Housing & Community Development
Since 1995, William (Barry) Messer has been working on an annual assessment of neighborhood efforts to develop and implement watershed enhancement. This Community Watershed Stewardship program is done in partnership with the Bureau of Environmental Services. Each year an assessment report is published which identifies the neighborhoods work and outcomes. Also, I have taught two capstones each year to support this work.
Café au Play
Charles Heying, a core faculty member of the Community
Development undergraduate program, lives what he teaches. In 2005, he helped found Café au Play, a
nonprofit organization whose goal is to open a community-centered coffeehouse
to help families create support networks and connect to local resources.
Café au Play was inspired by Ray Oldenburg’s concept of a
“third place” – an inclusive, neutral gathering space apart from home or work
where people can go on a regular basis to meet with friends. Café au Play will
have safe and dedicated play areas, healthy food and drink options, and both
informal and structured activities for children and adults.
In 2006, Café au Play took its ideas “On the Road” to coffee
houses throughout Portland. The events produced an amazing response.
Currently Café au Play is working with Tabor Commons, another community group, to
redevelop the site of the former Drive Thru Wake Up Deli on 57th and
Division.
To learn more about Café au Play and Tabor Commons and the
redevelopment of the Deli site, see the Café au Play video on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJb6jgy5xH4
or visit http://www.cafeauplay.org
Professor Karen Gibson's Research
Professor Gibson is evaluating the “people” side of the HOPE VI project to revitalize Columbia Villa, a public housing development in North Portland. The Housing Authority of Portland relocated 382 households during a six-month period in 2003. The first of 800 new housing units will be ready for occupancy in Fall 2005. Through mail surveys and resident interviews, the evaluation is tracking how the residents are doing in three areas: housing opportunity and stability, satisfaction with relocation and community supportive services, and resident progress toward self-sufficiency goals. Some of the questions include the following:
Housing Opportunity and Stability
- How satisfied are the residents with housing opportunities made available during the relocation period?
- How stable are their housing situations during this period
- How satisfied are residents with their new housing, neighborhoods, and schools?
- Are residents given the opportunity to return to New Columbia?
Satisfaction with Community and Supportive Services and Relocation Process
- How satisfied are the residents with the relocation services?
- How satisfied are residents with the supportive services?
CSS Self-Sufficiency Goals
- Were specific employment and earnings goals achieved?
- Were homeownership and business development goals achieved?
- Were youth educational and leadership goals achieved?
The first survey primarily was concerned with housing stability and satisfaction with relocation services. For an executive summary of the survey results, click here. The second survey will continue to monitor housing stability and assess resident participation in the Community Supportive Services' programs. It will be mailed during the summer of 2004.
Professor Gibson had prior experience with the Housing Authority of Portland through a case study of its Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program called Greater Opportunities to Advance, Learn, and Succeed (GOALS). A holistic and community based approach to fighting poverty, the FSS program has been called “HUD's best kept secret” for promoting employment and asset development. A mail survey of 74 graduates from the Portland's program, revealed that while tangible assets such as a savings account help motivate residents to achieve their own employment, educational, and homeownership goals, the human aspect of the program provided by the experienced coordinators is also very important. The paper documenting these findings is currently under review at the journal Feminist Economics, and can be found here, or on the website www.fsspartnerships.org. Portland's program is one of the most successful in the nation at helping housing assisted residents increase earnings and become homeowners.
Carl Abbott is engaged in an exploration of the ways in which American science fiction, particularly by authors from the western states, reenacts the narratives of the American frontier. The research speaks to the ways in which Americans are able to conceive and imagine communities and civic life, as well as choices about resource development and the changing global economy.
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