Despite glitches, care is still accessible
OHSU Family Medicine at Richmond would like neighborhood residents to know they are able to provide needed services, whether or not you have had success getting coverage through Cover Oregon or wherever.
As a Community Health Center, services are available on a sliding-fee basis tied to family income. Uninsured, insured, Medicaid, Medicare – everyone is eligible to be served.
If you haven’t been established as a patient at the main clinic, 3930 SE Division St, use the Walk-In Clinic at 4212 SE Division St. Hours at both clinics are: 8 am-8 pm M-F and 9 am-1 pm Saturdays.
Appointments are not necessary at the Walk-In Clinic. You will not be turned away due to inability to pay. If you signed up for insurance and want to use our main clinic as your medical home, call us to make an appointment.
Contact phone numbers are 503.418.3900 for the main clinic and 503.418.1500 for the Walk-In Clinic.
As part of the OHSU system, both clinics are accredited by The Joint Commission. Richmond is also a Level Three designated Patient-Centered Primary Care Home, with in-house Pharmacy, X-Ray and Behavioral Health services.
Prescriptions for the two clinics’ patients are filled at the Pharmacy in the Richmond facility at discounted rates for eligible patients.
Patients with serious chronic illnesses are care managed to improve quality of life. The clinics are governed by a Board of Directors comprised of clinic patients and representatives of the community.
Legislative Advocacy 101
Get Ready for the 2014 State Legislative Session
 Tuesday, January 14, 6 to 8 pm
Portland Building, 2nd floor, Auditorium
1120 SW 5th Ave.
This event will preview the 2014 legislative session and provide community members with tips on how to be an effective advocate for your community or neighborhood during this upcoming legislative session beginning in February. A panel of State legislators will share their tips as well as take questions about how the community can make an impact on public policy during the 2014 state legislative session.
Panelists include: Rep. Lew Frederick (HD 43); Rep. Jessica Vega Pederson (HD 47); Abby Tibbs, District Director for Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (Oregon’s 1st Congressional District) and Ty Schwoeffermann, Urban League.
Information you will gain from the panel: how to work effectively with legislators and their staff; strategies for mobilizing your base of membership or coalitions to maximize advocacy impact and lobbying do’s and don’ts.
If you have questions about specific legislative issues contact City Council offices using www.portlandoregon.gov for contact information for City Council offices.
For info, contact Brian Hoop, Community and Neighborhood Involvement Center at 503.823.3075 or email brian.hoop@portlandoregon.gov .
Business Beat
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Quince Affolter Consulting offers training and consultation for volunteer and professional facilitators of support groups. With over 20 years professional counseling experience of support, therapy and personal growth groups, Quince Affolter is bringing a new model of training and support. Facilitators come together from a wide range of groups to learn new skills to assist in strengthening facilitation of their support or growth groups. Two January workshops will be held at 8125 SE Pine. For information: Www.QuinceAffolter.com or 503.926.1241.
Sirius Media LLC will celebrate 10 years of building smart websites for small businesses. Sites are custom designed to enhance a brand, meet business goals, be easy to maintain and provide delightful user experiences. Is your site mobile-friendly? Check out www.sirius-media.com to learn more.
Village Movement in SE Uplift area and beyond
By Anne “Chana” Andler
Founder & Director, Villages NW
The local Village movement has come a long way since the first parlor meetings in the Spring of 2012. There are now four Villages in active development:
• Eastside Village, serves 12 neighborhoods on Portland’s east side including Mill Park, Hazelwood to 130th and the 10 SE Uplift neighborhoods north of Powell Blvd.
• RISE Village, serves Lents and all 10 Portland SE Uplift neighborhoods south of Powell Blvd.
• Northeast Village PDX, serves 17 neighborhoods in Portland’s central northeast.
• Village Without Walls in Washington County, serves Forest Grove, Cornelius, Hillsboro and Aloha-Reedville.
Planning groups are also beginning to coalesce around Beaverton, Multnomah Village, Lake Oswego, North Portland and the inner NE.
“The goal of Villages NW is to make it possible for every metro-area resident who wants to be part of a Village to get the help he or she needs to be able to age in place,” Director Chana Andler explained.
“By the beginning of 2015, we’d like to have another eight Villages in development and our first two—Eastside Village and Village Without Walls—ready to start delivering services.”
The villages Andler refers to are not senior living facilities or co-housing communities.In fact, they are not places at all, but coordinated networks of volunteer support and reduced-cost professional services which make it possible for members of a community to grow old in the homes and neighborhoods they love.
