Concordia Neighborhood Association | Portland, Oregon

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Day Center – HIV shelter offers respite

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By Jordan Bowen | Social Work Intern – HIV Day Center

Long-Term Survivors Coordinator Julie Galstad (center) and Food Program Coordinator Johnny Lamb (right) prepare and serve breakfast to EMO Day Center members with help from a volunteer. Photo by Jordan Bowen

On an unseasonably cold morning, a well-tailored man entered the basement of Ainsworth United Church of Christ, 2941 NE Ainsworth St. He asks to be called Jon and is one of dozens of members of Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon’s Day Center. The drop-in shelter has served people living with HIV since 1990.

The organization says it is the country’s oldest standalone, communitybased center of its kind. When the Day Center is open, Jon drops in between errands around the city. Unlike many center members, Jon has secured affordable housing. The stability allows him to advocate for others and be involved in the community.

Jon takes the bus from downtown Portland to the Concordia center multiple times a week. “I make friends here,” he says. “I do like it here. I enjoy the place. My friends come here. And the food is decent.”

The Day Center serves as a kind of post office, dining hall, laundromat, pop-up health clinic, and social club. Surrounded by the quiet, tree-lined streets of Concordia, it is a refuge from Portland’s bleaker scenes. The walls are lined with comfortable chairs where some members can take a much-needed nap after a hard night on the street. One morning, waves of laughter could be heard through the basement as the movie Death Becomes Her played on a screen.

Intern’s tale

I first met Jon through my internship at Portland State University’s Master of Social Work program. He has a quick wit, is far more fastidious about his clothing than I am, and often gives me nutrition advice.

Others at the center need more help than Jon does to navigate life with HIV. Together with staff, interns and local volunteers serve meals, coordinate laundry and showers, show movies, and sometimes go on outings to art museums. We help people get IDs, groceries, or a bus pass, or connect them with housing services like the Cascade AIDS Project.

Recently, I sat in on a support group for long-term survivors who wrestle with the weight of surviving the AIDS era and aging with the virus. Project Coordinator Chautauqua Cabine, who grew up in northeast Portland and went to Concordia University, lost a cousin to AIDS more than 20 years ago. Her job goes far beyond paperwork and case management. People sit by her desk in her small, shared office, sometimes only to talk and be comforted.

“Everybody ha s different needs,” Cabine says. It’s kind of like a friendship. There’s trust.”

The center helps bolster members’ selfworth, she says. “When they’re not here, they tell me they don’t feel seen. When they’re here, they feel like they’re part of society. They don’t feel invisible.”

Rising costs

Activities and Events Coordinator Connor Feliu with an EMO Day Center member’s dog in the basement of the Ainsworth United Church of Christ. Photo by Jordan Bowen

The Day Center largely depends on federal grants to operate, but Program Manager Taylor Silvey says inflation has outpaced funding, especially when it comes to the cost of food. The Day Center must stretch its limited resources to meet needs. In January, the organization had to begin closing an hour early, close altogether on Wednesdays and lay off two part-time staff to make ends meet.

Meanwhile, more Portlanders with HIV need help with finding food, work and shelter. According to the CDC, BIPOC and low-income people are now significantly more likely to be diagnosed with HIV, and many who come to the Day Center have lost jobs or housing since COVID-19.

This summer, the annual Dining Out for Life fundraising event will encourage Portlanders to pitch in at restaurants, bars, and cafes. From June 20–22, participating venues choose to donate 10% of proceeds or $500 to the Day Center and OHSU’s Partnership Project. McMenamins locations such as the Kennedy School in Concordia are participating, along with other venues around the city.

“HIV is still prevalent in our community, and unfortunately there’s still stigma associated with it,” says Silvey. “Dining Out for Life gives us a chance to talk about HIV, support people living with the virus and have some fun over a shared meal.”

The EMO Day Center is always grateful for volunteers and donations of food and clothing. It also encourages more local restaurants and bars to participate in this year’s Dining Out for Life. Please visit HIVDayCenter.org or email hivcenter@emoregon.org to help your neighbors who are living with HIV.

