Hosford-Abernethy Neighborhood Association
By Jill Riebesehl
Now, two months since we last met, the HAND board with many faces, some new, started the New Year with a bang of a Zoom meeting. Two illustrious guests stopped by: Rep. Rob Nosse and outgoing City Commissioner Amanda Fritz. Rob came to seek our endorsement of a new approach by the city and county for dealing with people having to live outside and on the streets. He is asking neighborhoods and Southeast Uplift to join with him, City Commissioner Dan Ryan and Multnomah County Chairwoman Deborah Kafaury to support sanctioned camping.
The idea involves smaller sites distributed around the city with the goal of eliminating the unsuccessful, disruptive cycle of illegal sites followed by sweeps. The Board voted to support the effort, adding some suggestions that might make the idea succeed, such as having on-site management that could, among other things, deal with people who get out of hand, and would include neighborhood participation in siting.
We thanked Amanda Fritz for her 12 years of public service on City Council that included, among other things, her diligence in finally getting public funding for elections. She said she has high hopes for the new members of City Council along with Mayor Ted Wheeler’s steady hand. She described her enthusiasm for and belief in neighborhood participation in shaping our city and urged that everybody be kind to one another.
Hank Cattell also dropped by. He’s the new owner of Palio, the coffeeshop in Ladd’s Addition where our executive committee often meets. He introduced himself and let us know that Palio, with Dots and Jaciva’s Bakery, will be launching a GoFundMe, February 17, that will in turn provide food for lunches at the Wishbone Kitchen at St. Francis.
Our next Zoom meeting will be Tuesday, February 16, 7 pm. All are welcome. Check our website or Facebook page for details.
Laurelhurst Neighborhood Association
By John Liu
The Laurelhurst Neighborhood Association (LNA) is organizing a series of racial justice workshops. LNA representatives recently testified in support of the Mann House affordable housing project on NE 33rd Ave. The LNA has also acquired the historic Laurelhurst Club building with the intent of adding neighborhood, community, non-profit and arts and culture events to the building’s uses when COVID restrictions permit.
Montavilla Neighborhood Association
By Jacob Loeb
Montavilla Neighborhood Association (MNA) began a new year of meetings by launching three initiatives to improve the community’s safety, health and inclusivity. The evening’s conversation included a presentation from Rahab’s Sisters, a hospitality group for marginalized women. Later, Southeast Uplift shared information regarding grant opportunities in the 2021 calendar year. The remainder of the meeting focused on new MNA programs.
MNA’s volunteer cleanup initiative started collecting names of interested people, officially launching the group. Located at montavillapdx.org/clean, the page offers more information on the program and links to the signup form. Joining the Clean Montavilla team connects residents with cleanup resources, safety information and group coordination efforts.
The next program focuses on the recognition of our diverse community. The Montavilla Directory has a simple goal of listing all businesses and organizations in Montavilla. Through this outreach effort, it is the hope that all groups in Montavilla feel connected to the neighborhood. The directory will help residents shop locally and support everyone in the area. Businesses can now signup at montavillapdx.org/directory.
A representative from the Neighborhood Emergency Team (NET) presented information on the group’s efforts preparing neighborhoods for an earthquake. The group, comprised of Portland residents trained by the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management and Portland Fire & Rescue, provides emergency disaster assistance within our neighborhoods.
A core part of the program is educating the public and encouraging residents to maintain a personal two-week supply of food, water and other necessities. MNA will work with NET and other resources to share this information with residents and build up emergency plans for the neighborhood.
The next MNA general meeting is on Monday, February 8, 6:30 pm. The link to the online Zoom meeting is available at the MNA website, montavillapdx.org.
Mount Tabor Neighborhood Association
By Sam Noble
MTNA hosted a community meeting January 13 on Zoom. The Taborvilla Neighborhood Emergency Team gave an earthquake preparedness presentation. The website, hazardready.org, will show localized reports for earthquake hazards for individual Portland addresses.
MTNA will host a community meeting on Wednesday, February 17 on Zoom. Find links for this and all of our meetings, under the “Meetings and Events” tab of our website, mttaborpdx.org. MTNA creates a monthly newsletter about important civic issues, which you can find on our website next to each month’s meeting minutes.
North Tabor Neighborhood Association
By Kim Kasch
Meghan Caughey, MFA will be offering a free presentation, Working Through Suicide – For Those Struggling and Those Who Care About Them at our North Tabor Neighborhood Association Meeting February 16 which begins at 6:30 pm via a Zoom presentation.
Please check out our website, northtabor.org, for additional meeting information or email us at board@northtabor.org.