August 21, 2024 The Skanner Portland & Seattle Page 3
News
cont’d from pg 1
plied funding to take SEI
from a seasonal camp to
a year-round program of
wraparound services for
at-risk youth and their
families. By 1997, SEI had
a physical headquarters
and was expanding ser-
vices to meet community
needs as they arose.
Hopson
understood
from the beginning the
fallacy of demonizing
“
We’ve al-
ways cen-
tered our
work on
having the
right kind
of person
teens. He knew that dis-
enfranchised
adults
struggled to provide
safe home bases -- and
that crime is so often the
result of a failure of re-
sources. He also under-
stood that in providing
those resources, person-
al connection was essen-
tial.
“We’ve always cen-
tered our work on hav-
ing the right kind of
person,” Aldridge said.
“We call them “super-
heroes” – coordinators,
case managers, those
people that do that work.
We bring them to the
center of places where
people are struggling. A
lot of the services that we
provide here have a per-
son where their job is to
build a meaningful rela-
tionship with someone,
and then use that rela-
tionship to help them get
to a place where they can
thrive, where their fami-
ly can be restored, where
they can have all of the
things that they need.”
As SEI expanded, Hop-
son also prioritized the
importance of showing
youth and their families
their options. Kids ele-
mentary school-aged and
older could see, as Al-
dridge had, many diverse
examples of prosperous
Black adults. Through
education programs at
SEI, teens and their fam-
ilies learned of myriad
paths open to them – and
SEI helped demystify and
remove barriers to those
paths.
Hopson speaks fondly of
successful SEI alums.
“We can talk about any
number of individuals
locally – the Rukaiyah
Adams and Orlando Wil-
liams of the world, we
could talk about the Nico
Harrisons, the (general
manager) for the Dallas
Mavericks, we can talk
about Ime Udoka, who’s
the head coach for the
Houston Rockets, Aaron
Miles (assistant coach
for the New Orleans Pel-
icans),” he said. “I take
most pride in that, be-
cause that was the ulti-
mate goal, to make sure
that our kids, if given the
opportunity and options,
could be as successful as
anyone else. After 40
years, we literally have
thousands and thou-
sands of kids that have
gone through and are
now positive contribut-
ing citizens in communi-
ties across this country.
So many of the staff
members themselves are
a testament to the pro-
gram’s success.
“A young lady that I
mentored when I first got
here, she’s currently the
director of our student
and parents services –
that’s the biggest com-
ponent of our agency,”
Aldridge said. “And so I
was able to see her grow
up into an incredible
young woman, she went
off to college, came back
and then started as a case
manager and worked her
way up to this leadership
role. To me, it’s like a full
continuum: Not only do
I get an opportunity to
pour in, but that person
can turn around and
pour in somebody else
who in turn pours into
other people.”
Success Stories
Last year – Hopson’s
last full year as CEO of
SEI – the organization
reported that 93% of SEI
students graduated high
school, compared to a
72% graduation rate for
Black students county-
wide and a 79% gradua-
tion rate for all students
nationwide.
SEI bolstered so many
of those grads by helping
preserve and improve
their households, award-
ing more than $3.3 mil-
lion in funding for ener-
gy assistance to Portland
clients. The organization
also provided short-term
rental assistance to 1,517
households and support-
ed more than 100 individ-
uals who were grappling
with domestic and sexual
violence.
To date, since its found-
ing, SEI has served more
than 100,000 youths and
families.
“Our big, audacious
goal is to serve every
Black resident,” Aldridge
said. “And right now
we serve roughly 17,000
folks a year, and there
are 72,000 Black folks in
the state of Oregon.”
It is harder to provide
in-person services to
Black Portlanders, who
have been dispersed into
different neighborhoods,
counties and cities due to
gentrification. But even
in the last two years, Al-
dridge points out, SEI
has grown in dramatic
See SEI on page 5
PHOTO COURTESTY OF METRO
SEI
Free Apple Jam on Sauvie Island August 24
Metro Parks and Nature invites community members to Apple Jam on Saturday, August 24 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for a day of fun, family-
friendly activities in the historic orchard of Howell Territorial Park on Sauvie Island. The park is located at 13901 NW Howell Park Road.
Sign at http://oregonmetro.gov/calendar. Harvest apples, play games, see a cider press in action, and connect with others who are
dedicated to reducing food waste and increasing access to resources like the park’s free orchard. Music, food, and harvest bags will be
provided. There is no cost to attend and all are welcome.
