May II. 2005
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
M etro
a'l'c ^Sartlanh © bserucr
Local Wrestler
Goes to Work
years*
'Slick Cedric' one o f few
African Americans in sport
* community service
See page B3
SECTION
Opal School Plant Sale
On Saturday, May 14, the Port
land C hild ren ’s M useum will
host a plant sale to benefit the
m useum and P ortland’s Opal
School. Pre-planted baskets,
b u lb s, an n u als, p e re n n ia ls,
flo w e r p o ts , s h ru b s , h erb
starts, sm all trees and bird
houses will be available. For
m o re in f o r m a tio n , v is it
www ,R rdandChildrettsMusuenn ig.
Bonsai Exhibit
The Japanese Garden is holding
a bonsai exhibit and sale on Sat
urday and Sunday, May 14 and
15startingat 10a.m .Theeventis
free with paid admission to the
garden at Washington Park. For
m ore
in fo rm a tio n ,
v isit
www .japanesegarden.com or call
503-223-1321.
Stamp Out Hunger
The 1 l lh annual National Asso
ciation of Letter Carriers Food
Drive is held Saturday. May 14.
Your postal carrier will pick up
plastic bags donated by Fred
Meyer and tilled nonperishable
and canned foods at your door.
For more information, go to
www.oregonfoodbank.org
Learn Sustainable Living
Natural Style s is a once a year
opportunity to come together
and learn more about sustain
able products and services. The
focus is educated, entertain and
enlighten. This event will take
place on Saturday and Sunday,
May 14 and 15 at the Oiegon
Convention Center.
Lunch with the Grrl’s
Saturday, May 21, DinnerGrll’s
will be hosting their spring pot
luck. The goal is build broaden
professional horizons of women,
network and to encourage other
women in theircareeraspirations.
For more information, email
Portland@dinnergrrls.org
Great Strides Walk-a-Thon
Join the Cystic Fibrosis Founda
tion on Saturday, May 21 at 10
a.m. fortheir annual walk-a-thon.
The group welcomes walkers,
volunteers and donations. For
more information or to register,
contact Oregon Chapter Cystic
Fibrosis Foundation at 503-226-
3435 or www .cff.org
B
Healthcaret0 the Most Vulnerable
Income not a
deciding factor
at local clinic
Only eight m onths after getting federal
assistance to help poor and underinsured
patients, O regon H ealth and Science U ni
versity Fam ily M edicine at Richm ond in
southeast Portland has expanded its ser
vices, increased the num ber o f patient
visits, and plans to add new patient exam
room s.
The Federally Q ualified Health Center
at 3930 S.E. D ivision St. provides com
prehensive prim ary care to vulnerable
patients in the clinic’s adjacent neighbor
hoods regardless o f their ability to pay.
In M arch, the health ce n te r had a
record num ber o f patient visits at 2,744,
up from about 1,800 visits per month a
year ago. The num ber o f uninsured pa
tient visits increased by 6 percent.
The center has added a m ental health
counselor; a nurse practitioner with ex
pertise in diabetes and pain m anagem ent;
and a m edical social w orker to help coor
dinate patients’ housing, transportation,
food and other needs.
A lthough part o f O H SU , the Richm ond
health center is overseen by a board o f
com m unity volunteers. It also actively
w orks w ith its neighbors and businesses
in its com m unity.
“Since we have been opened, it’s been
very busy. There is a definite need for
health care for the underserved. I think it’s
great that we can bring the quality of
services for people who are in need,” said
M ark Kinney, a certified medical assistant.
Kinney has w orked w ith O H SU for
five years but has been on the Richm ond
clinic staff for the past three.
N ancy W ilgenbusch is president o f the
Richm ond clinic board and president o f
M arylhurst University.
“ I think affordable health care is an
overarching problem ,” W ilgenbusch said.
“W e all have to be part o f the solution in
avai»
photo by N icole H ooper /T he P ortland O bserver .
Medical Assistant Mark Kinney talks with a patient about the importance of lowering blood pressure.
" I think it’s great that we can bring the quality
of services for people who are in need.
■ Mark Kinney, Richmond Clinic Medical Assistant
any way we can.
Plans call for adding three more exam
room s to the clinic in the com ing m onths.