Jordan Bowen is a freelance writer and former broadcast news producer who is pursuing a Master in Social Work at Portland State University

CNA Needs a New Board Chair

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The Concordia Neighborhood Association calls for nominations for a new board Chair. Nominees must be residents, property owners, business licensees, from an educational institution, from a governmental agency, or from a nonprofit organization located within the boundaries of the Concordia neighborhood, and must be at least 14 years of age.
Nominations will be heard and a vote for the position will be held at the General Membership meeting on June 7, 2023 between 8-9 PM. 
Duties of the chair can be found in Article VII, Section H of the CNA bylaws.

Area resident is accomplished poet

Posted on by Posted in Arts & Culture, Concordia News, Uncategorized

Nancy Flynn grew up on the Susquehanna River in northeastern Pennsylvania, spent many years on a downtown creek in Ithaca, N.Y., and has lived near the mighty Columbia River in Northeast Portland since 2007.

She attended Oberlin College and Cornell University and has a master’s degree in English from SUNY/Binghamton. She is a former university administrator, and her writing has received an Oregon Literary Fellowship and the James Jones First Novel Fellowship. Flynn’s recent publications include the poetry collection Every Door Recklessly Ajar.

Flynn says she loves living with her retired forest pathologist husband, John Laurence, “in a village of awesome neighbors down the street from Alberta Park.” She is especially proud of their platinum-level Backyard Habitat, which now boasts a wild beehive in a bigleaf maple. “And she grows way too many dahlias in their front yard for her beloved pollinators,” her biography states.

CNews is sharing an example of her most recent work, inspired by Portland’s wintry weather. To learn more about her work, visit NancyFlynn.com.

===================================

Record-breaking Winter Storm Tableau

late February 2023
Portland, Oregon
By Nancy Flynn

It bore the ice, later snow,
that terracotta table of stone.
Became perch for chickadees,
bushtits and meadowlarks before
their launch to suet, to safflower seed.
Even the hummingbirds gave up
their rivalries, took civilized turns
sipping at the iridescent ruby
bottle I took in after dark
so it wouldn’t freeze then break.
The previously perky hellebores
collapsed under eight inches
of weight. One afternoon, sleet
fell slick, thickly dimensional,
bouncing from the wind chimes,
from lustrous camellia leaves.
Now finally today—
a temporary melt, no trace, no figment
of the thing that dazzled yesterday.
The neighborhood murder of crows
is back from what seemed like days
in their downtown overnight roost.
There’s a junco spilling the birdbath,
a plash of oars, a gaiety and every tulip
has emerged, doubled in height
despite an unseasonable, lingering
chill. Inside, I raise the thermostat
one more degree, study the fleeting
return of the sun. The world it glares,
for a moment all shimmer and drip,
while waiting for the next inevitable
cloudburst to thunder down from
a heaven like a tent. We are blanketed
by our selfishness, our apathy, our sin.
We are footprints in our downfall—
watch them drift.

The italicized lines in this poem are from Emily Dickinson’s poem #257, “I’ve known a Heaven, like a Tent” written in 1861.

CNA Board welcomes members

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By Rob Cullivan | CNews Editor

The Concordia Neighborhood Association elected six people to even-numbered positions on its board on Nov. 2, and also chose Kieran Lee as its new chair. Each board member will serve a twoyear term, and Lee will serve one year as chair.

CNews asked each elected official to tell our readers about themselves. Here’s what they had to say.

Kieran Lee

Kieran Lee lives off Alberta Street and has resided in Concordia for almost two years . Lee works as an automotive engineer at Daimler Trucks, on Swan Island, and has volunteered in youth development with Big City Mountaineers as well as various STEM programs.

A graduate of Virginia Tech, with a bachelor’s degree of science in mechanical engineering, Lee spent the past year serving in the board’s At-Large 4 position. “I am excited about the passion seen at the board level and of our community; that energy motivated me to continue to be an active member of Concordia as chair,” he said.

