Somali Portlanders

I love my neighborhood, West Portland Park. I love its mixture of apartments and single family homes, allowing people with a wide range of incomes to live here. I like its location, close-but-not-too-close to my work, near Multnomah Village and PCC Sylvania, with transit to downtown, and easy freeway access for Steve’s commute to Salem. I love Markham Elementary and Jackson Middle Schools, and the Capitol Hill library. And I especially love the people who live here, from multi-generation native Oregonians to the 14% of our neighborhood residents born outside the United States. Drive or walk along Capitol Highway, and you’ll see people wearing beautiful robes from Africa, Asia, Central/South America and Northeastern Europe, as well as people of all ages from infant to elderly.

One of the countries of origin of many of my neighbors is Somalia, located in northeast Africa next to the Indian Ocean. Its national flag is a five-point white star on a blue background. Fred Leeson wrote a nice article published in the InPortland section of the Oregonian today, about an outreach project sponsored by a grant from the City of Portland via the Office of Neighborhood Involvement. The grant is a collaboration between Southeast Uplift and Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc., two of the district coalitions of Neighborhood Associations, and the Somali Women’s Association. The project involves outreach both to new Somali immigrants, helping them learn about programs and opportunities available in the community, and also to long-time American citizens to help inform us of cultural norms and potential partnerships with our new neighbors.

Fred writes:

“Estimated at 6,000, Somalis are the largest nationality among about 20,000 African immigrants from 28 countries who’ve settled in the Portland metro area. Several hundred Somalis live in West Portland Park, attracted by inexpensive apartments and proximity to the Islamic Center of Portland, the state’s largest mosque.”

I attended the first Get Acquainted gathering of the project at Markham School in West Portland Park, at the beginning of May. It was on a Thursday evening, in the middle of an exceptionally busy week for our family. I went because I’d promised to, several weeks before, but arrived feeling tired and pressured. Ninety minutes later, I left refreshed, impressed, and feeling hugely blessed. About a third of the attendees were Somali immigrants; a third service providers; the remaining third interested Portlanders wanting to connect with our new neighbors. I especially appreciate that the project is being led by Lul Abdulle, a woman who came here from Somalia about ten years ago. People who’ve experienced and worked through challenges are often the best teachers to help others in similar circumstances, and to gain general understanding by sharing their personal stories.

There is more help available to both immigrants and other Portland families than I was aware of – for instance, the HIPPY program – Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters. It helps parents teach parents of preschoolers how to help their children be ready for kindergarten, and organizes monthly support group meetings. We heard from staff at Markham School, who help students and their families learn English – no small feat since children at Markham span over 20 home languages between them. The Somali Community Services Coalition has an office on SW Barbur Boulevard, providing translation services, immigration/citizenship advice, employment leads, and suchlike. I was already aware of the Southwest Community Health Center operating at the Multnomah Center, but not of its plans for expanded hours due to its huge success. Many more agencies and citizens talked about how they will be involved in the project.

Hearing about such depth and breadth of community resources was inspiring to me. Especially in the wake of yesterday’s raid in North Portland, it is especially good to know that many Portlanders are doing all they can to help immigrants succeed in their new home.