A faith network for Cully

Had one of those evenings last night that came off very satisfying.  As friends, we’d been itching to convene people of faith to see if we could take our efforts at providing emergency food and clothing to the next level in Cully neighborhood.  Could we ramp up our endeavors in development while building on our record of relief?  Could we provide people in need jobs and training, creating jobs even, in addition to offering free food and used clothing?

Cully is a wonderfully demographically diverse neighborhood of some 13,000 souls.  One out of five residents are foreign-born, a fair representation from five continents.  At the multicongregationally-supported Northeast Emergency Food Program (NEFP), we display signs in nine languages as over half of our thousands of clients are non-native English speakers.

Yet the eastern end of Cully is one of those economically depressing parts of the city, neglected by city and county.  While the west end gentrifies, the east end languishes. Census Tract 76 in the east sports a rate of 38% at or below the federal poverty line.

And here we sit – our faith-based emergency food and clothing program – right in the middle of this Cully East End.  Northeast 72^nd Avenue, a narrow street with no sidewalks for our clients on foot, divides one mostly white tract with one of the lowest median incomes in the city from another with a slightly more prosperous demographic and majority non-white.

Annexed late by Portland, Cully remains an odd network of potholed, undeveloped and privately owned streets providing form for randomly-sized lots ranging from barely sustainable to small plantation.  On the one hand, the neighborhood evokes a small-town, even rural pristine natural feel.  On the other, it remains neglected by some of the most basic of city utilities, transportation services and retail outlets, its most thriving business centered in the triangle residents would prefer to see burned to the ground.

There are some very good stirrings in Cully – a “Main Street” rezoning project and a drive to eradicate the neighborhood of its most infamous blight at the triangle.  The area has an active neighborhood association and some very engaged citizens who have successfully campaigned for a much improved Cully Boulevard, a new as-yet-undeveloped park, and a new community garden.  Meanwhile, its schools are coming alive with reform-minded leadership. 

The faith community has a presence as well, with a scattering of churches, and representation in key civic posts.  But by and large, faith makes a weak presentation in this public square.  What houses of worship exist are often small and struggling, making little dent in a world fast changing and far too bewildering for many of the faithful to comprehend, let alone influence.

Even so, there are very good signs that this sub-community is stirring with fresh vision and passion.  I met with a handful of such faith people last night in the fellowship hall of Grace Presbyterian Church, a quasi-town hall for the Cully Association of Neighbors’ monthly gatherings.  Our group was much more modest in size.  We filled one round table.  But what we lacked in numbers we more than made up for in creative vision.

The meeting, convened by the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon (EMO), was attended by a total of eight, one of those one-year-old Micah, of Mosaic Church, our good-natured canary-in-the-mine who let us know when it was a decent hour to adjourn.  On the other end of the age scale was another good-natured fellow, Andy, who has resided in Cully for 55 of his 88 years.  Andy came representing Luther Memorial Lutheran Church, home to NEFP. 

I looked around the table and recognized a Pentecostal (me), Evangelicals, Andy the Lutheran, and a Roman Catholic.  Numbered in this small gathering were a union laborer, an entrepreneur, clergy, a retiree, and students.  What drew us together was a common belief that faith has something significant to say in a neighborhood high in chronic unemployment, low median income, questionable or non-existing enterprises, and lots of children deserving a fighting chance at a decent future.

Together we account for a significant amount of relief work in Cully and beyond.  NEFP alone serves half a million pounds of food and 50,000 articles of used clothing to some 11,000 unduplicated clients each year.  The Society of St. Vincent de Paul and local congregations also carry out a good deal of care.  We also are at the forefront of numerous efforts at food sustainability, health and wellness, micro-enterprise development, and neighborhood transformation.

The key word in that last paragraph is together.  That was something we were doing for the first time last night, coming together as Cully people of faith and identifying what we were doing separately and how we could move forward corporately.  Concerns identified included:

•   immigration issues 
• lack of employment and economically sustainable work 
• language barriers
• the need for personal advocacy in banking and health
• healthy, affordable and culturally appropriate food
• available and affordable transportation
• skill training
• zoning changes to foster community-serving businesses
• a community center for children

Far from discouraged by the overwhelming needs, we left energized.  As a group we are determined to continue the dialog, to explore what more we can do to take our commitment to serve those in need to the next level, and to be a stronger voice in the public forum for change for the better in Cully neighborhood.

If you’d like to join the discussion and get involved in this Cully faith network, email me at nefp@emoregon.org or leave a message for me at the NEFP office at 503-802-7384.