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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 10, 2018)
Martin Luther King Jr. Page 30 2018 special edition O PINION January 10, 2018 Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views of the Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com. Dreams of Owning a Home in My Neighborhood Pathway 1000 presents a path forward by Sommer Martin The thought of attending a work event on a Saturday morning was making my foot swell. Thoughts of staying home with a hot cup of tea, self-help book, blanket and home- cooked meal were out the window, as my company, Portland Commu- nity Reinvestment Initiatives, Inc. (PCRI), was hosting its second Pathway 1000 Homeownership Education Forum at the Portland Metropolitan Workforce Training Center, a few miles away from my mother’s house, with whom I live with, begrudgingly. Let’s face it, I am in my early 30’s, I work full-time, and the only affordable place for me to reside in Portland is a shared living space with ye ole Mother Hen. It is as live- ly as it sounds. It was incredibly grey that Sat- urday morning. The drive over was slow with the melodic sounds of rain. The movement from wind- shield wipers made me even sleep- ier. More hateful, I arrived at the location a few minutes early, to see a small number of cars scattered like confetti around the parking lot. After parking, I noticed a woman walking briskly to the event space trying to escape rain and wind, all the while trying to keep her outfit dry and her hairstyle intact. I gig- gled to myself. ‘I feel you, sis.’ My umbrella went up, and I jogged to the front door. Inside were a few people sit- ting, standing and milling about, snacking on delectables from our continental Panera Bread breakfast. I made a beeline towards the food and found a cozy spot next to Jack- ie Butts, Homeownership Program Manager for the Portland Housing Center, one of our featured guest photo by Suzanne Veaudry/PCRI Sommer Martin considers the possibilities of home ownership during a Pathway 1000 Home Ownership Education Forum by Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives, Inc. (PCRI) speakers. After a brief conversation catching each other up on our lives, I began to see more people from the community tickle in. But my coffee had not yet taken effect and I was set on everybody within a five mile radius knowing I was only there for work, and that I would prefer to be in my bed. Maxine Fitzpatrick, PCRI’s ex- ecutive director, walked in and there was a visible sigh of relief from Yvette Davis, the organization’s Homeownership Program Coor- dinator. The show could not start without Maxine. Introduced to a room full of ea- ger ears, Fitzpatrick spoke about her initial 5-year commitment to PCRI and Portland, and how she ended up staying another 20 years. She spoke of PCRI’s homeownership initia- tive, Pathway 1000, which will in- volve building 1,000 units of afford- able housing. The new construction sites are in north and northeast Port- land and include townhomes, space for commercial businesses, and The Beatrice Morrow and King Park apartments. With comedic timing laced with facts about generational poverty in the black community, Portland spe- cifically, Fitzpatrick described how Pathway 1000 would combat gener- ational poverty through job training, improving educational pursuits, and homeownership. “The city reneged on its urban renewal plan, but you have a right to return to your neighborhood,” she explained. I thought, “What is keeping me from owning a home in my old neighborhood?” My family owned the four bed- room two bath home I grew up in. I knew nothing about what it took to keep our house up and running, how it helped our family financially, or the home buying process. I just remember how it felt. It felt good to come home from school, and know our house was ours. It felt good not “living on top” of other people in an apartment complex. It felt good investing in our neighbors and vice versa. It even felt good witnessing the pride my mother took in her garden. We ended up selling the house. The reasoning behind doing so was that there was too much space and not enough people to inhabit it af- ter my brothers and I moved out. We didn’t think far enough into the future of how this sale would affect all of us. Our beautiful home now belongs to a white family, and each of us either rent rooms or reside in apartment complexes. Just thinking about not having our family home anymore was so upsetting. I could feel the anger be- gin to radiate from my kneecaps as the words from Hosea 4:6 crept into my mind, “My people perish from the lack of knowledge.” A concise yet informative You- Tube video from John Hope Bry- ant of Operation Hope, followed. Bryant was speaking with Roland Martin, host of NewsOne, about the rules of economic liberation and how we, as black people, “didn’t get the memo,” about building up our credit scores. “We are living in economic slav- ery right now,” Bryant