Join us on Tuesday, March 2nd at 7:00pm at the Kennedy School Community Room to learn about the history of Last Thursday on Alberta as well as it’s future.

Special guest include: Magnus Johannesson, Coordinator of Last Thursday and Paige Coleman, Executive Director of Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods (NECN).

Saturday, May 1st
PCC Workforce Training Center
5600 NE 42nd Ave corner of Killingsworth

Cost will be $5/car, $10/truck, $15/large truck, and $20+/oversized load.
All proceeds help your Concordia Neighborhood Association. We cannot take hazardous waste, batteries, tires, yard debris, sod, rocks, concrete, paint or oil.

We are looking for volunteers and also someone with a truck to help some of our elderly neighbors with their disposal needs on that day.

Contact Ken Forcier at 503-522-7660 or ken [at] gracewooddesign.com. A more detailed description of the event will be published in the April edition of the Concordia News.

We thank the PCC Workforce Training Center for letting us use their parking lot for our dumpster collection area again this year.

Thank you for following these Concordia land use cases. The “brief” for the case challenging the height of the property on 32nd Ave (LUBA case 2009-105) has been submitted to the State’s Land Use Board of Appeals as of the 12th of February. The City’s attorney, Kathryn Beaumont, will respond on behalf of the Bureau of Development Services with a brief of her own within three weeks from that date and then the Board will hear the case and render their decision. Because of the close timing to the mid month deadline for our publication, I may not be able to report the final decision in the next edition, but I would encourage those of you who are following the case to look for an immediate update on our website at www.concordiapdx.org.

We have been the beneficiaries of city wide support on this case. We now have the important “Amicus” backing of three neighborhood coalitions representing multiple neighborhoods. You may thank your own Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods (NECN) www.necoalition.org, who are dedicated to each of your neighborhoods best interests and always willing to help, for backing our efforts on behalf of the twelve neighborhoods in our local community. They are Alameda, Boise, Eliot, Grant Park, Humboldt, Irvington, King, Sabin, Sullivan’s Gulch, Vernon, and Woodlawn. Concordia makes twelve. Thanks also to the generous support of the Southeast Uplift organization www.southeastuplift.org. Our neighbors to the South are forward thinkers and encompassed in their support is that of another twenty neighborhoods. Ardenwald, Brentwood, Brooklyn, Buckman, Creston-Kenilworth, Easmoreland, Foster-Powell, Hosford-Abernathy, Kerns, Laurelhurst, Montavilla, Mt Scott-Arleta, Mt Tabor, North Tabor, Reed, Sellwood-Moreland, South Tabor, Sunnyside, and Woodstock.

Also, many thanks to the East Portland Neighborhood Office, EPNO www.epno.org. With them comes the welcome support of Argay, Centennial, Glenfair, Hazelwood, Lents, Mill Park, Parkrose Heights, Parkrose, Pleasant Valley, Powellhurst-Gilbert, Russell, Wilkes, and Woodlawn Park.

Forty five neighborhoods representing nearly half of the cities population are behind our initial case well as the Bosco-Milligan foundation, www.vistitahc.org, which supports the preservation of historic character in neighborhoods like Concordia. More neighborhoods are invited to still join this effort and can still contribute to this important cause. Beware of the fact that all of our oldest city neighborhoods are now vulnerable to the ongoing infill by developers of “skinny lots” aka “side yards.” These side yards represent ground zero for the few remaining huge trees of the old growth canopy and for unique gardens in what should be valued as historically planned neighborhoods. Our own property values and our quality of life are being devastated street after street by this profiteering construction. With these LUBA cases we demand better enforcement of our city’s established codes so that the value of our real estate investments and our quality of life will not continue to decline.

-Ken Forcier
Concordia Neighborhood Association

Writer, Poet Nabeeh Mustafa and Producer/Director Floyd Cruse will reproduce their 2005 production of On Life’s Term: The Middle Passage at The Miracles Club with four performances, March 27-March 28 and April 3-April 4. This dramatic play parallels slavery and addiction, bringing awareness about the issues of addiction and recovery and the affects it has on individuals, families and the community.

The Middle Passage was adapted directed and produced by Floyd Cruse in 2005 from On Life’s Terms a play by Portland writer and poet Nabeeh Mustafa. On Life’s Terms: The Middle Passage, parallels slavery and addiction. The Middle Passage is the Atlantic slave trade, the triangular route from Europe to Africa to the New World. This play tells the realistic and powerful stories of people who have taken the journey or middle passage from drugs and alcohol to recovery. This play highlights the affect addiction and recovery has on us all, bringing awareness about the challenges and struggles individuals, families, and communities face. It also emphasizes the important role and influence, individuals and organizations can have in supporting recovery.

Miracles Club was established in 1992 by African Americans so that all people in recovery in North/Northeast Portland would have a sanctuary where they could maintain their sobriety with culturally specific support and encouragement. A nonprofit 501c3 organization, credentialed by AMH to provide multi-cultural peer delivered trainings, has operated with an all volunteer team, offering a variety of clean and sober social activities and educational forums, which has provided community outreach to more than 15,000 individuals and families since its inception. Miracles also conducts thousands of hours of peer services, health presentations, statewide summits and facilitates 23 twelve-step meetings per week to the people it serves. Currently Miracles is seeking additional funding to expand programming and services.

