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Îlî‘' ÏJortkntî» ODhsemer
Racial Inequities Grow Wider
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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.