Concordia Neighborhood Association | Portland, Oregon

Children & media: How much is too much?

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Family

By Jennifer Allison

Media. This has to be one of the biggest topics in early childhood that everyone wants to know how to define. What is too much screen time?

Let’s start with the basic facts about young children, and dive into what is going on developmentally in the newborn and the young child. Children, specifically from 0 to 3 years of age, come into the world very open to life, with heightened sensitivities and completely dependent upon us for love and care. They are not able to filter out the adult world, which is full of stimuli and fast-paced demands. Their brains are in a state of constant flux, reacting to their surroundings, developing and pruning unused neural pathways in their first 3 years of life, and adjusting to the state of immense sensory input they now find themselves in.

When we give our young children a screen to watch, the learning becomes passive, which will change the way the brain process information with long-term exposure. Strong images live deeply in the mind of children under the age of 7, which is also why you will see a child who has seen a lot of TV engage in play that is scripted. Their own imagination is overridden with what they perceive as real and intense images that they have taken into their being when they watch TV. Also, because it is a mental activity, young children who are exposed to a lot of media have trouble being in their bodies. They get agitated easier, and sometimes you can see them bounce around the room right after they have watched a television program or listened to loud music. I am sure we have all experienced this.

We are also a culture of instant gratification when it comes to media and information technology. We can just pick up a smart phone and get the answer, or pass a short YouTube video off to our child at a grocery store to pacify him/her to get a few extra minutes of quietude as we finish shopping. I wonder if we didn’t put so much on ourselves and live the lives we do with all of its demands, there might just be more of us to go around, so these modern conveniences would not need to be our default mode.

Most importantly, what I want to share that has been true from my own experience, as well as from talking to other parents, is that my family is happier when we feel connected to one another. We play games, we go hiking, we laugh, and we read together, we make arts and crafts, we bake, we have mud fights in the garden, and we enjoy snuggling at night. We find other ways to share time together that cultivate relationships beyond the television. I think it is important to know what is happening developmentally with your child, to be aware of how your scheduled home life affects your child, and then to make choices about media in your home that model your values and the life you strive to live. When is doubt, I always lean towards simplicity. The last week in April is TV turn off week, and I challenge you to go for it! Who knows, you may just find a deeper, richer connection with your family if you try going screen-free for one week.

Jennifer Allison is the parent child teacher at Gnome’s Home. Gnome’s Home is the little brother of Heart in Hand Preschool and focuses on fun and wholesome classes for the littlest ones and their adults! For more info please check gnomeshome.org

The convenient (or inconvenient) mirror

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Health and Wellness

By Kim Magraw, L.M.T.

As a massage therapist, I witness the many ways our bodies harbor the stresses that we subject them to.  I am also witness to the body’s astounding ability to process and release stress – be it physical injury, mental stress such as from overwork, or emotional trauma – and to do so seemingly autonomously when circumstances are just right.

More and more, I find myself appreciating the extent to which the body is a reflection of the mind, and the mind a reflection of the body.  Stresses on the mind become stresses in the body and healing of the body can facilitate healing of the mind, and vice versa.  Taking this another step, our approach to the world around us – our perception of the world – can be seen as a reflection of our minds and our bodies.  For example, I might ask myself, “Am I in touch with the world around me?  Do I treat it with reverence and respect?  Do I take only what I need or do I take what I can?  Do I see connections and commonalities or differences and winners/losers?  Do I engage and try to make the world a better place, or do I just go along?”

Then, I can take these same questions and pose them about my mind (my inner world) and my body (my interface between inner and outer worlds), and I find a surprising consonance among the answers.

Of late I have often heard:  “What you think about, you bring about.”Taken to its logical extreme, this statement seems absurd.  I don’t believe that I can bring about world peace, or a hot fudge sundae, just by thinking about it.  But, in the proper context this statement speaks powerfully to the connection between our inner landscape (our thoughts and feelings) and the outer landscape.  We can’t make ourselves more confident simply by repeating positive affirmations ad nauseam, but we can make room for greater confidence by modeling confident thinking.

