New!  Click on a title below and go right to the story:

• May Day!
• Old Town Chinatown Street Fair
• Chez Jose Benefit
• Town Hall on Homelessness
• Mother’s Day Meal
• Sisters Takes a Position
• PC Update (column at right)

May Day! May Day!  And a Race for your Bladder

Join Sisters’ Civic Action Group (CAG) for an exciting action!  CAG is currently working towards acquiring 1438 pairs of new socks for a May Day “Sock Event” which is to be held in conjunction with the May Day march on Thursday, May 1.

The action begins at noon.  We will be displaying socks to represent the 1438 people that the city says are sleeping outside each night. After the event, the new socks will be put in to the Sisters’ hygiene barter program and used by people who need them.  If you want to donate socks, email Patrick at sistersoftheroad.org.

Our socks, and several CAG members will be in the park where it starts, on the south park blocks between 9th and Park between Main and Salmon. Come at noon check out our socks and stick around for the march which starts at 5pm!

RACE FOR YOUR BLADDER!
Then in early June, join us for a “restroom orienteering event, “Race for your bladder”, where we will have CAG members and local semi famous people (a local reporter for instance) navigate between Portland’s downtown restrooms to show both the lack of available public restrooms and the distances that one would have to travel in order to use one. The event will be ending at the City Hall restroom, Portland’s one overnight restroom for public use.  Check our website for further details as they unfold.

If you would like to be involved in the organizing of either of these events, would like to donate new socks, or would just like to call someone to ask a question, please feel free to call Patrick at 503-222-5694 extension 13, or email him at Patrick at sistersoftheroad.org.

. . . and then Join the Party at the Old Town Chinatown Street Fair

After the May Day Event, come on down to the Trimet Old Town Chinatown Street Fair, 5pm - 9pm. Sixth Avenue will be a giant party!  Sisters’ cafe (133 NW Davis) will host our PhotoVoice exhibit and an art exhibit by p:ear, featuring the art of youth experiencing homelessness.  We’ll sell our book Voices from the Street and give tours of the cafe and Personalist Center. Light refreshments will be served.  Please join us for this cross-class community event celebrating Old Town Chinatown - when you do, also check out our tent in front of Cal Skate on Sixth between Davis and Everett!

When you eat at either Chez Jose location in April, May and June, it will help Sisters -especially if you vote for us!

April 1 through June 30, 1% of all sales (including all alcohol and retail sales) will go to Sisters Of The Road, Portland Habitat for Humanity, Hollyrood-Fernwood Elementary and the Oregon Food Bank.

All will receive a check at the end, but customers determine how much goes to which charity, voting every time they dine!  Please vote for Sisters - our customers will thank you!

Visit Chez Jose at the following two locations:

1) 2200 NE Broadway St, Portland website
2) 8502 SW Terwilliger Blvd, Portland website

We were chosen to be one of Chez Jose’s beneficiaries this quarter based on their customer’s votes.  Thank you to them, and to Chez Jose - you’re all heart!

Senator Avel Gordley (pictured at right) and Sisters invite you to a Town Hall on Homelessness, Saturday April 26: “Truths about Homelessness in the Beloved Community.”

The town hall was in part spurred by the number of students experiencing homelessness.  In Parkrose School District alone, at least 200 children are experiencing homelessness.

Saturday, April 26, 2008
10 a.m. to 12 noon
Portland Community College, Southeast Center
Great Room, Mt. Tabor Hall
2305 SE 82nd and Division, Portland

This event is free, accessible and open to the public.

Panelists include:

• Patrick Nolen, Sisters Of The Road
• Kathy Keim-Robinson, Director of Student Services, Parkrose School District
• Bob Grovenberg, Homeless Liaison, Parkrose School District
• David Leslie, Executive Director, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon
• Pastor Mark Knutson, Augustana Lutheran Church
• Israel Bayer, Director, Street Roots
• Eddy Barbosa, Resource Specialist, Street Roots
• Civic Action Group

We have a special Mother’s Day Meal planned for Monday, May 12.

This meal will feature flowers on the table and a special menu of ham or barbecued tempeh, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and a complementary dessert.  Bring your mom, mom-in-spirit, or a mom you know, and share a special meal with us!

Sisters has been crafting Position Statements to help keep you informed of where we stand on various issues.

We have written a statement on Portland’s Homeless Count, and are also writing statements on:

• Fareless Square
• Panhandling
• The Sidewalk Obstruction Ordinance.

What does Sisters think of Portland and Multnomah County’s 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness?

Quick response:

Sisters believes that the 10 Year Plan will never succeed in ending homelessness.  The money needed to accomplish these plans locally has not been secured and there is no new dedicated federal funding to make these plans happen. 

A little more info:

Homelessness will continue to exist even with 10 Year Plans until the federal government makes a serious and sizeable commitment to funding the production, subsidization, and preservation of affordable housing.  It’s only fair that everyone has a safe, decent place to live.  Any efforts that Portland and Multnomah County make to end homelessness will not be enough without this commitment from federal government.

Also, Portland and Multnomah County’s 10 Year Plan focuses on people who are chronically homeless, which does not include everyone who is homeless.  Rather, it focuses on people who meet a specific definition.  HUD defines a chronically homeless person as an unaccompanied individual with a disabling condition who has been living in a place not meant for human habitation or in an emergency shelter for at least a year or has had at least four episodes of homelessness in the last three years.  This means that the 10 Year Plan does not include, for example, people who are sleeping in their cars or people who are doubled up in a friend or family member’s home.

Can you believe that in 3 months, Sisters’ Personalist Center will turn one year old?

In April, you are invited to join us for these free events:

• Knitting Circle Wednesdays. Join us on the 9th, the 23rd, and the 30th, from 10:00am to 12:30pm.  All skill levels welcome, basic materials provided.
• Nonviolence Training: Wednesday the 9th from 1pm to 2:30.  Open to all, RSVP to Lauren, below. These trainings variously cover: the roots of nonviolence philosophy; identifying acts of violence; issues of power and class; and practical skills of interrupting violence.
• Civic Action Group meets Saturdays, April 12th and 26th, 12-3pm.  People with experience with homelessness are welcome to attend.  Contact Patrick for more info: (503) 222-5694 ext. 13, or email Patrick at sistersoftheroad.org.
• Cafe and PC closed for construction: Friday the 18th
• Early this summer, we hope to begin hosting a series of skills trainings taught and chosen by customers and volunteers in the cafe.  Have a skill you’d like to teach?  Contact Lauren!

Got a question about the PC?  Contact Lauren for more information on PC events, trainings, programs, and other happenings at 503-222-5694 x25 or Lauren at sistersoftheroad.org.