Perhaps,
like me, you have been reading in the news how many people are being
evicted from their homes with no cause, and having real difficulty in
finding new homes. Perhaps you are one of the people who has been
caught in the housing crisis in Portland, or you know someone who has
been evicted, or is having trouble finding an apartment to rent. Jan
Bindas-Tenney is the Advocacy Coordinator at Preble Street, and she
told me about one person, a disabled person who uses a wheelchair,
who had been homeless several years ago, but then was in a stable
apartment for the past several years. Suddenly they were caught in
these evictions, and now they are back at the shelter.
Seeing
the shelter numbers go up after some years of going down, Jan and
others decided that rather than just “picking up the pieces,”
they would organize to address some of the causes, and look for
policy solutions that might address the underlying problems. So the
Portland
Coalition for Housing Justice was
formed. At a initial meeting on April 14, more than 100 people
showed up, and on April 27th,
the group spoke to the Housing Committee of the Portland City
Council. She also told me that they are hoping to form a faith
advocacy network for clergy and lay leaders to offer a faith voice on
housing.
I
invited Jan to come speak to our church about these issues in a
worship service on May 15. I
am wondering if those in our congregation who are facing housing
challenges, or who have recently faced them, might want to share
their stories with the congregation as part of this worship service.
The
stories would need to be rather short—maybe 3 minutes at most, and
I could help you with crafting or editing something, if you wish.
And, please know that you are always welcome to come have a chat if
these or other issues are a burden in your life.
For
some good news, you may know that this year I have been mentoring a
first-year seminary student who is preparing for UU ministry. Israel
Buffardi is now completing his first year, and next year starting in
September he will become a half-time Intern Minister at our church.
He will be exploring all aspects of ministry and church life, or at
least as much as one can do in 20 hours per week. (Last year, our
Intern Minister Lyn Marshall was full-time.) One of the commitments
of the congregation toward his learning is that we form an Intern
Committee with folks who will meet monthly with Israel, giving him
support and feedback on his ministry at our church. If you'd like to
be a part of that group, please contact me. We will try to have a
group that represents various parts of church life. Serving on this
committee becomes a chance to get closer to other members of our
church, learn more about your own spiritual journey, and offer a
great gift to our UU movement as we help to train a future leader.
