Friends of Trees schedules plantings in 18 Southeast Portland neighborhoods
 
This year Friends of Trees will plant twice the number of street and yard trees it planted last year to help Portland meet its five-year Grey to Green Initiative goal of adding 83,000 trees to city streets in five years. The Grey to Green partnership enables Friends of Trees to offer 8- to 12-foot tall nursery trees for only $35 to $75, a cost that includes the wholesale price of the tree, its delivery, hole digging, assistance in planting, stakes, mulch, and follow-up maintenance checks. An added benefit is the neighborhood potluck that follows the community planting.
 

Have you recently been elected to your neighborhood association board as an officer? Are you a returning board member looking to brush up on your skills or share some tricks of the trade with others? Do you have questions about your role and responsibilities? Are you curious how other officers report, take minutes, or handle other tasks?

If any of these questions apply to you and you'd like to mingle with neighborhood officers from across the city, then please attend our new Neighborhood Officer Networking series.

Southeast Uplift is proud to announce that we have received our Recycle at Work Certificate.  This certificate shows that we have improved our recycling practices and have reduced the amount of waste we produce by implementing all the of the city of Portland’s five recycling steps. The five steps are easy!

A big success!

Over the weekend of August 22, at least 25 enthusiastic people arrived at SE Uplift for a work party.  Fueled with donuts and coffee everyone got busy immediately. The outside was buzzing with Kern’s neighbors mowing and edging.  Sixteen teenagers from Second Stories could be seen sweeping, raking, washing windows, weeding, and removing the invasive species. Inside, board members and staff got to work painting the entrance way and the basement.  

Join Mayor Adams for a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday, August 12, on NE 8th Avenue between East Burnside and NE Couch Streets.

Friends of Trees Demonstrates Cooling Effect of Trees during July Heatwave as the Nonprofit Begins Online Tree Ordering for 2009-2010
 

Portland is currently in the process of expanding the network of family-friendly bicycle streets.    The segment of Southeast Center between SE Gladstone/41st and Essex Park is a low traffic street ideal for a bicycle boulevard designation and provides connections to routes around Southeast Portland.  Please join your neighbors in helping city staff identify the key improvements to increase safety for all modes and specifically improve bicycle access.
 

Funding for the entire project will be provided by the Bureau of Transportation.

The present economic crisis has drastically impacted many of our neighbors.  Commissioners Amanda Fritz and Nick Fish invite all members of our neighborhoods to join them in a community forum to find alternative ways to share our streets and review opportunities for supporting members of our communities who are faced with homelessness and other challenges.

Southeast Uplift is collaborating with the Mt. Tabor Land Use Committee and Energy Trust of Oregon to create a community solar installation program for Southeast Portland homeowners.  Solarize Portland will help Portland residents overcome the logistical hurdles of going solar at home, including who to hire, what equipment to buy, how much to budget and where to start.  With Solarize Portland, interested neighbors will join forces to conquer the process as a team, and realize cost savings with bulk purchasing power.

On Monday, June 6th, SE Uplift held its annual neighborhood board ice cream social. This event offered neighborhood volunteers an opportunity to socialize, meet the SE Uplift board and best of all, eat ice cream. After the SE Uplift board held its annual election, re-electing Marianne Colgrove as Board Chair, the board joined neighbors around the playground to enjoy sweets and meet each other. The board took this opportunity to recognize the service of Paula Manley, who served as Interim Executive Director since January 2009.