For that matter, it could equally be said:  “What you bring about, you think about.”For example, a nice walk in the woods is a great way to transform an attitude of frustration into one of possibility and hope.

No doubt, there are plenty of stressors in the world, in our bodies, and in our minds.  It also seems to me that we have much to learn by examining our relationship with each of these, and to use one as a mirror to explore and develop another.  Maybe my body is lethargic because it has been raining for ten straight days.  Maybe that over-confident guy at the gym bothers me because I dislike the same quality that I perceive in myself.  Maybe I enjoy the sound of a small airplane engine because it reminds me of trips I took with my father.

Contact information for Kim Magraw, L.M.T., can be found by visiting the www.ConcordiaMassagePros.com directory. 

Community Acupuncture is Everywhere!

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Health and Wellness

By Hana Lanin LAc, LMT

Did you know that community acupuncture is happening all around Portland? You may have heard someone mention a “community” or “group” acupuncture clinic they’d been to, but wondered what exactly they were talking about.

Community acupuncture is a mission! Its aim is to make acupuncture accessible to a broader economic spectrum than only those who have health insurance or can afford private treatment rates. It’s low cost, low frills, effective acupuncture, facilitated in group settings by licensed acupuncturists. The community acupuncture movement is alive around the country and it is especially popular here in Portland!

What to expect
At a community acupuncture clinic, there may be from four to a dozen reclining chairs and massage tables arranged for maximum comfort in an aesthetic, if sometimes Spartan environment. There is usually a waiting and/or payment area. You may hear soft music wafting through the room, the lighting is peaceful; people speak in a slight hush. When you enter, you may notice a few folks who’ve already been given their treatment by the acupuncturist on staff and are resting with the needles. There is a lulling, nurturing sense brought about by all who are present; who’ve taken an hour out of the rush of the city day, to rebalance the health and flow of their bodies via the gentle yet powerful persuasion of acupuncture treatment.

What does it help?
What ailments can acupuncture help? There are many! Acupuncture is best known for its effectiveness in relieving body pain due to injury, aging, arthritis, headaches, menstrual cycle, digestive issues – just about any sort of pain in the body may respond well to acupuncture.

Other conditions include women’s health, sleep issues, health maintenance from pregnancy through labor, childhood and adolescence to healthy aging, immune support, including treatment of wintertime colds and flus, as well as seasonal allergies and asthma, skin problems, mental and emotional rebalancing, adjunct support for cancer patients, the list goes on.

Nowadays, people are learning to turn to modalities like acupuncture to assist in handling day to day life stress, which we know can be disruptive to our health and well-being.

How much does it cost?
Prices for treatments at community clinics will vary – some operate on a sliding scale basis while others offer a flat fee. The usual range for an acupuncture treatment at a community clinic is $20 to $40. Some clinics will have a nominal extra fee at the first visit for an initial patient intake.

There are several community clinics in each quadrant of the city, where group treatments are either an option to private treatments, or where group treatments are the sole mission of the clinic. Some of the clinics participate in the Community Acupuncture Network, others may be located by Googling “community acupuncture Portland OR.” Still more clinics may have flyers posted on neighborhood bulletin boards.

So now, when a friend tells you they had a great experience at group acupuncture or when you see a “Community Acupuncture” flyer posted at the corner coffee hub, you’ll know the drill!

Hana Lanin brings you People’s Welcome Health Space in Hollywood, offering community and private acupuncture sessions, as well as massage therapy. She has been an acupuncturist since 2002, LMT since 1993. For more information visit www.kunlunmountainhealing.com or call (503) 432 3322.

OPINION: Diary of demolition & development – Part 6

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Land Use & Transportation, Opinion

By Luke Griffin

Everyone in Concordia has had the opportunity to watch a house be torn down to make way for new houses, duplexes, and skinnies, for better and/or for worse. This is the continued chronicle of my personal experience.

