ih April II, 2007 Page A3 1 n rt la nò ®b serti e r Easter Burglary Stopped in Progress Pastor wonders if incident was race-related S arah B lount T he P ortland O bserver by Members of New Paradise Wor­ ship Center in Gresham came very close to getting an ugly Easter sur­ prise - but the attempt to rob them of approximately $20,000 worth of church equipment was foiled be­ fore assailants could get off with the gear. Church memberGail Kindler hap­ pened to drive by around 4 a.m. Easter Sunday on the way home from her night shift, and discov­ ered computers, printers, monitors, musical equipment and a brand new copy machine piled outside the building next to a vehicle. She said one computer was being used to prop open a side door. Kindler, who does maintenance work at New Paradise, called 9-1-1 before the ear drove off from the parking lot - without the pricey equipment. Gresham police arrived shortly after and church pastor Rev. Dwayne O. Fleming was alerted by a call around 7 a.m. from Rev. Al Cush way of Highland Community Church, a congregation that shares the building. According to the Gresham po­ ERVATIVE BAPTIST) lice report, the vandals caused $850 9$A WORSHIP IO^ a i 6 p worth of damages to a window and six kicked-in doorframes leading to offices, plus damage to a water gutter. Police made no arrests and have no suspect information. Members of New Paradise were able to meet for an Easter Sunday service because of the minimal dam­ age. By Monday afternoon, most of the equipment was once again intact. photo by M ark W ashing ton /T he P or it . \ nd O bse r \ i k Fleming said it looked like atheft Rev. Dwayne 0. Fleming, p a sto r o f N ew Paradise Worship C enter situation gone awry, but he can't in G resham , w onders if vandals targeted the church b e c a u se o f help but wonder if the vandals tar- its racial diversity. r^CHooi CONWWcE ¡5 THE MÊSS1AH A * geted the African American church because of race. The year-old non-denomina- tional Christian church has about 40 members, Fleming said, with about 60 percent of members who are white and 40 percent African American. New Paradise joins a few other Gresham churches w ith di­ verse demographics, and Fleming said he chose the East County loca­ tion to represent the increasing minority population. "We moved out here because of the displacement in northeast." said the former Vancouver resident and previous music minister al Morning Star Baptist Missionary Church, which burned down in February after a fire of an undeter­ mined cause engulfed the historic building. Fleming said that in the days before the break-in, church leaders had placed at least 100 signs the size o f political placards around the area of Southeast 182nd Avenue and Powell Boulevard. The signs, featuring a photo of Fleming and his wife Tamara, invite the commu­ nity to visit New Paradise. “This seemed to happen right after that," Fleming said. Expressing relief that no parish­ ioners were hurt. Fleming said the break-in has led him to consider a security system, but he also wants to get the word out that there is a burgeoning minority-based faith community east of 1-205. "It's been a great challenge so far," he said, "especially with w hat’s been happening to m inor­ ity chu rch es in the past few m onths." Fleming and his wife Tam ara have applied for non-profit sta­ tus and offer drug and alcohol treatm ent within their ministry. Fleming said he is involved in several community development ini­ tiatives in Gresham and meets regu­ larly with Gresham PoliceChiefCarla Piluso and other city leaders. State Takes Custody of Newborn; Couple Keeps Up Hope by R aymond R endi . eman P ortland O bserver N e w ly tr a n s p la n te d Portlanders C laudia Davis and Nathaniel Hodges are living a nightmare. M oving here six months ago, they planned to begin a better life on the W est Coast. But they are instead spending every waking moment in pursuit o f the right to care for their own three-m onth- old child. The worst was realized during the cross-country trip from Bos­ ton, after a falling-out with trav­ eling com panions. T his oth er couple called the Oregon D epart­ ment o f Human Services, alleg­ ing that Davis ar.d H odges car­ ried on a dangerously abusive relationship. Given H odges’ criminal record and D avis' abusive ex-husband, the tip caused DHS to closely m onitor the progress o f D avis' pregn an cy . W hen A lex an d ria H odges w as born Dec. 28 at Legacy Emanuel Hospital, DHS took immediate custody, citing “reasonable cause for threat o f harm ." The couple barely had time to pose for a photo-op with their daughter before the infant was w hisked away to foster care with the presence o f armed security personnel. Hodges says, "There must be a better way, because when DHS gets a report, they do n ’t even give the family a chance to dem ­ onstrate their ability to parent." The case caught the attention o f East-County N A A CP coordi­ nator Ruth Pitts-London, who is also A lexandria’s godmother. “ I certainly support DHS con­ ducting investigations when there have been allegations o f abuse or neglect," she says, "but they need to notify the parties involved on the front end, and be trying to keep fam ilies intact rather than im m e d ia te ly b re a k in g th em apart." Pitts-London sees the dispute as an exam ple o f "the criminal- justice and social-service sys­ tems w orking together to sup­ port racism .” The couple must attend six w e e k ly c la s s e s g e a re d to parenting skills, drug abuse pre- Il!‘'^Jnrtlanb Gfrbseruer Established 1970 USPS 959-680 ____________________________________ photoby R aymond R eniii eman /T he P ortland O bserver Nathaniel H odges and Claudia Davis hold photographs that picture th e m se lv e s and their newborn baby ju s t before it was ta ken by Oregon D epartm ent o f H um an Services personnel vention and identifying dom estic violence. In the m eantim e, the N A A CP has helped secure the couple an April 18 hearing with a M ultnomah County judge who will determ ine w hether the child should be returned. DHS has allow ed D avis and H odges 90-m inute visits with their ch ild every T uesday, but Send address changes to Portland Observer, P 0 B o x 31 37 , Portland. OR 9 7 2 0 8 4 7 4 7 NE Martin Luther King. 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