Author: Chris Waldmann

News from the President

Happy Holidays Sunnyside! I hope you are finding the joy in the season with your family and friends. This is such a wonderful time of year – the streets filled with colorful lights, the children anticipating winter break and perhaps a visit from Santa, and evenings full of cheer as we come together to celebrate.

Onto the news…

At our November General Meeting, I gave a briefing on disaster preparedness and helping our neighbors in times of great need. I’m not an expert, but unfortunately, Sunnyside doesn’t have an active Neighborhood Emergency Team (NET) right now. Trained NET volunteers are not only involved in actual disaster response, but in helping neighbors prepare themselves by engaging with the community through meetings with groups like the SNA. If this sounds like something you might be interested in, please visit portland.gov/pbem/neighborhood-emergency-teams to learn more and to get tips to help your family when disaster strikes.

We also talked about caring for our neighbors. As of this writing, the threat of federal troops being deployed in Portland has not gone away. If federal agents come to our neighborhood, there are a number of ways that you can help protect yourself and your community.

• Talk to your neighbors so that you can know who is at risk so that you can
help out.

• Carry a whistle to alert the community that something is happening.

• Take a cellphone video, from a distance.

• Know your rights so that if you encounter agents, you can protect yourself.
Visit aclu.org/know-your-rights to learn more.

• Please, DO NOT ENGAGE OR INTERFERE with federal agents. You
will only get yourself in trouble, rather than helping the community.

Another great way to support your neighbors through the cold winter months ahead is to participate in the Sunnyside Shower Project’s Winter Gear Drive! Through December 21st, the SSP will partner with local businesses to accept donations of adult winter clothing and cold weather gear at various stores throughout Sunnyside. For a complete list of participating businesses, please visit sunnysideshowerproject.org or their Instagram, @sunnysideshowerproject.

That’s it for now. We will see you in 2026 for the next General Meeting. Until then, have a wonderful holiday season. Here’s to a prosperous, safe and community-filled New Year for all of us in this neighborhood, city, country, and world.

November 12, 2025 SNA General Meeting

Join us tomorrow, Wednesday, Nov. 12th at 7 PM @ SE Uplift for our next general meeting!

We’ll be discussing how neighbors can help neighbors in times of trouble, whether that is responding to a natural disaster, bringing aid and comfort to neighbors in economic need, or protecting each other from unexpected, unasked-for federal incursions.
Please bring canned goods or other non-perishable food items to share with the Oregon Food Bank.

The meeting is also available on Zoom at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85776168096?pwd=dTU3V0wycWZxTmhSVGNjNjJxdjNldz09

See you then!

News from the President

As I write this, we’re still waiting on judicial decisions about whether or not federalized troops will be walking our streets. Given the courts today, I don’t have optimism in the ultimate ruling. With that in mind, I’ve been thinking about mutual aid, how we can help each other in the best way possible, neighbor-to-neighbor. Here are just a few tips to get you started:

1. Talk to your neighbors! Make a list of who is on your block, who may have special needs and who has special skills that they can share in an emergency. Get a phone tree or a texting list together.

2. Be prepared yourself. We all know we live in the looming shadow of a disaster. Have your plan and supplies ready.

3. Keep an eye out. Maybe you live near an immigrant family who feels vulnerable in the current environment or you know that an elderly neighbor may be vulnerable to door-to-door scams. If you’ve done #1, then you can warn them if you see something strange going on. Don’t jump too fast to conclusions, but forewarning is a great start to self defense.

We’ll have an opportunity to discuss this further and learn more at our November 12th General Meeting, where members of our local NET (Neighborhood Emergency Team) will share valuable information about how we can all get through potential disasters, natural or not. We will continue with a discussion surrounding what we as residents can do to respond safely and responsibly to the new sight of troops in Portland.

Lastly, you’ve probably heard about the SNA’s very own Sunnyside Shower Project. Would you like to learn more about how we are doing mutual aid for our less fortunate neighbors? We’ll be hosting an open house and forum at the Sunnyside Community Center, the former Methodist church at 35th and Yamhill, on Sunday, November 16th from 3-5 p.m. Come see what we do, ask questions, and maybe you’ll decide to volunteer!

