PSU Magazine Fall 1995

Cultivating the city t's a sultry late spring afternoon in northeast Portland 's Alberta Park. Members of EnviroCorps, the Portland rate-based com– ponent of President C linton's AmeriCorps national community service program, ready themselves for yet another project-and yet another lesson about urban life. Five EnviroCorps members, dres ed in gray T-shirts emblazoned with the big "A" AmeriCorps emblem, are standing among a couple hundred young shrubs and trees that await planting to form Alberta Park's latest improvement: a bird-attracting berry garden. Rake in hand, EnviroCorps member Richard Melo survey the scene. Melo, who's pursuing a master's degree in English at PSU, can tick off the plant names as if he we re a veteran botanist: kinnikinnik, blue elderberry, creeping Oregon grape, evergreen huckleberry, mock orange. Suddenly, a slightly bewildered Melo and his companions turn to see an army of 200 youngsters from nearby Vernon Elementary School marching their way. Wi thin minute , EnviroCorps members will be helping the youths plant the shrubs and trees. In the process, they'll try to teach the youngsters the skills of planting, the art of teamwork, and the benefits of planting native vegetation in an urban environment. Welcome to EnviroCorps-a program that rolls environmental educa tion , civic improvement, college fi nancial aid, student mentoring, and leade rshi p skills into one. In Septem- 8 PSU MAGAZINE FALL 1995 ber 1995 the program concl uded its fir t yea r. "Our members are lea rning about ca reer po sibili ties and are pass ing their knowledge to youths, showing them there's a way to advance an<l make a difference in their commu– nity," says Jennifer Thompson, EnviroCorps project coordin ator. "As the year went on, you could see the members' enthusiasm build ." Envir Corps ex ists through the combined efforts of Portland State, Metro, the USDA Natural Resources Con ervation Se rvice (fo rmerly the U . . Soil Conserva tion Service), and the East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District. Its official mission is to romplete hab ita t restora– tion project in north Portland's Columbia Slough wetland , but in rea l– ity it goes fa r beyond that. F r some, it prov ides needed direc– tion toward a new ca reer. For others, it helps pay fo r a college education , spark a renewa l of spirit and purpose, or kindle a greater appreciation fo r Portland's neighborhoods and urban environmen t. For most, it prov ides all of the above. "Passion," says 20-year-old Enviro– Corps member Robert Smith , who begins his second year at PSU this fall, "l'v got the passion to get involved more. .. I want to do much more." To be eligible for EnviroCorps, members must be at least 18 yea rs old and high scho )I graduates. The major– ity of the 20-od<l first-year EnviroCorps workers were in their twenties, but For EnviroCorps participants the urban landscape takes on new meaning. Article and photographs by Brian White EnviroCorps member, Robert Smith, helps an elementary school child plant a shrub in Alberta Park. participants' ages ra nged from LS to 66. Members included Enolish and economics majors, a budding opera singer, a botanist, a soc ial worker, a biologist, and a former north Portland gang member who asp ires to a ca reer in performing arts and wri ti ng. Add to the mi x Av is Dunas, a 66-year-o ld fo rmer KAB Rad io publicist, ethnic