Portland observer., May 15, 2019, Image 1

‘City
of
Roses’
Volume XLVIII • Number 18
Blazers in
West Finals
Farmers
Markets Open
Blazermania in
overdrive as team
advances
King and others
coming on line
for summer
See Local News, page 3
See Metro, page 7
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • May 15, 2019
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
photo by D anny p eterson /t he p ortlanD o bserver
Trudy Pollard, 71, a lifelong resident of the Woodlawn Neighborhood, is part of a group of community advocates trying to keep the former Woodlawn United Methodist
Church property at Northeast 15th and Dekum in public service use. A home to Albina Head Start for generations and another non-profit, residents of the inner city
neighborhood fear the site will be sold away and lost to gentrification.
Sale Worries Neighbors
Woodlawn wants community use; fears more gentrification
by D anny p eterson
t he p ortlanD o bserver
Advocates of the black community are
rallying to retain public use of a Method-
ist church in the Woodlawn neighborhood
where it serves Albina Head Start and other
community uses, but they fear the property
may sold out from under them, displacing the
child development center and a smaller con-
gregation church .
The owners of former Woodlawn Unit-
ed Methodist Church, which has long been
in use by Albina Head Start and other com-
munity services at Northeast 15th Avenue
and Dekum Street, signaled on May 1 that
it would prioritize the sale of the property to
its current tenants, Albina Head Start and De-
liverance Center of Generation X Church—
which are both interesting in purchasing it.
But those hopes for a purchase waned
among stakeholders last week when a real
estate broker gave a tour to 10-15 other po-
tential buyers.
Albina Head Start Executive Director
Ronnie Herndon and a representative for the
Deliverance Center told the Portland Observ-
er that an outreach to the commercial market
raises alarm bells for them, since both non-
profits were still waiting to get answers to
their inquires to purchase the property.
“The words are one thing, but what’s
happening is completely different,” Herndon
said. “It’s very unsettling and there was no
attempt again to discuss the purchase of the
building with Albina before they put it on the
market, which they could’ve done.”
Herndon said Albina Head Start has sent
an intent letter to purchase the property “at
or near market value,” and has been told to
expect a reply by the end of this week, by
May 17.
Albina Head Start is a non-profit that as-
sists low-income children and families with
preschool activities and other social services
and support.
In its recent letter addressing community
concerns, the United Methodist Church Or-
egon-Idaho Conference said it hopes to seek
a non-profit or other public service provider
to purchase the property at or near market
value.
“We are especially mindful of the decline
of communities of color in gentrifying urban
centers, including Portland. At the Woodlawn
site, we have been blessed for many years to
be in partnership with the community, this
has included the Albina Head Start program
and more recently the Deliverance Center for
Generation X,” wrote Greg Nelson, commu-
nications director for the regional Methodists
group. “With that in mind, the conference’s
priority is to seek a non-profit or other service
provider to purchase the property at or near
market value.”
The letter coincided with church represen-
tatives Daniel Wilson-Fey and Rev. Leroy
Barber attending a Woodlawn Neighborhood
Association meeting, in order “to be in con-
versation with the neighborhood,” Nelson
said. It came after many community mem-
bers and activists asked the church confer-
ence to hold off on putting the church for sale
on the open real estate market.
Nelson told the Portland Observer via
email Friday that despite a real estate agent
showing the property, that “it was not unusu-
al to continue conversations with other possi-
ble buyers even when one offer has been sub-
C ontinueD on p age 11