October 25th
Creston-Kenilworth Neighborhood Association's Monthly Meeting
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/jqd-sugh-meq
6:30 - 8:30 PM
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Meet Rob Nosse, our representative in the Oregon House of Representatives. He will answer your questions and talk about his plan for the upcoming legislative season.
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PREVIOUS MEETING HIGHLIGHTS
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A representative of Transition Projects shared information about their work and how the community can help support unhoused Portlanders.
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Snap Shot of Homelessness in Multnomah County:
- There was a 4% decrease in overall homelessness in 2017-2019.
- 4,015 people experienced homelessness on any given night. 50% were sheltered, 50% were unsheltered, and 44% were chronically homeless.
- Homelessness disproportionately impacts people of color. People of color represent 29.5% of the total population, but 38.1% of the homeless population.
- Homelessness is on the rise among these groups:
- +14% people with disabilities
- +37% chronically homeless
- +75% people over age 70
- Portland's rate of chronic homelessness has increased at twice the national rate.
- Oregon has the 4th highest rate of per capita homelessness (5.4%) in the U.S.
- Oregon is 1 of only 4 states where more than half of the homeless population is living unsheltered.
Click here to learn more.
Transition Projects is the largest provider of homeless services in Portland. There are many ways to help support their work. If you are interested in volunteering, first attend a monthly volunteer orientation.
Group Volunteer Opportunities:
- Become a Meal Provider: Providing meals at a shelter is the greatest volunteer need. Meal Provider groups consist of 5-10 people who join together to provide a meal. The leader of the Meal Provider group must attend a volunteer orientation before the first scheduled meal date. Because of COVID-19, all meal providing is currently "delivery only," and volunteers cannot enter the shelter to cook or serve. Meals can be provided in on in one of these 3 ways:
- Provide a meal to a shelter. The group purchases, prepares, and delivers dinner for 35-60 residents. Meals must be prepared off-site and brought ready to serve, in catering trays or crock pots. Dinner can be delivered between 5:00 and 6:30 PM.
- Deliver sack lunches to a shelter. Meals must contain a healthy, complete meal, including items such as a sandwich, a piece of fruit, a granola bar, and a bottle of water. Sack lunches should be delivered between 10 AM and noon.
- Join a "potluck meal" team. Volunteers who aren't part of a group can join a "potluck dinner" opportunity, and contribute a portion of a meal to a shelter, along with other individual volunteers. Potluck meal teams will be connected to plan their menu and commit to bringing specific dishes (e.g. entree for 20 people, or salad for 30 people).
- Host a Donation Drive: Seasonal clothing for adults, socks & underwear, and new hygiene items are Transition Projects' most critical donation needs. Choose the items you wish to collect, determine the dates and locations of your drive, complete the Donation Drive Inquiry Form, pick up bins, signs, and bags from Transition Projects' downtown building, and begin your drive. When your drive is over, drop all items back off at Transition Projects.
Ongoing Individual Volunteer Opportunities:
- Resource Organizing: Bring order to the chaos of incoming donations, and re-stock Transition Projects' programs.
- Veterans/Housing Office Reception: Support staff and participants at one of Transition Projects' eastside offices.
- Mailroom Assistant: Help sort, process, and distribute mail to Resource Center visitors.
- Shelter Activity Leader: Lead a recreational or educational group at a shelter.
- On-Call/Event Volunteer: Lend extra support with special projects or important events.
- Severe Weather Shelter Volunteer: Volunteer to help staff severe weather shelters on the coldest nights of the year, providing life-saving indoor spaces for those sleeping outside.
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Adopt One Block is a grassroots organization born in Portland, Oregon, out of love for our city and a desire to help clean it up one block at a time.
Become a Block Ambassador and clean up the block you love the most over the course of one year, when and how you want, with clean-up supplies that are delivered to you for free! Adopt One Block provides a trash grabber, trash bags or buckets, and gloves- all FREE! Block Ambassadors can also request free collection of bulky items that they can't dispose of themselves.
