February/March 1983 RAIN Page 33 Churches “Reach Out” Churches in Southeast Portland have responded to the increased human needs of the economic depression with an innovative project that relies on volunteers helping their neighbors. TTie Reach Out project began by using volunteers from six churches in the Buckman and Sunnyside neighborhoods to provide services such as food preparation, transportation, electrical or roof repairs, or yard clean up to people who did not have the resources to meet these needs. Multnomah County Conrmissioner Gordon Shadbume and two ministers, Frank Shields of Sunnyside United Methodist Church and Don Baker of Hinson Memorial Baptist, initiated the project. Both conservative and liberal churches are working together and base the program on Matthew XXV — Christ's directive to feed and clothe the hungry, welcome the stranger, and visit the sick. Rebecca Bencze, who coordinates the project out of her home, says the number of people helped since they started in May has steadily increased each month to 100 per month. It is not uncommon for volunteers to find that in helping with one problem they find other ones. Recently, requests have been more complex, requiring more volunteer time or very specialized skills. For example, a dentist has made house calls to a woman four times at no charge. Bencze describes her work as, "gratifying, because we are helping people who fall between the cracks of social service programs." Reach Out has recently expanded to include six more neighborhoods and the 20 participating churches now have over 1,000 volunteers. Last April, the Reach Out organizers held a meeting for Portland area pastors and similar projects have formed since in other parts of Portland. In October, a coalition of churches in Southwest Portland started People Bank (226-3282). Volunteers are being recruited from 19 churches as well as the general community. The North Portland Fellowship of Ministers is considering setting up this kind of project in North Portland. Also, Snow-CAP (252-0278), a church sponsored emergency helping agency is now starting up a similar program called Branches in East Multnomah County. Doug Rogers, Snow-CAP director, sees the project as a way to help meet human needs through the old tradition of "neighbor helping neighbor." In addition to expansion in Portland, church groups in cities throughout the Northwest and even as far away as Texas and Iowa have expressed interest in, or actually started, similar projects, if you would like more information, contact Reach Out at 503/234-6333. Olympia Co-op to Servo Farmers aod Consumers Lacking an effective means for local farmers to serve consumers, a group of Olympia-area farmers and residents have formed the Farmers Wholesale Co-op (FWQ. The Washington Small Farmers Network (19 East Poplar, Walla Walla, WA 99362) and Steve Bux- baum, former coordinator of the Seattle Bulk Commodity Exchange, assisted the group in designing this local marketing mechanism for Southwest Washington produce. In May 1982, the FWC incorporated as a not-for-profit organization and secured bulk refrigeration at the Port of Olympia. The Co-op expects to open in April. It's an unusual "hybrid" in that profits are passed on to both farmers and consumers (grocery stores, restaurants, consumer groups, families, individuals). During October 1982, FWC's Farm and Community Project was awarded two grants — one from the City of Olympia ($8,000) and the other from Thurston County ($6,000)—with the support of the Food Resource Consortium, a local coalition of twelve food organizations. The Project's three interns from The Evergreen State College in Olympia are conducHng a study on the feasibility of a community cannery, producing an area food resource guide, and designing a plan to help small-scale farms step up production and improve marketing. All of this is being reported in eight project newsletters. Contact FWC, at 625 N Capitol Way, Olympia, WA 98501, 206/754-8989. Self-Help Grants In Portland To encourage self-help activities in Portland neighborhoods, the Bureau of Housing and Community Development, using a specified amount of the general block grant money allocated to the city, is offering grants of up to $5,000. The grants, which were first offered in 1982, have been used for community gardens, vouth employment programs, and a shared housing program. Bureau staff is also offering some assistance to organizations in preparing the grant application. The current grant deadline is February
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