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PAL
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happen,” says Williams. “That’s what I am
here for— to give these kids opportunities.”
A former arena football player, Williams’
can-do attitude and infectiously positive
leadership have helped bring teens into the
center for evening basketball and socializa-
tion.
POIC gang outreach worker, Robert
Blake brings teens off the streets into the
center and connects them to other cru-
cial resources.
“Working with Jay and being in the
PAL building has been great,” Blake
told The Skanner News in February.
“It’s electric when you walk through
these doors. It’s positive, and that feel-
ing is contagious.”
Rockwood and its surrounding neighbor-
hoods are home to an influx of poor fami-
lies; some gentrified out of the inner North
and Northeast. Unemployment, and espe-
cially youth unemployment, is sky-high.
Blake points out that high-crime, high-
poverty neighborhoods are the perfect
recruiting ground for gangs. Children
whose families are struggling to pay
the rent and put food on the table sim-
ply don’t have warm, comfortable
dens where they can snack on milk
and cookies while they finish their
homework, watch television or play
video games.
PAL is what gang prevention and
intervention look like at the grass
roots level. Without PAL, Blake says,
many more teens would be hanging
around on street corners or jumping
rides on the MAX, just to have a place to be
and something to do.
“Some of these kids won’t eat anything all
day, except what they get to eat at PAL,”
Blake says.
By the time youth enter the club, he esti-
mates, about 15 percent already see them-
signature multi-sports camp at Portland
State University. It also runs a Westside
Youth Center on Allen Boulevard in
Beaverton.
The contrast between the Beaverton and
East Portland centers is startling. The
Beaverton Center is a state-of-the-art
facility with a good Internet connection
and computers courtesy of partnerships
with NIKE, Intel and IBM.
The Eastside Center is in desperate
need of renovation. Leased to PAL by the
City of Gresham for the nominal sum of
$1 a year, it has a leaking roof, a peeling
— Jay Williams, PAL floor (rumored to contain asbestos), and
other structural problems. Unlike the
Beaverton center, its Internet connection
youth and teach sports at its signature sum- and its three donated computers are unreli-
mer camps. PAL’s board of directors able. The teen room doesn’t have Internet at
includes high-ranking police officers and the moment.
PAL has plenty of rules that keep every-
representatives from the FBI, the ATF as
well as from Comcast, Safeway and Stan- one safe. No gang attire. Be respectful to
one another. Take turns in the games room.
dard Insurance.
To supplement the limited funds it gets In February, staff told The Skanner that
PAL’s two unwritten rules that may
define its mission best:
No kid is ever turned away. No kid
leaves hungry.
That first pledge is holding up this
summer.
“One of the things PAL prides itself
on is that we don’t turn kids away,”
says Ten Eyck.
The second now looks less secure.
“On Friday nights we buy at least 30
boxes of pizza and they are gone with-
in 15 minutes,” Williams said several
from the City of Portland, Multnomah weeks ago. “We buy birthday cakes and we
County, and the national office, PAL has to have barbecues. So if you don’t get to have
a birthday at home, you get to have one at
raise funds.
The youth organization has a big footprint PAL.”
But last week snacks and pizza were off
in the Portland-metro region, with youth
football and basketball leagues, spring the menu. The center just doesn’t have the
break and summer camps, and a four-week money to buy them.
selves as part of a gang.
PAL is short for Police Activities League,
a national youth organization with local
affiliates. Contrary to widespread belief,
PAL is a nonprofit, not part of the police
bureau. Police officers visit the club, mentor
‘We have 185 kids who
believe in everything we
do, because they have a
voice in everything we do’
POIC offered PAL $20,000 to
help with renovations. But
without the rest of the funds
secured to complete the work
by POIC’s September
deadline, PAL couldn’t accept
Isaiah (L) and Alex, both already
parents, are regulars at the PAL center.
Both are featured in our video about
PAL on The Skanner News YouTube
channel
Patricia Day Ten Eyck, came to Greater
Portland PAL as executive director 18
months ago. As executive director for the
local Habitat for Humanity she won an
award for expanding the nonprofit’s fund-
ing base. At PAL she had plenty of catch up
to do.
“This last year has been about dealing
with the infrastructure of the organization,”
she said.
“Now I think we are in a very good place.
The staff we have now is just awesome and
dedicated and enthusiastic. They really care
about the kids.”
Now Ten Eyck is working to build finan-
cial support for the programs, and raise
money to repair the East Portland Youth
Center. The long-term goal is to raise
upwards of $150,000 for renovations, she
says. In the short term, replacing the roof is
the first priority. PAL has secured funding to
do just that through a City of Gresham fed-
eral community development block grant.
Ten Eyck hopes that the work won’t force
the center to close.
“We were really reluctant to close down
See PAL on page 10
July 4th, 2012 The Portland Skanner Page 9