www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
M etro
(Eh
1 ^îo rtlan b (Ohseruer
/c o m m u n ity
C a le n d a r
Free Health Care
The African Am erican Health C oalition’s
12lh annual W ellness Village takes place
Saturday, Oct. 20 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at
the Blazers B o y s& G irlsC lu b ,5 2 5 0 N .E .
M artin Luther King Jr. Blvd. M ore than 40
health screeners and exhibitors will pro­
vide free services.
Helping the Hungry
The Oregon Food Bank desperately needs
your donations o f nonperishable foods
or funds. T o find out how you can help,
call 503-282-0555.
Free Brown-Bag Lectures
Portland C om m unity C ollege sponsors
the “ lunch and learn” lecture series Stay­
ing C alm in a C risis; featuring guest
speaker N ancy M cD onald, at 4040 N.E.
Tillam ookSt., M onday,O ct. 15. Form ore
information, call 50 3 -6 14-7308.
Weatherization Workshops
T hursday, Oct. 11, from 6 to 8 p.m ., the
C om m unity Energy Project will host free
educational w orkshops to self-w eather-
ize your home, at A lder Sun School, 17200
S.E. A lder; qualifying participants will
receive a free weatherizing kit. Free weath­
erization is available for seniors. Call 503-
284-6827 to register.
October 10. 2007
PCC Praised
for Success
Congratulations
Joelle!
Portland Community
College President and Board
accept diversity award
Portland native is first
runner up at pageant
See page B3
See page B3
Pastor Named Woman of Achievement
Mary Overstreet
sees needs and
acts to meet it
Pastor M ary O verstreet o f Pow erhouse
Tem ple C hurch in Portland will receive a
W om an o f A chievem ent honor from the
O regon Com m ission for W om en for her
hum anitarian work.
O verstreet is am ong three w om en who
will be honored during the g ro u p 's 23rd
A nnual A w ards Dinner, T hursday, Oct.
11 at the W illam ette V alley V ineyards in
Salem . The keynote speaker will be S.
Renee M itchell, an aw ard-w inning colum ­
nist for the O regonian and w ho also w rites
and p erfo rm s p o etry ad v o c a tin g fo r
w om en’s em pow erm ent.
P asto r O v erstree t is a w om an w ho
w ears m any hats. In ad d itio n to fo u n d ­
ing the P o w erh o u se T em p le C h u rch o f
G od in C h rist in P o rtlan d and p ro v id in g
le ad e rsh ip th ere for 34 y ea rs, she is a
fo ster p aren t, a licen sed sp ecial in v e s­
tig ato r, a m arriag e and fam ily co u n se ­
lor, and the fo u n d er
an d host o f the W ay
o f the C ro ss radio
h o u r and telev isio n
m inistry.
She is chief execu­
tive officer of her own
com pany, an active
visitor to prisons and
a su p p o rter o f the
fam ilies o f prisoners.
She is an advocate
for the hom eless and
the hungry, a com ­
m unity activist, and
was a hum anitarian
a f te r
H u rric a n e
K a trin a p ro v id in g
hom es and support
to people displaced
from the G u lf Coast.
If her range o f in­
novations and activ­
Pastor Mary Overstreet provides inexahaustibie leadership.
ism is wide, Pastor
M ary 's level o f personal com m itm ent is
ranging businesses.
deep. She draw s no salary from the church
O f the 14 children she has raised, only
she founded and serves, supporting her
six were her biological children. She funded
fam ily in the early days as a licensed
her K atrinaaid by selling herow n vacation
practical nurse and later through her wide-
hom e and cashing in some personal CDs.
She set up the free clinic in hero w n office
building. She provides respite care for the
autistic in her ow n home. If there are no
public funds available she reaches into
her own pocket.
T his in e x h au stib le w om an builds
from one p ro ject to another, seeing a
need and actin g to m eet it and then
g o in g on to m eet an o th er need. N o th ­
ing is allo w ed to stop her.
