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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 7, 2005)
P a g e A ô _______________________________ _________ î l? c | j J o r t l a t t ò If they're coming here, they 're coming with nothing. - Rev. Matt Hennessee on the local relief effort for V victims of Hurricane Katrina and the flood of New Orleans PHOTO BY E rika -L eigh G oodwin /T he P ortland O bserver Rev. Matt Hennessee, pastor o f Vancouver Avenue Baptist Church, makes plans for a gospel concert and fundraising extravaganza to be held at the church on Friday at 7 p.m. to help victims of the hurricane and New Orleans flood being relocated to Portland. Rallying Local Relief con tin u ed fro m F ront elderly starving in the streets o f N ew O rleans, dying in shelters, survivors still w aiting for rescue and corpses being consum ed by verm in in the streets drive C arter and other prom inent m em bers of Portland African A m erican com m unity to do more. “ It’s interesting how w e see that in B angladesh and we recognize it’s a third w orld country, w e see that in the tsunam i disaster and say again ‘T h at’s that region o f the w orld,’ but here we look at New O rleans and we have to scratch our heads and say ‘T his is really the U nited States o f A m erica?” said Rev. M att Hennessee, another Port land A fric a n -A m e ric a n leader. “Q uite frankly our response to di sasters elsew here is a lot quicker and it’s a lot bigger than it feels like the response w as this tim e.” Friday, C arter team ed up with H ennessee to engineer a plan for local relief. A lso in attendance was Peggy C. Ross o f the G overnor’s O ffice and A m ber O ntiveros from TriM et. T he m eeting evolved to a rally ing effort w here m ore than 25 local pastors, w ere phoned with hopes o f organizing an event this week. By Sunday afternoon the steer ing com m ittee doubled in num bers and w illingness to help. R epresen tatives from the state and county as w ellascom m unity members wanted to play an im portant part in the revitalization o f the hurricane sur v ivors’ lives. T he com m ittee is w orking to ar range a w elcom e reception for vic tim s m oved to Portland as w ell as various form s o f assistance to help them retain som e sense o f normalcy a fte r liv in g th ro u g h th is c a ta strophic event. A s a result on Friday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m ., Rev. H ennessee and his V ancouver A venue First Baptist C h u r c h , lo c a te d at 3 1 3 8 N. V ancouver Ave., will play host to a gospel extravaganza. The A m azing G race R elief C on cert will benefit H urricane Katrina survivors w ho are being relocated to Portland by the Federal E m er gency M anagem ent A gency. Choirs and ministers from all over Portland will sing and preach their hearts our with hopes o f making the survivor who will call Portland their shelterfeel more like they are at home. A ttendees are encouraged to bring donations o f m oney, non- perishable food and clothing. M ost o f the displaced A m eri cans in Portland will find tem porary housing at the form er W ashington High School in southeast Portland. “If th ey ’re com ing here, th ey ’re c o m in g w ith n o th in g ," sa id H ennessee. “W e're ju st concerned citizens w ho w ant to see som ething happen; to be o f support in a tim e like this." T he gospel show will be the first o f m any fund raising and outreach efforts by the group. T here are also sub-com m ittees w orking on pro viding health care, education as sistance and faith m inistries. “T h is is not a C hristm as activ ity,” said C arter. “T his is about long-term , sustainable activity and us, as O regonians, answ ering the cries and pleas o f people w ho are no less A m erican. It will take the heart o f A m erican people to co n tinue a com m itm ent that goes be yond a one tim e answ er.” For m ore inform ation on the A m azing G race Relief Concert o rto v o lu n te e r p le a s e c o n ta c t th e V ancouver First Baptist C hurch at 503-282-9496. ( © b s e r u e r ______________________________________ September 7, 2005 Parallels to New Orleans Tragedy co n tin u ed fro m F ront hood, and w hat they called home. “ My m other lost everything,” W ashington said. It took the fam ily tw o years to finally get back onto stable ground, living-w ise. Still, seeing coverage o f those tragically affected by the flood o f N ew O rleans, W ashington noted that at least “ in V anport, once we got onto Interstate A venue and were dry, we had water and homes to stay in. W e got out safely, we knew w here we all together.” His em pathy is im m ense for those suffering in the South. “ W e lost o u r housing like those people in New O rleans. M ost o f the housing w as com pletely lifted up o ff the founda tion. You d id n ’t have tim e to get anything out - your fam ily pic tures, your books. Y ou ju st have to get out to save your life,” W ash in g to n said . “ I ’ve been struck by the loss o f everything and that slow step o f putting their lives back together. T h at’s a lot o f people to be housed when the housing isn ’t there.” W ashington can also relate w ith the children affected by the flood, saying, “ As a 12-year-old kid, having to get on a bus to som e unknow n place and having to go to a gym to sleep on cots and eating food th at’s not your m o m ’s food - you ’ re gracious for w hat you get.” He said it’s im portant that the rest o f the nation supports those affected, regardless o f w hether or not they know anyone directly hit. “ I like to believe that the o th ers o f us in this country w ho are not experiencing this will open their hearts and will open their Van port Flood survivor Ed Washington looks over a lake that covers part o f what was once the city o f Vanport, located between Portland and Vancouver. photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortiani ) O bserver purses to help. T h ey ’re not in it by them selves,” W ashington said. C oncerning the g o v ern m en t’s lack o f planning before the o n slaught o f the hurricane, W ash in g ton said , “ I t’s an u n b eliev a b le recipe for d isaster.” But, he added, it’s difficult to foresee the results o f a natural c a tastro p h e. “I’m sure that their thought p ro cess w as predicated on past situ a tions. I’m sure th e y ’re doing the best they can under the circu m stances. T here will be lots o f re O nce the hurricane starts blow ing, th a t’s going to run its course. It’s how do you deal with the afterm ath. I’m not certain that any city in this country is prepared. W e have to look beyond the disaster, w hat do w e do w ith people in hospitals. I w ould hope that o u r w hole ap proach w ould be a bit more co m p reh en siv e.” Families, homes and W ashington said people are even cars were covered not ju st losing th eir houses by water from the and m aterial goods, th e y ’re Columbia River on May losing loved ones, their sense 30, 1948, shown in o f well-being and for some, their this historical photo will to survive. from the Vanport Flood. “ Y ou can alw ays get new O regon H istorical clothes. Y ou c a n ’t get a new S ociety photo m om o r dad or b rother o r sister re a lly h its ,” W a sh in g to n said . or w ife o r friend. W e lost all o f our “D oes Portland really have a place clothes but w e had o u r lives and for a m ajor earthquake? W e p ro b our fam ilies. T h ere’s no co m p ari ably have som e plans in term s o f son,” W ashington said. “The only bridges, but do w e really have a thing any o f us can have is to try to plan in w here w e take people, w here the best o f y o u r ability to hold on. do w e take them o ut o f the city. Just d o n ’t give up.” hashing o f w hat sh o u ld ’ve been d o n e an d w h at sh o u ld ’ve been do n e,” W ashington said. If nothing else, this is an event to learn from. “ I think that every city in this country ought to be thinking about the possibility o f w hat to do if it Pnces clip coupons to get great prices on the things you need when you shop with us Our Every Day Low Prices are just that, the lowest prices that we can offer you every day of the year. W o o d Village 23500 N.E. Sandy Blvd WAL*MÀR' SUPERCENTER C o m in g Soon © 2005 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc more Every Day Low Prices online W alm art.com