Also, keep an eye out for drop boxes at businesses in Sunnyside where you can drop off donations of clothing and gear for our annual Winter Gear Drive. This annual drive brings gifts of clothing and cold weather equipment to help our neighbors survive the cold months.

One last request, if you are coming to the General Meeting on November 12th at 7 p.m., please bring donations of non-perishable food. SNA will bring all donations to the Oregon Food Bank. The cuts in federal food aid are going to start taking a bite just as prices are set to rise because of other policy decisions. So, please help your neighbors if you can!

News from the President

Hi neighbors! Can you feel the crisp in the air? This time of year is built for colorful strolls in the forest, apple-picking in the Gorge, and cozying up with warm cider by a fire-pit. It’s also a great time to get involved with your neighborhood, whether that is helping a less able neighbor take care of their leaves or organizing a cleanup on your block!

Have a community-focused project that could use some funding? Whatever your idea, the SNA in partnership with SE Uplift is here to help! The SE Uplift Community Small Grants program is open for applications through Sunday, November 2nd. Winning projects may receive up to $3000 to execute their vision to build community and increase civic engagement in the District 3 community. Projects must be sponsored by a nonprofit organization. Not a nonprofit? SNA can sponsor your project using our nonprofit status. More details are found at seuplift.org/grants.

Have you been the victim of a crime? I’m sorry. Did you know that there is a new option in Portland for victims of crime to seek justice outside the bounds of the traditional court-based system? The Portland Community Justice Program (PCJP) is a new option from a partnership between Lutheran Family Services and the Portland Police Bureau. The PCJP  focuses on the victim of a crime and seeks to repair the harm done to them through relationship building, respect, responsibility, repair and reintegration. When filing a police report, tell the officer that you want to use the restorative justice program and they will contact PCJP to get the process started. You can read all about this innovative program at lcsnw.org/program/portland-community-justice.

Thanks to the activism of local neighbors, there’s a new crosswalk coming to Sunnyside. PBOT will install the new crosswalk across Stark St. at 43rd by the Multnomah Friends Meeting and the Mazamas. Hopefully this will help tame some of the out-of-control speeds on that stretch of Stark and provide an improved measure of safety to all who use it. Kudos to Sunnyside residents for getting this done!

Autumn is a great time to plant a new tree that can spend the winter soaking up all that rain before the next dry season. The city of Portland is giving them away for free! Urban Forestry will give out 300 trees every Saturday at community events around the city, so go plant a tree at no cost! Full program information is at portland.gov/trees/tree-planting/find-your-free-trees.

Did you know Sunnyside has a new farmer’s market? Stop by the Asian Community Farmers Market on Saturdays through November 1st from noon-4 p.m.at the parking lot at SE Uplift (3534 SE Main St.) for all of your fall produce needs! All forms of payment are accepted, including EBT and WIC.

Want to see a film by a local documentarian? NW Documentary launched a monthly series of screenings, “Watch a Doc,” at the Sunnyside Community Center (3520 SE Yamhill). Events are on the second Thursday of every month. October’s film will be October Country, a “beautiful, spooky portrait of a family” from Portland-based filmmakers Michael Palmieri and Donel Mosher. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; films start at 7 p.m.. Drinks and snacks are provided. More information at nwdocumentary.org.

That’s it for this month! We hope to see you in person in November for our next General Meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 12th.

September 10, 2025 SNA General Meeting

Join the SNA tomorrow, Wednesday September 10th, at 7 PM for our first meeting of the fall! We will hear from Lutheran Family Services about dispute resolution and mediation services they can provide to help neighborhoods live together in community. We will also have time for open discussion, so if you have issues affecting Sunnyside you’d like the SNA to help out with, bring them and let us know!

Meeting will be held at SE Uplift, 3534 SE Main St., and online at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85776168096?pwd=dTU3V0wycWZxTmhSVGNjNjJxdjNldz09

The full agenda is available at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ovh1Ssobmbu9PMPcBszLxt-IOCAXIv4PZ7fofPF70Iw/view?tab=t.0#heading=h.7nze0dyg5b25