Habitat for Humanity
On April 11th, 2009, CBS Interactive Portland community team members participated in the project at 8116 SE Martins in Portland, Oregon.
About Us
Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East’s Vision
A community where everyone has a simple, decent, affordable place to live; and where poverty housing is unacceptable.
Our Mission
To build partnerships among volunteers, families and the community to transform lives and revitalize neighborhoods by enabling families in need to earn and own a simple, decent, affordable home.
As the oldest Habitat for Humanity affiliate on the West Coast, and the largest in Oregon, Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East has served low-income, hard-working families for over 25 years. We are currently one of the city’s only providers of home ownership opportunities to families at 30-60% of the median Portland household income level.
Partnering with the community, our volunteers build simple, decent homes, which are then sold at cost with a zero-interest, 1% down payment mortgage to families who qualify for our program. Their mortgage payments – payments that are often lower than what they were paying in rent – go into a revolving “Fund for Humanity” that is used to build more homes in the Portland area.
Our homeowners are committed and successful. We have experienced less than a 1% default rate on our mortgages, lower than the national average. By providing a hand up, not a handout, our program maintains the dignity and pride of our homeowner families.
Volunteer
Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East is a volunteer-driven organization – we are fortunate to have over 30,000 volunteer hours donated to our program every year.
As a volunteer, you can choose to make a difference in a variety of ways.
- Construction: come on site and help build homes for low-income, hard-working Portland families!
- “Non”-Construction: We always need volunteer help with special projects and events – it’s a great way to spend a few hours and meet new people. You can also join a committee, or help in the office or our ReStore.
Time commitments vary; some volunteers dedicate one, two or more days each week to Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East and others spend just a few hours each month working on committee projects or in the ReStore. As a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East, you can choose to volunteer as little or as often as you would like. All of these positions are a tremendous help that directly or indirectly result in the construction of simple, decent homes.
Donate Dinner
Donate Dinner is one of the largest volunteer events in the Portland metropolitan area. Last year, 800 people volunteered for 2-hour shifts and the outcome was incredible – we raised more than $180,000 to feed homebound seniors. This year, with the increase in transportation and food costs, volunteers are needed more than ever to help make a difference.
School House Supplies Project—CNET TechTracker
| KIDS READ. KIDS PAINT. KIDS LEARN. KIDS COUNT. |
TOGETHER WE HELP THEM
Schoolhouse Supplies connects members of the community with students in over 130 schools throughout the Portland Public School district. We take private and corporate donations of all kinds – from basics like pencils and paper to books, backpacks, and folders – and put them in the hands of students.
Friends of the Forest at the Sandy River Delta Saturday, June 28
Dear Ralph:
Thank you again for sponsorship of the Jun 28th Friends of the Forest® Day at the Sandy River Delta, and the four others your support is making possible this season. The great spirit and hard labor of the group on June 28th, despite the unseasonable heat of the day, brought the trail 150 feet nearer to completion. The trail, almost entirely built by volunteers over the past three years, will be officially open on August 23rd, 2008. At 4:00 pm that day the public is invited to join in the dedication of the new bird blind designed by architect Maya Lin. It will be sited at the end of the trail, at the confluence of the Sandy and Columbia Rivers.
Your support of the Multnomah Falls Day, June 7, and the Balfour-Klickitat Park Day, June 14 was also appreciated by volunteers. Trails were improved, fences installed and fixed to help avoid erosion problems and wetlands used by returning salmon restored. The volunteers you have sustained in these projects joined over 1,200 Friends of the Forest in Oregon and Washington to date. They have:
- Built 7,000 feet of new trail
- Planted over 1,100 trees and native shrubs along salmon spawning streams
- Restored 2 historic buildings
- Restored 2 campgrounds, installing 450 bollards and planting vegetation to mark campsites
- Removed over 10,000 pounds of invasive weeds
- Fixed trail erosion problems and installed low fences to keep hikers on the trail
- Picked up litter on the slopes of Mt. Hood
- Saved 90 old growth salmon stream shade trees
Best regards,
Mary Vasse
Director, Northwest Programs
CNET TechTracker Keeping Portland Healthy, Livable and Prosperous
CNET Techtracker acknowledged by the City of Portland as a leader. 
Three Rivers Land Conservancy (TRLC) Project
TechTracker has been invited to team up with Three Rivers Land Conservancy through our liaison EFNW, Entrepreneurs Foundation of the Northwest, for this exciting “Invasion of the English Ivy” event in honor of Earth Day 2007!
Three Rivers Land Conservancy (TRLC) protects the natural treasure of our region – land that enhances the human experience, contributes to economic vitality and sustains our natural beauty. Invasive plants, like English ivy, Himalayan blackberry and garlic mustard, are displacing native plants and animals and we need your help to stop them!
MORE DETAILS/INFO:
This event will take place on a Friday afternoon. Attendance & participation is optional.
If you plan to participate in the event, you are welcome to take the time as additional paid time off. (Otherwise it is a normal work day.)
Contractors should check with their supervisor to see what this means for their work that day.
Everyone should check with their supervisor, to make sure there is nothing that would prevent them from being out of the office that afternoon.
Event info can be found at: http://www.efnw.org/events/leave_earth_legacy.htm
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Three Rivers Land Conservancy (TRLC) protects the natural treasure of our region –
land that enhances the human experience, contributes to economic vitality and sustains our
natural beauty. Invasive plants, like English ivy, Himalayan blackberry and garlic mustard, are displacing native plants and animals and we need your help to stop them!
When:
· Friday, April 20th, 1-4pm
Time: 1-4pm (both projects) (includes water and snack)
Location: Keller Woodlands, along Terwilliger Boulevard, near Marquam trail head.
Dress attire: Dress for any weather and be prepared to get grubby. Lots of layers, a rain jacket, sturdy work gloves and sturdy, closed-toe work shoes (hiking boots or heavy tennis shoes) are recommended. Please feel free to bring hand-held clippers.
Other details: Water and a light snack will be provided.
Directions: The worksite meeting point is a roadside turnout along Terwilliger Blvd. From downtown, if you are traveling along Terwilliger, after about 1.2 miles you will pass SW Hamilton Street on your left and then SW Bancroft Terrace on your right. After that you will go around a sharp left curve. The turnout is just after this curve on the right. If you are coming from the other direction the turnout is .6 mi. after the Charter House Restaurant and will be on the left. Look for an Entrepreneurs Foundation and Three Rivers Land Conservancy banner.
GreenTracker 