GROUNDWORK PORTLAND
Green Projects, Brownfields, Economic Development, Livable Communities, Affordable Housing
Groundwork Portland is network of local organizations and individuals focused on participation of the community around urban revitalization issues with committed funding for the next three years. Groundwork Portland is working towards developing community resources (community gardens, pocket parks, playgrounds, etc.) for low-income residents, renters, and affordable housing communities. Project Partners for GW Portland include Oregon Sustainable Agricultural Land Trust (OSALT), Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc., The City of Portland Brownfields Program, North/Northeast Portland Business Association (N/NEBA), The Sesco Group, The Environmental Protection Agency-Region 10, and OPAL.
Brownfields are abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial or commercial properties where expansion or redevelopment is hindered by real or perceived contamination.
VOICE FOR EMPOWERMENT (VFE)
Youth Visioning, Leadership Development, and Cultural Diversity
The mission of the Voice for Empowerment project is to empower low-income youth from undeserved communities to find their voice and use it as an instrument for change. Through participation in this work, the students will begin to use spoken word poetry and art as a means of processing and expressing the issues that affect them around environmental racism and oppression. Short-term outcomes include education and awareness of environmental racism and the issues in their communties, a "Youth Voice for Activism" curriculum; a diverse network of under-represented youth empowered to express their visions and experiences. The long-term result will be the empowerment and development of Portland’s future diverse leadership, collection of data for policy development, and engagement of local leadership. Primary project partners include spoken word artist and performer Turiya Autry, and Outer SE Portland youth stakeholder, SE Works.
OPAL PEOPLE AND POLICY CAMPAIGN (OPPC)
Policy, Political Advocacy, Government Accountability for Environmental Justice!
Along with the community organizing work, OPAL is concerned with the lack of voice and opportunity in local government--Portland is unique in having 5 levels of government authority (Federal, State, County, City and METRO, the only regionally elected government in the United States). To that end, OPAL has crafted a legislative summary of environmental justice work for its' OPAL People and Policy Campaign (OPP), as well as the 2007 General Legislative session in Salem. OPAL wrote the summary as part of the Oregon Conservation Network (OCN), an advocacy arm of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters (OLCV), and hopes to broaden the work of the OPP campaign to address policy and ordinance issues around gentrification and displacement, toxic exposure, citizens right-to-know, and inclusionary zoning.
Look for separate web pages for all our programs soon!
|
 |
| Groundwork Portland |
|
|
 |
| Voice for Empowerment (VFE) |
|
|
 |
| OPAL People and Policy Campaign (OPP) |
|
|
| NEW OPAL PROGRAM FOR 2007! |
NEW OPAL PROJECT!!!
BREATHE
Air Quality, Asthma, Community Organizing, and Public Health
OPAL was awarded additional funding to begin organizing around the potential of disproportionate asthma rates and air pollution burdens faced by communities in Outer SE Portland and NE Portland. This campaign will address the following issues: organizing communities around air quality monitoring; identifying polluting facilities and the chemical composition of the air; and increasing community participation in decision-making processes that dictate these impacts.
|
|
|
|
|
