News

Even the smallest leak in your home can allow the winter chill to enter.

Sealing all air gaps and properly insulating walls, the attic and crawl space in your home can help keep indoor temperatures more moderate – both in the winter and summer. These are just two of the improvement opportunities offered with Clean Energy Works Oregon (CEWO).

CEWO is a new non-profit, partnering with the City of Gresham, to provide homeown-ers with an easy, all-in-one solution to im-proving energy efficiency in the home. Improving the energy efficiency in your home increases comfort and protection from both inclement weather and rising energy rates.

• No-money-down, easy financing
• Free extensive home energy audit by a trained building expert
• Work conducted by a certified contractor
• Repayment of loan through the utility bill

It includes home and water heating, insulation, windows, and air and duct sealing.

Apply today and receive up to $2,000* in instant rebates toward the cost of your home energy improvements.

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.

Thank You for repaving NE 162nd Ave, From the entire Wilkes East Neighborhood

The following is and excerpt from a letter sent to the City of Gresham Road Divison regarding the 162nd Ave repavement project by the president of the Wilkes East Neighborhood Assn on behalf of the Board and our neighbors. Viewed entire letter here.

WWII Tuskegee Airman speaks to students Click to enlarge

By Shannon L Cheesman, KATU.com: Nov 9, 2011 View original story Veterans filled the halls of Reynolds High School on Wednesday to share their experiences with students and hopefully leave an indelible impression of what Veterans Day is all about.

Veterans from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, Iraq and Afghanistan were invited to spend some time with students for 'Living History Day.'

Some of the veterans visited classrooms to talk about their lives in the military and others gave formal presentations inside the school's auditorium or gym.

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

Joint Open Houses When: Wed, Sep 7, 2011 6PM-8PM Where: Gresham City Hall Conference Room (First Floor) 1333 NW Eastman Pky Get Map!

You're Invited
Please mark your calendars for a September 7th outreach event that provides a chance to comment on two City planning projects.

Starting at 6PM, an open house will offer information on:

• Institutional Master Plans
  Come review the draft Development Code changes that would allow institutional uses to seek approval of long-term, phased master plans.
• Urban Forestry Management Plan
  Take a look at the draft goals, policies and action measures for urban forestry in Gresham. These goals and policies will be incorporated into the City's Community Development Plan to guide future Code development and City actions regarding its urban forest. We would like your questions and ideas.

The urban forestry open house will continue until 8PM.

At 6:45PM, those at the joint open house will be invited to join a presentation and discussion regarding the Institutional Master Plan draft Code.