Introduction to Northeast Village PDX (Village 101) will be offered via Zoom:

The introduction session is to learn about Village membership benefits and volunteer opportunities. Current members are also welcome to be part of the discussion of the Village experience, and you can help so much by inviting and accompanying anyone you know who’s open to considering joining us!

To register (anyone) on our website nevillagepdx.org, select EVENTS, CALENDAR, November 9th’s "Introduction to Northeast Village PDX”, and follow through on the registration steps to “Complete Registration”. The Zoom link will be sent to the registrant’s e-mail. For questions or help, call the NEV office at 503-895-2750.

Our Northeast Village is partnering with Metropolitan Family Services (MFS) to offer our members and volunteers the opportunity to join an on-going weekly conversation group using Zoom, coupled with one-on-one training and support for those who are not familiar or comfortable using Zoom.

Each group of 6-8 seniors sets their own topics, with the conversations facilitated by MFS staff. MFS has several such groups going over the past year, and is now reaching out to the Village network in partnership to form additional groups.

This is a unique opportunity for people who want to converse with others in a manner that builds relationships and offers engagement on topics ranging from personal issues to social topics to examining what’s happening in the world during this time of transition.

Contact our Programming Coordinator, Lindsey Oldani, at programs@nevillagepdx.org, or call the NEV office at 503-895-2750 for more information, or better yet, to register for this new program.

Two new support groups are forming in Northeast Village to meet regularly.

We are collecting names until we have a minimum number of folks to start, so if one of the following situations applies to you and you’d like to try meeting with others, send an e-mail to the Programming Coordinator, Lindsey Oldani, at programs@nevillagepdx.org, or call the NEV office at 503-895-2750, and you will be notified when a group is ready.

●     Widows support group

●     Caregivers support group

(One caregivers group is already successful and full, so we can start a second group.)

Northeast Village hosted a workshop in October on Living with Sight Loss with consultant Mary Lee Turner. On Zoom she spoke to 20+ members of Northeast Village and to other Villagers in our Villages Northwest area.

Mary Lee focused on how we utilize our vision and how to adapt and work around sight loss. She emphasized having a good working relationship with an ophthalmologist and an optometrist, as both provide specific care for eyes and vision.

Mary Lee offered many resources, including the Oral Hull Foundation and Learning Center, Devers Eye Clinic support group, Foundation for Fighting Blindness, National Library for the Blind, and her own contact information: Mary Lee Turner at 503-668-6195. She also supported connections with our Villages for assistance and friendship.

Mary Lee provided tips for making the best use of our sight.

Mary Lee emphasized several key points for daily living: use high contrast in your tools of daily living; consistency is your friend; clutter is not your friend. We appreciated her knowledge, humor, and candid comments for living actively with sight loss.

The Villages NW Board is seeking an accounting professional with the experience and analytical skills to help the organization grow and to oversee financial operations of the organization.

The Comptroller would be responsible for carrying out the day-to-day functions of accounts payable, accounts receivable and funds transfers.

The Board of Directors would like to fill the Comptroller position as soon as possible with a person who is experienced in accounting and desiring to make a positive impact on our community.

Villages NW is currently reviewing the accounting operations of our Villages in order to make the operations more efficient. Our goal is that the Comptroller would spend approximately 5 hours per week, once familiar with the operations.

Interested candidates should contact Interim Treasurer, Justin Curtiss at jcurtiss@villagesnw.org for additional details.

Next issue of our bimonthly Newsletter: January/February 2022

Submit news, reviews, articles, photos by December 15. Or inquire with early-stage ideas.

To: jeanne.bear@gmail.com

Office Manager: We are seeking a part-time Office Manager (OM) to plan and carry out day-to-day office operations, keep service functions running smoothly, and support a variety of Village activities.

This is a hands-on position that involves daily interaction with members and volunteers and requires the ability to find workable solutions for situations that are not always easily anticipated. Balancing a variety of tasks and responsibilities is an important aspect of this job.

The Recruiting Coordinator is a new, temporary part-time position to strengthen our recruiting efforts for volunteers and members, as well as evaluating and improving our existing internal systems.

A further goal is to build and train a “recruiting team” from our current members & volunteers that can carry on the new ideas and strategies that we expect from the person handling this new position. This position is budgeted for 10-15 hours/week for 6 months.

Both positions will be handled remotely until our physical office is opened and utilized.

The Office Manager Job Description is now on our website (select the green button "Now Hiring"), and ready to accept applications.

The Recruiting Coordinator job position will be posted on our website in the same location at the end of this week.

