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25th Anniversary Quilt
Shumway Award Recipients
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Our Bio: Sisters Of The Road Since 1979
- 1979 - Sandy Gooch and Genevieve Nelson open the cafe with $10.00 and a barter for the rent.
- 1981 - The Portland City Council passes an anti-camping ordinance making it illegal to sleep under bridges. Sisters and the Burnside Community Council file a suit against the city and eventually a judge overturns the ordinance. We receive our 501(c)3 non-profit status from the IRS.
- 1984 - The storefront next door to the Cafe opens up and expansion and renovation plans begin.
- 1985 – Executive Director Kurt Liska and Genny Nelson go to Washington D.C. to present Kurt’s food stamp proposal to the USDA. Endorsed by Sen. Hatfield, the request was to accept food stamps for prepared meals from people who were homeless. The proposal is rejected at first.
- 1986 - The Cafe finishes the expansion renovation and grows from 22 seats to 51. We continue to lobby for support of the food stamp proposal.
- 1987 - Victory! Under pressure from Sen.Hatfield and the House Select Committee on Hunger, a new law allows homeless people to use their food stamps for prepared meals in non-profit dining facilities. Sisters is the first in the nation to implement this new legislation.
- 1988 - deForest Walker becomes Exec. Dir. and Genny Nelson returns as Operations Manager. The Women’s Self Help Group begins meeting.
- 1989 - The Meal Coupon Program begins as a means to respond to panhandlers.
- 1990 - Genny becomes Executive Director and we hold our first big fundraiser, an art auction. 33,102 meals are served.
- 1991 - We begin Sabados Mejicanos with a Mexican menu and bilingual information. 42,723 meals served.
- 2005 – Genny Nelson wins the National Caring Award, driving the Mayor of Portland to declare a day honoring her. Her induction to the National Hall of Fame for Caring Americans highlights the impact and innovation that Genny and Sisters Of The Road have had both locally and nationally. 77,240 meals were served.
- 2006 - 78,000 meals were served
- 2007 - Our book Voices From the Street, Truths About Homelessness from Sisters Of The Road by Jessica P. Morrell, foreword by Genny Nelson, is published. Our manual about how to conduct such a research project is also published, online, entitled Tell Me Some Stories About Your Experience Of Homelessness - A Practical Guide For Replicating SORs Research Project
- 2007 - The Personalist Center opens adjacent to Sisters’ cafe, expanding our barter program, moving our line indoors, and making room for increased and improved phone use service, mail service, and hygiene supplies, and also for new meeting and office space for our community organizing and other work.
Awards and Honors:
- 2005 Genny Nelson wins the National Caring Award
- 2005 crossroadsmembers Dan Newth and Keith Van win the Shumway Award
- 2003 Award of Merit/Outstanding Service Award – Oregon Coalition of Housing & Homelessness
- 2003 Best of Portland, Willamette Week. Best Non-Profit Organization (voted by reader’s of the Willamette Week)
- 2002 Genny Nelson wins Woman of the Year award through the Portland YWCA
- 2001 E-Town E-chievement National Award
- 1997 Harry Chapin Self-Reliance Award for innovation and creativity in the effective resolution of hunger and poverty
- 1993 Genny receives The Steve Lowenstein Award and Citizen of the Year from the N.A.S.W., Oregon Chapter.
- 1992 U.S. Mayor’s End Hunger Award for compassion and dedication
- 1991 Genny receives the Mayor’s “Spirit of Portland” Award.
1992 - We launch our first dinner/dance auction Cafe Boogie! 49,273 meals served.
1994 - We finish our manual, “Dining With Dignity” and our video “The Invisible Community”. 50,128 meals served.
1995 - We receive a grant to do a feasibility study for starting a micro-enterprise. 60,427 meals served.
1996 - We lease the store front next door to the Cafe. The USDA Commodity Foods Program ends.
1997 - Expanded into store front next door. 53,027 meals are served January through December 1997.
1998 – Staff operating teams are established and decision making is moved from the management team to the individuals that were directly affected by the decision.
1999 – Sisters first community wealth building initiative “Boxcar Bertha’s Coffeehouse” opened.
2000 – Genny Nelson returns to Sisters after a 4 month absence. Steel Fixler and Genny become Co-Directors. Sisters endorses Dignity Village.
2001 –The Community Organizing Project of Sisters Of The Road is launched with two components; the research project conducting 600 interviews with people who have experience with homelessness and development of a self and community advocacy group. Monica Beemer is hired as the third Co-Director. Boxcar Bertha’s is sold.
2002 – crossroads people’s organization is formed. 383 interviews are completed for the Research Project.
2003 – Genny Nelson resigns as a Director and becomes the Director of Community Organizing.
2003 – We change our name to Sisters Of The Road to acknowledge that we are more than a Café. The Café remains integral to what we do.
2003 – November, we begin celebrating our 25th year of hot meals and hospitality. 600 interviews are completed and will be transcribed and coded in the next year.
2004 – A contract is signed with the University of Washington at Tacoma School of Urban Studies to analyze the information from more than 40,000 pages of input from 600 interviews with people with experience with homelessness, asking them about their experience.
Last updated on Jun 05, 2008 at 02:26 PM
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