Check out blocks that still need adopting on the map below! Red dots indicate blocks that are already adopted.
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Groceries 4 Grout is fighting against food insecurity in our neighborhood. Any community member may come select 3-5 days worth of free food every Friday from 2-3pm behind Grout Elementary School (3119 SE Holgate Blvd).
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Volunteers are needed to receive donations, set up and clean up the pantry on Friday afternoon, be a shopping assistant during pantry hours, and to make home deliveries. Contact groceries4grout@gmail.com with questions or to volunteer.
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Show your support for Portland's Noise Program
Have you wondered how to address excessive noise near your residence? You are not alone.
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There is a coordinated effort to ask City Council for increased funding and staffing support for the City of Portland's Noise Program. The Creston-Kenilworth Neighborhood Association was recenty contacted by a group of 20+ households, across 2 neighborhoods, who have been trying to address a persistent noise problem. In the process of trying to sort it out, they discovered that Portland's Noise Control department is currently underfunded and understaffed.
Noise Control's Situation:
- one officer
- no overtime permitted
- weeks behind in processing noise complaints
These neighbors are asking others who care about this issue take a few minutes to email City Council members for support. For maximum impact, they suggest emailing City Council from now through the end of October.
If you are interested, they have provided some sample language for an email, and you can find it on their website.
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New apartment building planned for SE corner of Holgate and 38th Ave
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During the September 22nd CKNA meeting, a representative of Bora Architects presented schematics and answered questions about a planned housing development on SE Holgate and 38th Ave. Their goal is to help address two serious issues affecting Portland: the housing shortage and systemic issues that disproportionately impact housing access for communities of color. The property is owned by the Housing Authority of Portland. Bora Architects has secured a 60 year lease to develop 83-unit of affordable housing for black professionals in Self-Enhancement Inc's 3-year internship program for architects, engineers, and construction professionals. 77 of the units will be studio apartments, 4 will be one-bedroom units, and 2 will be two-bedroom units. Eligible residents will earn no more than 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI). The finished building will be 5 stories and of modular construction. An outdoor community space will be designed into the center of the building to facilitate networking between the professionals living in the building's apartments. As part of this project, the sidewalk along Holgate Blvd will be widened and the bus stop will be enlarged. Construction is expected to begin in the fall of 2022 and completed by the summer of 2023.
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Construction Begins on affordable housing at 3000 SE Powell Blvd
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New affordable housing is coming to Southeast Portland thanks to Portland’s Housing Bond. Home Forward is developing the 3000 SE Powell Blvd project on the site of the former Safari Club in the Creston-Kenilworth neighborhood—where residents are at risk from rising rents—and will provide 206 units, which will include 123 studios apartments, 18 one-bedroom apartments, 59 two-bedroom apartments, and 6 three-bedroom apartments. The location is a short walk from Powell Park and provides easy access to the frequent-service bus line along Powell Boulevard. Since securing Portland Bond funds in 2018, Home Forward was able to acquire an adjacent parcel of land, expanding the project by 1.3 acres and allowing connection to SE 31st Ave to the south. This connection will provide pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicle access that is safer than Powell Blvd, and the extra acreage provides more open space for residents of the apartment building.
This development is notable because its award to Colas Construction in 2019 was the largest construction job given to a black-owned firm in Oregon’s history (although there has been a larger job awarded to a black-owned company since 2019). Ground was broken earlier this month, and construction will begin soon.
Home Forward has come to many CKNA meetings to discuss design and programing for this development. If you have questions about it, please reach out - we can either answer your question or connect you to some one who can.
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Do you have something to contribute to the newsletter? Let us know! Send your events and ideas to ckna.outreach@gmail.com
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Creston-Kenilworth Neighborhood Association is part of the Southeast Uplift Neighborhood Coalition. For more information, visit www.seuplift.org.
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