West Gresham

Neighborhood Board Meeting Zoom Online Meeting When: Mon May 12, 2025 6:30PM-8:00PM Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81396104837?pwd=XKRqLX0OOYDA1yN0dU6HwSM6IUbLFC.1 Meeting ID: 813 9610 4837 Passcode: 262967 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbcIIKhFJv

Download meeting minutes here.

Board meetings are scheduled for the 2nd Monday each month 6:30PM via Zoom

For more information please contact: info@wilkeseastna.org

Upcoming Meetings

* General Meeting. Everyone's invited. Please attend.

Wilkes East Neighborhood
17104 NE Oregon St
Portland OR 97230

Gresham City Councilor, David Widmark, GOPA Board member Joan Albertson, and artist Rip Caswell unveil Slider in 2017. Click to enlarge

By Charlotte Becker Gresham Outdoor Public Art About eight years ago, Joan Albertson, a member of Gresham Outdoor Public Art’s (GOPA) board, brought the idea of art in Nadaka Nature Park to the board. GOPA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with an all volunteer board. The group’s goal is to commission and install permanent art in Gresham’s public spaces. Most of the permanent art, up until 2016, was in and around Historic Downtown, so Joan’s idea got wings…as well as fur and a tail.

But first, a group from GOPA, along with Wilkes neighborhood champion Lee Dayfield, met at Nadaka to see what might be a good fit for the park. A path of rocks resembling a meandering stream bed seemed like home for some kind of water-loving creature. And a nearby towering timber could be the perfect perch for a squawking bird. Board member, David Baumann, said he had something at home that the group might like.

A few days later, the group got together again at Nadaka to see David wheeling in a bronze otter on a hand truck! It was created by Troutdale artist Rip Caswell, and it was perfect. Then the project really got off the ground, when we met with Rip and his son, Chad, who agreed to create a life-sized Raven to perch atop the timber.

The otter and the raven were installed in the park in 2017 with help from the City of Gresham. Neighborhood families came to see the unveiling, and children entered a contest to name the creatures. That’s how the otter became “Slider” and the raven became “Seeker”. Nadaka was to be their permanent home.

Until 2024, when Slider disappeared. It seemed someone needed him more than the neighborhood did. The word went out with the hope that Slider would be returned, but not even Seeker could find him. Not giving up, GOPA President, Judy Han, met with a representative from the City to discuss how to replace Slider. Rip Caswell told GOPA he had created an additional otter, the last of his kind, and would offer it to GOPA at cost. Once again, the pieces came together to bring Slider back to Nadaka.

GOPA and the City of Gresham plan to return Slider to his meandering stream in June, 2025. We’ll provide more information on the date as it is known. Visit Gresham Outdoor Public Art’s website, www.greshamoutdoorpublicart.com, to learn more about GOPA, the project at Nadaka and other projects in Gresham.

Neighborhood Board Meeting Zoom Online Meeting When: Mon Feb 10, 2025 6:30PM-8:00PM Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88498344381?pwd=h93BRY1rgbOAyU4LnyA051zd3p2udX.1 Meeting ID: 884 9834 4381 Passcode: 488070 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kc2nTPucWZ

Download meeting minutes here.

Board meetings are scheduled for the 2nd Monday each month 6:30PM via Zoom

For more information please contact: info@wilkeseastna.org

Upcoming Meetings

* General Meeting. Everyone's invited. Please attend.

Wilkes East Neighborhood
17104 NE Oregon St
Portland OR 97230

Neighborhood Board Meeting Zoom Online Meeting When: Mon Jan 13, 2025 6:30PM-8:00PM Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89228605543?pwd=iBm4ZfpMBuJzOIwrYhXXo9sFsbqIn9.1 Meeting ID: 892 2860 5543 Passcode: 959536 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kc2nTPucWZ

Board meetings are scheduled for the 2nd Monday each month 6:30PM via Zoom

For more information please contact: info@wilkeseastna.org

Upcoming Meetings

* General Meeting. Everyone's invited. Please attend.

