Monthly Archive for October, 2008

JOIN is local non-profit that supports the efforts of homeless people to return to permanent housing.

JOIN has a long history of working with homeless “campers” in CEIC and throughout the Portland area. The organization provides a daytime drop-in center with an array of basic services, as well as a street outreach team that last year helped over 500 people who had been sleeping on our sidewalks or in their vehicles return to permanent housing.

Each individual and family that returns to permanent housing receives ongoing support to ensure that they do not return to the streets. CEIC members can support JOIN’s work in a variety of ways. JOIN has a supported employment program for homeless and formerly homeless people and is always looking for new employer partners. JOIN has numerous volunteer and giving programs, including a holiday food-box program and a Home for the Holidays initiative that combines sponsoring a family into housing and collecting the household items they will need to turn their new apartment into a home.

On a day-to-day basis, JOIN’s outreach workers endeavor to help improve the relationships between businesses, residents, and their homeless neighbors. If there is a way that you believe JOIN can help you in this regard, you should feel free to contact them. For more information, visit www.joinpdx.com or contact JOIN’s Director, Marc Jolin, at 503-232-7052 ex. 109.

You may not be able to bail out the nation, but you can do your part to help keep the CEID strong.

Help jumpstart your local economy this holiday season! Experience the fun and fulfillment that comes from an authentic place – your own community. Choose your holiday gifts from locally owned stores, celebrate with family and friends at locally owned restaurants and be sure to choose locally owned service providers for all your business needs and help strengthen our local economy.

To find a complete list of CEID restaurants and retail shops, visit the Central Eastside Design District website.

You’ll not only contribute to Portland’s diverse, un-cookie-cutter character – you’ll be bringing the holidays home to your own neighborhood!

When you choose locally owned businesses, you:
–enhance and preserve the unique character of our neighborhoods
–triple your impact on the local economy
–help create and maintain more local jobs

To help protect employees and property in the district, the CEIC Board of Directors agreed to hiring a private security firm to patrol the district for a 10-week trial period. On August 25th, Portland Patrol Inc (PPI) began patrolling the area starting at the Esplanade and working their way throughout the district.

Utilizing two officers on bikes, they encouraged trespass campers to remove their possessions and campsites, met with local businesses and provided added security to the area.

For years, trespass campers have been causing property damage, defecating in doorways and harassing employees of businesses in the CEID. One owner recently had their back ramp burned down by trespass campers.

The situation has escalated over the past year as these individuals began to travel and congregate in large numbers. Their disregard for property and their threatening of business employees resulted in thousands of dollars in damage and lost work time. The issue was brought to the forefront when both KEX 1190 and KPTV Channel 12 reported on it. (You can hear both stories on this site.)

Because the police department has only limited man-power to tackle this growing problem, Central Eastside businesses had to search for alternative answers to displace Continue reading ‘10-week trial period with PPI a success, but what now?’