Unlike last year, this winter has been very Portland: rainy, dreary, and chilly. It seems it has rained every day since November. The rain is great though, especially after a year of drought, unless you have a poorly designed duplex next to you with no gutters. Then, you get a pounding waterfall cascading down onto your side yard, foot deep water the length of your house where your grass and flowers once lived, and a serious potential for dreaded basement flooding.

One morning during a deluge, I went outside to assess the damage. Because the building was poorly designed, the roof did not send water down the front, back and sides, off many peaks like normal houses in the area, but instead directed the waters into the center and then off to each side. Without gutters, there was a sheet of water pouring off and into my yard. Witnessing this, it was obvious there was a real chance of the water swamping my basement.

I had yet to complain to the developer about anything but thought he should do something now to keep my house from flooding. I called him and without any apology he told me they would do something sometime soon.  I explained he really needed todo something ASAP, but he dismissed my worry.And in many ways, why wouldn’t he? There is no city code mandating that developments have gutters, real flood control, or anything that would protect neighbors. If my house was flooded, it wasn’t his problem. There would be no fines or actions taken by the city according to officials. And, as the developer does not live in the neighborhood, he wouldn’t have to deal with meat all. Panicked, I tried one last time to get him todo something. He hung up on me.

I called the city inspector and was told there was nothing against the law, the city had inspected the site during the survey and would not return until final inspection. I was transferred to erosion control. They told me I could dump sand in my yard. Later that day workers had covered the swampy mess with hay. The rain continued.

The next month was continuously wet. Though no visual water seeped into my basement, the humidity got to 90%. I know: I can’t prove the cause, so said the City, but the conclusion isobvious to most. On top of this issue, one Sunday loud construction began at 8am, a violation of the noise ordinance. Numerous neighbors complained. The police finally showed up around noon but the work did not stop until about four.  At most, the developer received a $250 fine for the incident, a tiny drop in the bucket compared to the expected profits of over half a million dollars. The workers kept piling trash in front. They repeatedly blocked my driveway and rudely told me they’d eventually move.

And the City? Well, there wasn’t much they would do about any of it. With few regulations, minuscule fines for infractions, a maze of uncommunicative bureaucracies, and little motive to hinder the development boom, they were of no help, even if the lady at ONI was nice.  The City That Works…but for whom?

Five weeks of almost continuous rain after the yard flooding began, they finally put up gutters.

Luke Griffin was born and raised inNE Portland. He’s been a Concordia resident for the last four years, and is a former CNA board member. Luke works primarily in the legal field engaging in social justice in the areas of employment, housing and the environment.

Social media, crowdfunding bring Chromebooks to Faubion School students

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Family, Schools
Faubion School teacher Gabrielle Quintana, center, with two students at an outdoor school program. Quintana recently raised around $1,100 for class room technology through social media and crowdfunding efforts. Submitted photo
Faubion School teacher Gabrielle Quintana, center, with two students at an outdoor school program. Quintana recently raised around $1,100 for class room technology through social media and crowdfunding efforts. Submitted photo

There’s much talk about crowdfunding in business –it’s a way to raise small amounts of money from many “investors” or donors. An enterprising Faubion PK-8 sixth grade teacher recently put this fundraising tool to work to raise money for technology in her classroom, spreading the word via social media platform Nextdoor.com. Her project was fully-funded to the tune of around $1,100 within just a few days of posting her appeal.

Gabrielle Quintana’s classroom is currently housed at Tubman School while a new school is constructed to replace the recently demolished Faubion School. Quintana was looking to raise money for five Chromebooks. According to an article on Laptopmag.com, a Chromebook is a laptop that doesn’t run on Windows 10 or Mac OS X – instead it runs on Google’s Chrome OS. These machines are designed to be used primarily while connected to the Internet, with most applications and documents living in the cloud.