W hen she first cam e to P o rtlan d in
1965, she started church serv ices on a
street co rn er. W hen she d isco v ered
that no food b an k s w ere open to the
hungry after 5 p.m ., she started h ero w n
food bank and kept it open after hours.
W hen au th o rities w o u ld n ’t give her
the ad d resses o f h u rrican e refu g ees in
P o rtlan d , she loaded up her 16-foot
tru ck w ith goo d s donated to K atrina
victim s and sent it to M ississippi. W hen
she found h erself paying oth er p eo p le's
m edical b ills o ut o f h ero w n pocket time
afte r tim e, she started the free clinic.
J i 11G insberg. the doctor Mary recruited
to hold the free clinic says that she learned
from Pastor Mary to "start from where you
are, use w hat you have and go on one step
at a tim e.”
Campfire Tales of Forest Workers
Saturdays, O ct. 13 and Oct. 20, from 7 to
8 p.m., the national park service invites
guests to enjoy the ranger-led cam pfire
tales o fth e H udson Bay C om p an y 's 'e n ­
gaged' w orkers from the fur-trade era;
this free event w ill be held at Fort
Vancouver. I (X) 1 E. Fifth St. Call 360-816-
6230 for more inform ation.
Tressie Williams,
Fatuma Mohamed,
Christiana Darko
and Claudette La
Vert help youth
build successful
lives during a
leadership confer­
ence at the
Immigrant and
Refugee Commu-
nityOrganization's
African House.
Kenton Puppet Shows
Penny’s Puppet Productions and the his­
toric Kenton Fire House, 8 105 N. Brandon
Ave., team up to present regular puppet
shows beginning with: "The Little Donkey
who cried M onster” on M onday, Oct. 15,
at 10a.m. Visit PennyPuppets.com or call
503-282-9207 formore information.
Friends of Trees Run
Sunday, Oct. 14, the 2nd annual Fam ily
Fun Run will kick off at O aks A m usem ent
Park, 71 (X) O aks Park W ay ; registration is
at 8:30 a.m. the run begins at 9 a.m. C on­
ta c t
5 0 3 - 2 8 2 -7 7 4 6
or
v is it
friendsoftrees.org.
AIDS Walk Portland
Sunday, Oct. 14, the 5K fundraiser walk in
support o f the C ascade AID S Project,
gets underw ay at 8:30 a.m. until noon,
starting and ending at Pioneer C ourt­
h o use S quare. T o learn m ore, visit
ca sc ad ea id s.o rg .
Literacy Volunteers Needed
The V olunteer Literacy Program at Port­
land Com m unity C ollege’ sC ascade C am ­
pus needs volunteer tutors to provide
free individualized instruction in basic
literacy. English language and math skills.
For more inform ation, contact 503-244-
3898 or visit oregonliteracy.org.
Help Loaves & Fishes
T he T w o Rivers Loaves & Fishes Center,
9009 N. Foss St., needs volunteer drivers
for m e a ls-o n -w h e e ls to en su re that
hom ebound seniors in St. Johns receive
nutritional m eals and a bit o f com panion­
ship. Call 503-988-4088 to register.
Craftsman Workshops
The N orthw est W oodw orking Studio is
registering participants for fall workshops,
classes, and lectures. Explore wood crafts­
m a n s h ip a n d le a rn th e a rt. V is it
northw estw oodw orking.com o rcall 503-
2 8 4 -1644 to sign up.
Volunteer for Crisis Line
W ant to m ake a difference in your com ­
m unity? V olunteers and advocates are
needed for the Portland W om en's Crisis
Line. T he needs include on-call advo­
cates to respond in person or over the
phone, outreach and educational efforts,
and fundraising and adm inistrative d u ­
ties. C al 1503-232-4176 for more inform a­
tion.
Youth Build
Success with
Education
At Immigrant
community conference
“T h e best rev en g e on a sy stem that d o es not
value you is to get an e d u catio n . W hat a w in -w in !”
