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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 12, 2010)
Page 4 Îlî‘' ÏJortkntî» ODhsemer Racial Inequities Grow Wider Advertise with diversity in n,t' Pt ht L uk I Obsei ver Call 503-288-0055 c o n t i n u e d f r o m front I CROWN M emorial C enters C remation & B oriai Low Cost Cremation & Burial Funerals & Memorials P o rtla n d 832 NE Broadway 503-783-3393 M ilw a u k ie 17064 SE McLoughlin Blvd. 503-653-7076 May 12. 2010 T h irty p e rc e n t o f m in o ritie s d o n ’t g ra d u a te from high sch o o l, w hile only seven p ercen t o f w h ites d o n ’t. A bout h a lf o f w hites have high- paying jo b s. Less than one o f four people o f color have such w ork. “ It’s a distressing set o f data we report to you to d a y ,” said A nn C urry-Stevens, the lead researcher on the report and assistant p ro fes sor at Portland State U n iv ersity ’s School o f Social W ork, w hen p re senting the report before C ity C o u n cil last w eek. In all, in 16 so cial m e a su re s m in o ritie s hav e d e te rio ra te d o v e r the last tw o y e ars. F o u r re m a in e d the sam e. T h e o n ly tw o th at h av e sh o w n im p ro v em e n t are in a re as o f h o m e o w n e rsh ip a n d v o ter tu rn o u t. It also noted that m inorities m ake up about 45 percent o f students in Portland Public Schools. M ultnom ah C ounty is a uniquely “toxic” place for m inority com m uni ties, according to the report, w hich are w orse o ff here than oth er parts o f the c o u n try , in c lu d in g K ing C ounty (hom e to Seattle) in W ash ington State. F o r instance, A sian A m ericans tend to outperform w hites in areas o f in c o m e , e d u c a tio n , a n d hom eow nership in other parts o f the co u n try . B ut in M u ltn o m ah C ounty, A sians m ake less m oney and have a higher poverty rate. It also argues that policy m akers d o n ’t have a com plete picture o f the p r o b le m b e c a u s e o f c h r o n ic undercounting o f m inorities. A cco rd in g to C en su s B ureau data, m inorities m ake up 26 percent o f the population o f M ultnom ah C o u n ty , but the rep o rt sug g ests that the region is actually m ore d i verse than m any realize because o f u n d e rc o u n ts. T h e stu d y su g g e s ts th a t the C e n su s has a b u ilt in “ w h ite n e ss b ia s ,” an d is ill-su ite d fo r im p o v e rish e d m in o ritie s w ho freq u e n tly m o v e and m ay lack a p h o n e. M i n o ritie s c an be c o n d itio n e d to d e n y th e ir o w n id e n tity in fillin g o u t the su rv e y , an d th e re is a h is to ric d is tru s t b e tw ee n th em and the g o v e rn m e n t, sta te s th e re p o rt. W ith o u t an a c c u ra te c o u n t, the re p o rt sta te s, it w ill be very d iff i c u lt to a d d re ss th e se issu es. T he report recom m ends county, state, and city governm ents to m ake firm plans to address these d isp ari ties w ith specific benchm arks. It also calls fo r cu ltu rally -sp ecific a n ti poverty and com m unity dev elo p m ent funding. But it w as noted at the presen ta tion o f the report to the Portland City C ouncil that this is w here things get tricky. If m oney is allocated for specific ethnic groups, it m ight trig g er ch arg es o f discrim ination. “ W e ’ve got a lot o f w ork to d o,” said M ay o r Sam A dam s at the p re sen tatio n . " W e ’ve got to find a w ay to.talk about race so it d o e sn ’t seem like a zero sum g am e,” he added. T u a la tin 8970 SW Tualatin Sherwood Rd 503-885-7800 S alem 412 Lancaster Dr.NE 503-581-6265 Home Repairs Fight Displacement Housing Bureau tackles gentrification by J ake T homas W ilhoite “ ...I heard loud and clear the call fo r services to prevent the involuntary o f displacem ent o f long- s ta n d i n g , lo w - in c o m e s e n io r h o m e o w n ers in N o rth /N o rth ea st Portland and am ong m inority c o m m unities in p articu lar.” T h e b u r e a u h a s id e n tif ie d $ 120,(XX) in flexible funding it plans T he issue cam e up front and c en T he P ortland O bserver ter before the Portland D ev elo p SIMPLE CREMATION $495 The Portland H ousing B ureau is m ent C o m m issio n 's N orth/N orth- FUNERAL MASS $1,475 reaching out to residents o f north east E conom ic D evelopm ent In itia IMMEDIATE BURIAL $500 and northeast Portland w ho m ight tive last January, a com m unity group be struggling w ith a m ortgage or that is evaluating the expansion o f No Hidden Costs, Guaranteed need help to accom plish m ajor re u rb an ren ew al in th