Villages are developed by a local community to serve that community. They are a grassroots effort, brought into being by a planning group of residents who want a Village for themselves, their friends, their families and their neighbors.
Integral to the success is bringing together a group of neighbors who share the vision of having a Village and are willing to invest time and talents to shepherd it through the 2-3 year development cycle.
This is not a one person job and it takes a village to make one. A wide range of skills and talents are needed to get it off the ground. Planning groups need people with time to invest, deep commitment to their community, and expertise in organizing, fundraising, nonprofit leadership, marketing, graphic and web design, finances, event planning, volunteer coordination, start-ups and entrepreneurial ventures and more.
Village planning groups are open to people of all ages. The only restriction is that one must be a resident of the area served by the Village being developed.
To get involved helping grow Eastside Village, contact info@EastsideVillage.org.
For RISE Village, contact Fran at franbfd@comcast.net.
For Northeast VillagePDX, contact Margaret at mlovejoybaldwin@gmail.com.
For Village Without Walls, contact Kathy at kfoldes@easystreet.net.
There are two special Eastside Village orientation sessions for prospective planning group members scheduled for Sunday, January 5 at 2 pm and Thursday, January 9 at 7 pm. To RSVP for your choice of session, email Chana at info@EastsideVillage.org.
The best way to learn more is to visit www.VillagesNW.org and attend a free presentation.
• Sunday January 12, 2 pm; Wednesday January 22, 7 pm or Sunday February 9, 2 pm are all at SE Uplift, 3534 SE Main St.
• Saturday January 18, 2 pm at the Gregory Heights Library, 7921 NE Sandy Blvd.
• Sunday February 2, 2 pm at the Hollywood Library, 4040 NE Tillamook St.
Seismic Retrofitting
Workshop
Saturday, January 11
 St. David of WalesÂ
2800 SE Harrison St.
Michael Wieber of NW Seismic and SE Portland Tool Library present a free Seismic Retrofitting Workshop. This info-packed event is a must for current and future homeowners who want their home to survive the next (and inevitable) Cascadia earthquake.
Topics include: features to avoid when purchasing a house; required permits and tools; earthquake-activated gas shut-off valves; concrete foundation quality; hardware installation; prescriptive approach vs. load calculation; lateral movement vs. uplift and epoxy vs. mechanical anchors.
Space is limited. Advance registeration at: www.bit.ly/18HUFow. The event is free, and donations to the free tool lending library are appreciated.
Recycle the holidays
By Bonita Davis, Certified Master Recycler, Sunnyside Neighbor
Amazed at the excess of stuff generated by holiday entertaining, gift-giving and celebrating? You are not alone. Portland’s winter holidays contribute to a 25% surge of waste material. We can prevent sending more to the landfill than necessary.
Recycle to the extent possible at curbside for starters. Holiday trees (minus decorations) can be cut to fit inside your green roll cart as part of your regular service or placed on the curb on collection day for a less than $5 fee.
Some organizations offer tree drop-off locations for recycling or will arrange a pick-up. Extra non-deposit glass bottles go in a separate rigid plastic container for curbside pick-up, clearly labeled as GLASS. Paper cards, envelopes, ribbon, raffia and gift wrap that you don’t plan to use next year go in the blue bin if they are free of glitter, foil, photo paper and not plasticized. Those with yard debris options can recycle food wastes.
Block styrofoam and styrofoam packing peanuts, outdated string lights, used electronics, batteries, rigid and numbered plastics are relatively easy to recycle if you know where to take them.
• Phone Metro Recycling Hotline, 503.234.3000 or use the “Find a Recycler” tool on www.oregonmetro.gov for recycling near you. Ask retailers about their community service of accepting back materials for recycling. A recent check found recycling for plastic bags, cellphones, wine corks, plastic clamshells, non-curbside plastics, batteries, lightbulbs, tube and CFC lighting and more.
Old towels have many uses, but perhaps none better than providing clean warm bedding for a pet in shelter care this winter. Contact your favorite animal care facility to donate those.
January is Radon Month
Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. It is formed by the natural breakdown of uranium in rock, soil and water.
Radon gas moves up through the soil and can be drawn into homes by slight pressure differences. Once inside, radon can become trapped and build up to unsafe levels.
The U.S. Surgeon General warns that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer after cigarette smoking and the number one cause of lung cancer in non-smokers. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that radon causes around 20,000 deaths from lung cancer annually in the United States.
