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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 22, 2016)
Diversity in the Workplace June 22, 2016 Page 5 Hope for Oak Leaf u rbAn l eAgue of P ortlAnd A nnuAl M eeting C ontinued froM P age 3 after spending eight months living in her truck. The owner of Oak Leaf has reportedly agreed to sell the park to the Community and Shelter Assistance Corp. (CASA), who would be purchasing the property on behalf of the park residents as a non-proit group, with addition- al revenues from the excise tax to make the transaction complete. In addition to following CA- SA’s lead, Corbett says the resi- dents have been making an effort to clean the park up and make it more presentable aesthetically and socially. A single mother of two, Rhon- da Polk has been Corbett’s neigh- bor at the park for over a year and feels the negative connotation that comes with trailer parks fuels nay- sayers, and hopes that tidying up the park will help save it. “It doesn’t matter if you’re pay- ing $1,300 or you’re paying $500, every place is going to have a neg- ative point. Our thing is we’re try- ing to give people a better image of this park. Let us start here to show that not all these places are bad,” Polk says. Oak Leaf is its own little com- munity in the community, a sen- timent Polk had to learn herself, after a divorce left her and her two teenage boys, ages 13 and 14, with no other option for housing. “I had the same image in my head as everyone else. I thought ‘it’s a trailer park, I don’t ever want to be there; I don’t even want to walk in there.’ But when it came to a point where I had to go there, I really needed to hum- ble myself, because these people have roofs over their head, they’re paying their rent, they can afford Third Death C ontinued froM f ront adding that bouncers at the estab- lishment aren’t really taken seri- ously. “The bouncers really don’t look like bouncers, they look kind of frail and kind of like maybe [they’re] intimidated themselves, like they really don’t secure,” she told KPTV. Donna Taylor, who has been living near the club for the last three years, told reporters that vio- lence at Skinn’s has increased and that the business should cease. “We need to close that place down, it’s not good for the neigh- borhood, it’s bad for kids, it’s just no good,” Turner told KPTV Fox 12. Calls from the Portland Ob- server to Skinn Gentlemen’s Club management for comment were not answered. it, and where was I at?” says Polk. An estimated $1.5 million would be needed to keep the park and while it seems like a lot, both Polk and Corbett feel it’s a small price to pay. “They gave Right 2 Dream a $7 million lot and support services for roughly 100 people. I’m glad they gave it to them, that commu- nity needed that assistance. But we’re a community of like size that’s asking for a fraction of that cost,” says Corbett. “Considering how much it’d save the city, it’s really not a lot to ask. The outcome of it could be amazing,” says Polk, who says the park has around 60 residents of families, senior citizens and vets that mostly require some type of government assistance. Both women expressed having no idea what’s to come next for them if the proposed tax doesn’t go through, other than homeless- ness. A plan B to help save the park has not been established. “I’m a retired nurse; my father is a retired engineer. It’s unheard of that two retired professionals can’t afford a place to live. My father asked me what we’re going to do and I tell him I don’t know. That’s all I can say,” says Cor- bett. “You shouldn’t be 80 years old and be afraid of not knowing where you’re going to live.” You are invited to attend the Urban League of Portland’s Annual Meeting to celebrate another successful year! Date: June 29, 2016 Time: 6:00 PM Place: MODA Center Rose Room 1 Center Court Street Portland, OR 97227 Join us to learn more about the work of the Urban League including our Housing, Healthy Families, Community Health, Jobs, Advocacy and Civic Engagement, and Youth Programs. During the annual meeting we will share our annual report and inancial position. Members will also elect our Board of Directors.