Applications are accepted starting November 1, and open until filled. Send to tlcoward99@gmail.com, or call Todd for more information at 503-997-5788.

When Lisa Wylie’s mother aged in place, maintaining her independence with help from her daughters, Lisa saw what a difference support makes as the years pile on. She saw how “things that are easy for able-bodied people to do, older people can’t do, or can’t afford to do.”

When her mother passed and Lisa read about the Village movement, she decided to put her skills to work as a volunteer.

Involved in NE Village since its early days, she has been especially busy the past few years providing handyman services and tech support. She does most of the maintenance for a rental property she owns, as well as her home in the Hollywood-Grant Park neighborhood, so she has learned how to fix a number of things.

Recently she repaired a broken bi-fold pantry door for a couple who are NE Village members. “They were delighted -- their faces lit up,” she said. “The best part of it was their joy.”

In June she resigned from her job doing analytics for a health insurance company and is taking a break from full-time corporate employment. She doesn’t consider herself retired, however. There’s her list of deferred maintenance tasks to work on, and then she may freelance or teach English overseas.

Lisa has been a resident of Northeast Portland for the past 22 years and loves the neighborhood. It reminds her of when she lived in France near public transit, where she could walk to many destinations. “It would be easy to live car-free here. I love it.”

She also loves volunteering for NE Village, getting to know her neighbors and helping them. “It’s always the best part of the day when I feel like I can make a difference in somebody’s life.”

Jim Poston has been living in NE Portland since 1963. He raised a son and a daughter, and Jim's son found the Village at the Fremont Fest in August and got his dad signed up as a member. Jim was a carpenter and found a hobby in upholstery. He enjoys working with his hands, a good mystery on TV, and a hearty laugh. Jim wants to walk more to strengthen his legs after a stroke. Jon Dickman, a Village volunteer, has recently stepped up, and now enjoys walking with Jim on a weekly basis.

Jennifer and John joined the Village to have more companionship for John, a newly retired manager. John is an avid walker and would enjoy a walking partner in NE Portland. He spends time meditating and working in the garden at their home. John reports he would enjoy volunteering for garden parties and helping out in the Village.

Jennifer still works outside their home and loves to spend time in the garden, too. They have a lovely backyard which surrounds their back porch where they enjoy tea breaks. Jennifer is also a busy Mom with a son at Grant High. She is enthusiastic about what the village has to offer and looks forward to participating where she can.

 Roberta Dyer

Roberta Dyer is a longtime Portlander who founded Broadway Books and is still attached to the bookstore. She lives in the Hollywood neighborhood with her husband, Robert Durand.

Her interests include reading, crossword puzzles, and grandparenting. Roberta is an experienced volunteer and is interested in volunteering for driving, office work, cooking, household help, and social visits.

Mary moved to Portland in 1966. She was a social science and literature teacher for PPS and a professor of teacher education at Lewis and Clark. Her present joys in life are her little dog Flo, her neighbors, her church and her garden. Mary looks forward to participating in Village activities.

We’ve been busy in October reaching out to Villagers for help with our working teams, e.g., membership, volunteers, marketing & outreach, development, and programming.

First the Little Red Hen returned in a letter asking Villagers to consider joining one of the working teams. After all, many hands make light work -- or bake great bread. Following the letter, a group of volunteers called members and volunteers to find out their possible interests in team work. Here are the results:

●     132 on call list

●     95 successfully reached

●     28 willing to help with a team’s work

●     21 not able to help now, may do so later

Team leaders are contacting people who expressed interest in their work. It’s notable that a number of people were interested in helping plan or present programs. This would fill a big need in our Village.

We want to thank our phone callers: Katherine Hansman-Spice, Joan Malling, Carolyn Ofiara, Helen Richardson, Suzanne Silverstein, Jane Braunger, Susan Bach, Nan Artman, Margaret Baldwin, Marina Bear, and Julie Granger. They were able to engage Villagers in conversations about Northeast Village and its needs.

And we want to thank all of you who talked with the volunteer callers about meeting the needs of our working teams.

While we’re happy to have some new folks stepping up in some capacity to help our teams support our Village, we’re very aware that we need more willing hands to help with myriad tasks. To this end, we are working hard to get new members and volunteers on board.

Please help us spread the word: invite friends and neighbors to our monthly Village 101 Zoom sessions (2^nd Tuesday of the month at 2:00 p.m) and attend with them; give a brochure to an interested acquaintance; take a poster and information cards to a local business. It all helps to bake the bread that is our Northeast Village PDX.