I I
August 25, 2010
11,1 ^Jnrtlanb (¡Observer
Page 7
A Life Skills Academy
‘Urban
Bridges’
builds
confidence
D rew D akessian
T he P ortland O bserver
On the corner o f N ortheast
Prescott Street, there is a bridge
unlike the m any other bridges
present in the city. This one does
not straddle water, but rather links
who disadvantaged youth with their
greater potential.
The place is Urban Bridges, a
non-profit life skills academy started
by local modeling instructor Patricia
Feathers in 2006, where kids are
taught to respect themselves and
others by learning good manners
and confidence.
Children are divided into what
Feathers has determined to be age-
appropriate classes, which run for
five-weeks. At the end o f the class,
Feathers takes the kids on a field trip
to Stanford’s Restaurant at the Lloyd
C en ter, w here they put their
newfound knowledge about dining
etiquette to use.
photo by D rew D akessian /T he P ortland O bserver
The majority o f participants are
male, which Feathers explains is Kelvin Bellum receives his certificate of graduation from Urban
because once young men reach high Bridges founder and director Patricia Feathers.
by
T erry F amily
F uneral
H ome
2337 N. Williams Ave.
Portland, Or 97227
503-249-1788
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and superior care o f your loved one ”
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Oregon License CO-3644
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Oregon License FS-0395
school they are at risk o f succumb­
ing to gangs. When they enter the
program, they slouch in their chairs,
are clad in sloppy attire and banter
in language laden with street slang.
But by graduation, they have un­
dergone dramatic metamorphoses.
At a graduation ceremony for
one sum m er class, 14-year-old
Kelvin Bellum is behaving strangely.
His clothes are clean and pressed
and his persona seems to be that o f
a perfect gentleman, but he is clutch­
ing at the leg o f his pants, hobbling
around the academy. Feathers re­
veals that Kelvin had just been bit­
ten by a pit bull, and while he sus­
tained no lasting injuries, there now
is a hole in his pants. But Kelvin has
just spent five weeks learning that a
respectful gentleman wears only
clothes that are intact, so he has
been trying to conceal the hole.
Laughing, Feathers explains to
him that given the circumstances,
there is an exception to this rule. At
this, Kelvin removes his hand from
his pants, and stands ramrod.
“Our children learn a lot o f really
valuable skills here,’’says Feathers,
pointing to a picture o f a six-year-
old boy striking a pose, who went
on to make it big in Hollywood. “He
has a lot o f c h a rism a , very
outgoing...he has no problem in
Califomia,”says Feathers.
Girls likewise benefit from Urban
Bridges and its variety o f offerings,
which include modeling classes,
personal grooming tips, and job in­
terview training. At the graduation
ceremony, Lundyn W arren’s poise
is perfect, and she carries herself
with aplomb well beyond her 12
years.
Unlike other finishing schools,
says Feathers, Urban Bridges is a
non-profit. Though there is a fee, at
$300, it is comparatively low.
“We never turn a family away
because they cannot afford it,” she
says, as long as “they can prove
that they really are having a finan­
cial hardship.”
Feathers and her husband often
pay out-of-pocket to put needy
children through the academy and
to fund the academy at large. For
that reason, Feathers says, she is
“desperately trying to find funders,
donations, and board members that
just love children.”
In these hard economic times,
willingly going “into the hole” is
practically unheard of. But Feathers
says the impact that Urban Bridges
can have on a child, and by exten­
sion, a whole community, is worth it.
“It’s truly a passion and a dream
come true. I always wanted to give
back to children and help them to
b e .. .the b est.. .that they can possi­
bly be.”
For more information, call Urban
Bridges at 503-493-9436 or visit
UrbanBridges.org.
Illegal Guns
continued
from front
elude people who have been con­
victed o f illegal firearm use for areas
o f the city where the problem is
particularly acute- with some vari­
ances.
“The illegal use o f firearms is a
long-standing community in the City
o f Portland. Changes to federal and
state gun laws are needed,” said
Adams in a prepared statement.
Adams mentioned that firearms
are primarily regulated at the state
and federal levels, leaving local
governments with few resources. In
June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled
that Chicago’s ban on hand guns
was essentially unconstitutional,
significantly limiting the ability o f
local governments to regulate fire­
arms.
“ In the m eantim e, due to lax
gun safety law, cities like Portland
get caught in the crossfire: liter­
ally and tragically,” Adams added.
For the next two weeks, Adams
will be soliciting input for the initia­
tives before drafting ordinances that
will be drafted into ordinances and
brought before City Council. Dur­
ing that time he is soliciting public
comment, which can be sent to
m ayorsam @ portlandoregon.gov
by Sept. 3.
Shortly after Adams made the
announcement, the Oregon Firearms
Federation released a particularly
venomous statement opposing the
initiatives. Calling the m ayor’s pro­
posals a “PR stunt” that violates
state law, the organization predicted
that they would backfire.
There is already a law on the
books that places a curfew on teen­
agers.
Although the exact language o f
the initiatives is being hammered
out, the City o f Portland has run into
problems in past years with drug or
prostitution-free zones that attempt
to exclude anyone associated with
those activities from a given area.
Critics have decried that approach
as not only ineffective, but uncon­
stitutional, and challenged them in
court.
One o f the initiatives that ex­
cludes people w ho’ve violated gun
laws from areas suffering from high
gun crime could be similarly chal­
lenged.