The Social Justice Committee is currently discerning if our partnership with the Interfaith Alliance on Poverty (IAP) should be solidified, if St. Charles should become an official member of the Alliance.  Here is the IAP's march news letter.  If you are a St. Charles parishioner and think you might be interested in getting involved in the IAP, please contact our Pastoral Associate, Gabriel Triplett at [email protected]
The Interfaith Alliance on Poverty March 2019 Newsletter contains a variety of stories,  featuring both the struggles and the accomplishments happening on the frontlines of poverty.   See Story headlines below.  See full Newsletter here​

St. Charles Social Justice members showed up today to join others from the community in celebration of the demolition of what was once the notorious Sugar Shack strip club.   The Shack was known to be a place of drugs and sexual slave trafficking.   In it's place Hacienda CDC plans to develop 140 units of housing and community space.  After the community rallied to shut down the strip club and then buy the property, Living Cully has been using the Space for various community enhancing programs and anti displacement organizing efforts.  St. Charles and Living Cully have used the building to hold our monthly mobile home organizing meetings.  These meetings will now take place across the street in the existing Hacienda building.   It was a beautiful experience to see so many amazing women demolishing, what had been for so many years, a place of exploitation of girls and women!  GOOD JOB TEAM!! and a huge thank you to Living Cully and all the community organizations that played a part in making this possible!

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 Dear Commissioners of Planning and Sustainability
                As the Pastoral Associate at St. Charles Catholic Church, located in the Cully neighborhood, it is my privilege to be the church liaison on issues of social justice.  St. Charles supports the zoning proposal without amendments #5 #6 #7.  We value the benefits that mobile home parks bring to our neighborhood and understand the detrimental effect that a park closure would have on the neighborhood/community.  This is why our parish has actively been involved in preserving our neighborhood MHPs for the last 3 years.
                St. Charles in partnership with Living Cully and other allies built a successful campaign to save the Oak Leaf mobile home park from development 2 years ago.   City (financial) intervention was needed because the detrimental ripple effects of a mass displacement was a cost the city could not afford.  We are thankful to the Council for taking the bold and courageous action that was called for.  This model, however, is not a sustainable option when it comes to the 58 mobile home parks throughout the city.  The zoning proposal before the commission moves our city in the right direction towards an effective solution in preserving an affordable housing option serving thousands of Portland families, including those who do not/will not qualify for alternative affordable options.  In working class neighborhoods such as Cully, closures have an effect on everything from the way in which churches administer resources effectively to low income residents, to the overall security and well being of neighborhood schools and small businesses.  The closure of a mobile home park would result in a huge tear in the relational fabric that keeps communities like ours safe and functioning.  Further, it would mean the loss of the only affordable housing option for those who do not qualify for the alternatives. Those who are most vulnerable. 
                My family and I moved into a Habitat for Humanity home on 64th and Killingsworth (right across from the Arbor trailer park) 2 years ago.  Since then, I have come to realize a few things.
1.)  The local elementary school, which is over 53% Hispanic and 15% African American, would lose 20% of its student enrollment.  For Schools like ours, already struggling to survive this sort of lose would be detrimental and would likely force consolidation of facilities, meaning loss of jobs and increased class size in already undeserved neighborhoods comprised of undeserved people.
2.)  Many families living across the street from my family would not qualify for alternate affordable housing options such as a CDCs or Habitat for humanity.   For several reasons, including but not limited to credit, immigration documentation, and ability to access and participate in the long processes involved in receiving affordable housing, many of these families would be forced into homelessness or (if they were lucky enough to have the resources) to relocate to another city. 
3.) Institutions like St. Charles’s St. Vincent de Paul provide food and utility/rental assistance to thousands in the neighborhood.  If the Cully neighborhood was to experience a large park closure, our SVDP would lose volunteers and financial donors (currently living in the parks), as well as the ability to provide assistance to those forced to live on the streets or outside of the parish bounds.  The needs will be increased but simply transplanted to areas not prepared to accommodate these needs.
4.) The fundamentals of a mobile home park provide a potential (more than any neighborhood or apartment I have witnessed) for a communal distribution of social welfare that would be extremely costly for the public or non-profit to replicate.  The multi-generational, relational fabrics embedded in these parks are priceless to the safety and well-being of the entire community.  Loss of this free community-supplied social well-fare would result in an increased burden on our police departments, public social service agencies, non-profits, gang prevention programs, and schools.
                St. Charles Catholic Church urges the commission to support the Manufactured Dwelling Parks zoning proposal without those amendments that would offer more easily accessible avenues to development of current MHPs, whether or not they are identified as “affordable” or market rate. 
Blessings and Solidarity
Gabriel Triplett
Pastoral Associate
St. Charles Catholic Church
www.stcharlespdx.org
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5310 NE 42nd Avenue  ❖  Portland, OR 97218-1510  ❖ 503.281.6461
 

  NE Residents will gather in this annual public prayer to recall the pain and suffering of Jesus in connection with the pain and suffering of the many living in Portland today.
2941 NE Ainsworth Portland, OR 
March 30th, 2018
12:00-2:00 PM
 
The walk of the cross has been an annual event in Portland for over 30 years.  The walk will begin with at Ainsworth United Church of Christ with an opening service led by Rev. Cecil Prescod.  Participants will then walk to St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, making 14 stops along the way.  Each stop will connect part of Jesus’s walk with his cross, to a social injustice that our communities face today.  Gun Violence, Police Accountability, Sexual Assault, Racism, Housing, Immigration, and HIV are some of the issues that will be addressed.  Most stations will approach the issue through a personal story of someone within one of our communities
All Portland Residents are invited to this public prayer.  We especially encourage people with children to attend with the whole family.  The Christian faith is formed best in children when they can easily draw the connection between the Scriptures and “real life”.
There will be a collection taken, proceeds of which will be donated to Don’t Shoot PDX to help them continue their valuable work.  Also there will be some wheelchairs and volunteers to push them, available for those who want to participate but who are not able to walk the route.
For more information contact
Gabriel Triplett
Pastoral Associate
St. Charles Catholic Church
(c) 541-680-6509
[email protected] 
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​ You can also RSVP and tell your loved ones about the walk by going to our Face Book Event Here    You can also find a printable copy of the flier in Spanish, Vietnamese and English  Here ​  

 The Bible tells us that God hears the cry of his people, and I wish to join my voice to yours in calling for the three “L’s” for all our brothers and sisters: land, lodging and labor. I said it and I repeat it: these are sacred rights. It is important, it is well worth fighting for them.
-Pope Francis  (7/9/15, Popular Movements)
Victoria’s ceiling in her bedroom  and hall had been falling down for some time.  With no money to fix the problem this mother and Grandmother didn’t know what to do.   I had met Victoria, and had seen the damage on the day I went to her home to install smoke alarms.  I encouraged her to get involved with our home repair program in order to fix her ceiling and lend a hand in helping her neighbors.    When her Kitchen ceiling  collapsed only a week later Victoria called us.