Quintana feels that getting this technology in the classroom is vital to the student education process.

“It’s logistically difficult to have regular technology in our classroom. With these Chromebooks, I can now provide writing stations so students can actually publish their work in the classroom and also have access to interactive math games.”

Quintana said she is usually hesitant to ask for money for her students, but she feels crowdfunding is “pretty amazing.”

“$5 from many donors adds up, and often other companies will often match funds. Or, if they see that a project is gaining momentum, they will pay the rest,” she said.

Quintana used the crowdfunding platform Donors Choose, which she billed as a “very reputable organization that manages the money and purchases materials for classrooms.”

Susan Trabucco is a business communications consultant. She lives in the Beaumont Wilshire neighborhood, just a few steps from Concordia. Reach her by email or call (503) 440-7732.

Homelessness: Understanding this community crisis

Posted on by Posted in CNA, Concordia News

by Daniel Greenstadt

Some of your neighbors don’t have a home. There’s been a lot of talk recently in Portland, in the region and nationally regarding the challenges of people living on our streets. On the night of the most recent count in 2015, Multnomah County had 3,800 people sleeping on the streets, in shelters, or in temporary housing, and an estimated 12,000 people were doubled up, many in overcrowded and often unsafe conditions. Hundreds of children have no place to go.

According to the city’s new and deeply informative Homelessness Toolkit, over the past two years, there has been a 17% decline in chronic homelessness among individual adults; a decrease in unsheltered veterans; and a 27% reduction in the percentage of people experiencing homelessness for two or more years. However, the latest count found a 48% increase in the number of unsheltered African-Americans from two years ago. Due to differences in the definition of ͞homeless͟ between HUD and Multnomah County, it is still a work in progress to find more accurate numbers of homelessness among communities of color. Nevertheless, supplemental data indicates that levels of homelessness have increased in these communities, including, Native Americans, Latinos, and Asians.

Our city and our neighborhoods are facing some rather immediate policy and programmatic questions that are going to be answered with your tax dollars and with implications for your street. To learn more, to report concerns and to make sure that your voice is heard, visit the link above, email reportpdx@portlandoregon.gov or call the new hotline (503) 823-4000.

Daniel Greenstadt is a CNA Board Member

Trinity Tigers go undefeated, earn two championships

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Family

By Raven Pearce

When the basketball season first started, the lady Trinity Tigers were ecstatic.  They dreamed of having an undefeated season.  When the season ended, the Tigers had not only obtained their goal, but they won two different tournament championships.  The first was the Lutheran Elementary School Tournament hosted by Concordia University since 1962, and the second was the Metro Christian League championship.

The Metro Christian League is a tough league and the Tigers had remained undefeated going into the playoffs.  The first game of playoffs was against Tualatin Valley Junior Academy and did not present much of a challenge for the girls.  The next game was against City Christian, whom the Tigers had played before in a very close and competitive game.  The lady Tigers had to mentally prepare for a tough game, knowing the Lions were coming to get them.  Coach Dylana McGill prepared her team by saying, “It’s not about who wants to win this game, both teams want the same thing.  The difference is who wants it more.”

The Tigers became resolute that they were the ones who wanted it more.  With a combination of winning the jump ball, scoring the first point, and utilizing their trap press gold defense, the team fiercely fought and kept the lead through the game.  At the end of the game the score was 55-34 in favor of the lady Tigers.

Two days later the Tigers were in the Metro League Championship game against the Life Christian Lions at the Damascus Christian gymnasium.  Both teams entered the game undefeated.  The Trinity girls had played all season with only seven players and became intimidated by the size and stature of the Life Christian team.  The Tigers knew they were going to have to dig deep if they were going to come out victorious.