Wilkes East Neighborhood
17104 NE Oregon St
Portland OR 97230

Fall Meeting Notice When: Mon Nov 18, 2024 7PM-9PM Where: Moose Lodge 16411 NE Halsey St Get Map!

Everyone's Invited

Join Your Neighbors. Get involved. Make a difference!

Save the date
Be sure to save Monday Nov 18th at 7PM for the Wilkes East Neighborhood 2024 Fall Meeting being held at the Moose Lodge, 16411 NE Halsey St

Agenda

• WENA Board Elections
• Cook Plaza Homeless Center
• Habitat for Humanity
• Spring Cleanup Volunteers Needed
• Neighborhood news and more!

Download the Summer 2024 meeting minutes here!

Download the Fall 2024 meeting agenda here!

Who should attend?
Participation is open to all residents who live, own property or a business, organization, church or government agency within our boundaries

Be Part Of Your Community. Plan To Attend.

Watch for these red & white Meeting Signs the week before our meeting. The signs were purchased with assistance of the City of Gresham Neighborhood Grant Program, and with volunteer hours to set them out and retrieve them. Signs Now NW also made a generous contribution to this project.

Mark your calendar. See you there!

Questions or comments?
Contact Wilkes East Neighborhood by email at info@wilkeseastna.org, or by postal mail to: Wilkes East Neighborhood, 17104 NE Oregon St, Portland Oregon 97230

Fall 2024 Newsletter "Diversity, Harmony, Community - Together 'WE' can make a difference!”

Read it now!

Fall 2024 Newsletter Inside This Issue: Cook Plaza Homeless Center Wilkes East Land Use Update SnowCap Communitiy Charities Upriver Village, Age-In-Place WENA Board Elections Nov 18th

Download your copy here. (includes active web links)

¡Descargue nuestro boletín en español aquí!. (incluye enlaces web activos)

Newsletters are a regular publication of the Wilkes East Neighborhood Association. They are hand-delivered to over 1,500 residences and businesses in our area 3 times per year, timed to correspond with our general meetings.

View archive   |   Policy & Ad Rates

Adjecent to 70 Unit Family Housing By Janet Unruh Wilkes East Neighbor

Cook Plaza, Click to enlarge

I have a generally positive view of humanity, and I think that every person has something to offer. But we have a homeless problem in the U.S. and the Portland metro area specifically, that is getting worse as time goes by. Enter JOHS, Joint Office of Homeless Services[1].

Gresham's Homeless
Gresham doesn’t have a big homeless problem, according to JOHS. As of January 2022, there were 48 unsheltered individuals (according to the point-in-time street count). In January 2023, there were 33 unsheltered individuals, a decrease in the numbers[2]. This is a good trend, though I couldn’t find updated data as of January 2024.
The City of Gresham has a Homeless Services department whose employees go out and contact the homeless directly and offer immediate help. This includes rent assistance, which is funded by JOHS. As of May 2024, JOHS provided permanent housing to 84 households, over 170 people, including children in Gresham. For 2025, the funding for housing and staff have been doubled[3].

(If you don't see the full article below, Click "Here")

By Greg Hartung
Land Use Co-Chair

Hello members of our Wilkes East Neighborhood Association. The Wilkes East Neighborhood Association board regularly receives land use plans from the City of Gresham to notify us of land use projects within or proximity to the Wilkes East neighborhood boundaries.

Pre-application PRE-24-00239 16651 NE WASCO ST PORTLAND, OR 97230. Application date 4/19/2024: Proposed standard partition for the creation of (2) parent parcels, one of which is proposed as a flag lot. They are each proposed to contain a quadplex, a permitted housing type in this zone. Current zoning Residential 7 LDR7. Once finalized a MHLD (Middle Housing Land Division) will be applied for. Demolition permit DEMO-24-00044 was issued on 02/12/2024 to remove a single-family home and wooden shed from the property.

