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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 23, 2022)
Febuary 23, 2022 Page 5 Equity Lens on Bridge Replacement Housing Advocates Lobby Lawmakers The nonprofit The Com- munity Alliance of Tenants is calling on Oregon legislators to include $100 million in the budget for housing stability and homelessness prevention services during the current leg- islative Session. The group is emphasizing the need for more funding to support the work of commu- nity organizations providing housing stability and home- lessness prevention services, including emergency rent as- sistance, temporary shelter as- sistance, assistance with appli- cation fees and deposits, rapid re-housing services and wrap- around services. Communities across the state are struggling to manage some of the highest rates of rent bur- dens and unsheltered homeless- ness in the nation. At the same time, Oregonians continue to be impacted by instability due to the pandemic. “Oregon’s housing crisis, and the pandemic conditions Marcus Mundy that exacerbated it, have dis- proportionately affected people of color, families, and low-in- come communities,” said Marcus Mundy, executive director of the Coalition of Communities of Color. “We are joining the call for additional funding because we agree our state needs a comprehensive solution to secure housing and prevent homelessness.” The twin I-5 bridges over the Columbia River between Portland and Vancouver are aging and are need of replacement, according to transportation officials Forum to address black community concerns Transportation leaders and are reaching out to the Black commu- nity as plans to replace the twin I-5 bridges over the Columbia River between north Portland and Vancouver move forward. The Interstate Bridge Replace- ment program will host “Black Communities and their Rela- tionships with Infrastructure,” highlighting the importance of learning from the history of trans- portation infrastructure and the resulting displacement of Black communities, on Friday, Feb. 25 from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The virtual roundtable dis- cussion will feature prominent local Black leaders discussing how lessons learned from past harms are elevating equity-fo- cused practices into current-day infrastructure projects. Greg Johnson, IBR program administrator, will be joined by Portland City Commissioner and IBR Executive Steering Group member Jo Ann Hardesty, Van- couver NAACP President and IBR Community Advisory Group member Jasmine Tolbert, Director of Outreach & Community En- gagement in Global Diversity & Inclusion for Portland State Uni- versity and IBR program Com- munity Advisory Group Co-Chair Ed Washington, IBR program Principal Equity Officer Johnell Bell, and Assistant Professor at Portland State University and IBR program Equity Advisory Group Facilitator Dr. Roberta Hunte. The session will be live- streamed on the Internet, avail- able for playback on YouTube, and the IBR program Facebook page. To learn more, visit inter- statebridge.org. State Farm R Michael E Harper Agent Providing Insurance and Financial Services Home Office, Bloomingon, Illinois 61710 We are located at: 9713 S.W. Capitol, Portland, OR 503-221-3050 • Fax 503-227-8757 michael.harper.cuik@statefarm.com
