West Gresham

When: Wed Jan 11, 2012 7-9PM Where: Rockwood Community Office 18709 SE Stark Gresham, OR Get Map!

Public Welcome
The Gresham Redevelopment Commission Advisory Committee meets the 2nd Wednesday of every month at 7:00 p.m. Meetings are open to the public.

The purpose of the Gresham Redevelopment Commission Advisory Committee (GRDCAC) is to advise the Gresham Redevelopment Commission (GRDC) on the implementation of urban renewal plans.

Public participation is welcome and encouraged.

Agenda

• Election of Officers
• Public Safety Facility Discussion
• Report to GRDCAC: 2011 GRDC Work Plan
• 2012 GRDC Work Plan
• Annual Report to GRDC
• Projects/Program Updates

When: Wed Jan 18, 2012 1:000PM Where: Rosewood Cafe 609 SE 162nd Ave (just south of Stark next to Sam's Restaurant) Portland, OR Get Map!

Building Community - Neighbors helping neighbors

Our next monthly Rosewood Community Meeting is around the corner, join us for a conversation about safety in our community: Wednesday, January 18th at 1pm at Rosewood Cafe- 609 SE 162nd Ave (just south of Stark next to Sam's Restaurant)

In the recent past, this community meeting has covered a variety of topics, but we see the need to bring this back to a focused conversation on public safety in our area. We will give brief updates on our progress with the Rosewood space and our partnership with Portland Development Commission on economic development, but the majority of this meeting will focus on how we can continue making the Rosewood neighborhood a safe place for everyone to live, work and play.

We need your perspective to make this a positive and productive conversation. Hope to see you there!

Jenny Glass, The Rosewood Initiative

Nelson Master Plan. Click to Enlarge

Nelson working group When: Thu Dec 8, 2011 10AM-Noon Where: St Aidan's Episcopal Church 17405 NE Glisan St Portland, OR Get Map!

Meeting Notice
Friends of Nadaka Nelson property working group will meet Dec 8, 2011 10AM-Noon at St Aidan's Episcopal Church, 174th & NE Glisan. Public welcome to attend.

Friends of Nadaka and it's community partners are working to secure funding to develop the approved Nelson Master Plan which includes a community garden area, orchard, rain garden, berry patches, naturescaping and more. When complete, the Nelson properry will join Nadaka Nature Park (adjacent directly north) as a unified neighborhood park.

1874 Zimmerman House. Click to Enlarge

A Victorian Holiday Evening When: Tue Dec 13, 2011 5PM-8PM Where: Zimmerman Park 17111 NE Sandy Blvd Gresham, OR Get Map!

An Evening at the Zimmerman House
If you've enjoyed the Zimmerman House during the day, you should see her at night! The historic Zimmerman House was built in 1874 and was home to three generations of the Zimmerman Family. Their furnishings and personal articles remain in this two-story Victorian home. The first ever evening tour will be held on Tuesday, December 13th, from 5PM-8PM.

There will be carols played on the parlor piano, family recipes on exhibit and ginger snap cookies from the family recipe to take home. No reservations required. Suggested donation is $3 per person.

Medcure breaks ground, Sep 2011

The City of Gresham is finalizing building permits for the creation of a Surgical Training Center at the northeast corner of 181st Avenue and Sandy Boulevard.

State-of-the-art facility
Ground breaking for the new facility happened September 7th. The new Surgical Training Center will be a six-station, state of the art bio-skill laboratory. Surgeons will utilize the center to develop and practice the latest in minimally invasive surgical procedures on persons who have donated their body after death, to support advancements in medical science. This kind of surgical training is critical in developing competency in procedures before performing these operations on living persons.

“The location is ideal for us because of the proximity to the Portland International Airport and area hotels,” says Valere Beck, Marketing Director for MedCure. “This allows surgeons to access the center with ease.”

The opening date is expected to be in February 2012.

Max rider, 162nd & Burnside

Neighbors helping neighbors The Rosewood Initiative is a non-profit organization launched in 2009 dedicated to making the Rosewood area a safe and desirable place to live, work, and play.

