A u g u s t 3, 2011
^Sortlanò (Observer
Mississippi
Alberta
North Portland
Page 13
MET RO
Vancouver
East County
Beaverton
A Passion for Fashion
Designer heads
to New York for
Fashion Week
by M indy C ooper
T he P ortland O bserver
' •< -
After a life-long passion for fash­
ion design, one native Portlander
and graduate from Jefferson High
School has made her way into New
York Fashion Week coming up in
September.
Larika Page, bom and raised in
northeast Portland, has always been
interested in the fashion and arts.
Page, who currently resides with
her husband and two daughters in
Atlanta, Ga., said although she
didn’t always know she would be a
fashion designer, while growing up
she would always draw a number of
different outfits, often inspired by
her families love for the industry.
A fter graduating from high­
school at the age of 16, she was tom
between two career paths, and she
decided to study accounting in col­
lege.
After working for five years as an
accountant in Georgia, however, she
resigned from her position and de­
cided it was time to follow her dream.
“I realized accounting wasn’t for
me, and I wanted to do what really
made me happy,” she said.
“I said to myself, I’m going to
take a huge risk, resigned from my
position and enrolled back in
school.”
Page said school really validated
that she was now doing the right
thing, and her first design she ever
continued
*
I
1
on page 19
Native Portlander and Jefferson High School graduate Larika Page has made her mark as a
photo from A tlanta
M agazine
fashion designer.
I
Bud Clark Commons
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j r oi ,
Th> Apartmsnt« at Bud Cl«r|< Cemmeni
Fills Need for Shelter
kt
Celebrates 10-year effort to
reduce homelessness
by M indy C ooper /T he P ortland O bserver
As the City of Portland’s 10-year-plan to end homelessness is
reaching its half way mark, government agencies, non-profits and
institutions have partnered together to get homeless people into
permanent homes after a net loss over the past several decades of
affordable housing in the downtown area.
One such effort, after nearly two years of construction, is the Bud
Clark Commons, a resource center focused on helping people expe­
riencing homelessness move closer towards stability.
continued
on page 13
Home Forward
housing managers
Rachael Duke and
Matthew Fullen
stand outside the
entrance to the Bud
Clark Commons, a
new 130-unit
housing complex
and resource center
across the street
from Union Station,
downtown, serving
low-income and
homeless residents.
PHOTO by
M indy C ooper /
T he P ortland O bserver