Priest, champion of refugees, dead at 84
November 20, 2009 at 1:43 pm | In Media | Comments OffBEAVERTON — Msgr. Morton Park, who invented Portland’s Catholic outreach to refugees, died Sunday at Maryville Nursing Home. The tall, amiable priest was 84. News Article
Condolences.
Colored Pencils Dec 3
November 14, 2009 at 4:06 am | In Cultural Events | Leave a Comment
Colored Pencils, “New Portland’s Multicultural Art & Performance Evening”, debut’s at City Hall 1221 SW 4th Ave on Thursday, December 3rd 5:30 PM. Download and share the City Hall flyer. If you’re interested in showing fine art, performing at the open mic, or volunteering, please visit their website www.coloredpencilsart.com.
Graduates of IRCO’s ENGAGE and other community of color, immigrant and refugee leaders contribute to this project, including former IRCO Community Development Coordinator Ronault LS Catalani.
Look for IRCO Engage
November 12, 2009 at 6:40 pm | In Community Organizing, Leadership Development | Leave a Comment
Thanks to Thomas Ngo Photography.
African Community Meeting Nov 14
November 12, 2009 at 4:41 pm | In African Community, Community Organizing | Leave a Comment
Greetings Africans [rsvp by clicking here]
You are all invited to attend the first African communities gathering to discuss matters of interest to the development of African Communities in Portland and around Oregon.
Saturday, November 14th
12:00 PM – 2:00 PM IRCO Africa House 8523 SE Stark Ave, Portland
African Meeting with NW Health Foundation
November 12, 2009 at 4:19 pm | In African Community | Leave a Comment
The Coalition of Communities of Color is hosting a meeting at Africa House between Northwest Health Foundation and leaders from the African community interested in improving the relationship between Northwest Health Foundation and the African community.
The purpose of the meeting is to educate Northwest Health Foundation staff about the African community, communicate needs of the community, and how these needs are or are not being met. You may also discuss African organizations and their programs. We hope to build and strengthen relationships between the African community and Northwest Health Foundation staff.
PPS ELL Programs Must Adapt
November 12, 2009 at 4:57 am | In African Community, Media | Leave a CommentTags: PPS, Schools, Somali
From the Willamette Week, which profiled the story of a Somali Bantu student in follow-up reporting to the Audit of Portland Public Schools English Language Learning (ELL) Programs.
Beyond its findings that the district had violated the Civil Rights Act, the February audit of PPS’s program for teaching students like Abdikadir also found too many immigrant students were in the equivalent of educational silos. They were enrolled in classes to improve their English but had little or no access to classes beyond electives. Besides missing out on opportunities to learn what the general student population was learning, immigrant and refugee students weren’t earning the credits they needed to graduate.
Nobel Prize Reminds Us Why Immigration Matters
October 29, 2009 at 6:27 pm | In Media | Leave a CommentTags: immigration
[cross posted from National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights]
If you’re looking for reasons to puff out your chest and take pride in being American, then take note that the first six Nobel Prize winners announced this week are U.S. citizens.
Here’s something else you should know: Four of those winners were born outside the U.S.
That dynamic neatly summarizes the current state of our innovation economy. We are increasingly dependent on brainpower from overseas that migrates here to drive the research and discoveries we need to power economic growth.
Silicon Valley has been a bigger beneficiary of this influx of brains and talent than perhaps any other region in the U.S. And that means we have more to lose when the debate about immigration turns to demagoguery.
However you feel about the H-1B visas that our tech companies hunger for, or the swarms of bodies crossing our borders to pick our crops, these hot-button topics obscure the reality: We need these immigrants to renew our economy and to prosper. Our demonization of them is shameful.
African Immigrants Reshape Portland
October 4, 2009 at 8:11 pm | In African Community, Media | Leave a CommentPortland is 12th in the nation for refugee resettlement, according to a 2007 report by the Brookings Institution, bringing in 34,000 refugees from across the globe between 1984 and 2003. But it’s also one of the whitest cities in the country.
I/R Profile: MAA Coalition
October 4, 2009 at 8:00 pm | In Community Organizing, Funding | Leave a Comment
An interesting model for immigrant and refugee community organizing, one that is designed to improve funding and services – The Office of New Bostonians in Massachusetts has an innovative Mutual Assistance Association Coalition, or MAA Coalition.
the Coalition was founded in 2000 to strengthen the organizational capacity and operational efficiencies of its members through inter-agency mentoring, collaborative service delivery, and shared resources.
Through collective engagement, the Coalition also provides its member MAAs with a strong vehicle for:
- Building and strengthening bridges to mainstream service systems
- Promoting culturally and linguistically appropriate services and a better understanding of ethnically diverse populations in non-ethnic communities and
- Competing for state and local service contracts.
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