Happy New Year Sunnyside! I don’t know about you, but I am excited to put 2024 in the rearview mirror and look forward to new challenges in 2025! On that note, the biggest change in Portland is that, after years of preparation, our whole new government structure is in place and getting down to work! The new district-based council should offer many more opportunities to interact with our elected legislators to let them know about the issues we care about and the potential policies that the community think are appropriate to address them. So please continue to join us for our bi-monthly meetings and join our committees on Land Use (LUTC) and the Community Care Committee (SNACC). On to the news….
Continuing the theme of community engagement, the Sunnyside NA has
teamed up with other District 3 neighborhoods and community-based
groups in the Southeast Uplift Neighborhood Coalition to gather your input on a range of civic matters related to community safety, housing, transportation, land use, the environment, and economic development. The results of this survey will be shared with our three newly-elected City Council members (Tiffany Koyama Lane, Angelita Morillo and Steve Novick) to inform their policy-making efforts. Take the survey at tinyurl.com/2uhhaub3 by January 31st. The SNA will discuss our priorities during our January General Meeting as well!
Here’s some good news– our own Sunnyside Shower Project (SSP) just received a $40,000 grant from the Oregon Community Foundation to help with the work the team does with our homeless community! The SSP is hiring its first two paid staff members – a Project Director and a Volunteer Coordinator. With the new Project Director coming on board, founder (and SNA VP) Hannah Wallace will be taking a step back from the day-to-day SSP leadership. This project has come a long way since Hannah conceived of it during the height of the pandemic in 2021. Congratulations to Hannah, Diana and our entire SSP team!
Looking for a way to get involved with the SNA? Interested in helping us manage our meager budget? Have some basic math skills? We’re looking for a new treasurer! We are currently transitioning to a new model to take much of the burden off this important position, but we still need help to keep track of balances, request reimbursements and create our state filings. It is about a 1-2 hour per week commitment plus attendance at monthly board meetings, with the term up for reappointment this summer. It’s a great opportunity to meet new friends and be involved in your neighborhood! If you’re interested, please reach out to me at [email protected].
Finally, if you don’t want to help manage our budget, how about contributing to it? You can make your tax-deductible contribution today to the SNA at secure.givelively.org/donate/southeast-uplift-neighborhood-program-inc/sunnyside-neighborhood-association!