Category: Neighborhood Newsletter

Sunnyside Neighborhood Community Cares (SNACC) Committee Updates

The SNACC committee met in-person again this month (although a few members joined virtually, including two new faces). Welcome to the neighborhood Ignacio and Eleanor! We discussed several updates on meetings our members recently attended, including LNA’s IDEA committee meeting and a community listening session about a possible tiny home village coming soon to Laurelhurst that will serve Indigenous houseless folks. We discussed planning a series of community meetings between our volunteers and guests at the Sunnyside Shower Project (SSP), as well as some fundraising plans to repair damage at the Sunnyside Methodist Church. This brought us to a discussion of our strategic vision for our committee’s work and the future of the SSP. 

June’s SNACC meeting will be devoted to a deeper dive into strategic planning, and we intend to host this meeting outside (location TBD) to make attendance more accessible. This will be the beginning of a multi-step process that engages housed and unhoused neighbors to set intentions for how we can bring our collective vision for this committee and the SSP to life.

Getting to Know Others on Your Block / In Your Neighborhood

It’s probably easiest for those who own dogs and can chat/walk/visit with other pet owners on their multiple daily walks. 

And for neighborhood moms and dads as they walk their kids to and from the neighborhood schools. 

Maybe also for friendly types who make a regular effort to smile at their neighbors and stop to chat and listen deeply to the stories others want to share.

It’s a great feeling to walk about and say hello to the new parents on the block, the mail person who is a friend of mine, or to ask a neighbor for the name of the great crafts people who recently completed a fab roofing project or beautiful stone masonry work. 

Or to compliment newish neighbors about their ‘teachable’ garden where kids and parents who walk down the block can stop and point out the thoughtfully labeled flowers, trees and shrubs in their front yards. 

Imagine that. 

A teaching garden that is public and accessible just by walking by. 

Or when you are going out of town, notifying neighbors so they can watch over your home, and maybe ask someone to come and pick up your mail. 

Or maybe organize a block party and really get to know your neighbors. 

Imagine that.

Want some help organizing a block party or some tips on how to do neighborhood outreach?

Email me at [email protected] and let’s get this started. 

Last Month’s News. This Month’s Plans.

We hosted our first hybrid SNA General Meeting for the month of April in-person at the Sunnyside United Methodist Church and on Zoom. We had a good in-person turnout and virtual attendance. A big thank you to the folks that showed up and tuned in. The SNA Board gave a high-level introduction to the Association’s operations along with the Officer and Committee Chair reports to keep our local community informed. Then, we quickly dove into the Candidates forum to hold an in-person discussion with the City’s Metro No.6 and Commissioner No.3 positions. The SNA hosted an engaging Q&A debate that covered the concerns of governance, housing, public safety, and community issues. A very lively and collaborative conversation was had by both groups of candidates and our neighborhood is grateful for their participation. We certainly look forward to hosting more public forums that bring information firsthand to the public. 

SNA Board elections will be held at the June meeting on Thursday the 9th at the SE Uplift parking lot (3534 SE Main St). Join us for the elections to learn more about the opportunity. No previous experience is required and existing Board Members will help you navigate this role. It’s a great way to get involved in your community, have a voice, represent your neighbors, and make a meaningful impact. Please join us for the May SNA General Meeting to ask questions and learn more. 

Welcome to our newest committee lead, Jamie Smith, who will be partnering with the SNA to help manage the Land Use & Transportation committee. We’re very excited to have her support. We’re still searching for a Newsletter Communications & Advertising Coordinator. If you’re looking to engage with your community or get involved in a local civic service, we encourage you to learn more about this role. You can reach out to [email protected] for details. 

Many thank yous to our recent newsletter donors. We greatly appreciate your generosity and goodwill. Please keep the support coming so we can continue to publish our local newsletter. The donation link is on the SNA website for folks who would like to contribute to the newsletter’s expenses (https://sunnysideportland.org/donate-to-our-newsletter). We also have available advertising spots if you have a business or want to spread the word about something. We’re still plugging along to reach our annual production costs of $6,000.

May’s meeting will be held virtually on Zoom on Thursday the 12th. Meeting details and the agenda will be posted on the SNA website (https://sunnysideportland.org) on Tuesday the 10th. The General meeting will be from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. with the Board Meeting directly after from 8:30- 9:00 p.m. Please join us.

Being Prepared, and Maybe It’s Enough

What does that mean for emergency preparedness? Well, it depends – it’s all about feeling ready enough for any disaster. Earthquakes, extreme heat or extreme cold, loss of power,  smoke from wildfires, downed trees and powerlines … fill in the blank.

When I get on my soapbox about e-prep, I usually get one of two responses: “Yes, I am prepared enough.” or “No, I haven’t thought about it and I don’t have the time to do anything about it right now, but thanks for the reminder.”

Our choice to live in this most beautiful part of the world means that there are weather and climate-related issues to know about, and plan for. 

Questions? Feel free to email me : [email protected]. Let’s start a conversation. Wherever you are is the best place to begin.

Sunnyside Neighborhood Community Cares (SNACC) Committee Updates

The SNACC committee met in-person to discuss working with other neighborhood associations to support our houseless neighbors. We are hoping to attend Laurelhurst’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee meeting in May. We also reviewed the needs assessment findings and recommendations. Slides are available here. Jes will be creating a summary of findings and recommendations which will be distributed to shower guests and volunteers. We also continued our conversation about other potential projects. We talked about the gap in services created when Beacon Village moved to Montavilla and a desire to replicate some of what they were doing last year. We hope to discuss with our shower volunteers what capacity people might have to provide rides, assistance navigating services, and other support. We also discussed some potential ways we might optimize use of the showers – expanding to offer a mobile unit, setting aside time for walk-ins and having volunteers doing outreach during shifts to help facilitate people getting to appointments or coming in during walk-in hours. Many of the projects we discussed are long term. We also debriefed Monday’s community listening session on the City budget, which Cole and Jes attended. They each gave testimony asking the City for funding for the Sunnyside Shower Project. We are going to reach out to volunteers to see who has capacity and interest to submit written testimony as well.