October 26, 2016 The Skanner Page 3 News cont’d from pg 1 housing — can also pur- chase laptops for $150 through Comcast. Since 2011, when In- ternet Essentials began, Multnomah County — recognizing that $150 can be a burdensome amount for many families — has dedicated funding to purchase laptops for eli- gible households in part- nership with Comcast. County commissioner Loretta Smith said the county works with or- ganizations that serve low-income families, such as Head Start or SEI, to identify families who “ Comcast subsidizes the cost of the $150 com- puters, but the $9.95 is a price point it set for qual- ifying families, who can apply for the program ei- ther by visiting Internet- essentials.com or calling 1-855-8-INTERNET (1- 855-846-8376). Nicolas Jimenez, senior manager for Internet Essentials, said Comcast works with nonprofits and institutions like li- braries all over the coun- try to provide digital lit- eracy training, and the way the program is im- plemented will vary de- About 18,000 families in Ore- gon and southwest Washing- ton have used the Internet Essentials program since its inception in 2011 might benefit from the gift of a laptop and from reduced-cost Internet access, as well as digital literacy training. Mari Young, a mother of two who spoke with The Skanner in advance of the laptop giveaway, works for a medical equipment company and said she primarily ac- cesses the Internet using her phone, or sometimes borrows her mother’s laptop — but connects through the Internet Essentials wi-fi service rather than her phone’s data plan. “A lot of times, [my chil- dren] have assignments where they have to re- search things at home, and we don’t have a com- puter so it’s kind of hard- er to walk to the library or wait around to use a computer,” Young told The Skanner. SEI founder Tony Hop- son said most of the fami- lies who received laptops Monday were part of the Jefferson High School cluster, with many living in Northeast Portland or East Portland. According to Rebecca Brown, senior manager of community invest- ments at Comcast, about 18,000 families in Oregon and southwest Washing- ton have used the Inter- net Essentials program since its inception in 2011. Initially, the pro- gram was available only to families with children who qualify for free or reduced lunch. In August, Comcast partnered with the De- partment of Housing and Urban Development to offer the program to families in HUD-assisted residences, public hous- ing or Section 8 housing — making 30,000 more households eligible for the program. pending on what individ- ual communities need. “We work with non- profits, with libraries to provide in-person digi- tal literacy training. We work with partners all over the country. The way that work is imple- mented can vary slightly, but it’s all about build- ing awareness of the fact that this program exists, providing training and resources so we can get folks to cross over the digital divide,” Jiminez said. “The most important part of this effort to me is things becoming ac- tionable, with the train- ing that’s necessary and with the families being connected to something that’s going to continue,” Hopson said. “We could have three million, we could have ten million folks who’ve touched a computer. That don’t mean that they really know what to do with it and that they’re going to follow through and it be- comes a part of their life, that the access becomes so real that now they’re a better individual with more access to jobs and all kinds of things.” Before she became the spokesperson for Inter- net Essentials, she said, Joyner-Kersee created a community center in East St. Louis that includ- ed a computer lab to help ensure kids would have the ability to have Inter- net access for homework — and parents for job ap- plications. “We’re in a global econ- omy. When you talk about that digital divide, if young people do not have access to the In- ternet to do their home- work, you’re talking about, really, the dimin- ishment of self-esteem,” Joyner-Kersee said. PHOTO BY JERRY FOSTER Kersee Matt Dishman Pool Re-opening The pool and spa at Matt Dishman Community Center reopened at a family night celebration Oct. 21. The Matt Dishman Pool schedule can be found on PP&R’s website (http://www.portlandoregon.gov/parks/60933) or by calling (503) 823-3673. Recreational swimming, swim lessons, and fitness classes are all available again. Pictured here are Evan Lilly, city commissioner Amanda Fritz, Jesse Porter, Amourie Downing and Christine Hickman. PDC cont’d from pg 1 Northeast Portland. The Portland Development Commission held a community forum on the N/NE Community Development Initiative. The goal is to create economic prosperity for longtime residents in the In- terstate Corridor Urban Renewal Area. The interstate corridor had been designated as an urban re- newal area in 2001 with the inten- tion of making investments that “ displaced the Black residents. The draft plan acknowledged the massive destabilization of the community and the focus of the remaining urban renewal money to benefit Black community mem- bers. “The investments are ... specif- ically pointed to ensuring that with the remaining Interstate Corridor economic development resources are primarily directed towards the community of color they were denied those opportu- nities through racist policies that were enforced — even, in many respects, into the ‘80s and ‘90s here.” The draft version of the plan calls for $21.5 million to go to- wards multi-generational wealth creation and $10.5 million to cre- ate culturally relevant spaces. The $21.5 million multi-gener- ational wealth development will be spent on grants and loans. It wasn’t that people were not savvy enough to get homes, it wasn’t that they did not work hard. It was that they were de- nied those opportunities through racist policies that were en- forced – even, in many respects, into the ‘80s and ‘90s here would benefit existing residents and businesses. The corridor is the city’s largest urban renewal area. It includes the area north of the Broadway Bridge to Marine Drive, parts of the space extend west into St. Johns neighborhood. PDC Executive Director Kim- berly Branam said the agency made a lot of progress develop- ing business corridors, bringing light rail and increasing livabil- ity. The increasing desirability of the area pushed out longtime African American residents for more affluent White residents. The development agency esti- mates a 49 percent decrease in the Black population of the area between 2000 and 2013. At the same time, the White population grew by 23 percent. “What we have not done was benefit those who were the in- tended beneficiaries, the long- time residents and the business owners there and part of that is that we dramatically underesti- mated the market forces,” Branam said. Branam said that PDC had spent more than $67 million in the area, but that amount was dwarfed by more than $1 billion being spent by private investment — which that has been most negatively im- pacted by the changes,” the plan states. The money comes from tax-in- crement funds that are slated for economic and redevelopment purposes. The money needs to be spent between 2016 and 2021, before the urban renewal area expires. Because they are using tax-in- crement funds, they can only be spent on the planning and con- struction of physical improve- ments. They can’t be used for workforce development or em- ployment assistance. Tory Campbell, the PDC inter- im economic development direc- tor presented the draft plan at the community forum. Campbell talked about strategic ways to use the money to create wealth through property development. Campbell spoke about foster- ing multigenerational wealth, the passing down of assets and knowledge down generations. He spoke about wealth inequality as an effect of policies enacted two or three generations ago. “It wasn’t that people were not savvy enough to get homes, it wasn’t that they did not work hard,” Campbell said. “It was that These will support home proper- ty development, tenant improve- ments, the creation of affordable retail space and pathways to homeownership. The $10.5 million to create cul- turally relevant spaces has $8 mil- lion allocated for one or two loans for large signature projects that would create a space to offer cul- turally significant services, food or entertainment. The remaining $2.5 million will be awarded as community livability grants for local nonprofit projects. An earlier version of the plan included a proposal to create jobs by granting or loaning money to businesses that would hire em- ployees from the community. An earlier community forum did not favor this proposal. Members were wary that businesses would not follow the benefit agreement or that the Black employees would leave due to a hostile workplace. Campbell told The Skanner News that community members have been focused on the most direct means of creating wealth. “It was ... wanting to ensure that the dollars that are being directed to working with individuals and ownership opportunities,” Camp- bell said.