said. Wow. What a sobering statement. As an undergraduate student from Oregon, I remember arriving for col- lege in Tennessee, and the first thing I did was apply for a credit card. I did not read any of the small print, compare credit cards or anything. I just started swiping. And you get a meal! And you get a meal! And you get a meal! My friends and I would go shopping, and I would apply for credit cards in the store. Swipe, swipe, swipe! In my mind, this was free money. Free money with no re- sponsibility was my mindset for the next few years. Those decisions I Never Give Up Fighting for What You Believe In Let courage, faith and hope guide you by Marian Wright Edelman This is a time to stand and fight for the futures of our children and the soul of our nation with all our might! I am strength- ened every morning by reading these words over my kitchen sink — based on a poem first published in 1905 and anony- mously adapted over the years. Its bottom line: Never, ever give up fighting for what you believe in. If you think you are beaten, you are; If you think that you dare not, you don’t; If you’d like to win, but you think you can’t. It’s almost a cinch that you won’t. If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost; For out in the world you’ll find success begins with a fellow’s will. It’s all in the state of mind. Full many a race is lost; Ere even a step is run, And many a coward falls; Ere even his work’s begun. Think high and your deeds will grow; Think low and you’ll fall behind. Think that you can and made then, are the reasons why I am where I am financially now. I have to clean up what I’ve messed up. After the video, Wyman Win- ston of WHEDA took the podium. “Make a conscious decision not to be a tenant,” he said. I began to sit up a bit straighter. “It’s cheaper to own a home than to rent. Home- ownership will keep more money in your pocket. You have to begin with your sense of who you are. What are you doing?” Hmmm. .what am I doing? Sit- ting on my mother’s couch, under a blanket, drinking tea, reading self- help books and eating homemade food. These things sound like fun, but I could be doing all these things in my own home. Jackie Butts’ presentation on the partnership between PCRI and the Portland Housing Center interrupt- ed by daydreaming. The center pro- vides Getting Your House in Order classes, culturally-specific financial education for African-American and Hispanic people, in addition to homeownership counseling. Butts took us through a Five C’s of Credit exercise. She encouraged us to look at our finances, our bud- get, and get homeownership coun- seling because, “with homeowner- ship counseling, you are 30 percent less likely to go into foreclosure.” In the end, I thought the forum was a success. It forced me to look at my finances and homeownership dif- ferently. It helped me imagine what I want to see change in Portland. I want to see black and brown people walking their dogs, in their neigh- borhoods, riding their bikes, going to their stores, buying from their businesses, and taking their children to their neighborhood schools. I feel empowered to be an active member of an economic movement in my city where I get to see people who look like me, thriving. Sommer Martin is media coordi- nator for Portland Community Re- investment Initiatives, Inc. (PCRI) many child dreams and hopes that violence, homelessness, hunger, poverty, and drugs turn to dust. Be you will. It’s all in the state of many years of labor. Be Thou my Thou my and their dreamkeeper mind. strength, energy, and persever- and grant them hope and help in If you think you’re outclassed, you ance. our times. are; You have to think high to rise. O God, Thou knowest that my Thank You, God, for hearing my cries You have to be sure of yourself, internal nerve and voice quaver as You heard Hagar’s long ago. Before you can win a prize. unconfidently amidst all those who You do not need to know pre- Life’s battles don’t always go to the speak with unjust certainty. Be cisely what is happening or exactly stronger or faster man, But sooner Thou my confidence and clarity where it is all going. What you need or later the man who wins, is the and anchor. is to recognize the challenges and fellow who thinks he can. O God, Thou knowest how scat- opportunities offered by the pres- I also share a prayer of surrender: tered are my thoughts and activ- ent moment and embrace them with O God, Thou knowest that I cannot ities that tire me out and drain courage, faith, and hope. read, understand, or retain all I my energy. Be Thou my focus and Let’s keep building the nation think I need to know. order my words and steps to meet and world all our children need and Remember for me and understand our children’s needs. deserve. for me what I do need to know. O God, Thou knowest my dreams Marian Wright Edelman is Presi- O God, Thou knowest I am bone and hopes for the children of dent of the Children’s Defense Fund. weary and worn down after America and of the world and the