T h o s e w o rd s w e re sp o k e n by C la u d e tte L a
V ert, a sp e cia l e d u c a tio n te a c h e r in th e R e y n o ld s
S c h o o l D istric t, at th e A fric a n Y o u th L e a d e r­
sh ip C o n fe re n c e S ep t. 2 9 at th e Im m ig ra n t and
R e fu g e e C o m m u n ity O rg a n iz a tio n .
N e a rly 100 im m ig ra n t an d r e fu g e e y o u th
fro m a w id e v a rie ty o f A fric a n n a tio n s a tte n d e d
th e c o n fe re n c e , d e s ig n e d to e m p o w e r y o u th
b e tw e e n a g e s 12 a n d 23 to su c c e e d in sc h o o l
an d life. A d d itio n a l g o a ls w ere to e s ta b lis h a
se n se o f c o m m u n ity a m o n g y o u th fro m m u l­
tip le (a n d o fte n w a rrin g ) A fric a n c u ltu re s an d
to in c re a se p e rso n a l s e lf e s te e m an d a ffirm
Rita Rakambaye and Abdikarim Mas hear a message of personal empowerment at
the African Youth Leadership Conference.
c u ltu ra l a w a re n e ss .
N eg u ssie S ado o f V irg in ia S tate U niversity,
g av e the yo u n g people ad v ice on the necessity and
m eth o d s o f ad v o catin g for th em selv es in their
schools. Sado e m ig rated from O ro m ia in E thiopia
to get an ed u catio n in the U nited States.
S p o n so red by and d ev elo p ed u n d er the g u id ­
ance o f IR C O 's A frica H ouse, the co n feren ce
w as org an ized by a co m m ittee o f y o uth, including
F atu m a M oham ed. M oham ed w as less than tw o
y ears old w hen civil w ar caused her fam ily to flee
th eir hom e in S om alia. For the next 14 years she
lived in a refugee c am p in K enya before com ing to
the U .S. as a refugee in 2004.
V alerie Palm er, a research er and d irecto r o f the
to x ico g en o m ics laboratory at the C enter for Re-
continued
Local Girl Competes
tor Junior Teen Title
Women in Community Service
fro n t
as a fin a list in th e c o m p e titio n afte r
V a n c o u v e r w ill p a r tic ip a te S u n ­
su b m ittin g an a p p lic a tio n a n d tak in g
A
V olunteer fem ale m entors are being
sought by W omen in C om m unity Service
to work with incarcerated w om en at the
C offee Creek C orrectional Facility. The
w omen provide support and encourage­
ment for inmates transitioning from prison
back into the com m unity. For inform a­
tion, call 503-570-6614.
young
w om an
asp ec t th at e a c h c o n te sta n t is ju d g e d
o n d u rin g all p h a se s o f c o m p e titio n .
T h e w in te r o f M iss J u n io r T ee n
P o rtlan d w ill c o m p e te at th e C itie s
o f A m e ric a N atio n al C o m p e titio n in
O rla n d o , Fla.
C o m m u n ity a n d b u s in e s s o r g a ­
d a y in th e M is s J u n io r T e e n P o r t­
p art in an in terv iew se ssio n . S h e w ill
n iz a tio n s an d p r iv a te in d iv id u a ls
la n d p a g e a n t.
c o m p e te in m o d e lin g ro u tin e s an d be
a re a s s is tin g D a h z h a n e p a r tic ip a te
Dahzhanc Turner was selected
Dahzhane Turner
ju d g e d o n h er p erso n a lity an d in te r­
in S u n d a y ’s c o m p e titio n as o ffic ia l
v ie w in g sk ills w h ile in te ra c tin g w ith
sp o n so rs
a ju d g in g p an el.
P e rso n a lity is th e n u m b e r o n e
;
on page H5
To
h e l p , c a ll
A nna
K le jn o w s k i at I - 8 0 0 - 5 6 9 - 2 4 8 7 o r
M a rily n T u r n e r at 3 6 0 - 5 1 8 -6 9 2 4 .