev er, a su rv iv ­
ing sp o u se m ay q u alify to c o n ­
tin u e th e p ro p erty in d eferral.
T o q u a lify fo r e ith e r p ro g ram ,
th e p r o p e r t y m u s t b e th e
tax p ay e r’s principle residence and
m ust h av e a deed o r reco rd ed
sa les c o n tra c t. T o tal h o u se h o ld
in co m e m ust be less th an $ 3 4 ,0 0 0
fo r the y ear b efo re ap p lica tio n .
P artic ip an ts m ay rem ain on eith er
p ro g ra m as long as th e ir fed eral
a d ju ste d g ro ss in co m e d o es not
ex c ee d $34,000 . If a p a rtic ip a n t’s
incom e exceeds the $3 4 ,0 0 0 lim it.
O ffic e :
926 NW 13“ Avenue, Ste. 140, Portland, OR 97209
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C onstruction has begun on a
$1 lOmillionmixed-usedevelopment
that will enhance the R iverPlace
com m unity and play a key role in
the redevelopm ent o f the North
M acadam U rban Renew al Area.
T he Strand will feature 222 con­
dom inium units in three glass and
steel to w ers w ith g ro u n d -lev el
tow nhom es scaled to m atch the
existing neighborhood. In addition,
the project will feature a destina­
tion w aterfront restaurant, retail and
w ork space, and a 100-space park­
ing garage for the public.
Prices will begin at $ 190,000, with
a square foot price o f $350.
T he property is next to south
Home Purchase
Refinance
Great Service
p a rt o f the tax es still m ay be d e ­
ferred.
In ad d itio n to m e etin g the in ­
com e lim itation and property o w n ­
ersh ip req u irem en t, d isa b le d p e r­
so n s m ust be re c e iv in g o r b e e li­
g ib le to receiv e fed eral S ocial S e­
c u r ity D is a b ility b e n e f its to
q u alify fo r the D isa b led C itiz en
P ro p erty T ax D eferral P ro g ram ;
se n io r c itiz e n s m u st b e 62 y ears
o ld o r o ld e r by A pril 15 to q u alify
fo r the S en io r C itiz en P ro p erty
T ax D eferral P rogram .
A p p licatio n s an d in fo rm atio n
a re a v a ila b le b y c a llin g y o u r
co u n ty a s se ss o r’s o ffic e o r the
D ep artm en t o f R ev en u e at 1-800-
356-4222.
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