November 2012
SE Uplift e-News 
Keeping you up-to-date with the coalition!
The new SE Uplift e-Newsletter brings you stories and news about our neighborhoods and happenings in the coalition. You will also be able to find event listings for our neighborhood associations in the newsletter and community-wide listings on our events calendar. Learn more about submitting news, stories and events here.

Good Neighbor Agreement Workshop
A good neighbor agreement (GNA) can be a powerful way for neighbors, businesses, and institutions to address common livability concerns such as crime, parking, and noise.

Join us on Wednesday, November 14, 5:30-6:30PM

This workshop will teach participants how to develop a good neighbor agreement. A representative from the Office of Neighborhood Involvement, as well as neighbors with experience will answer questions about:

*    When should neighborhoods try to enter into a GNA?
*    When should neighborhoods not try to enter into a GNA?
*    How should neighborhoods approach businesses to talk about a GNA?
*    What legal standing does a GNA have?
*    What types of things can be included in a GNA?
*    What types of things cannot be included in a GNA?
*    What resources are available to neighborhoods looking to create a GNA?

Come learn some tools and tips, and share your experiences
with others. It is free and light refreshments will be served.

Registration is required. Register here. 

If you would like more information, please contact
Bob Kellett: bob@southeastuplift.org / 503-232-0010 x 314
Coalition Spotlight: Feast for Southeast
An organization is only as vibrant as its participant's enthusiasm.

Beginning a decade ago as a mere thought, Rob Selva, Founder and Director of Feastfor Southeast, felt driven to find a way to "share [his] resources with those less fortunate." Sitting in a friend's living room seven weeks before Thanksgiving in 2010, he shared his dream with others. "I always thought this would be a better way to express gratitude than enjoying our own 'feast.' Whether that meant buying a turkey and giving it to someone, preparing a meal for a family in need, or volunteering at a local community event - I knew I wanted to make an impact!"

Inspired by the idea; Selva, his wife, and a handful of enthusiastic friends set out to host a community meal only seven short weeks later.
Neighbors enjoying the first feast together.

The first year of Feast for Southeast was held at the Mt. Scott Community Center, as have the subsequent Feasts. Selva said that he "went to the Mt. Scott Community Center to propose [the] idea and they said yes!  Then we met with some nonprofit organizations that serve families in the area.  We wanted to find out if there truly was a need for this and also enlist communication partners to help us get the word out so that folks would come.  We also worked with all the [nearby] neighborhood associations - they were critical communication partners and supporters. The communication partners served two purposes - getting folks to come to the event and spreading the word about an awesome volunteer opportunity."  Read full article. . . .
Friends of Mt. Tabor Park Weed Warriors:
Learning From Their Success
On the last Saturday of the month (March - October), come rain or shine, between nine and eighty-three Weed Warriors can be found ferociously fighting swarms of foreign green invaders. The enemy? English ivy, Himalayan blackberry, clematis vitalba, and scotch broom. 

Although the battles are never ending, the weed warriors are gaining ground. And the efforts of these valiant fighters have not gone unnoticed. The Friends of Mt. Tabor Park (FMTP) Weed Warriors won a 2012 Spirit of Portland Award. At a ceremony on October 29th, the Weed Warriors were presented with the Sandy Diedrich Award for Environmental Stewardship and described as working "tirelessly to beat back invasive species that have overtaken native vegetation."

So what factors have contributed to the Weed Warriors' success and what can other neighborhood groups learn from this outstanding model of a community-based, volunteer-driven program?  Find out here!
 
NEWS: SE Foster Road Safety Improvements
On Tuesday, October 23rd, Mayor Sam Adams and and a group of concerned citizens took a Walk of Remembrance to visit eight sites of fatal collisions that have occurred on SE Foster Road in the past 10 years:
  • Lindsay Leonard & Jessica Finlay were killed by a crash at 80th & Foster in 2009.
  • Jason Lee Grant was killed in January near 70th and Foster.
  • Meiying Lui and her eight-year-old son Jin were killed at Foster and 54th in 2004.
  • Blanche Knish was killed on 82nd near Foster in 2006
  • Richard Wilmath was killed on Foster in 2006.
  • Sandra Fosdick died crossing Foster in 2002
Photo Credit: gilroynapoli.com SE Foster Road is considered a High Crash Corridor by the City of Portland. And the new vision for SE Foster Road places pedestrian safety as a top priority. During the Walk of Remembrance, Mayor Adams announced that the City of Portland will be fast-tracking the implementation of four new safety beacons, one which is slated to be added before the end of the calendar year.

While SE Foster Road has seen significantly higher fatalities due to a lack of safety for pedestrians, other roads in the SE Uplift Coalition area, and city wide, also need critical attention on pedestrian safety issues. Mayor Adams' participation in the Walk of Remembrance and his commitment to pedestrian safety on SE Foster Road is a win for everyone who struggles with crossing a busy Portland street safely. If you live near a busy road and would like to participate in improving pedestrian safety, contact your neighborhood association to find out if there is already a street safety committee you can join. You can also connect with Willamette Pedestrian Coalition.
 
Neighborhood Association Happenings
Eastmoreland and SMILE
Update: Union Pacific has entered into a joint settlement agreement with the Eastmoreland Neighborhood Association, the Sellwood-Moreland Improvement League and the city of Portland regarding the removal of a 55-year-old federal injunction on Union Pacific's Brooklyn Intermodal Yard in Portland.

Hosford-Abernethy (HAND)
Abernethy Harvest Dinner, Nov. 3
Please contact us to find out more about our multiple levels of sponsorships from $250 (raised bed) & $500 (trellis). Our garden program relies entirely on donations and support from the community. Please keep the garden program growing by joining us for dinner. To reserve you spot, please contact Zanita at Zanitabee@gmail.com today.

Mount Tabor
Sign up for a plot in the new Mt. Tabor Community Garden! The Portland Parks Bureau will begin accepting applications at 9 am on the 7th for the new community garden is at SE 64th and Lincoln You can apply on-line by filling out the "Garden Plot Request Form" or call the Community Gardens office at 503-823-1612 for assistance.Apply early because the plots go fast!

North Tabor
The North Tabor Neighborhood Association has been working with the City at the Southeast Precinct Building to be able to paint a neighborhood mural on their retaining wall at the corner of NE 47th Avenue and NE Burnside Street next summer. NTNA needs to select a muralist by the end of October 2012, and start fundraising/promoting the project immediately.

South Tabor
The next Division Safety community meeting is Wednesday, November 7th - 6:30 PM at Warner Pacific College. The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has set up a website with information about options for the project as well as feedback from the March open house and the September public meeting.

Neighborhood Associations submit event or workshop details here!
Community Calendar
Our calendar is reserved for community; coalition; neighborhood; and city events, workshops and trainings. To submit an event or meeting to our calendar email info@southeastuplift.org.
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3534 SE Main St., Portland, OR 97214 · 503.232.0010 · www.southeastuplift.org