By spring 2006, five more exam room s
will be added.
“W e are trying to bring services on site
that m atch the needs o f our patients,” said
Ann O ’C onnell, a registered nurse and the
clinic’s executive director.
Be a Hospice Volunteer
Melanie Dixon
returns to college
more than a de
cade after high
school to jump-start
her life and career.
Providence Hospital offers free
training for volunteers at least
18 years old who can com m it
four hours a w eek for a year.
P re-reg istratio n is required.
For more inform ation or to get
an ap p lic a tio n p ack et, call
C ynthia Cohen, volunteer co
ordinator at 503-215-5774
photo by N icole
Women Mentors
Women in Community Service is
seeking volunteer mentors for
female offenders at Coffee Creek
Correctional Facility. Mentors
provide support and encourage
ment to women transitioning from
prison back into the community.
Mentors must be female, 24 or
older. Training is provided. Call
503-570-6614 for more informa
tion.
Portland Children’s
Museum Activities
Portland C h ild ren ’s Museum
will hold a variety of art activi
ties for children throughout the
month, including m edium s us
ing m osaic, A frican arts and
culture and garden stepping
stones. For more inform ation,
call 5 0 3 -2 2 3 -6 5 0 0 or visit
www.piiitlandchildiCTismuscum.org.
Get Fit, Stay Healthy!
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.
H ooper /
T he P ortland O bserver
Student Fights for College Funding
Path out o f dead-end jobs turns political
by N icole H ooper
T he P ortland O bserver
Melanie Dixon is on the path to success
and wants others to join her.
The Portland Community College stu
dent testifies for college funding in front of
the Ways and Means Committee of the
Oregon Legislature. She lobbies for Oregon
Opportunity Grant funding for part-time stu
dents. She regularly sets a table outside the
PCC Cascade library in north Portland to
recruit student for lobbying trips.
Dixon doesn't fit the profile o f the typical
student and certainly not one of a returning
student.
Like many adults she found a “glass
ceiling” in the workforce without a post high
school education. Like others, she has
struggled to keep a full-time job in order to
provide for her family.
As the director o f legislative affairs for
the PCC student body, Dixon has visited
the state C apital four tim es to lobby for
students and her professors. She works
with student body presidents from 17
com m unity colleges on behalf of a half
m illion students.
“Teacher’s jobs are getting cut as with
the programs,” Dixon said. “The anthropol
ogy department is completely gone. What
happens to the students that are majoring in
programs and the programs leave ’They will
have to start over with something else or go
to another school."
Another goal for Dixon is to implement
the Parents as Scholars program that would
allow women on welfare to go back to school
and use that time tocount towards a full-time
job. This would enable those on welfare to
keep benefits bu, also work towards a career
instead o f a dead-end job.
With all that Dixon is involved in she still
makes her daughter, Simone, apriority. Both
had to sacrifice for Dixon to return to school,
but she believes that this is better for the
long run. Eight-year old Simone views her
continued
on page R6
Art Hop this
Saturday
If you think y o u ’ve experienced the
art on A lberta on Last T hursday, th a t’s
not even the half o f it. O n Saturday,
May 14, artists, galleries, perform ers,
sm all businesses, m usicians, and non
profits join forces to show case the
pow er o f art through the sixth annual
Art Hop.
The free all-day and evening fair takes
over 33 blocks on Alberta Street from
Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to
Northeast 33'd Avenue with art contests,
live art, art activities, art-making classes
and even a parade. More than 5,000
people are expected to attend and par
ticipate, proving its theme this year of
“art moves.”
Art Hop showcases established and
emerging artists of Portland as well as
established and em erging businesses
on Alberta.
“From theatre, m usic, perform ance,
and fine arts to graphic arts, fashion,
poetry, etc. You name it; w e’ 11 have it,”
said A llan O liver, president o f the Art
on A lberta board and ow ner o f O nda
Gallety.
Starting at 11 a.m. sharp and continu
ing through 8 p.m.. highlights include a
mid-afternoon parade, the exhibition of
14 paintings by nationally celebrated
artist Phyllis Davidson, a show of kinetic-
sculptures created by local artists and
designers, and scores of the Portland
area's best craft artists.
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