WELCOME: Meet our new team members!

We would like to introduce you to the new Community Outreach team members.  Emily Burruel is the new Community Outreach Office Coordinator.  She will be supporting the Community Outreach department in event logistics and keeping our office functioning.  Myste French is completing her Masters of Social Work degree at Portland State University.  Throughout this school year, Myste will be volunteering 16 hours a week to complete her internship in community-based practice.  Welcome Emily and Myste!

INVITATION: Community Safety Conversation

You are invited to a Community Conversation sponsored by Community Outreach of Our United Villages.  What does community safety mean to you?  Come share your ideas for preventing violence and brainstorm ways we can work together to build safe neighborhoods for everyone.
Community Safety Conversation
Thursday, October 21st from 6:00pm-8:00pm
St. Andrew Church 806 NE Alberta Street Portland, OR 97211
This event is free and open to anyone interested.  Space in limited; please RSVP by Monday, October 18th.  A light meal is provided.  Please call 503.546.7499 if you would like to request child care (9 and under), transportation, or interpretation. For more information or to RSVP for this event, click here.

TIPS & TOOLS: Survey & Canvassing Tool Packet

How do you develop an idea with the community’s interests at the forefront?  A survey is just one way to record the hopes, dreams, and needs of the community.  When conducting a survey, here are some things you can think about:

• How is it best to reach your audience?
• What languages should the survey be in?
 
• What questions do you need answered?
• How will you distribute the surveys?
• How will you categorize the results?
• How will you report the results back to the people who participated in the survey?
• What will be done with the results and how will this be communicated?

Over the years, we have hand-delivered hundreds and hundreds of surveys to neighbors’ doors.  We put together a Tool Packet on Survey & Canvassing Tools to share the lessons we have learned.  This document is like a tool chest, take from it whatever works best for achieving your own neighborhood or community goals.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: Connect with your Community!

We have a wealth of resources for community involvement in the Portland metro area.  Discover opportunities that exist in your community.  Everyone has something positive to contribute.  You might check out Neighborhood Notes, your own Neighborhood Association, Hands on Greater Portland Project Calendar, or community calendars in your favorite newspaper.  Find something that resonates with you and get involved!

WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR: Supportive Neighbor Checklist

31. Learn about your neighbor’s pets
32. Let your neighbors know before you undertake a large project
33. Invite a neighbor to eat at one of your neighborhood restaurants together
34. Notice the improvements that your neighbors make on their homes and give them props
35. Clean up after yourself and your pets

This is an ongoing checklist of suggestions from neighbors. For the whole list, click here. If you have ideas to add to this checklist, send them to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

SHARING INSPIRATIONAL STORIES: Boise Business Youth and Unity Project (BBYUP)

This year, five youth from the Boise Neighborhood got paid for doing an internship at one of the local neighborhood businesses.  For the past 4 years, the Historic Mississippi Business Association (HMBA) businesses have pooled their resources together to support local youth.  Some businesses host an intern, and others financially support the program.  At a weekly luncheon, the youth got to meet business owners and hear about their life path.  Portland OIC coordinates the program and finds internships that match the young person’s interests.  Imagine if every business association in every Portland neighborhood hosted a summer internship program for neighborhood youth? 

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: From a Consultation

“Thanks so much for all of these excellent resources! I look forward to getting in touch with [the contacts we discussed] and the resources you have on your website will be quite useful as we move forward! We’re very excited about the work you’re doing and hope to attend the next community conversation.  Thanks again for taking the time to meet with us!”
–Hands on Greater Portland staff