June 13, 2018 The Skanner Page 3
News
Baker
cont’d from pg 1
The Skanner News:
How does the work of
Blanchet House set it
apart from other home-
less organizations?
Greg Baker: A lot of
people who come here
are
not
necessarily
homeless – they can af-
ford their rent but they
can’t afford their meals.
So those people, wheth-
er homeless or not, get
something out of it.
But volunteers contin-
ue to come back because
Greg Baker
it’s refreshing to the soul
that one is able to do this.
People want to know that
they’re giving something
to help others, which
I think is the magic of
all the work done here.
And it continues to grow.
Maybe by 2020, we’ll
be at 10,000 volunteers
and we’ll have an army
of people to go out and
change the world, who
knows (laughs). Blanchet
is a sterling model of “all
hands on deck” and the
homeless feeding the
homeless. We also have a
62-acre farm in Carleton
that has always been
understated. We’re able
to house some 22 men
there, in various stages of
recovery. We take them
right out of treatment, so
the farm is a calming in-
fluence. It’s quiet, serene
and rural. We raise pigs,
goats and chickens there,
and we also have a wood-
shop where they can go
through a program and
learn how to make er-
gonomically-sound Ad-
irondack chairs. We’re
also exploring the possi-
bility of marketing and
selling those as a social
enterprise, which is good
because men in recovery
need work. And that’s all
part of any kind of a treat-
ment plan — they need
to be working and they
need to be reinforced.
Almost three years ago,
we won a national grant
to build tiny homes at the
farm. So our homeless
men are building these
homes, and then they’re
donated to homeless
shelters. And a few of the
guys who worked on the
houses have actually re-
ceived jobs through the
carpenters’ union. All
of these elements of pro-
gram expansion are real-
ly working.
exceptionally since you
took the role of executive
director. What do you
think you’ve brought to
it?
GB: We now have two
case managers here;
when I first got here
there were no case man-
agers. Blanchet had
traditionally not real-
ly invested itself in the
long-term care of the
men that come through
these doors — but today
that’s not the case. They
have created what we call
“a life plan,” and that plan
is an instrument that the
guest along with the case
manager uses to work
through areas of that
person’s
background
where they want some
improvement. To me, it’s
a wonderful negotiation
piece. For example, you
want to repatriate your-
self with your family, we
can do that. You want to
pay off some bills, we will
do that. You’ve got some
DUIs you need to ex-
punge, we can help you.
We have a seven-month
residential program here
in downtown Portland
and an eight-month res-
idential program at the
farm. And from time to
time, guys that do a real-
ly good job can graduate
to the fourth floor at the
Blanchet House, which
is transitional housing.
It’s a free month-to-
month lease and and they
can stay for up to nine
months. As long as they
maintain their job, or
maintain a certain GPA
if they’re going to school,
they can stay here.
It’s a rapidly evolving
organization. Before I
got here, they had never
done a fundraiser be-
fore. Now we’ll be work-
ing on our fourth one in
2019. We also now have
a development depart-
ment, thanks to a grant
through the M.J. Mur-
dock Charitable Trust.
And we have a full-time
resident manager and
we’ll be bringing in two
more new employees be-
fore the years is out – a
data collection person
and a volunteer coordi-
nator. All of those things
have happened in the last
four years. Things are
changing for the better
and the organization is
maturing.
TSN: That said, the or-
ganization has grown
Read more at
TheSkanner.com
“
Volunteers
continue
to come
back be-
cause it’s
refreshing
to the soul
PHOTO COURTESY OF PORTLAND PARKS & RECREATION
clarity.)
Gabriel Park Playground to Become Newest
Inclusive Play Area
City of Portland Commissioner Amanda Fritz and Portland Parks & Recreation announce that Gabriel Park (SW Vermont Street and 45th
Avenue) will be the site of the next inclusive playground in the PP&R system. The new playground will become a “destination” site, with
a footprint of 10,000 square feet, up from 3,250 square feet. Inclusive playgrounds provide a rich play experience, addressing physical,
sensory, and social needs of all children and their caregivers, and are designed with universal accessibility in mind, accommodating
everyone and challenging them at their own developmental level.
Funding for Gabriel Park’s new play area comes from the 2014 Parks Replacement Bond ($1.7 million) and $2.5 million from Parks
System Development Charges (revenue from citywide construction.)
Housing
cont’d from pg 1
pending on whether or not that
amendment passes in November.
