August 26, 2015
The
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INSIDE
Week in Review
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This page
Sponsored by:
L ocal N ews
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O pinion
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M etro
photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Dorothy Rodriguez-Anderson, founder and president of the My Life Directive Foundation, reaches out
to Vancouver’s homeless women population to offer much-needed support.
Helping
the
Homeless
Vancouver advocate petitions for women’s shelter
O livia O livia
T he P ortland O bserver
A local activist with a passion for helping those
in need is working tirelessly to garner attention and
resources for the homeless women of Vancouver.
Dorothy Rodriguez-Anderson has already round-
ed up local volunteers and helped gather a slew of
donated food and materials for homeless camps.
Her work as founder of the non-profit foundation
My Life Directive has helped better connect Van-
couver’s homeless with each other and with her re-
sources, and many residents in need have come to
know her and rely on her for material supplies and
emotional support.
Anderson, however, says she needs the city’s
help to move forward. She is asking the Vancouver
City Council to help create a shelter specifically for
homeless women. With over 40,000 supporters on
her online petition, she is hoping community pres-
sure will help bring resources to a local community
by
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8-13
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
C lassifieds
C alendar
F ood
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C ontinued on P age 5
Fund to Support Minority Entrepreneurs
Jurisdictions
join forces to
raise $3 million
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in need.
“Each night that I spend with these girls watching
them struggle, afraid and uncertain, I keep asking
myself how long they will continue to be ignored.
It’s horrific,” Anderson said.
Astounded by the enormity of the problem, she
cannot imagine overlooking the needs of people liv-
ing on the streets. Because she too was homeless as
a young teen, she has firsthand experience on what
people face when they don’t have a safe place to lay
their heads.
Anderson says she wants Vancouver to create a
women’s shelter in specific because of the kind of
violence women in particular find on the streets of
the city. Homeless woman are raped and beaten so
often they don’t even report it because they are vic-
tim-blamed when they do, she said.
“To be raped and then have to suffer a rape exam
O livia O livia
T he P ortland O bserver
by
Portland’s economic develop-
ment agency, Portland Develop-
ment Commission, has launched
a startup fund specifically dedi-
cated supporting and cultivating
entrepreneurs from local African
Americans and other underrepre-
sented populations.
The Inclusive Startup Fund be-
gins with $500,000 contributions
each from the PDC and Mult-
nomah County, and a $250,000
commitment by the state of Or-
egon through the office of Gov.
C ontinued on P age 5