Sunnyside Neighborhood Association
Helping connect neighbors through events and information in Portland's Sunnyside Neighborhood.
The SNACC committee will meet Thursday January 19th from 6:30–8 p.m. at Southeast Uplift. We are continuing to seek in-kind and financial donations, as well as volunteer support to sustain a new four-day shower schedule at the Sunnyside Community Center. If you are interested in volunteering, please email [email protected].
If you’d like to donate, visit www.sunnysideshowerproject.org/donate for more details.
Happy Holidays Sunnyside!
The SNA met on November 10th for our bi-monthly meeting. A big topic of conversation was Mayor Ted Wheeler’s new plan to open large designated campsites across the city and to gradually ban unsanctioned camping by Portland’s houseless residents. Sam Adams, from the Mayor’s office, kicked off a series of meetings with neighborhood stakeholders on November 9th to discuss their vision. The pilot site would open with space for up to 150 people. They eventually expect to have six sites, with space for up to 250 people at each site. The mayor’s office says that each city-owned site would be managed by a private contractor, providing two meals, heated tents and access to service providers, like mental health, housing coordinators and drug treatment. The camps would be fenced and would have security, including in the 1000 feet surrounding each site. There are still many details to work out, including site selection and finances. Many meetings with the mayor’s office will continue over the coming months. They hope to be off the ground within 18 months.
We also had a presentation from Quiet Clean PDX (QC PDX). This organization is working towards a future where Portland would be free of gas-powered leaf blowers, as they greatly decrease air quality, cause extensive noise pollution and may present particular health hazards to their operators. This was an educational presentation and we may look at endorsing their campaign in the future, if the neighborhood is interested.
In other news, Portland voted for a new form of government with multi-member districts, proportional ranked-choice-voting, and a city administrator to manage bureaus! This is a big change for our city, and Portland needs you to stay involved. Over the coming months there will be many opportunities to participate in shaping the new government. Keep an eye on https://www.portland.gov/transition for opportunities to serve your community by making this change a reality.
The SNA board will have its monthly meeting on December 8th and we will return for our next general meeting in January.
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season filled with friends, family and bright tidings for the coming new year. And I hope to see many of you at Sunnyside’s brightest tradition – the lights on Peacock Lane!
Hi neighbors! Just a short update from me on what we’re talking about at the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association.
We had our monthly board meeting on Thursday, October 13th. This time we were much more successful hosting a hybrid in-person/virtual meeting, so we will continue to offer both options for our general and board meetings, allowing for as many neighbors to participate as possible. Much of the focus for the board was on this little newsletter that we always love to see on our front doorsteps every month! We heard, in detail, from our newsletter team about their process and how they put it together every month, from article submissions to getting it into your hands. We are looking for ways to improve and streamline the process to ensure its continued success.
Additionally, we had a presentation from our Land Use & Transportation Committee chair, Jamie Smith, about efforts by neighbors at 45th and Madison surrounding the tent camp behind the commercial building at 4511 SE Hawthorne. This camp has existed throughout the past several years, but tensions have increased recently. You may have seen the news reports (www.kptv.com/2022/09/15/multiple-cars-hit-by-man-throwing-rocks-his-bike-se-portland) regarding a possible resident of this camp throwing rocks at cars. Jamie reported that the building is currently being vacated and that the development company, Killian-Pacific, will be fencing off the property to the edge of the sidewalk on Madison to deter future encampments until they proceed with a project on the site. The camp was slated to be swept by Friday, October 14th.
Finally, I wanted to pass along notices about some grant opportunities. First, SE Uplift has opened applications for two grant programs: Community Small Grants and Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility Communication Grants. Applications are due by midnight November 22nd. Full details are available at www.seuplift.org/grants. Second, if you own a small business that has had broken windows or doors, graffiti, or other damage, you can apply for up to $10,000 in assistance from the city’s Local Small Business Repair Grants program. Details and the application can be found at www.prosperportland.us/portfolio-items/local-small-business-repair-reopening-grant.
We will be returning on November 10th at 7 PM for our next general meeting. We are still working on the agenda, but of interest is a new plan from PBOT to expand the greenway network in Sunnyside with additional North/South streets and traffic calming measures. If you have other topics you would like to discuss at this or other meetings, please reach out to us at [email protected].
Searching on social media it is easy to find a monthly preparedness topic, usually connected to seasonal weather patterns. There are national preparedness month designations and they may vary depending on where you live in the world. Here is a useful link for a year-round preparedness calendar: https://www.ready.gov/calendar
As a Sunnyside Portland NET (Neighborhood Emergency Team) member, I am trained to prepare for the most severe event, which in our part of the world is an earthquake. So, if you are prepared for an earthquake, you are essentially prepared for any weather emergency. It’s a cascading (no pun intended) continuum.
Sunnysiders are advised to ‘start where you are’ and build from there. Depending upon your family status, you probably have different needs for preparedness. If possible, involve family members in your eprep, and maybe some close neighbors and friends as well.
Consider ‘mapping your neighborhood’ * so that you form greater connections to your neighbors and become aware of the skills and resources that are available if/when they are needed. Neighborhood is loosely defined to include your workplace, school, etc.
Like anything worth doing, this takes time, effort, and cooperation. Feel free to contact me at [email protected] if you have questions.
* Continue to use creative ways to connect to your neighbors during this time of COVID. Here are some ideas: snail mail a card to a new or old neighbor, create a chalk drawing on the sidewalk in front of where you live, walk around and greet others on your block. What else might you do?
Last month the SNACC committee reviewed the strategic planning conversation we started at the beginning of the summer. In our June meeting, we did a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis with volunteers. We then revisited the needs assessment results and focused our energy on recruiting more volunteers, with the goal of extending operating hours at the Sunnyside Shower Project and increasing access for guests.
We held two volunteer orientations in August and 11 new volunteers have since joined us. We hope to continue outreach to gain more volunteer support so that we can open the Sunnyside Shower Project (SSP) for additional days and times since this was the number one need identified in the needs assessment.
Finally, we’re very excited to announce the art installation Artist Unknown which will be open at the Sunnyside Methodist Church and Community Center (3520 SE Yamhill St) from 5-9 p.m. on September 2nd and 3rd. This art show will feature works by unhoused artists, some of whom have been guests at the SSP. Artists will have works available for purchase and light refreshments will be available. Donations will be accepted and will go toward making long-overdue repairs to church windows. More information about this art show is available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/artist-unknown-tickets-394437612517. The next SNACC meeting will take place on Thursday September 15th from 6:30-8 p.m., location to be determined.