The play will be shown during two weekends Fri-Sat March 27-28 and Aril 3-4. All showings start at 7:00 at Miracles Club, 4069 NE M L King Blvd, Portland, 97212. Tickets can purchased at Elevator Coffee, Christopher’s, Geneva’s, One Stop Record, Reflections, and Miracles Club.

For more information contact: Floyd Cruse (503) 284-0985 Email: f.cruse@comcast.net

Concordia University will be hosting a series of inspirational religious leader for Black History Month events this February. All events are free and open to the public. For more information download the program of events, or visit Concordia University for more information.

A new preschool program is being offered by Portland Parks and Recreation. Nuts About Nature will take place at Whitaker Ponds a gem of a place to work with young children: there’s birds galore, owls, raccoons, nutria, beavers, ponds, forests, and open space. The program will introduce children to this space and help them connect to it in a safe & fun atmosphere.

Click here for a brochure

or contact:

Chrissy Larson, Preschool Specialist
Environmental Education Office
Portland Parks & Recreation
503-823-3601

Become a Facebook Fan! “NutsAboutNature”
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/teacherbalsam

Decisions will soon be made about Urban Renewal plans and money to be invested in inner North/Northeast neighborhoods.

Come voice your community needs.

Urban Renewal Area Town Hall 1: Community Truth-Telling
Wednesday, February 10th, 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Place: Billy Webb Elks Lodge, 6 N Tillamook St. Snacks and drinks provided
Panelists will share perspectives on how inner North/Northeast Urban Renewal Areas have historically impacted neighborhoods. Attendees will also be invited to share their own views on the history of Urban Renewal Areas. Feedback will be incorporated into a final report given to the Portland Development Commission (PDC).

Urban Renewal Area Community Forum and Planning Sessions (Two)
Saturday, February 20th, 10am – 2pm
Tuesday, February 23rd, 6pm – 9pm
Both sessions will be the same.
Billy Webb Elks Lodge, 6 N Tillamook St. Lunch or dinner provided
Learn the nuts and bolts of Urban Renewal Areas and the choices for the future of the Interstate Corridor and Oregon Convention Center URAs. Participate in work sessions to provide input into the future of the URAs and economic development in inner North and Northeast Portland. Feedback will be incorporated into the final report given to the PDC.

Urban Renewal Area Town Hall 2: Community Recommendations
Thursday, March 11th, 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Billy Webb Elks Lodge, 6 N Tillamook St. Snacks and drinks provided
Come hear the URA recommendations generated at the community work sessions. Provide your thoughts and additional recommendations. Feedback will be incorporated into the final report given to the PDC.

Community feedback gathered during this community meeting series will be presented to the PDCs North/Northeast Economic Development Initiative Community Advisory Committee to consider as they generate recommendations for the future of the URAs. The presentation will be given at the Committee’s Wednesday, March 24th meeting at 6pm at the Billy Webb Elks Lodge, 6 N Tillamook St.

RSVPs are encouraged. Contact Shoshana Cohen at the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods forums@necoalition.org or 503-823-4575

visit www.necoalition.org

This project was made possible in part by a grant from Oregon Humanities (OH), a statewide nonprofit organization and an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which funds OH’s grant program.

CARNIVAL
February 5th through 28th

Newspace Center for Photography
1632 SE 10th Ave.
Portland, OR 97214
503.963.1935 phone
www.newspacephoto.org

Opening Reception
Friday, February 5th, 6-9pm

FEATURING:
Jessica Acevedo, Marah Anderson, Michelle Bates, Meg Birnbaum, Adam Blackman, Craig Blankenhorn, Calvin Chen, Carrie Crow, Mark Crummett, Peter Eckert, Gene Faulkner, Jay Fiorenza, Tim Goodspeed, Raymond Haddad, Josh Hobson, Robert Hogan, Hall Jameson, Robb Johnson, Christen Kelly, George Kelly, Heidi Kirkpatrick, Jim Leisy, Isa Leshko, Stuart Allen Levy, Fritz Liedtke, Craig, Litten, Jim Lommasson, Kjrsten Madsen, Janet Matthews, Jody Miller, Andrea Murrill, Jim Neidhardt, Oliver Ogden, Robert Pallesen, Chris Raecker, Steve Rockoff, Meryl Schenker, Rachel Shaich, Ward Shortridge, Blake Tarpley, Lorenzo Triburgo, Simona Turin, John Tynes, Bill Watt

The Haiti Earthquake continues to be in the forefront of our news and there have been many efforts to raise support to send to different relief organizations. But at Concordia University, this disaster has impacted our campus in a very personal way. One of our students has a 17 year old sister still missing; her aunt and cousins lost their lives when their home collapsed on top of them. Based on initial feedback, we have made the ambitious goal of raising $10,000 by February 7th; all funds will go to Lutheran World Relief, who is already on the ground and actively working in Haiti.

Concordia University will be hosting a silent auction supporting Haiti in CU Gymnasium lobby during Women’s (5:30 pm) and Men’s (7:30 pm) basketball games on Friday, February 5th.

Community members of the Concordia neighborhood are welcome to join us at the basketball games and silent auction. Any support would be greatly appreciated.

The following video with CU students promotes Concordia University’s Haiti Disaster Relief Week.

NOTE: video background music composed and performed by CU student Aaron Dickerson

Download the February 2010 CNA News