At the end of a brutal first quarter, the score was tied at 9.  The Tigers were able to gain a lead by halftime and in the last half of the game, exploded with a run of points scored off of fast breaks and savvy Euro-steps by the Tiger offense.  The Lion defense could not seem to keep up.  By the end of the game, the Trinity Lutheran Tigers had secured their undefeated season with a 56-27 win over the Life Christian Lions, naming them the Metro Christian League Champions.  This is the second girl’s team in Trinity history that has gone undefeated.

Raven Pearce is a 7th Grader at Trinity Lutheran  & Tiger Player.

Help Wanted: Jarret Grove Intersection Painting 2016!

Posted on by Posted in CNA, Concordia News, Volunteer Opportunities

By Joe Culhane

Hello good fine folks of Concordia! My name is Joe Culhane, I am one of the new board members of the CNA and had the pleasure of coordinating the first-ever street painting at the intersection of NE 28th Ave and NE Jarrett St this last year. It was one of over 40 street paintings that took place here in Portland through City Repair’s annual Village Building Convergence. It was a great success and many of you may have been there and participated in the project. We had well over 100 people come out to help make this beautiful street mural come to life! We called the sight Jarrett Grove and have started a Facebook page where you can see pictures and a time-lapse of the painting from last year as well.

This is intended to be an annual project and is a great way to get together and meet more of our neighbors and build a greater sense of community. While I was delighted and honored to lead this project last year the reality that is literally in my hands (on my chest sleeping actually) right now is my newborn son, and he has taken center stage in my life these days. His care and that of my whole family has become my highest priority as you may well imagine. This year’s VBC is from June 3rd-12th, the paintings all happen during these 9 days, usually on one of the two Saturdays during that stretch.

So, this is a call out to you good people of the Concordia Neighborhood to please step up in to a leadership role this year to help make sure this year is a success as well. What that means is helping set up a few preliminary meetings with the neighbors involved, go to a few VBC meetings, and also help organize a small fundraiser for supplies. We held one at Wilder last year and it was really fun and very successful, many of the local businesses contributed prizes and we had a raffle, tons of people showed up and it was great!

It takes a lot for me to admit when I’m overwhelmed and have too much on my plate but alas, that is exactly where I find myself at the moment. I’m afraid this year’s painting may not happen if one or more people don’t step up and take the reins so by all means, please do! I’ll be available to give direction and guidance where I can and will absolutely help in the painting day and preparation leading up but really that will be the extent of my time and energy I realistically will be able to offer.

Thank you to all who helped make this happen last year, we couldn’t have done it without you! It really is a great time, last year we had donuts, coffee donated from Extracto, pizza, lemonade and iced tea, delicious treats, face painting, music, laughter, and community goodness abounding! May this be another successful year and maybe turn out to be even better as well!

Thank you again! You can email me or text/call me at (503) 446-2925 for more details.

Joe Culhane is a CNA Board Member

Moss studies provide map of Portland’s toxic pollution

Posted on by Posted in Land Use & Transportation

Lately the news that for decades two Portland glass companies discharged the toxic chemicals cadmium, arsenic and chromium into the city’s air have filled the media with stories of citizen outrage. State, county and local governments and community groups have suddenly demanded action from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

Less talked about is that the same toxic chemicals found in Portland’s air eventually make it into its rivers, lakes and wetlands through the process known as atmospheric deposition (or rain) and become an ingredient in a toxic stew. Local waterways flow with legacy pollutants such as PCB’s and DDT from dirty industrial sites, emerging contaminants like pharmaceuticals and flame retardants, pesticides, and heavy metals like mercury and arsenic from coal fired power plants.

The Columbia Slough is one such locally-affected waterway. The Columbia Slough basin extends from Blue Lake and flows toward Kelly Point Park where it meets the confluence of Willamette and the Columbia River. The Concordia neighborhood is contained in the slough’s watershed.

Today the slough is cleaner than it has been for over a century. The biggest change came in 2000, when the city’s sewers stopped dumping raw sewage and untreated wastewater into the slough during heavy rain storms. Portland’s Department of Environmental Services works with Oregon DEQ to investigate and eliminate sources of fish contamination in the Columbia Slough. They also partner with The Columbia Slough Watershed Council on habitat restoration. There’s a fish consumption advisory, however, on the Columbia Slough and it’s been that way for years.

