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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 2020)
Make a Plan to Discrimination Cases Explode ‘Shopping while Black’ lawsuits sound alarm See Local News, page 3 Established in 1970 Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3 PO QR code ‘City of Roses’ Volume XLVIV • Number 22 www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • October 21, 2020 Committed to Cultural Diversity A Hero for Community Health Lessie Williams honored for helping families most at risk A long-time champion for community health from Portland’s African American community has been honored as a national hero for her work tack- ling racial disparities in healthcare for families most at risk. Lessie Williams is the first recipient of the REACH (Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Com- munity Health) Lark Galloway-Gilliam Award for Advancing Health Equity from the Centers for Dis- ease Control and Prevention, one of the major op- erating components of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. Through her church’s non-profit organization, Highland Haven, Williams is credited with creat- ing youth violence prevention programs, expanding access to culturally-relevant mental health services and launching culturally tailored health programs to improve health behaviors such as healthy eating, physical activity and tobacco cessation. Recently retired as executive director of High- land Haven, where she spent 20 years building up and believing in the young people she serves and working alongside Pastor W.G. Hardy, who passed away in 2018. Williams is also credited with organizing a net- C ontinued on P age 4 Lessie Williams has been honed as a community hero by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for tackling racial disparities in health. Ballots Returned at a Record Pace Presidential turnout could be highest since 1908 In Oregon, ballots must be returned by 8 p.m. Election Day, Nov. 3. Postmarks do not count. Ballots for the 2020 election start- ed arriving in mailboxes of Oregon voters last week, and so far more than 88,000 people have casted their vote at a record pace, following suit with the nationwide early voting trends. By comparison, at this time during the 2016 presidential elec- tion, 12,591 ballots were returned in Oregon. In 2012 it was less than 10,000. The Elections Division of the Or- egon Secretary of State released the unofficial ballot returns count Mon- day. Nearly 3 million people are reg- istered to vote in Oregon, a 15% increase from the 2016 election. A portion of the influx of registered voters in the state can be attribut- ed to Oregon’s Motor Voter Act in 2016, which made voter registration automatic when Oregonians obtain or renew their driver’s licenses. To no surprise, the county with the most ballots returned thus far C ontinued on P age 4