Lee noted he wants CNA to continue to coordinate community events as well as promote CNews. “As we come out of the pandemic, we also hope to encourage an equitable Concordia that listens and brings all community members together.”

He added that he particularly enjoys living in Concordia for a variety of reasons, including its diversity, accessibility and local business community. “The Guinness at TC O’Leary’s isn’t too bad, either,” he said.

Lee said he will do his best to keep his ears open to Concordia’s concerns. “Please don’t hesitate to reach out or stop and say ‘Hey!’ if you see me walking down the street!”

Patricia McMahan

Patricia M. McMahan was elected to the At Large 2 position and has lived on Northeast 23rd Avenue just off Alberta Street for two years, moving there from Southwest Portland. “I like walking the neighborhoods where the only hill to climb and descend is the Alameda Ridge,” she said. “Most people are friendly, and I like talking to anyone who smiles back. My neighbors on both sides have become my very good friends.”

McMahan taught primary school in California for several years and moved to Oregon in 2004 after her son moved here in 2002. She has served as a docent at the Portland Art Museum and is a member of the European & American Art Council. In 2014, she earned a degree in art practices from Portland State University and has an art studio in her kitchen.

McMahan noted she was inspired to run for the board after attending CNA meetings and getting to know folks. “I really didn’t intend to get so involved, but here I am, and I hope to make a positive contribution.”

Rich Burton

Rich Burton was elected to the At Large 4 position and resides with his partner north of Fernhill Park. He has three children as well as five grandchildren and has lived in Concordia for 13 years.

A software/ hardware engineering consultant, Burton attended Purdue University and noted he enjoys skateboarding, photography, playing music and walking around the neighborhood.

“Concordia is a wonderful neighborhood,” Burton said. “People are friendly and have a strong sense of community. Local businesses, like Extracto Coffee Roasters and Wilder Bar, are great for neighborhood interactions. You can find me at Extracto almost every day of the year.”

Burton said he’s particularly interested in how houselessness and land use issues affect Concordia. In addition to serving on the CNA board, Burton is active with Skaters for Portland Parks and is also an artist and speaker for the Portland Winter Light festival, as well as a board member at Portland Community College’s IACUC Committee.

Brittany van der Salm

Brittany van der Salm serves as vice chair of the board and was elected to the At Large 6 position. She lives near 23rd Avenue a nd Jarrett Street with her husband, Paul, as well as two dogs and four cats. She’s resided in Concordia since November 2019 and works as a health and human policy consultant for Mercer Government and Human Services. She has a bachelor’s degree in English from Reed College and a master’s in social work from Columbia University.

In her second term as a board member, she said she joined the board to become more involved in the community. “Now I’m in it because I’ve seen what a great link CNA can be between local government and our neighborhood, and that we can really add value and fun to our neighborhood,” she said. “I love Concordia!”

She added that the CNA board hosted candidate and city charter reform forums during her term and that she hopes the board will “continue to bring city government to our neighborhood level so that we can have a really democratic process to things.”

The board member said she’s also excited about the University of Oregon locating its new campus in Concordia and hopes this will lead to a mutually beneficial relationship between the school and the neighborhood.

It’s clear from her words that she’s a Concordia booster. “I almost feel guilty with how little I leave the neighborhood, but with spots like Gabbiano’s, our food cart pod, Flour Market, and more, it’s tough,” she said. “We’re also right between Alberta and Fernhill parks, which I think are two of Portland’s best. And of course, there are so many interesting, kind and fun people! I love seeing neighbors and catching up.”

Megan Gobble

Megan Gobble was elected to represent Southwest 2. Residing on 29th Ave nue a nd Sumner Street, G o b ble a nd her husband, Patrick, have a grown daughter as well as three grandchildren living nearby. Gobble has lived in Portland for 27 years, seven of those in Concordia.

A recently retired nurse and engineer, Gobble serves as secretary of the Columbia River Volkssport Club, a walking group, and is also a landlord. She has worked as a nurse for the VA and has been active in Girl Scouts, Sierra Club, PTA and square dancing. She holds bachelor’s degrees in physical sciences as well as nursing. Her goals as a board member include keeping Concordia diverse, promoting usable alleys and working with local businesses, families, and the University of Oregon.