There is a list of radon measurement companies servicing Oregon with at least one radon measurement technician on staff who has been certified by the National Radon Proficiency Program (NRPP) or the National Radon Safety Board (NRSB). Current listings of certified measurement technicians can be found at their respective websites, www.nrpp.info and www.nrsb.org.
Homeowners can purchase radon test kits at local hardware stores or through the Internet and test their homes themselves. Before purchasing, one should verify that the device or service meets the current requirements of the national certifying organizations, NRPP and NRSB.
The EPA recommends the following:
Step 1. Take a short-term radon test. If your result is 4 pCi/L or higher, take a follow up test to be sure. (Radon is measured in picocuries per liter (pCi/L)
Step 2. Depending on the results of your first test, follow up with either a long-term test or a second short term test. If short-term test results were 8 pCi/L or above, follow up with another short-term test. If short-term test results are below 8 pCi/L follow up with a long-term test. Long-term tests will give you a more accurate reading of your year-round average radon level.
Step 3. If the average of your first two short-term tests is 4 pCi/L or above, or the result of the long-term test was 4 pCi/L or above, fix your home.
If test results are below the action level of 4 pCi/L, you may want to retest in the future, especially if you start occupying a lower level of the home.
Modernizing Franklin High School
The design for the modernized historic Franklin High School is advancing. With the master plan phase completed, now is your opportunity to join the conversation as decisions are made on what Franklin will become.
In the coming months, Portland Public Schools will continue its series of public meetings, workshops and events throughout the community. Share your thoughts on what the modernized school will look and feel like and how Franklin can better support its students and families.
Design Workshop dates for the next phase will be announced soon. See www.FranklinBond.pps.net for information and a schedule of meeting dates.
Join the mailing list for updates too. Email FHSMod@pps.net. or phone 503.916.2222.
PORTLAND PARKS AND RECREATION BUDGET DIALOGUE. After years of budget cuts, the future looks brighter. If we have the opportunity to reinvest in our parks system this year, what are your priorities? Your participation makes an important contribution to the budget process for this year. January 8, 6 – 8 pm, St. Philip Neri Church, Carvlin Hall, 2408 SE 16th Ave. Contact
Stefanus Gunawan, 503.823.5493 or Stefanus.Gunawan@PortlandOregon.gov
KITCHEN SHARE FUNDRAISER Holiday cooking tough on your kitchen knives? Now is the time to get them back in top shape! Come by Kitchen Share and have your knives professionally sharpened after a busy holiday season. Proceeds will help Kitchen Share–your free lending library of kitchen equipment–repair and maintain their tools. Saturday, Jan. 25,10 am – 3 pm, St. David of Wales, 2800 SE Harrison St. Info at www.KitchenShare.org .
Native Planting in Mt. Tabor Park—Calling for Volunteers: Join Friends of Mt. Tabor Park Weed Warriors and Portland Parks & Rec. staff for a native planting party 9 am-Noon, Saturday Jan. 25. Meet up at the park Visitor Center (north end of the park near the amphitheater). Removal of invasive plants by the Weed Warriors in an area on the NE side of the park has enabled this exciting event! For information about directions, what to wear, bring, go to www.taborfriends.org and click on Weed Warriors.
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Friends of Mt. Tabor Park (FMTP)—New Board Members Sought: The Board is looking for several new members for consideration and election in March 2014. FMTP is a non-profit organization founded in 2000 and dedicated to the improvement of Mt. Tabor Park for the benefit of the community. Volunteer activities include the award-winning Foot Patrol, Weed Warriors and staffing of the new Visitor Center. To explore your interest contact Vice Chair Beau Russell at Russ11676@comcast.net no later than Feb. 20. For information about FMTP go to www.taborfriends.org.
Decision-Making Workshop – Thursday, Jan. 9, 6:30-7:30 pm. What’s getting in the way of your moving forward? Is there a decision that needs to be made? Bring a specific situation to this interactive workshop and get traction on making a decision. No cost, no registration required. Classroom opens at 6:15 pm. No food or pets please. 1235 SE Division St., #207. For more information, visit www.TinaGilbertson.com/free_events.html.
Breakfast Forum – January 16, 7:30 – 8:30 am at Taborspace Coffeehouse, 5114 SE Belmont. Topic: Community Policing in Retrospect by speaker Bob Zimmer who started in law enforcement while still in college and worked in the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Department for years. He has seen many changes in law enforcement policy and practices which he will share. The Forum is an informal group; members are interested in a wide range of issues, including educational and political issues they discuss monthly in respectful ways. Members choose both topics and speakers. No registration required. Free. Call 503.774.9621 for more information.