Camp
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create an inclusive camp focused
on “STEAMED” education: sci-
ence, technology, engineering,
art, math, environmental studies
and design, an approach that inte-
grates creative disciplines to aid
in problem-solving.
From the beginning, the two
wanted to establish more holistic
programming.
“We launched ELSO with the
simple mission to get more Black
and Brown kids to see themselves
represented in science and our
hope is that by doing this, Black
and Brown children will feel in-
spired, they’ll have their iden-
tity affirmed and they will be
more curious about science and
about learning science, because
it’s more relevant to them and
it’s been presented by somebody
who’s approachable and who con-
nects with them on more of a per-
sonal level,” Brown said.
Multifaceted Programming
Since 2015, ELSO has directly
served more than 760 youth with
curricula designed using what
they call a “JEDI mindset”: a lens
of justice, equity, diversity and in-
clusion. The program’s successes
have not gone unnoticed: Earlier
this year, ELSO Inc. was one of
eight recipients of a Community
Watershed Stewardship Program
grant from the city of Portland.
In the summer, K-8 students can
attend the four-week Wayfinders
Summer Camp, with four differ-
ent units that are each adjusted
to the needs of four different
age groups. The Dive In! unit fa-
miliarizes students with marine
biology, partnering with Metro,
the Oregon Zoo and I’m Hooked
Inc. The Flow Ridin’ unit partners
with ELSO’s Studio Justice pro-
gram, Bacharach Construction
and Lower Columbia Estuary to
introduce students to the rivers
and other waterways that shape
their home city. With Into the
Forest, partner organizations
Metro, Friends of Tryon Creek
and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service support learning about
everything from forest ecology to
wildlife habitats and even urban
ecosystems. Meanwhile, partner
organizations Adidas, Nike, In-
tel, Project LEDO, the National
Society of Black Engineers and
the Bonneville Dam support the
Wired Up! unit, which provides
“
We launched
ELSO with the
simple mis-
sion to get
more Black and
Brown kids to
see themselves
represented in
science
not only a crash-course in electri-
cal and robotic engineering, but
also shows how such disciplines
can be applied outdoors and on
a large scale with environmental
engineering.
The monthlong program offers
sliding scale fees ranging from
$150 to $390.
That program wrapped up ear-
lier this month, but ELSO pro-
gramming continues throughout
the year, with a four-day spring
break camp. This year’s theme
was Life Skillz, an energized and
more culturally inclusive update
to classic home ec themes: sewing,
cooking, baking and home design.
For teens, ELSO offers paid af-
terschool programs through its
Studio Justice arm. Last spring,
BIPOC youth between the ages of
14 and 20 met weekly on Zoom for
two months to learn and discuss
“Designing Climate Justice.” The
cohort completed the program by
contributing their own redesigns
of Prescott Elementary School,
with a focus on integrating the
school into nature and equipping
it to provide climate education.
In recognition of their time and
effort — and to demonstrate the
value of their work — students
who completed the program were
provided with a $250 stipend.
Fostering Interest
Both Brown and Richardson cite
George Washington Carver as a
spiritual influence for the camp’s
multifaceted mission.
“In his time, there was a need
for some innovation to change the
economy for his neighborhood,
for his community,” Richardson,
a behavior pharmacologist, said.
“Everyone was faced with a prob-
lem of, what are we going to do if
we can’t grow cotton? What are we
going to do if the people who work
the cotton are no longer doing that
work? What are we going to do to
turn over the soil, to keep it rich
off-season? And George Washing-
ton Carver, in one week, he holed
himself up in his lab and by the
time he came out, there was a new
market for something that was in
abundance: peanuts. He made it so
that not only was he enriching the
soil, but he created a whole new
product that could be sold, that
created more money flow, that cre-
ated more interest, that created
more jobs — more palatable jobs
— in his community. In my mind,
that’s the type of work I want to do
with ELSO. I want to look around
in my community and think about,
what can I do and how can I make
things better? How can I make
more opportunities?”
It is a camp designed to create
a sense of belonging for margin-
alized children, teens and young
adults — a safe space to foster in-
novation.
“We wanted to create an envi-
ronment that kids could start to
learn science early, and to start to
debunk that notion that Black and
Brown children aren’t scientists,”
Brown said.
But ELSO isn’t just about train-
ing future researchers and engi-
neers.
“You don’t have to be the best,
the only or the first to enjoy sci-
ence,” Richardson said. “If you’re
creative and you’re enthusiastic,
keep raising your hand in the
classroom.”
For more information, visit
https://www.elsoincpdx.org.