News
Urban League
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already assigning three staffers to the group’s new satellite
office, housed at the Rosewood Initiative on 162nd Ave. and
Stark Street, an area that has seen a major uptick in African
American and other underserved populations in the last de-
cade.
Also, Harmon Johnson helped in transitioning Midge Pur-
cell out of her position as policy advisor as she prepped for
her retirement last month. Working with predecessor Mi-
chael Alexander and other League staffers, she helped to
divide the post she says Purcell herself “created from the
ground up” into two more jobs: a Policy director and an
organizing director.
With her already making some important steps in her new
post, The Skanner News decided to sit down with Harmon
Johnson at the Urban League of Portland’s headquarters to
her vision for the organization, upcoming elections, racist
symbols and the role of community in Oregon.
The Skanner News: What do you hope to keep from your
predecessor Michael Alexander’s work as president, and in
what ways do you hope to differ your work at the helm of
the Urban League of Oregon?
NHJ: I could not have had a better predecessor. He’s tre-
mendously supportive of me, and I say that presently. One
of the things I’m continuing from his work is Alexander’s
commitment to accessing funds for the league. He did an
excellent job at that and I will do right by the legacy.
One thing I intend to do is highlight the good work that
we’ve done in 70 years. This organization is 70 years old,
that’s older than most of the people talking about it. When
you look back at any organization, whether it be Les Schwab
or the Trail Blazers, there’s always rocky periods. But we’ve
created things in this community. Some of the things even I
have to learn about, like Big Brothers, Big Sisters — that’s
the Urban League. If we say we’re creating something new,
that means you should bank on us. That’s what our track
record says.
TSN: What is the role of community in the Urban League’s
mission right now?
NHJ: When we talk to the people who hold the check-
books for our community — simply, it is not enough. They’ll
usually say [there’s a million here] we’re going to divide be-
tween these various community organizations. I would like
to see more people join the Urban League. The community
is great. When the Urban League calls, they answer. That’s
‘If we say we’re creating
something new, that means you
should bank on us’
because we call, we’re on the front porch. We call from their
kids’ schools. We’re there.
What we do better is hold people accountable. There are
people who make promises to our community and when
they don’t deliver there’s no price for the, to pay, and it’s
not enough for me [alone] to talk about it. The things we
talk about when we’re in rooms together -- we need to not
say something different when we’re in front of these powers
that be.
Beyond holding the powers that be accountable, we need
to become the powers that be. When I was a kid, there were
more African Americans in the Senate [than there are now].
We need to put our names on the ballot and do the work to
get elected.
Nkenge Harmon Johnson stepped into her new po-
sition as president of the Urban League of Portland
in April. In May the organization published the “State
of Black Oregon” 2015 report, an updated version
of a report first published in 2009.
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Rent
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The Skanner News reported in 2013 on a
similar incident where Section 8 residents in
New Columbia received letters announcing
an increase from $800 to $1,200. Those let-
property if they have any question about
rent increases.
“There are different restrictions in how
rent is set and which incomes that those are
available to,” said Justin Buri, executive
director of the Community Alliance of Ten-
ants of low-income and affordable housing
renters. Often, buildings that offer afford-
able housing will serve a mix of low-income
renters – including Section 8 voucher hold-
ers, whose rent is funded by the department
of Housing and Urban Development as well
as those whose incomes qualify them for in-
come-restricted, subsidized housing.
CAT primarily advocates for tenants who
rent on the private market. Buri said because
of the complex issues tied to affordable hous-
ing, tenants who receive Section 8 vouchers
or live in income-restricted housing should
contact Legal Aid if they can’t get answers
by contacting their property manager direct-
ly. He added Legal Aid gives priority to ten-
ants in affordable housing when it comes to
cases involving landlord-tenant law.
Buri added he is aware of other cases
where clients in affordable housing are re-
ceiving notices of rent hikes that may affect
them, though could not go into detail due to
confidentiality concerns.
“It’s bad enough for tenants that are liv-
ing in private rental housing because they
have so few protections,” Buri said, adding
renters private housing all over the city are
facing no-cause lease terminations, sudden
spikes in rent and a vacancy rate of about
ily people of color, women, families with
children and domestic violence survivors.
