Community News April 2020

April 7, 2020   Community
Home-to-Go

Community Warehouse

Home-to-go

At Community Warehouse, our vision is that everyone has a place to sleep, a place to eat, and a place to gather. During this unprecedented health crisis, it’s particularly important we support neighbors who can’t afford the basics and are being asked to stay at home.

In the midst of the statewide Stay at Home order, Community Warehouse is introducing a new service to ensure our most vulnerable neighbors can safely receive essential household items. We are assembling HOME 2 GO Essential Items Kits that provide brand-new furnishings to people in need while adhering to health & safety guidelines. These kits consist of new, donated items: a 4-drawer dresser filled with an air mattress, bedding, towels, pots and pans, cooking utensils, cups, and dishware. With your help, we can distribute up to 50 HOME 2 GO kits to families in need every week!

Some ways you can help make a home, from home!

Sponsor A Kit: A $100 donation ensures new supplies of the basics a family needs to stay at home during this crisis.

Help Us Get Through This: Keep Community Warehouse open for service during this crisis by making a financial donation in any amount. Communitywarehouse.org

Create A Donation Pile: It’s a great time to reorganize and set aside what you could pass on to neighbors in need! When Community Warehouse reopens, we’ll be seeking a limited list of gently used items. Please collect ONLY the following items:

  • microwaveable dishes
  • Silverware
  • Cookware
  • Drinking glasses
  • Kitchen utensils
  • Towels
  • Twin and queen bedding

Learn more at communitywarehouse.org.

Help for people in recovery

In response to the substantial dismantling of the addiction recovery support network as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, Oregon Recovers launched OregonRecoveryNetwork.org to provide a centralized source of resources for the Oregon recovery community.  The site was launched in partnership with Google.

People in recovery from addiction depend heavily on mutual aid meetings (like Alcoholics Anonymous and SMART Recovery), outpatient programs, and peer delivered services to maintain their recovery. While many meetings have gone online, the vast majority of recovery support services have been cancelled indefinitely. Furthermore, many folks in recovery either don’t have access to, or are not aware of, the existence of online and telephonic recovery support services. This means that countless members of Oregon’s estimated 700,000 strong recovery community are at risk of relapse. 

People in recovery have had the rug pulled out from under them. In many respects, social distancing is the complete antithesis of recovery. The loss of our ability to sit shoulder to shoulder and talk about recovery is huge. This loss is compounded by the fact that organized recovery programs mostly do not have a centralized managing authority positioned to provide guidance in the face of this crisis. OregonRecoveryNetwork.org is an effort to mitigate that lack of guidance.

But everyone should be clear that the current crisis, and the isolation it demands, is a huge threat to the recovery of many people who suffer from addiction” said Mike Marshall, Executive Director of Oregon Recovers.

“While it’s a good start, the site is less than comprehensive. We need people in recovery across the state to add information about recovery support in their community. And we need everyone who loves someone in recovery to reach out to them and offer support while we all practice social distancing” stated Andrew Swanson, Policy & Advocacy Director of Oregon Recovers.

Library resources and more from home

Your library card grants you access to many online services. We have a Find out how you can keep learning, reading and discovering in our most recent Library Update newsletter.

Besides services such as Kanopy for films and Overdrive for ebooks, our staff have gathered some great free links for stuff to keep you engaged while at home, including:

Comcast is offering Xfinity WiFi free for everyone, with hotspots available to all, including non-Xfinity subscribers.

Author Mo Willems is creating daily videos on how doodle characters and games.

You can experience museum exhibits, symphonies, and operas from home with virtual tours and digital libraries.

To learn more about the free online resources, check out our Library at Home tutorials.

Want more suggestions from the library? Sign up for our bi-monthly Library Update here.

Spring 2020 Weed Watcher Workshop Update

Tualatin Soil & Water Conservation District has updated our Weed Watchers workshop to an online format to protect the health and safety of our community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Want to learn more about invasive species threatening our rivers and streams? Need some help identifying that strange plant that keeps sprouting in your garden? Join us this spring for our online 2020 Weed Watcher Workshop!

Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District, Clean Water Services, and Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District invasive plant experts will provide an introduction to invasive species control, a walk-through of the weeds of greatest concern, and an online quiz to help you practice identifying these plants. Participants receive an electronic copy of our handy Tualatin Watershed Weed Watchers Guide, which includes information on how and where to report infestations.

With your help we can combat known priority invasive species and respond to new invaders before they endanger our natural areas, streamsides, and gardens! Our workshop will be available to view online from April 21 to May 27. Please RSVP on our website.

Naturescaping Basics online workshop

Native plants need less water and care, and many of them attract pollinators!

Sign up to receive our recorded naturescaping presentation!

This workshop has been modified from our in-person Naturescaping: Basics workshop to help protect our community during the COVD-19 pandemic.

The workshop will introduce viewers to the basics of naturescaping and provide resources to start planning your own project. During the workshop, we’ll cover how to use native plants to attract native birds, butterflies, and other pollinators and provide  year-round features; how you can create a low maintenance landscape to conserve water and energy; and much, much more.

Sign up now!

Middle School Boundaries postponed

Due to the closure of the District through at least April 28, 2020, the Middle School Attendance Boundary Advisory Committee meetings for April 2 and April 16 have been postponed. 

The District will reconvene the committee at a future date. The District will post notice of the next committee meeting at least 10 days prior to the committee meeting.  Opportunity to submit written comments will resume at the same time notice is posted. The public comment period on the Middle School Boundary Adjustment project was suspended on Tuesday, March 31.

