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.