Join Us in Celebrating Welcoming Week

We’ve all had moments of feeling like we didn’t belong, it may have happened when we started a new job, changed schools, or moved to a new neighborhood. But for immigrant and refugees, who often face language barriers and cultural differences, feeling excluded can take years to overcome. We can change this.

Beginning September 10, the City of Portland will join municipalities and organizations across the nation to commit to building a more welcoming nation where everyone — regardless of their race, ethnicity, or citizenship status — feels like they belong. 

Hosted by Civic Life's Immigrant & Refugee Program, Welcoming Week has an exciting schedule of events—from a Samba, Semba, and Kizomba Dance and Music Event to a panel discussion on Business Resources for Immigrant Owned Businesses. To see the full schedule and find out more about each event, please visit our website:

Educators on Welcoming New Portlanders

As our community begins to welcome students back into the classroom, we reached out to two Portland educators to ask them about the importance of creating inclusive spaces for immigrants and refugees students.
 
Carmen Flores
Lent SUN (Schools Uniting Neighborhoods) school manager
My relationship to the immigrant community is a direct one because I was born in Mexico and came to the United States at almost four years old.  We came to Portland because my grandmother was already living here and like many other immigrant or refugee families, we were in search of a better life. 
 
When I arrived in Portland in the 1980s, it was a challenging because it was not as diverse as it is now. As a child it was very rare for me to hear someone pass by speaking Spanish. I still remember as a young child watching my mom go to school to learn English, struggling with her pronunciation and going to work every day motivated to accomplish her goals. 
 
I have worked for almost 20 years at Lent school, and I believe there are many ways Portland Public Schools can better support immigrant and refugee students and their families. This includes improving how schools communicate by acknowledging that not all parents have an email or text. Opening the lines of communication between schools and immigrant and refugee parents means that we are increasing the parents’ opportunities for empowerment. Schools can do this by collecting their input, experiences, and suggestions, while at the same time acknowledging cultural norms and understanding that this will look different in every community.
 
Participating in Welcoming Week is acknowledging the diverse community within Portland and creating a platform to highlight the richness of these cultures and the contributions that they make to our city. Learning from each other, will allow an opportunity to exchange similar experiences, create connections and therefore develop future diverse opportunities of advocacy and collaboration.

Ursula Loret de Mola
Teacher, Portland Public Schools
We can better support our immigrant and refugee students by continuing to hire and retain highly qualified professionals from immigrant communities who are bilingual and bicultural. This provides immigrant and refugee students with educators who represent their experience. Systemic oppression, including racism also need to be addressed within our community to gain a deeper understanding of immigrant and refugee experiences and the factors that push immigrants and refugees out of their homelands.

Portland’s participation in Welcoming week is important because we have a long history of being a multicultural epicenter. Since time immemorial people have used the Columbia River as an important trade route. Deepening our understanding of where we live can help us understand Oregon beyond the lens of Lewis and Clark. Grounding ourselves with the understanding that this is Native Land allows us to see the complexity of where we live. Welcoming week allows us to take a moment to reflect on this history, understand it better, continue to grow and learn as a community, as well as celebrate our contributions to Portland.

Sound of Applause 

Civic Life Welcomes Three New Employees!

Please join us in welcoming the following people to their new positions in Civic Life!

Shuk Arifdjanov is Civic Life's new City-Run District Coalition Offices Supervisor. In Shuk's previous role as Civic Life's Civic Engagement Program Coordinator, he helped to support the Southwest neighborhood transition and he will continue to work on these efforts to ensure a smooth changeover. He is very familiar with administering support services, insurance, and grants for District Coalition Offices, neighborhoods, and Diversity Civic Leadership program. Shuk's background includes working in multi-cultural environments around the Globe in international relief and development as well as public service. Shuk's first day in his new role was August 19.

Ocean Eale will join Civic Life on Sept. 2 as the Advisory Bodies Management Analyst. Ocean previously worked as the constituent services specialist for Mayor Wheeler and for former Commissioner Chloe Eudaly. Ocean is a first generation college graduate, earning a B.A. in German Studies (minor in Political Science) from Lewis & Clark College.
 
Ocean grew up in Hawaii but has lived in 7 states altogether. When he’s not working, he enjoys traveling (so far visiting 22 states and 12 countries), going to church, reading, running, and spending time with friends and family.

Leila Haile joined Civic Life on on Aug. 18 as the disability engagement coordinator, they previously worked at City's Office for Equity and Human Rights. You may recognize Leila’s name as they are one of the City’s new Creative Laureates! 
 

You Are Invited!

The Rosewood Initiative invites you to come and support East County entrepreneurs, enjoy street food, receive resources, get vaccinated, and have some family fun!

Every Saturday in September, The Rosewood Saturday Celebrations will take place in Rosewood Initiative's parking lot to allow for safe social distancing. Attendees will be required to wear a mask (there will be personal protective equipment available at the event). 
 
Every Saturday in September: Sept. 4, Sept. 11, Sept. 18, and Sept. 25
3:00pm - 7:00pm
The Rosewood Initiative: 16126 SE Stark Street

Seeking Youth for a Filmmaking Workshop

In the wake of the recurring shootings in Parkrose as well as the loss of Parkrose youth due to gun violence, Historic Parkrose NPI and Outside the Frame will be hosting two film workshops for eight youth (Ages 14-20) who live or go to school in Portland’s Parkrose district. 

The workshops allow youth to unpack the impact how gun violence has impacted them, their families, their friends, and their neighborhood. Youth will learn film techniques and film strategies. The workshops will tentatively be during the first week of September 3-6 depending on group availability. Each participating youth will receive a $250 stipend and 0.5 elective credit at Parkrose High School.

Applications due Monday, Aug. 30. Interested youth should email Historic Parkrose NPI Youth Program Coordinator Lillyanne Pham at lillyanne@historicparkrose.com with the subject line , "film workshop".

This film workshop is funded in part by the City of Portland’s Community Healing Arts Initiative 2021.

Civic Life is Hiring!

Civic Life's programs invest in building strong civic engagement, community leadership, and support relationships between businesses and their neighbors. We are currently hiring for two positions, come join our team!

Multnomah Youth Commission Administrative Specialist (Admin Specialist I)
The Multnomah Youth Commission Administrative Specialist  will support key program activities and operations of the youth program. This newly created position will increase the impact of the program by supporting administrative and operations functions, working as a team with current program staff. This is a part-time position. To find out more, please visit the Portland Jobs website.

Noise Inspector (Code Specialist II)
The Inspector position will perform research, respond to citizen complaints, conduct investigations, gather evidence of noise violations, and recommend appropriate next steps to effectively mitigate noise code violations. The noise inspector is expected to meet with a variety of interested parties to explain and educate community members about how noise impacts livability within the City environment. To find out more about this opportunity, please visit the Portland Jobs website.