Proposed lot partition. Click to enlarge

Demolished lot. Click to enlarge

Design review DR 23-00425 NE Glisan Habitat for Humanity project.
Location 17640 NE Glisan Portland, Or 97230 (across from Nadaka Nature Park). This is a development of 20 two-story dwelling units arranged in 10 duplex buildings with 28 parking spaces, landscape and open spaces. Lot consolidation of 17616 and 17636 NE Glisan was required to form one lot of 17640 NE Glisan. Total land size is 1.41 acre. Tree removal and land clearing has begun. There will be several mature trees in the rear of the property that will be preserved as part of the open space. Street side improvement will include landscaping. Watch for street side improvements and heavy construction equipment.

Architect rendering. Click to enlarge

Demolished lot. Click to enlarge

For these and other public records,
Please visit https://greshamor-energovweb.tylerhost.net. You do not need to create or register an account to access project files. To search for project files and public records: Click on the search icon. In the screen that loads, type in the Plan case number in the search field and click on the search button. The page will reload with the results of the search, including highlighted direct links to cases. Click on the highlighted link for the Plan case. In the page that loads, click on the Attachments tab to view project files.

You can also view detailed instructions on how to search for public records. Website: https://greshamoregon.gov/workarea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=13448

If you have any questions about accessing the files online or any projects, please contact PlanningTech@GreshamOregon.gov

By Nate Larsen
SnowCap Volunteer Coordinator

SnowCap Community Charities is a philanthropic organization created to provide food, clothing, advocacy and other services to our neighbors in need. Located off 178th and Stark street in the Rockwood area, SnowCap has been providing essentials to people that live East of 82nd, but still within Multnomah County, since 1967.

Over this past summer, SnowCap has been serving an average of 12,600 people per month, nearly 3,000 more than last year. And the sustained increase in the number of neighbors we are serving shows no signs of slowing down.

SnowCap is primarily known for our food pantry. Families and individuals who live in our area can come to SnowCap up to two times each month for free groceries, pet food and hygiene items.

SnowCap accepts donations of just about any kind of non-perishable food, provided it is still in the original, factory packaging. We can also accept donations of fresh fruits and vegetables from gardens and orchards! Some of the most requested items from our clients, are things like soups, stews, chilis and other canned proteins (peanut butter, SPAM, tuna, etc.).

SnowCap also operates an offsite clothing closet, where our clients can make appointments once each month, to select donated clothing to help keep their families warm. To facilitate this, SnowCap accepts donations of any kind of gently used clothing - any size, any shape or any style! Shirts, pants, sweatshirts, jackets, shoes, and even sheets or towels make wonderful donations. We also accept brand new packages of socks and underwear.

But one of the best ways to help, is by volunteering your time! SnowCap is always on the lookout for folks to help assemble food boxes/bags in our warehouse, assist clients as a personal shopper in our offsite clothing closet, or even help answer phones as a receptionist! With a small staff of only 12 people, we literally cannot do what we do, without the help of our wonderful volunteers!

SnowCap’s pantry is open every Monday through Friday from 10am to 2pm, and Monday and Wednesday evenings from 6pm to 8pm. If you are interested in volunteering as an individual or group, please contact nate@snowcap.org, or visit www.snowcap.org for more information.

Neighborhood Board Meeting Zoom Online Meeting RESCHEDULED When: Wed Oct 16, 2024 6:30PM-8:00PM Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82421538175?pwd=aooCSEIL1inVjone5AQeinGLgbjCvT.1 Meeting ID: 824 2153 8175 Passcode: 465190 One tap mobile +16699006833,,82533819212#,,,,*465190# US (San Jose) +17193594580,,82533819212#,,,,*465190# US Meeting ID: 825 3381 9212 Passcode: 211437

Board meetings are scheduled for the 2nd Monday each month 6:30PM via Zoom
For more information please contact: info@wilkeseastna.org

Upcoming Meetings

* General Meeting. Everyone's invited. Please attend.

Wilkes East Neighborhood
17104 NE Oregon St
Portland OR 97230