JULY 3, 2024
Portland and Seattle Volume XLVII No. 18
CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW
25
CENTS
News ................................... 3,4 Calendars ...............................4
Opinion ...................................2 Bids/Classifieds .....................4
PHOTO COURTESY WILD DIVERSITY
INCLUSIVE HEALTH
CARE IN ELIOT
By Saundra Sorenson
Of The Skanner News
S
tudies show that the “summer
slide” is real: Students out of
school for three months tend to
lose some of the academic gains
made during the previous year. But
teens can also use the time to stay ac-
tive by learning new skills, pursuing
hobbies and padding their college re-
sumes with volunteer work.
Although registration for a number
of local programs has closed, it’s not
too late: We found an impressive list
of no-cost and low-cost camps, class-
es and other experiences to fill your
teen’s summer break.
SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE
Portland Oregon Women’s Film Fest
POWGirls
July 22-26: A weeklong intensive
workshop for female-identifying stu-
dents that will cover concept creation,
storyboarding, cinematography, audio
recording, lighting and post-produc-
tion using Adobe Premiere Pro. No
experience necessary. The majority of
students are awarded scholarships for
each session, and those interested in
applying should email tara@powfest.
com. (https://www.powfilmfest.com/
powgirl-workshops)
Portland Center Stage Teen Theater
Academy
PCS’s yearly academy is open to
students entering grades 9 through
12 next fall. The classes include Per-
See SUMMER on page 3
State of the Nation’s
Housing 2024
page 2
Priya Helweg, acting regional director of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Secretary, Oregon Health Authority director
physician Sejal Hathi, Cascadia AIDS Project CEO Paul Lumley, Oregon Rep. Tawna Sanchez, CAP board president Miguel Villarreal and Portland City
Commissioner Carmen Rubio are joined by Prism staff at the new center’s ribbon cutting on Saturday.
Prism Morris will provide gender-affirming care, mental health and
addiction services and primary care.
By Saundra Sorenson
Of The Skanner News
A
s politicized attacks
on trans and repro-
ductive
medical
care mount across
the country, the Cascadia
AIDS Project has opened
a brightly colored health
clinic to serve marginal-
ized communities, regard-
less of insurance.
The Prism Health Mor-
ris clinic (15 N. Morris St.)
is located just down the
street from Legacy Eman-
uel, in the heart of a neigh-
borhood where so many
Black families were dis-
placed decades ago in the
name of development.
“There is a need to have
comprehensive, gender-af-
firming healthcare that
encompasses mind, body
and soul, basically, for
communities that are his-
torically marginalized and
underrepresented,” drag
performer Lala Benét,
present at last weekend’s
Prism grand opening, told
The Skanner.
Prism provides prima-
ry care, gender-affirming
care, behavioral health and
substance use support ser-
vices, as well as free HIV
and STI screenings and
preventive
medications
like PrEP, which can safe-
guard against HIV trans-
mission.
During Saturday’s kick-
off celebration, Cascade
AIDS Project (CAP) CEO
Paul Lumley announced
that the Oregon Ways and
Means Committee had
just authorized a $4 mil-
lion grant so that his orga-
nization could purchase
the building, saving about
$20,000 a month in rent.
The funds come from a
$211 million earmark for
improving addiction and
mental health crisis treat-
ment throughout the state.
City Commissioner Car-
men Rubio announced
the city of Portland would
be providing the clinic
$200,000 in special appro-
priations funding.
“When these spaces don’t
exist for our communities,
we create them,” Rubio
said. “We build them. We
create those safe circles
of love and community
in places where we’re not
welcome. And that’s what
CAP and Prism are: Safe
spaces for the community,
built by and for LGBTQ+
and BIPOC and other in-
tersectional communities,
and those who are seeking
compassionate
care, regardless
of your income
and regardless of
if you’re insured
or not.”
Prism Morris
is the latest in-
carnation of a
building that has
been providing
medical services
to marginalized
communities for
decades – groups
that have his-
Performers Lala Benét and Jimmie Herrod at the
torically
been
grand opening of Prism Morris.
traumatized
by or excluded
excited to see the increased
from American health care access to gender-affirming
institutions:
Physician care and HIV care, at a time
Walter Reynolds, the first when gender healthcare in
Black graduate of what is particular is under relent-
now Oregon Health & Sci- less attack,” Rubio said.
ences University, set up
As of January, 23 states
his practice here and later have policies or laws on
supported nurses Mariah the books limiting access
Taylor and Juretta Webb to gender-affirming health
as they opened the coun- care, according to the Kai-
try’s first Black-owned, ser Family Foundation,
community-based nurse which notes that promi-
practitioner clinic on the nent medical associations
site in 1980. More recent- including the American
ly, the Native American Medical Association, the
Rehabilitation Association American Academy of
of the Northwest operated Pediatrics and American
a health clinic within the Psychological Association
building.
support access to such
“As Pride Month comes
to a close, I’m particularly
See HEALTH on page 3
PHOTO COURTESY CASCADIA AIDS PROJECT
Summer
Classes,
Camps and
Experiences
for Portland
Teens
PHOTO COURTESY CASCADIA AIDS PROJECT
Wild Diversity aims to promote BIPOC joy and
safety in the great outdoors.