Though the Multnomah County numbers
have decreased slightly, the gains have not
benefited people equally.
quent responses were ‘unemployment’ and
‘couldn’t afford rent.’”
The recent “State of Housing in Portland”
report from the Portland Housing Bureau
concluded that African Americans have
ferent categories of affordable housing and
sources of subsidies, it’s important for ten-
ants to have access to good information and
to contact the agencies that manage their
‘It’s important for tenants to have access
to good information’
ters also failed to explain that the increase
would be covered by subsidies and not cov-
ered by the tenant.
Rob Prasch, preservation director for an
affordable-housing advocacy group called
Preserve Oregon Housing said if, over a
period of time the owners didn’t adjust
the fair-market rents to the maximum they
could charge, a property may find itself sud-
denly unable to cover operating costs, and
may have to increase the rent drastically.
He added that because there are several dif-
one percent, meaning they have few op-
tions when they need to relocate. All of that
points to a need for more ways to protect
renters, he said.
“We always assume that tenants who live
in subsidized affordable housing are pro-
tected. It’s just a clear example of the scale
of what our communities are facing as ten-
ants, and there’s no safe harbor,” Buri said.
For more information:
To contact Legal Aid Services of Oregon
with questions or concerns about renters’
rights in affordable housing, visit Oregon-
LawHelp.org or call (503) 224-4086.
To contact the Community Alliance of
Tenants with questions or concerns about
renters’ rights in privately managed prop-
erties, visit http://oregoncat.org/ or call the
Renters’ Rights Hotline, (503) 288.0130
from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays, Wednes-
days, Fridays and Saturdays, and from 6
p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays.
Homeless
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cording to the United States Census Bureau
2013 estimate. In contrast, the census cal-
culation for Multnomah County is 766,135
people.
In King County, there was a 21 percent
increase in the number of people who were
without any shelter, compared to the 2014
count of 3,123 people sleeping on the street.
In Multnomah County, the number of un-
sheltered people held steady from the previ-
ous count in 2013, the number of people in
shelters and transitional housing decreased.
According to the Multnomah County
Point in Time report, the decrease can be at-
tributed to an increase in homeless services
and a change in the definition of homeless-
ness. The Department of Housing and Ur-
ban Development used to include people in
“rapid rehousing,” people who used subsi-
dies and rent assistance, in homeless counts,
but doesn’t anymore. Including people in
rapid rehousing would increase the number
of homeless by 800 people.
Rapid rehousing beneficiaries are primar-
‘Homelessness is fundamentally about
an inability to afford housing’
Communities of color are overrepresented
in homeless counts compared to their per-
centage of the general population. African
Americans have the highest relative rates of
homelessness of any race with 24 percent of
the homeless population but make up only
seven percent of the county.
“Homelessness is fundamentally about
an inability to afford housing,” the report
states. “Among point-in-time count respon-
dents who answered a question about the
causes of their homelessness, the most fre-
been priced out of nearly every neighbor-
hood in Portland. With the median income
of $27,923, the average Black resident
would need to find rent lower than $698 per
month to be considered affordable.
With those constraints, one could possibly
afford a studio apartment in Parkrose, Cen-
tennial, Gateway or past 122nd and Divi-
sion. Those neighborhoods have few to no
vacancies, according to the State of Housing
report.
What is harder to count than the unshel-
tered homeless are those who are couch
surfing, or people who have unstable liv-
ing arrangements. The Multnomah County
Point in Time count tried to estimate those
who were “doubled up” – that is, living with
friends and family for economic reasons.
From Oregon Department of Human Ser-
vices food stamp data and school district
homeless student counts, the study esti-
mated 12,543 who were doubled-up on the
night of the count.
The study also found that communities
of color were more likely to be those who
were doubled up. In some instances, cultural
barriers kept people from getting help from
mainstream services. In other cases, these
communities were reluctant to turn to main-
stream and government agencies for assis-
tance due to legacies of distrust.
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July 29, 2015 The Portland and Seattle Skanner Page 3