On NE MLK at Sacramento, there is a program that you might have never heard of in the Eliot Neighborhood. The Volunteers of America Men’s Residential Program (MRC) is housed there. This program was set up over 20 years ago when voters in Multnomah County voted to fund residential treatment programs for both Men and Women. The Men’s center was an old 50-room hotel that was converted to this use and the director Greg Stone has been running the center this entire time. They have a roughly 70% success rate at discharging clients and have only 1-2 police calls every 5 years (less than once per year).

The main prison system has a 50% reoffending rate, while treatment programs like the MRC have a much higher success rate. As a result, it has the support of DA Mike Schmidt and the Honorable Eric Bloch, a Multnomah County Judge. Judge Bloch and DA Schmidt are working on a relatively new program called STEP which currently exists but does not currently have a residential program. Currently, they have a 0% reoffending rate although as more time passes, all programs have an increasing reoffending rate. This program works by diverting people who would go to prison directly into the residential program. These men are monitored – many had ankle bracelets when I visited the facility with some other neighbors. If someone decides to leave the program, their parole officers are notified and they do not simply disappear into the community.

The Eliot Neighborhood Association has a Good Neighbor Agreement (GNA) with the MRC that stipulates that there is a citizen screening committee that is responsible for reviewing (before intake to the program) prospective clients with charges/history of violence to strangers and non-predatory sex offenders. This agreement has been in place since 1999 and we have not had a history of problems with the MRC. I have been on this committee for the past 10 years. The Eliot NA Board has the ability to change the makeup of this committee, and we recently added my co-Chair, Jimmy Wilson to the screening committee.

Judge Bloch and DA Schmidt have requested that we allow clients to come from this STEP program that are not meeting the current criteria for the program. Specifically, the current rules require clients to have served a year of time before they are admitted to the MRC, but the STEP program is designed to divert people from spending time in prison but instead they would go directly to the MRC if they meet strict screening criteria. The ENA Board will be voting to amend our GNA to allow these clients on a 90-day trial basis at the Monday November 21st meeting.

More information can be found in the many documents of this google drive folder. Please reach out to (chair@eliotneighbrohood.org) or the board (board@eliotneighborhood.org) with any questions or attend the board meeting this coming Monday.

Join iUrban Teen’s 13th Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast featuring Grammy Award Winning Group Take 6

In the midst of dangerous and divisive times, with our voting rights under attack, iUrban Teen invites students, staff and our dedicated community to gather together, to remember and “Believe” in the core values of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Believe in integrity first, believe in service before self, believe in excellence in all we do and believe in a commitment to equality and social justice. 

Get your tickets now  

We believe in the tremendous power of Dr. Kings’ legacy and the righteous power of community to change injustice in our society.

“I want to suggest some of the things that should begin your life’s blueprint. Number one…should be a deep belief in your own dignity. Your worth and your own somebodiness… Always feel that you count. Always feel that you have worth, and always feel that your life has ultimate significance.“

~ Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Submitted by Laura Fay – DRAFT: not yet approved

Continue reading Eliot Neighborhood Association Board Meeting Minutes 10/17/22

http://www.portland.gov/EliotParking

During the week of Oct. 24-29, you might see people walking around the Eliot neighborhood with clipboards writing down vehicle information. A parking consultant firm has been retained by the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) to conduct an on-street parking utilization study of the Eliot neighborhood. These personnel have authorization to collect vehicle information for the purposes of the data collection on behalf of the bureau. They will be collecting license plate numbers in order to get an accurate understanding of the turnover in the area. The license plate information will not be stored and no personal identification information will be collected. All vehicle information will be aggregated so no individual vehicle information will be available to the bureau or to the public. The surveyors will be out from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. Questions? Contact PBOT Project Manager Kathryn Doherty-Chapman at 503-823-4761.

For more about this project visit the webpage where you can view Parking Task Force meeting information: www.portland.gov/transportation/parking/eliot-parking/eliot-parking-task-force

Broadway Bridge Closed 7-9:45AM

Burnside & Steel Bridge traffic impacts below.

The Portland Marathon presented by OHSU will take place on Sunday, October 2, 2022. The map at the bottom of this flyer shows the race route in the proximity of your neighborhood. To see an interactive map of the entire route that allows you to zoom in to see the exact streets used for the race, please visit portlandmarathon.com/courses. As a rule of thumb, it will not be possible to drive on, or drive across, the streets used for the race until the last runner has passed the location and the traffic control devices have been removed. Vehicles will be turned away one block prior to reaching the race route.

ROUTE DESCRIPTION IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
Although the actual race route does not enter Eliot, it will impact nearby streets. Runners begin the race Downtown and run through Old Town, Northwest District, and the Pearl District before accessing the Broadway Bridge. They then use the Broadway Bridge to cross to the east side and perform a clockwise loop around the Moda Center. The route then heads back west across the Broadway Bridge and makes its way south down Naito Pkwy into South Portland.

SPECIAL TRAFFIC CONSIDERATIONS IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
● The Broadway Bridge will be entirely closed to all vehicles (including Portland Streetcar) from 7:15-9:45 a.m. After 9:45 a.m. there will be no restrictions on use of the Broadway Bridge. No vehicles will be able to travel west on Broadway anywhere past Benton Ave.
● The Steel Bridge will remain open during the entire event, but vehicles entering Old Town from the Lloyd District using the Steel Bridge will experience delays from 7:15-9:45 a.m.
● The Burnside Bridge will always maintain one eastbound lane and one westbound lane open during the entire event, but vehicles traveling west up Burnside from the Bridge will experience delays from 7:00-8:00 a.m., including a complete temporary closure of Burnside from 7:10-7:30 a.m.
● N Interstate Ave will not be restricted and should be used to cross underneath the race route on the Broadway Bridge if access across the route is needed in that area between 7:15 and 9:45 a.m. The only special consideration on N Interstate Ave is that the fly-over exit from southbound N Interstate Ave onto N Larrabee Ave will be closed from 7:15 to 9:15 a.m.
● Those needing to travel between Eliot and the west side of the river will experience the least amount of inconvenience by doing so via the I-405 or I-5 freeways (Fremont or Marquam Bridges).
● The I-5 Southbound freeway on-ramp at the northeast corner of the Moda Center (Wheeler Ave / Williams Ave) will remain open and unobstructed during the entire event.

ENTIRE RACE ROUTE
If you plan to travel into or through any neighborhoods near the race route between 7:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, please take a moment to read the detailed traffic control description for that neighborhood by visiting portlandmarathon.com/traffic and selecting the neighborhood in question.

For questions regarding the City’s administration of this permit, please contact Allison Madsen at

allison.madsen@portlandoregon.gov or 503-865-2482.