Sabin, King neighborhoods build partnership for sustainability projects

It's trendy to say that we want a sustainable neighborhood, but what does that really mean? We tackled this question at our first Sustainable Sabin/King meeting on Jan. 21. While we didn't end up with a slick vision statement, we did find some common ground. We agreed that it's about working together to create a resilient, diverse and integrated community with affordable housing, access to healthy food and safe streets. It's about knowing our neighbors and being connected with each other.

We recognize that there are many nonprofits and community organizations already working on issues we are concerned about. The question is, how can people living in Sabin and King partner with these organizations to help build a stronger community?

After brainstorming some ideas, we narrowed the field to three potential projects:

— Create street paintings, build an earthen bench and plant bee-friendly habitat in parking strips as part of Portland's Village Building Convergence on Beech Street from 9th to 14th avenues.

— Expand Sabin’s annual cleanup day so unwanted items could be adopted and reused by other neighbors, rather than have all items taken to the city dump.
  
— Work with the Sabin Community Development Corporation (Sabin CDC) to increase the stock of affordable housing for families with moderate incomes through a land trust.

We're excited about all of these projects and hope you will be, too. If you're interested in participating or just want more information, please contact Diane Benson at dcb1810@yahoo.com or Clay Veka at clayveka@yahoo.com, and we'll connect you with the leaders.