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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (July 8, 2015)
News Summerworks continued from page 1 hours of work during a six- to eight-week time period over the summer. There are dif- ferent types of work experiences like work and maintenance crews, junior camp coun- selors, and clerical office support. The internship prioritizes youth who lack have the opportunity to learn those skills while the stakes are pretty low,” she said. Ficht says this training helps to break the cycle where young people aren’t being hired because they don’t have previous work ex- perience. traditional professional networking oppor- tunities: 93 percent of the interns are from low income families, 76 percent are youth of color. An important part of the program is teach- ing youth employment readiness skills. Summerworks begins to look for job seek- ers in April by reaching out to 95 commu- nity partners, school districts and faith or- ganizations. From that, they get about 2,000 applicants. During the screening process the youth go through work readiness training. Ficht says this training is like an extended interview and hiring experience which helps young people develop skills in a friendly environ- ment. “It’s really trying to simulate what the ac- tual process is of applying for work, and be- ing hired, and being evaluated, so that they The program also hosts a series of re- source fairs for the youth where they learn about workplace safety, harassment and financial literacy. Part of the education in- forms the youth about predatory check cash- ing facilities and credit cards. “We want to teach them how to be respon- sible with their own money as we are giving them their first pay check,” Ficht says. The numbers of interns has grown to 750 this year from 570 the year before and 490 the year previous to last. Multnomah Coun- ty and the City of Portland are the largest sponsors of interns. Tri-Met has employed interns to conduct surveys about mass-transit experience. Mi- crochip Technology, Inc., in Gresham brings in interns to get young people interested in technology jobs in the future. Summerworks is the youth employment PHOTO COURTESY OF SUMMERWORKS An important part of the program is teaching youth employment readiness skills Pictured here is Isreal, who worked for Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) at the City of Portland. BES is sponsoring 150 youth this summer. program of Work Systems, the work force development board for the region. They are funded by the federal government to cul- tivate work force investment through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. Summerworks coordinates the program and its partner, the Immigrant & Refugee Community Organization who work direct- ly with the interns to screen, train and place them in appropriate jobs. Read the rest of this story online at www.theskanner.com Garden should be able to plant, cultivate, and maintain the memorial for several years into the future. She and a crew of more than a dozen began readying the plot for Half will go to the local chap- ter of Black PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), with the second half going to the youth program of Queer Rock The community garden...shares grounds with some unsuspecting neighbors—skinheads the oncoming abundance of plants in the days following—even get- ting a head start on the green to come, laying down some of the seeds. Mozee’s campaign was so suc- cessful she ended up with more than $500 in extra funding. Instead of using those funds to add to the garden, Mozee has pledged to donate all the excess dollars to two organizations assist- ing the lives of people of color. Camp for a scholarship created to assist a person of color with the costs of attendance. According to Mozee, the com- munity garden, located in the historically Black Portsmouth neighborhood, shares grounds with some surprising neighbors — skinheads. “Their presence has scared me away from a space I had hoped would be healing and connecting for me and I was close to giving up my plot all together,” Mozee writes on the GoFundMe page. “But I’m tired of hate winning ground. So I’m taking a stand by doing what I love to do-- create love and heal- ing for the community.” So instead of leaving, Mo- zee is planting her feet firmly at the plot—returning this time to celebrate the lives of Black people through a tradition she says is not only of practical sig- nificance, but historical as well. “Black people need to have access to grow your own food. It is really such a wonderful way to reconnect with our heritage,” Mozee says. Upon the garden’s completion, all that grows in it will be free and up for the community’s taking at any time during its opening hours. Another work day will be planned to further help set up the Black Lives Matter Memorial Gar- den in the coming weeks. Mozee will announce the next occurrence on a Facebook page PHOTO COURTESY OF GALADRIEL MOZEE continued from page 1 Portland resident Galadriel Mozee raised $840 – more than double the $350 goal – to create a memorial garden and healing space in a community garden in Portsmouth. The gar- den will commemorate lives lost to white supremacist violence. Excess contributions will be donated to Queer Rock Camp and to the Youth Program of Portland PFLAG Black Chapter. she has set up for garden to keep the public updated on its develop- ment. To stay updated on this project ‘like’ the page here: https://www. facebook.com/blmgardenpdx Churches continued from page 1 ers there is “no evidence” of a hate crime. On June 24, Briar Creek Baptist Church in North Carolina burned in the middle of the night, causing $250,000 in damage, NBC News reports. Authorities are investi- gating whether the intentional blaze was a hate crime. It took 75 firefighters to bring it under control. On June 26, Glover Grove Missionary Baptist Church in South Carolina was vir- tually destroyed in an overnight blaze, the Aiken Standard reports. While the cause of the fire is still under investigation, the FBI has been called in. Another blaze on the 26th in Florida at predominantly-Black Greater Miracle Ap- ostolic Holiness Church caused $700,000 in damage. The fire is under investigation but fire officials believe it to be accidental, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. Burning Black churches has historical sig- nificance that harkens back to the civil rights era, according to the Atlanta Black Star. “From slavery and the days of Jim Crow cation, social and political development and organizing to fight oppression,” David Love writes. The Ku Klux Klan has ramped up recruit- ing activity in the days since the Charleston Burning Black churches has historical significance that harkens back to the civil rights era through the civil rights movement and be- yond, white supremacists have targeted the Black Church because of its importance as a pillar of the Black community, the center for leadership and institution building, edu- shooting. Residents in California, Kansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and Geor- gia woke last weekend to find bags in their lawns filled with candy and Klan flyers seeking new members. White supremacist Dylann Roof, who has been charged with the attack that killed nine at Charleston’s historical Emanuel AME on June 17, left behind a racist manifesto that said, “We have no skinheads, no real KKK, no one doing anything but talking on the in- ternet. Well someone has to have the brav- ery to take it to the real world, and I guess that has to be me.” The fires also come as activists and pol- iticians begin the process of removing the Con-federate flag from public property, sparking protests. “We’re still talking about this issue and it’s 2015,” Briar Creek pastor Mannix Kinsey told CNN. “And so we all have to consider, what else do we need to do to actually be able to work together?” July 8, 2015 The Portland and Seattle Skanner Page 3