Viva Village update

Due to concerns about the coronavirus the Viva Village Governing Council has made the decision to suspend all but essential village activity for the time being. This means that Viva Village will be 1) cancelling all events—both public and those that take place in people’s homes; 2) holding team meetings only as needed using and will be using conferencing technology; and 3) relying on Connector volunteers to stay in touch our members.

The office will stay open to serve the essential needs of our members: grocery shopping, pharmacy trips and transportation to non-emergency medical appointments. We can also take requests (like gardening) that will allow members and volunteers to maintain the recommended safety and social distancing practices.

Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District Summer Camps delayed

The safety of THPRD guests, staff and community is our top priority and the district is taking appropriate action to limit the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). Due to this, the registration for Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District’s summer camps, programs, classes and activities has been delayed.

Summer registration dates will be rescheduled: We do not have a new date to share yet. As the COVID-19 outbreak is a public health priority, we will wait to reschedule summer registration to a future date, when we have better information about the duration of the pandemic and its effect on facility closures.

Activities Guides have been mailed. The district plans for the summer months in advance and unfortunately the printing and mailing of the summer guides were in motion before the COVID-19 closure responses were beginning. We apologize for any confusion this may cause.

Summer programs and camps may change from the printed guide. Staff are closely monitoring the school schedule and will adjust our summer camp offerings based on how school schedules are impacted by the closures. The best resource for updates will be the district’s web site.

Centro de Bienvenida will continue: The district will continue its in-person registration assistance/welcome center when the date is rescheduled.

Responding to this pandemic, with attention to how it impacts our community moving forward, has become the focus of our organization at this time. Please understand, this is an evolving situation and THPRD is committed to serving the public and following the advice and guidance of our Governor, the Oregon Health Authority, Washington County Public Health Department, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Our goal is to return to normal operations as quickly as we safely can. The best source of information about closures, cancellations, and postponements, will be our website.

THPRD Closures

Effective immediately, the THPRD Board of Directors has announced that all outdoor playgrounds, play equipment, and exercise equipment, is to be closed to the public. The temporary advisory signs placed last week, will be updated as quickly as possible with this new direction.

Due to the COVID-19 public health emergency the following temporary use rules are in effect for all THPRD parks, trails, and fields:

  • THPRD outdoor playgrounds and exercise equipment are closed to the public.
  • Recommended activities are walking, hiking, biking, running, or things that do not involve bodily contact.
  • All contact sports including basketball, lacrosse, football, soccer, baseball, and tennis, and similar activities, should be carefully limited. No games or gatherings are allowed. Shooting hoops or tossing a ball should be limited to people interacting only with their immediate household members.
  • Wash your hands before and after your visit.
  • Follow social distancing recommendations and keep 6 feet from others.
  • Limit group size to no more than 10 people.

THPRD Park Patrol staff will be enforcing these new rules, but compliance and cooperation from the public is essential as our staff’s ability to respond to every violation will be very limited. Staff in the Sports and Maintenance Departments will be updating signs at all parks and sports courts with the new rules this week, and may in some cases use caution tape or other tools to block off highly visited sites. The public is strongly encouraged to visit the THPRD website for the latest updates and information.

Cedar Mill Bible Church

Our Church gatherings on Sunday are canceled for at least the next four weeks. We will be video recording the messages, which will include a living room atmosphere, some worship music from James, announcements, prayer, and a sermon. We will be sending out an all-church email with all of this information, including a tutorial on how to give online.
We are also closing the entire campus with the exception of Jesus Table over the next two weeks. This is effective immediately. The church office is closed.

Also, The Art Studio is closed until further notice. The studio calendar has been updated to reflect the cancellations to date.

Inside WashCo Radio

We have chosen four primary races for our April focus. Due to issues connected to the coronavirus we had candidates respond to written questions, and these questions and responses are broadcast.

Here’s the weekly scheduled radio broadcast times (each program is released on the Monday on our site, and to our subscribers): All programs are available through podcast subscription, or direct on the website.

Broadcast schedule (KBOO 90.7 FM, KUIK 1360 AM)
Washington County Commissioner District 3
KBOO: April 8, KUIK: April 10, 12
Cindy Cosenzo, AgeCelebration (a break from politics)
KUIK: April 17, 19,
Debate #2: Washington County Sheriff
KBOO: April 22, KUIK: April 24, 26
Debate #3: Washington County Commissioner District 1
KBOO: April 29, KUIK: May 1, 3
Debate #4: Beaverton Mayor
KBOO: May 6, KUIK: May 8, 10

Writers Mill

Sunday April 19, 1 pm, Online Zoom Meeting

Portland Writers’ Mill usually meets on the third Sunday of each month at Cedar Mill library on Saltzman, however, this month will be a Zoom meeting for writers to attend from their own homes.

For this meeting, we hope to Zoom with Jim Elstad, author of Comes the Southern Revolution and other books. He will show us how to use ProWritingAid to improve and edit our writing. Contest winners, member news, and a critique will round out the meeting.

You’ll need a link and a password to join, both things that our faithful administrator will send if you email admin@portlandwritersmill.org with details of your writing interests – all new members welcome! Remember, if we’re locked in, that just means you have more time to write!

Washington County Public Affairs Forum Suspends Meetings

We have watched the suffering and disruption that the spread of COVID-19 has brought to people around the world and now to our state. The greatest Oregon concentration of the virus has occurred right here in Washington County. For many, especially the young, the virus can be mild. Still, serious cases occur in all age groups and for older adults or those already ill, the results can be devastating.

We all have a responsibility to limit the potential spread of the disease. For this reason, we are suspending our Monday forums for the next four weeks. During the next month we will continue to closely monitor the situation and reevaluate when it will be safe to resume. We will stay in close touch with you all. Until then, be safe and take good care of yourselves and your families.