e a re a an d Privately Owned Cremation Facility pairs on their hom es. T he aim o f reconfiguring funding priorities. to use for a pilot project, operated Locally owned and operated their new efforts is to keep seniors Present at the m eeting w as M ar by a com m unity-based organization by Oregon families and m inorities in the gentrifying garet V an V liet, the d irecto r o f the that will connect hom eow ners w ith www. A Ne wTrad i t ion. co m region from being displaced and bureau, w ho w rote in a follow up existing program s run by the H ous m aintain w ealth in the com m unity. letter to PD C C om m issioner Charles ing B ureau, the Portland D ev elo p m ent C om m ission, and various n on profits that help fix up th eir houses o r avoid foreclosure. H ousing B ureau spokesperson M aileen H am to said the city hopes to provide direct outreach, tech n i cal assistance, and follow -up ser v ices to 80 lo w -in c o m e , sen io r hom eow ners in north and northeast w ith the pilot project. T he bureau is accepting p ro p o s als from com m unity organizations to ad m in ister the program , acco rd ing to H am to, and hopes to have it up and running by July. T he details o f the program will d epend on w hat sort o f proposals the H ousing B u reau ends up getting, she added. “ W e ’re pretty open to how that WE PICK UP YOUR OLD FRIDGE. YOU PICK UP $30. w ill play o u t,” said H am to, w ho ad d ed that several o rg an izatio n s Fridges and freezers from the 1990s and earlier are big energy-wasters that cost up to $ 20 0 have expressed interest, including per year to run. Recycle yours with help from Energy Trust of Oregon and pocket the savings. S ab in C o m m u n ity D ev elo p m en t C orporation, the A frican-A m erican SCHEDULE G ET $ 3 0 SAVE C ham ber o f C om m erce, and the Port your free in-home pick up. for unplugging and recycling month after month on your land H ousing C enter. C a in 8 6 6 .4 4 4 .8 9 0 7 or visit your old fridge or freezer. energy bills. Plus, 95% of each T he Portland H ousing B ureau our website. It's quick and unit gets recycled. runs a grant program that gives $5,000 convenient. to lo w -in c o m e a n d d is a b le d hom eow ners to help with em ergency and m inor hom e repair services, Learn more at www.energytrust.org/fridgerecyding w eatherization, and accessibility im Fridges and freezers must be between 10 and 30 cubic provem ents. There are also a num ber feet and in working condition. o f free counseling services for people facing foreclosure o f their homes. W e serve custom ers of Portland General Electric, B ernice H om buckle w elcom ed Pacific Power, N W Natural and Cascade Natural Gas. of Oregon the low -interest Ioan she took to fix up h er hom e as part o f a program YOUR OLD FRIDGE HAS WASTED ITS LAST DOLLAR 1 2 3 EnergyTrust offered to people by the P D C living w ithin the Interstate C orridor U rban R enew al A rea. H er ro o f had been stripped bare from too m any storm y nights, and her ch im n ey w as steadily shedding bricks. “E very tim e the w ind blew , you needed to get ready to go and clean up ro o f p ap er from the y ard,” she said. But that changed w hen she got the $8,000 loan from the PD C to fix up h er northeast house, w hich now belies its fo rm er state o f disrepair. T he H o u sin g B ureau d o e s n ’t have any hard num bers on disp lace m ent for north and northeast P ort land, said H am to, but the co m m u nity organization that runs the p ro gram will be ch arg ed w ith getting that data. In the m eantim e, it w ants to create m ore success stories like H o m b u ck le’s. In M arch, the H ousing B ureau held a m eeting w ith a num ber o f co m m u n ity o rganizations to d is cuss the program . A follow up letter from V an V ilet contains a sum m ary o f co m m en ts m ade by rep resen ta tives from various com m unity o rg a nizations present at the m eeting. Som e o f them contend that m any housing program s are already o v e r burdened, and that the $120,000 contract w o n ’t solve the problem . Even H am to can ’ t explain how hom e rep air loans w ill keep people from being displaced. H o m b u ck le, sitting in the tidy dining room o f h er house, said she knew about the program that fixed h er house because h er m other, w ho had ow ned it before her, had used a sim ilar one decades ago to repair the basem ent. W hen asked how the H ousing B ureau m ight do b etter outreach, she said that advertisem ents, and fliers co u ld help. B ut a truly effec tive m ethod is w ord o f m outh, she said.