Pregnant women and children are especially vulnerable to the toxins in the slough’s resident fish. Many Portlanders know that local waters are polluted and they wouldn’t dare eat fish from the Columbia Slough. Other community members, warning or not, have little choice in the matter. The houseless and poor often supplement their diet by eating the most toxic of fish: carp, bass and catfish.

In 2012, Lorri Epstein the Water Quality Director at Columbia Riverkeeper, a non-profit dedicated to protecting the Columbia River, took a catfish from the slough to the lab. The results were stunning. The catfish contained PCBs 27,000 times the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limit for unrestricted consumption and flame retardants. A carp from nearby Vancouver Lake tested in 2014 contained PCBs 30 times the EPA limit, mercury 3.5 times the EPA limit, flame retardants and other heavy metals.

“Fish advisories are not the answer. We need to clean up the river and stop toxic pollution from entering our river so that people can eat fish without the fear of getting sick,” said Epstein.

The Portland city council passed a resolution in March 2016 to sue the Monsanto Company for contaminating Portland waterways with PCBs from the 1930-70’s. There are still multiple point sources of arsenic and lead near the Columbia Slough according to recent moss studies. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality used the studies to pinpoint the glass companies as sources of toxic air pollution. The moss studies could also provide the map the DEQ needs to locate the owners of toxic water sources in the Columbia Slough watershed.

CNA Land Use update

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Land Use & Transportation

By Garlynn Woodsong

It’s been another busy month of important land use and transportation issues affecting Concordia residents.

Proposed R5 to R2.5 Zoning change
Many neighbors talked with Nan Stark, NE District Liaison for the Bureau of Planning Services (BPS), March 16th at the Kennedy School Community Room about this “upzoning” that would allow properties between NE Killingsworth and Jarrett from NE 22nd to NE 33rd to be more easily sub-divided from the current one dwelling per 5,000 square foot lot into two 2,500 square foot lots. Though the CNA LUTC is on record opposing this change, BPS still believes it should be in the Comprehensive Plan.

Submit comments about these and other planned changes by testifying, in person or writing, for the Planning and Sustainability Commission Public Hearing at 12:30 pm April 12 and the City Council Hearing at 6 pm April 14. For more info, call 503) 823-7700 or visit www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/50531.

Residential Infill Project
The RIP Online Survey, that 7,200+ Portlanders responded to, reveals that protecting housing affordability, preserving neighborhood character, stopping demolitions of viable homes, and ensuring compatible density development are all top citizen priorities. Other key concerns are increased strains on parking, traffic, infrastructure, green & open spaces, and tree canopies. Finally, respondents want genuine input opportunities that result in positive changes to plans and specific code guidelines.

The “Bighouse Building”
Led by Jeff Hilber, a small team of dedicated neighborhood architect and development professionals is crafting cost-effective alternative design improvement suggestions to the 4-story, 30 apartment building planned for the “Bighouse”corner at NE 30th and Killingsworth that developer Brian Spencer, of 30th & K Properties LLC, agreed to consider when he presented preliminary design concepts at the February LUTC Meeting.

North Portland Highway Safety
In response to the tragic death of a bicyclist hit by a car in December, please “Ask ODOT” for “safe passage of all N. Portland Highway users, especially at the 33rd Ave. and 42nd St. crossings” by calling (888) 275-6368 or visiting www.oregon.gov/ODOT.

Concordia residents are always welcome at CNA LUTC Meetings, held at 7pm every third Wednesday in the Community Room in the SE corner of McMenamins Kennedy School. Click here to join the LUTC notification list; send your questions to landuse@concordiapdx.org.

Garlynn Woodsong is the Chair of the CNA Land Use & Transportation Committee.