“Our goal is to see approxi-
mately 1,600 homes created for
households with 30 percent of
area median or less if the consti-
tutional amendment passes, or
1,200 homes for these households
if the amendment does not pass.,”
reads Metro chief operating offi-
cer Martha Bennett’s report rec-
ommending the bond, which the
agency released last week.
According to Metro, at least half
the homes created would be for
people making 30 percent of the
region’s median family income,
half the homes would have two or
more bedrooms and no more than
Juneteenth
10 percent of homes would be re-
served for people making 60 to 80
percent of median family income.
Current median family income
for a household of four people is
$81,400.
The agency estimates the bond
would cost Portland homeown-
ers about $60 per year. If the
bond is passed, Metro would im-
mediately appoint an oversight
committee and work on local im-
plementation strategy, including
community engagement, with a
plan to finalize the strategy by
March and implement it in April.
Money raised by the bond
would not go to Metro, but to area
housing agencies to implement
“
At least half the
homes created
would be for
people mak-
ing 30 percent
of the region’s
median family
income
construction.
In 2016, voters in the city of
Portland approved a $258 million
bond to provide at least 1,300 af-
fordable housing units.
cont’d from pg 1
in 2015.
She’s now the namesake of Port-
land’s annual Juneteenth parade
– the Clara Peoples Freedom Trail
Parade – which will take place
from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. June 16. The
parade will start at Safeway at
NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
and Ainsworth and head south on
MLK to Russell, then west on Rus-
sell to Legacy Field.
The parade kicks off this year’s
Juneteenth Oregon Celebra-
tion, which takes place at Legacy
Emanuel Hospital Field.
The celebration runs from 12
p.m. to 6 p.m. and include local
music, food, retail vendors and a
kids’ area.
And in advance of those events,
on Thursday there will be a Miss
Juneteenth Oregon pageant at
6:30 at Billy Webb Elks Lodge for
a $10 entry fee.
For more information about the
pageant, parade and festival visit
the Juneteenth Oregon Facebook
page: www.facebook.com/june-
teenthoregon15.
Other upcoming Juneteenth cel-
ebrations include:
Freedom Summer Juneteenth
Art Camp.
This camp takes place from 10
a.m. to 2 p.m. daily, June 18-22 at
Pacific Northwest College of Art,
511 NW Broadway. This camp,
a partnership project of Don’t
Shoot Portland and PNCA, fea-
tures art making for all ages and
ability levels. To register to at-
tend or volunteer, visit https://
bit.ly/2y2ZnQB.
Juneteenth: Words Along the
Way.
North Portland Library will
commemorate Juneteenth with
words and music by PassinArt
from 3 to 4:30 p.m. June 17 at the
North Portland Library, 512 N.
Killingsworth. For more informa-
tion, visit https://multcolib.org/
events/juneteenth-words-along-
way/90076.
Free to Read: A Juneteenth Cele-
bration.
This event takes place from 2
to 4 p.m. June 17 at the Kenton
Library, 8226 N Denver Ave. Eva
Abram of Rainwater Storytelling
will share a story about Charles
Mitchell — a story of of slavery in
the Northwest.
There will be crafts, books, give-
aways and light refreshments.
For more information, visit
https://multcolib.org /events/
free-read-juneteenth-celebra-
tion/90077.
2018 Juneteenth Celebration in
Vancouver.
This event will take place from
1 p.m. to 6 p.m. June 23 in Hannah
Hall at Clark College, 1933 Fort
Vancouver Way, Vancouver.
This celebration, hosted by
Ruby Lewis and the Vancouver
NAACP Branch, includes a boun-
cy house, free hamburgers and
hot dogs for kids, face painting,
a children’s craft doll table, a job
fair and pie contest. There will
also be a live panel discussion,
“Where Do We Go From Here:
Ending and Erasing Systemic
Racism,” featuring Clark Coun-
ty government officials, police
department, City of Vancouver
officials, and representatives
from Vancouver and Evergreen
Public School Districts. For more
information, visit www.face-
book.com/ VancouverNAACP/
posts/10156132191036839.
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Juneteenth Celebration.
In Ashland, the Oregon Shake-
speare Festival will host its annu-
al Juneteenth Celebration start-
ing at 10 a.m. June 18. The day’s
activities include a variety show,
a play reading, a tribute to the late
actor G. Valmont Thomas and a
roundtable discussion.