Gobble said Concordia is noted for its accessibility: “Shopping, dining, entertainment, all can be done without using a car. And the eclectic nature of our streets and houses, 110-plus-year-old bungalows next to modern townhomes, makes it fun to walk and enjoy the view.”

Matt Roberts

Matt Roberts was elected to the Northwest 2 position. Married with two adult children, Roberts does not live in Concordia but noted that he serves as the University of Oregon’s assistant vice president for community relations, and will gladly answer questions from folks about the new UO campus, located on the grounds of the former Concordia University.

“Essentially, I am the UO’s statewide liaison to local governments, neighborhoods, public agencies and many business and economic development organizations,” he said. “My office also oversees a good portion of the university’s support of external non-profit organizations.”

Roberts said he wanted to serve on the board because, “the University of Oregon would like to be fully engaged in the neighborhood and one of the best ways to learn how we can be helpful and good neighbors is through membership in the Community Association. Being new to the neighborhood, I’m here to learn and offer the university’s expertise in problem solving and convening.”

Astrid Furstner

Astrid Furstner was elected to the East 2 position. She and her husband, Brent, have one daughter and three dogs and live near 36th Avenue and Liberty Street. A resident of Concordia for six years, she is a woodworker, and her husband makes guitars. She said they can often be found at markets around town.

“I am a proud member of the Portland Indigenous Marketplace group of vendors and often participate in many BIPOC events.” A Latina immigrant as well as an indigenous Salvadoran, Furstner said she values diversity in Concordia and hopes to be “a voice for our pocket of the neighborhood in Northeast Concordia.”

When asked what she likes about Concordia, Furstner said her neighbors are “extraordinary,” and “we tend to keep a lookout for each other and have a genuine sense of friendship.”

CNews Editor Rob Cullivan is a veteran journalist, publicist and grant writer who has written about everything from rock ‘n’ roll to religion. He possesses a deep affection for writers and photographers who hit deadline.

Back to School – Preschool, afterschool to open in Concordia

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Delorie Finch, left, greets her preschool students each morning. Here she greets Londyn Brown, who high fives her father, Neal Brown. Photo by Leigh Shelton

For Delorie Finch, the dream of opening her own preschool began in 1998, while sitting in the balcony of the Maranatha Church in Northeast Portland.

“The pastor said, ‘God has blessed many of you with talents, and many of you are sitting on those talents,’” Finch said. “And I heard God say to me, ‘Delorie, you need to start the school. Start the school and the people will come.’”

Twenty-four years later, she started the school, and thanks to funding from Preschool for All, a 2020 Multnomah County voter-supported ballot initiative, the students have come.

In its first year of implementation, Preschool for All has enrolled 677 students across the county, 10 of whom will attend Finch Academy, located in Maranatha Church, 4222 NE 12th Ave.

“They’ve been wonderful,” Finch said, referring to the Preschool for All counselors who’ve helped her. “They’re doing everything they possibly can to make sure we’re successful.”

Preschool for All has provided Finch Academy grant money to help cover infrastructure expenses, training and mentorship. The academy has also received tuition aid to cover 10 threeand four-year-olds.

Funded by a tax on high-income earners that Multnomah County started collecting in January 2021, Preschool for All makes full-time preschool free for families in the county.

Finch long dreamt of opening her own school and spent 27 years running the preschool program at Matt Dishman Community Center in Northeast Portland’s Eliot neighborhood. She retired in September of 2021. “When I started [at Dishman], it was all Black children,” she said. “By the time I retired it was all white except for one. This is a result of gentrification.”

Finch said she loved her experience at Dishman. But she still felt a yearning to lead something of her own making and fulfill a deep need she saw for children to attend preschool.

“It’s not fair for children to be left out just because their parents can’t pay,” Finch said. “Parents shouldn’t choose between paying the bills and rent and preschool, yet they do. These kids are so smart. They are like a sponge. We need to fill their little minds with as many good things as we can.”

