local news
Grant
Campaign launched
continued from page 1
hol and other drugs and the availability of
weapons,” she says.
“But there’s are also a number of other
factors that can be protective against vio-
lence even in the presence of risk factors,
and those are things like: young people
having caring adults in their lives, high
expectations, that there are economic
opportunities for youth and adults within
neighborhoods, strong social networks and
meaningful opportunities for young peo-
ple.”
Multnomah County is one of four public
health departments in line to receive CDC
funding through the $4.5 million STRYVE
(Striving To Reduce Youth Violence
ed, said Tom Towslee, communications
director for Sen. Ron Wyden. “It’s a long
process and we will be doing everything we
can to make sure that funding is continued.”
The budget has not yet been voted on by
the full Senate. And the U.S. House of
Representatives also has an opportunity to
restore the funds. So the decision still could
be reversed, if legislators hear dissent from
their districts.
Oregon Sens. Wyden and Merkeley say
they will work to restore funding for youth
violence prevention in the Senate, and
advocates are asking citizens to contact
their Washington DC delegations and keep
the issue on the front burner.
Multnomah
County was cho-
sen
for
the
STRYVE
grant
because statistics
show North and
Northeast Portland
qualifies as a high-
risk community.
Just 12 percent of
Portland’s young
people aged 10 to
24 live in North
and Northeast, but they account for 18 per-
cent of youth homicides. African American
and Latino youth are at higher risk. Young
Black men, for example, have a homicide
rate seven times higher than other youth.
“For many years, many, many people in
this community have wanted funding to cre-
ate a comprehensive prevention plan,”
Wiggins says. “What has tended to be fund-
ed are intervention and suppression initia-
tives. “ We wanted to stop youth violence
before it starts.”
Spread over five years, the $1.125 million
grant was slated to hire two project coordi-
nators who would support a coalition of
Oregon Sens. Wyden and Merkeley
say they will work to restore funding
for youth violence prevention in the
Senate
Everywhere) program. The other three pro-
grams funded this year are in Boston,
Houston and Salinas, Calif.
“What this does is it takes all the youth
violence prevention funding out of the CDC
and says that the Department of Justice is
solely responsible for youth violence,”
Davis said.
“So that’s waiting for our Justice system
to help keep our kids safe. What that means
on the ground is that the planning dollars to
plan and implement effective prevention
approaches won’t be there. “
The decision doesn’t affect this year’s
funding, which already has been appropriat-
Teressa Raiford launched her campaign for Portland City Commissioner,
Friday Sept. 23, with a party, which was also her birthday party at “No
limits Stickers on N.E. 17th Avenue and Alberta Street. She is running for
Position 1 as a challenger to Commissioner Amanda Fritz. Helen Silvis
photo
government agencies and community
groups. The county’s Local Public Safety
Coordinating Council already has a sub-
committee working to prevent gangs and
youth violence. That group includes advo-
cates such as Marcus Mundy of The Urban
League, Kayse Jama from the Center for
Intercultural Organizing, and Grant High
School student Roneesha Kennedy as well
as representatives from law enforcement,
Portland State University, and city, state and
county government.
Wiggins said the list doesn’t yet include
everyone who needs to be there, including
more people involved in grassroots organiz-
ing. In recent months, Portland has seen
several grassroots youth violence preven-
tion efforts spring up. The 11:45 initiative,
sponsored by several local churches, for
example has signed up more than 200 vol-
unteers. Mayor Sam Adams recently select-
ed 11:45 group to receive the Spirit of
Portland Award.
rals;
— Black Studies, a college preparation
class offered in partnership with PSU.
Hundreds of students have passed
through REAP’s leadership programs,
and thousands more have participated
in talks, forums and events led by
REAP’s student leaders.
“We have found that the solution is
young
people – they’re not the prob-
--Mark Jackson, REAP
lem, they’re the solution,” Jackson
says. “So this 10th year anniversary
celebration is going to showcase what
we’ve done to bring students to the
creation of a “success plan” focused on aca- table – not as mentees, but as decision mak-
demic achievement and school safety. Reap ers.”
“What you need is in the seed – so no tree
says 75 percent of the students in
Reflections do not go on to repeated refer- ever went to Home Depot and bought leaves
and fruit,” says Sunshine Dixon.
“Everything was in the seed, but what is in
the earth around that seed can limit what’s
produced by it. If the wrong things are in the
soil then you don’t see the potential and the
fruit is weakened.
“We can strengthen our community, we
can strengthen our tax base, we could lower
the need for social services or eliminate
some by fertilizing the seed,” Dixon says.
“We need to be different in our thinking,”
Jackson said. “Oregon students are less edu-
cated than their parents, Oregon students
have a lower achievement level.
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REAP
continued from page 1
Jackson says.
One of the premiere youth empowerment
organizations in the metro area, REAP’s
programs include:
— The annual Challenge Conference
and Challenge Camp, with activities,
motivational speakers (including the
kids themselves) and community lead-
ers.
— Solutions leadership diversity
program, in which kids are assigned
individual mentors from local institu-
tions such as Portland State University,
Nike, Intel, local government agencies
and companies; their parents are strongly
networked into the program through Parents
4 Success.
— The Reflections drop-out prevention
program, which puts students on in-school
suspension into a structured support net-
work providing tutoring, classwork, and
‘We need to be different in
our thinking’
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Hope
continued from page 1
boots and a saw horse hand-built by the
worker (required equipment for many
trades); a portfolio of job experience includ-
ing construction work on an array of volun-
teer projects that partner with Constructing
Hope; and relationships with members of
The heart of the
program is a nine-
week construction
pre-apprenticeship
training
the trade unions or companies that do the
hiring – and the training –
including Laborers Local 296,
the International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers, and the
Oregon and Southern Idaho
Laborers.
The benchmark certifications
alone are daunting: tests on
introduction to blueprint read-
ing; math basics; tool identification; and
hands-on training are just a start.
Daniels says the biggest component of the
program is life skills.
“If you’re late, you’re out,” Daniels says.
“If you come unprepared, you’re out. If you
skip class, you’re out.
Hoffman Construction and other companies
come in and interview the appli-
cants for the training program, so
that we have industry helping select
the people that we invest this train-
ing in,” Daniels says. “That way
everybody’s on the same page – the
students, and the people who are
doing the hiring at the end.”
Since last year, Daniels says,
they’ve added more math components to
their training to help students do better.
‘If you’re late, you’re out. If you
come unprepared, you’re out. If
you skip class, you’re out
“On the other hand, if you come prepared
and put out your best effort, we will help
you meet the job qualifications and get you
employed,” she says.
“Once thing we’ve done differently since
last year is we have individuals from
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September 28, 2011 The Portland Skanner page 3