Working Together
To accomplish this goal, they are partnering with residents, apartment managers and owners, businesses, churches, government agencies, social services, neighborhood associations, and public safety agencies.

Rosewood is a roughly 15-block area around the intersection of NE 162nd & E. Burnside. The neighborhood is most commonly defined as SE 157th to SE 165th and NE Holiday to SE Alder. About 70 percent of the area’s 6,500 residents live in 46 apartment complexes.

Unfortunately, many residents in the Rosewood area are at risk due to the influence of gangs, drugs, and human trafficking activities in and around the community. For that reason, the Rosewood Initiative is developing an outreach program called RISE (Rosewood Initiative Sisters Empowered) to help identify at-risk youth and connect them to appropriate mentorship and service programs.

Click to download

Fall 2011 Newsletter is here. Download your copy today. INSIDE THIS ISSUE Training Center Breaks Ground Weatherization Rebates Available HB Lee MS Awarded State Grant Center Helps At-Risk Familes Cypress Park joins Nat’l Night Out Rosewood, A Community Unites Nadaka Next Step, Events & More

Download the full-color edition here!
(Includes clickable links to more information)

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, timed to correspond with our regular meetings.
Click here for ad rates.

Looking for a past issue? Check out the newsletter archive.

Got a story to share?
Wilkes East residents are encouraged to submit articles for the newsletter. Articles should be limited to 300 words and may be subject to editing. Send articles by email to: info@wilkeseastna.org, or by postal mail to: PO Box 536 • Fairview, OR 97024.

STREET CLOSURE NOTICE The City of Gresham has contracted with Kerr Contractors, Inc., to repair and repave NE 162nd Ave from Hoyt to Halsey (View Map). The project originally set to start October 10th will now begin Monday, October 17th. Neighbors are advised to find alternate routes. Completion is expected Friday, October 21st -- but could last take longer as parts of the project are weather-dependent.

NE 162nd Ave will be closed to all through traffic during construction.

City of Gresham Transportation says the contractor will remove the existing asphalt in the car and bike lanes, pulverize the existing road base and rebuild it to a depth of 12", treat the road base with cement, and cover it with hot asphalt. There will be no widening of the existing road bed or bike lanes.

Detours will be in place for residents with alternate access to their homes. Residences fronting 162nd Ave and those without alternate access will be accomodated; however, they may experience delays.

The contractor will notify affected residents one week prior to starting contruction. Electronic message boards will be placed at both ends of the project annoucing the closure dates a few days before construction begins. "NO PARKING" signs will be posted as needed. Illegally parked cars will be towed at the owners' expense.

SnowCap volunteers prepare food boxes

Please, share your harvest SnowCap Community Charities 17805 SE Stark St (behind Rockwood United Methodist) Donate: Weekdays, 9AM-3PM

Neighbors helping neighbors
SnowCap faces serious reductions in the food available to feed our neighbors in need. It’s a long story, but essentially the commodities donated by the federal government to the state and from the state to the Oregon Food Bank (OFB) and then to SnowCap have been cut by almost 50%. These commodities have a cash value of $235,000 so SnowCap can’t just buy enough food to make up for this loss. One way to mitigate the suffering this will create for our low income neighbors it to ask everyone to share the harvest from their gardens. Tell your friends. Share this request with everyone.

How to donate
If you have vegetables that you’d like to share, please bring them to 17788 SE Pine St on weekdays between 9AM & 3PM. Get Map!

Bringing it home
Fact: The 2011 State of Oregon school report cards, published on the Oregonian newspaper website, showed Wilkes Elementary School served free or reduced price lunches to 85.9% of the schools 405 students last year. Enrollment at Wilkes Elementary School is almost entirely made-up of children who reside in the Wilkes East Neighborhood.

Keep the Street Clear for Sweeping.

Street Sweeping Program Transportation provides year-around, nine-times-a-year sweeping of all City streets. If weather conditions prevent sweeping a street on its scheduled day, the City will sweep it at the end of the cycle, time permitting. If not, the City will sweep it during the next cycle.

Schedule
Street Sweeping Map

View boundaries and sweep days when the street sweeper will be in your neighborhood.

Street Sweeping Brochure and 2011 Schedule