For Preschool for All, Finch Academy is considered a “Pilot Site.” That means it’s one of the first contracted preschools in the program and, akin to user testing, will influence the overall shape of the county’s preschool program as its details are worked out.

Multnomah County Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson was a key leader of the 2020 Preschool for All campaign conducted by a coalition of parents, teachers, unions, preschool providers and community groups. Pederson said she feels proud of reaching this milestone in the Preschool for All journey, and is still active on the team.

“Families are dropping off their little ones at preschool and are free from the significant financial burden of childcare,” Vega Pederson said, adding: “This program was recognized as a potential national model, and we’re going to make sure it’s a success.”

Applications are currently open for existing or would-be preschool providers interested in joining for the 2023–24 school year. Cash assistance and free training are available. For more information, visit Multco.us/preschool/ providers.

And although Finch Academy’s Preschool for All funded slots are filled for this school year, she still has room for more students, and Finch said she will not turn away families. For more information, call Finch at 971.544.7291.

“We Play” After School

Concordia neighborhood leader and former CNews Advertising Representative Gina Levine’s We Play Portland, an after school childcare program for Faubion School students ages five through 10, has found a new home in St. Michael’s Lutheran Church, 6700 NE 29th Ave., starting this month.

Levine has long provided before- and after-school care for friends and neighbors out of her house. But this year she has taken her business to the next level, finding a convenient location in the church’s Fellowship Hall next door to Faubion.

“I’ve been somewhat unofficially watching other people’s kids since my nine-year-old was a newborn,” Levine said. “But it was never a business. It’s really exciting to be taking the next step. I can help more families, and I see it as a longer-term career.”

Levine said she named her care program “We Play” because that’s what she wants to give the kids, a chance for unstructured time to just play and be themselves. “I don’t think kids get to play enough during the school year,” she said. “To me, play is building relationships, building community and figuring out who you are when you’re a kid.”

And for Faubion families, it’s a vital service for those parents who are working and can’t pick up their kids at 3:15 p.m. when school dismisses students, she said. We Play Portland is offering care Monday to Thursday for two hours after school.

One such parent is Christine Sullivan, a single mom and full-time teacher in Portland Public Schools. When her daughter started in-person classes at Faubion last school year, she was stressed and scrambled to find before- and afterschool care.

“I think the [school] district needs to do a better job of offering more options,” Sullivan said. “I’m so thankful for Gina. She provides such an amazing service for the community by watching all these kiddos.”

Levine said a few spots remain open in this year’s program, so contact her at WePlayPortland@gmail.com to enroll. If all goes well at Faubion, she hopes to open a Vernon School location for the 2023–24 school year.

Faubion Welcomes Staff

Faubion School welcomes two new assistant principals this fall: Cynthia Kieffer and Celina Garrido.

Kieffer was a middle school teacher in Beaverton before entering administration in Portland Public Schools. She lives in the Sabin neighborhood and said she already feels connected to the community.

Kieffer, who is Latina and speaks fluent Spanish, comes to Faubion from James John Elementary, a K–5 school. She requested to be moved to a school that served older children.

“I found I was missing that middle school component,” Kieffer said. “Grades six through eight are a discovery period. Kids are forming their hopes and dreams. To watch that identity grow and blossom is just so invigorating.

Leigh Shelton is the new lead ad representative for CNews. She loves raising her three children in Concordia and doing yoga nidra. For advertisement inquiries, contact Leigh at CNewsBusiness@ConcordiaPDX.org.

