I recently had the pleasure of hearing Professor Myron Orfield speak at Portland State University’s “What’s the Big Idea?” Lecture Series, co-sponsored by Coalition for a Livable Future. Professor Orfield teaches at the University of Minnesota and was a former Minnesota State Legislator. Professor Orfield titled his talk “Creating Successful Communities: Sharing the Benefits and […]
A Case for Government, November 10, 2009
Neighborhood Partnerships, in conjunction with Oregon Thrives, is very pleased to announce a lecture event with Patrick Bresette of Demos, Center for the Public Sector. Patrick will be joining us to offer his insights, lessons and recommendations for creating a new public understanding of the purpose and possibilities of government action. His approaches emphasize problem-solving, […]
Bridges to Housing releases 2009 Mid-Year Evaluation Report
On Thursday, October 8, 2009 Diane Yatchmenoff, Ph.D. of Portland State University’s Regional Research Institute presented the 2009 Mid-Year Evaluation Report to the Bridges to Housing Regional Steering Committee. This report focuses on the employment experiences of participants currently in Bridges to Housing, and has several interesting results: 45% of heads of households are either […]
Housing Hero!
The Oregon Opportunity Network awarded Janet Byrd a “Housing Hero” award at their Annual Awards Banquet on Wednesday night! Congratulations to Janet for this award and recognition of all your hard work to win a dedicated, on-going source of funding for affordable housing through the Housing Opportunity Bill in 2009. Joining Janet in receiving the […]
Oregon Receives a “C”, Advocates Call for Changes
Yesterday, Neighborhood Partnerships and Oregon Thrives, in conjunction with the national Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) released its 2009 – 2010 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard. The Scorecard gave Oregon a “C,” and highlighted areas for improvement in Oregon. To help more Oregonians, the state could expand the refundable earned income tax credit, remove asset limits […]
Living on the streets? No thanks, not for me or anyone else.
I agree with the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Their column for The Nation, (read it here), provides an alternative to a July column that offers tips for folks forced to live on the streets. The National Alliance to End Homelessness urges us all to act as communities to create lasting solutions to homelessness and […]
Where God Left His Shoes Event
On July 16, 2009, Bridges to Housing and the Pacific Northwest Regional Chapter of the National Association of Housing Redevelopment Officials (PNRC-NAHRO) held a private screening of the film Where God Left His Shoes. This film, starring John Leguizamo, highlights the growing problem of family homelessness, following a homeless family in New York City. Nearly […]
Bridges to Housing Event, 7/16/09
Bridges to Housing has an exciting opportunity coming up next week! We are partnering with the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) to host a private screening of the film Where God Left His Shoes, a movie about a family experiencing homelessness in New York City. This is an exciting opportunity to showcase […]
Outcomes you can bank on!
There is a long held myth that low income individuals cannot save money. However, the Oregon IDA Initiative is proving otherwise. Individuals Development Accounts, or IDAs, are a matched savings program that builds the financial management skills of low income Oregonians while they save towards a goal – homeownership, business development, higher education, or an […]
Collaboration: as good as chocolate?
I was struck by this opinion piece in today’s Oregonian by Larry Wallack, now Dean of the College of Urban and Public Affairs at Portland State University. I had the pleasure of working with Larry beginning in 2004 as a group of us worked to hone messages that would help us build affordable housing champions. […]