Hardesty addresses CNA general meeting attendees

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Portland city commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty appeared at the Concordia Neighborhood Association March 2 general meeting. She reported on a variety of topics, predominantly the three below:

Re: Portland Street Response

  • Expansion to citywide coverage by street response teams is planned for March.
  • Portlanders should call 9-11-1 to request a street response team. The commissioner said 9-1-1 is prepared to dispatch street response teams for mental health emergencies as well dispatching police for reports of crime and the fire department for fires.
  • However, she would like to “untrain” members of the public from calling 9-1-1 when they observe people putting up tents. “I can tell you today 50% of the calls today are for unwanted people,”

Re: Office of Community & Civic Life

  • “I’m excited about the stability of where we are at the moment.” The commissioner reported the bureau is starting a strategic planning process now and creating a job description for a new director.
  • Asked if neighborhood associations have a voice in city government other than writing letters, she recommended appearing at city council meetings. Each Wednesday opens with 15 minutes reserved for five people each to make three-minute public comments.

Re: Portland Bureau of Transportation

  • “The horrible numbers of pedestrians being killed is something that keeps me up at night.” She reported $4.5 million is being invested to improve safety.
  • The commissioner has directed the bureau to prioritize the instances of RV camping it addresses by the amount of human waste and discarded needles evident. “I’ve been really clear with the mayor I will not allow him to redirect PBOT staff on making the city look pretty.” Her priorities on abandoned vehicles and others that provide shelter is on preventing deaths.

– Nancy Varekamp
– March 6, 2022

CNA LUTC Meeting, Wed., Oct 20th, 2021: Draft Agenda

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Here’s the draft agenda for the CNA LUTC meeting this coming week.

Rachel Walsh from the Columbia Slough Watershed Council will be there to discuss potential pathways for collaboration.

Also, we plan to recap on the Alberta Street Design Walk, and discuss drafting a letter in support of the Historic Resources Code Project, as authorized by the Board.

You can join the meeting here:
Web:

Phone:
316-512-3077
PIN:
417604919#
One-touch:
316-512-3077, 417604919#
Looking forward to seeing you then!
cheers,
~Garlynn

Draft CNA LUTC Agenda: Wednesday, May 19th, 2021

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Hi folks,
Here’s the draft agenda for next week’s LUTC meeting.
You can join the meeting here:
Phone:
(US) +1 316-512-3077
PIN: 417604919#
Look forward to seeing you there!
BTW, If anybody would like to help be a part of citywide cleanup efforts, here’s a link to participate:
Pick It Up, Portland!
Finally, you can see CNA’s DOZA testimony published, here:
Unfortunately, I was quite busy that afternoon and was, unfortunately unable to testify in-person or take questions from council.
cheers,
~Garlynn

Draft CNA LUTC Agenda: Wednesday, April 21st, 2021

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Here’s a draft agenda for next week’s LUTC meeting.
WHAT:
Concordia Land Use & Transportation Committee (LUTC)
WHEN:
Wednesday, April 21st, 2021
WHAT TIME:
7pm
WHO:
Concordia neighbors interested in improving the neighborhood through safer streets, more housing opportunities, and more local business
HOW:
It’s virtual.
Login online at this link:
https://meet.google.com/ocg-wgut-iki
Or call in by phone:
316-512-3077 PIN: 417604919#
WHY:
“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” -Jane Jacobs
See you there!
cheers,
~Garlynn

 

::-::-::-::-::-::-::-::-::-::
Garlynn G. Woodsong (he/him)
Vice Chair and Board Member, Position Southwest 1
Land Use & Transportation Committee Chair
Concordia Neighborhood Association

Draft CNA LUTC Agenda: Wed, Feb 17, 2021

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Here’s a draft agenda for next week’s LUTC meeting.
WHAT:
Concordia Land Use & Transportation Committee (LUTC)
WHEN:
Wednesday, February 17th, 2021
WHAT TIME:
7pm
WHO:
Concordia neighbors interested in improving the neighborhood through safer streets, more housing opportunities, and more local business
HOW:
It’s virtual.
Login online at this link:
https://meet.google.com/ocg-wgut-iki
Or call in by phone:
316-512-3077 PIN: 417604919#
WHY:
“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” -Jane Jacobs
See you there!
cheers,
~Garlynn

::-::-::-::-::-::-::-::-::-::
Garlynn G. Woodsong (he/him)
Vice Chair and Board Member, Position Southwest 1
Land Use & Transportation Committee Chair
Concordia Neighborhood Association