Hi Neighbors!
Happy July! Summer has hit Portland over night. The sun is shinning and the skies are blue. This newsletter will provide resources and tips for staying cool, upcoming summer activities, workshops and events.
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Tips for keeping your space cool without an air conditioner |
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- Cover your windows with aluminum foil.
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Cover your windows with aluminum foil, taping it from the inside. This relatively inexpensive solution uses foil which is resistant to heat, to control the temperature and keep the inside your home cooler than the outside.
2. Hang a wet cloth over your window.
- Open your window and hang a wet cloth covering the opening. As a breeze flows by, the wet cloth will cool down the breeze entering your home.
3. Make sure your ceiling fan is rotating co. counterclockwise.
- Every ceiling fan comes with a switch that will change the rotation of the fan. During the summer, the ceiling fan should rotate counter clockwise to create a downdraft of cool air.
4. Unplug appliances
- Plugged in appliances or electronics all give off heat.
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5. DIY Air conditioner!
- Place a bowl of ice in front of your fan and feel the cool breeze.
What is your favorite place to go swimming in Portland? | Answers from SEUL Staff
Eaen: "I am basically a cat and don’t really swim! But I would say Rooster Rock or Sauvie Island if I did, I have enjoyed putting my feet in at those locations haha 😝"
Leah: "We run through the sprinklers to cool down at home. We love visiting the many streams, rivers, lakes, and natural pools within a 30 minute to 2 hour drive from us."
Paola: "I love summer and I love going swimming! Portland has so many beautiful spots, my favorites include: Sauvies Island or Elk Rock in Milwaukee."
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Ways to help your houseless neighbors during a heat wave |
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Communities are stronger together. The heatwave at the end of June left many of our houseless neighbors in extremely dangerous life threatening conditions. Multnomah county opened three cooling centers throughout Portland during the heatwave weekend. However, these cooling centers are not fully accessible due to issues with transportations, information not reaching everyone, etc. You can help by:
- Spreading the word / Refer folks to cooling centers:
- Take sometime to research cooling centers and spread the word in your neighborhood! You can do this by reposting/resharing posts on social media, printing flyers or taking time to talk to your neighbors.
2. Visit the Free Fridge in your neighborhood:
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There are about 47 free fridge / pantries from Hillsboro to Troutdale, 12 within Southeast Portland. During a heatwave stop by your local free fridge and donate supplies (water, icicles, ice packs, toiletries, batteries etc). Find the closest fridge or pantry here.
3. Put together care kits:
- Gather some friends / families / neighbors and put together care kits to hand out to your neighbors. The care kits can include: sunscreen, aloe gel, batteries, hats, bandanas, frozen bottled water, helpful information.
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Most of us are ready to stop wearing masks and return to a somewhat familiar way of living. However, with the new delta COVID variant, we ask you to consider wearing your masks inside crowded indoor spaces.
Some immunocompromised disabled folks have a higher chance of getting COVID. Even with the vaccination, immunocompromised people may not hold the same amount of protection from the vaccine the way people without immune issues do.
Love your neighbors, keep them safe.
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Large-Species Trees Help Manage Climate Change
Trees for Life Oregon
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Large-form trees—those that grow more than 50 feet tall at maturity and live more than 75 years—give us the most bang for the buck when it comes to health and environmental benefits. Think Douglas-firs or oaks or lindens. Science shows that big trees cool our homes and sidewalks, clean our air, manage our stormwater, reduce noise and crime, and enhance our mental and physical well-being in specific ways such as by lowering our stress levels. Small ornamental trees are pretty. But their limited leaf volume and relatively short lifespans do not offer the same level of benefits that large trees do. At a time when the city has declared a climate emergency, large-species trees matter more than ever.
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Portland is losing its big trees to development and to individual homeowners who have the right to remove large trees on their property—half of all city trees are in people’s yards, not in the public right-of-way. Tree advocates hope that revising the City’s tree code, Title 11, which City Council is scheduled to do in 2024-2025, will address some of the loopholes that allow tree removal in development situations. But larger issues such as building and street design and how different City bureaus interact around decisions affecting trees also have a large impact on our private and public right-of-way trees.
Trees for Life Oregon is a group of neighborhood tree team leaders and tree stewards whose mission is to preserve large-species trees and space for new ones to be planted. We do this through education and advocacy, including a summer program called Soak-it-Week. Go here to learn more about our work and sign up for updates to keep informed about how you can help our large trees.
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NW Children's Theatre & School
Free Summer Camp
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"Campers (entering grades 2 - 5) will explore the wonderful world of dramatic arts through theater games, character creation, and imaginative world-building. Then, we'll help them transform their stories into a theatrical presentation while developing acting and performance skills! Each camp is supported by the NWCT Shop, a team of theatrical designers and fabricators, who will enhance campers' creations with custom costume, prop, set, and sound elements."
Each camp is 2 weeks long, Monday - Friday, 9am - 3pm. Meals (breakfast & lunch) and snacks are included. All of the information is on the NWTC website.
Camp dates for schools in SE Uplift communities are:
- July 6 - 16: Vestal Elementary School
- July 6 - 16: Grout Elementary School
- July 19 - 30: Sellwood Middle School
- August 2 -13: Whitman Elementary School
- August 2 - 13: Grout Elementary School
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Don't Miss Out!
Events, Community News, Resources and More!
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"UPTURN is a free 3-month leadership development program that fosters the skills, knowledge, and leadership of marginalized high school students to continue to lead as changemakers in their communities. At its core, this is an Organizing 101 course - aka what you wish you learned in school! Through twice-monthly workshops that hone into how power manifests, what social justice is, and how you can make a change in your own community, you'll walk away understanding core concepts and lessons about movement building. The course will culminate in you designing your own direct action project!"
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- The program is entirely free and virtual and runs through September - December
- There are 2 meetings a month, about 4 hours total per month.
Black, Indigenous, and other youth of color applicants are prioritized.
Deadline to Apply: August 13th, 2021
Next Up Oregon website.
Questions? Reach out to hannah@nextuporegon.org
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"For over 35 years, SMILE has presented summer concerts in our neighborhood parks as part of Portland Parks & Rec’s summer music program. Because park concerts are cancelled again this year, SMILE is hosting a free 12-concert neighborhood music series. The kick-off events is July 10, and runs through August 28."
For a full list of the line up visit SMILE's website here.
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Zuckercreme - Summer Camp! |
"Come be a kid again with us at our adult inspired summer camp!!"
The Saturday markets will continue starting July 10th. Stay tuned for a lot more events throughout the summer.
All are welcome and invited to participate! If you are interested in wending/cosigning/any and all other shenanigans DM @zuckercreme on instagram.
Activities:
✨ a small bakery & camp store with all summer camp inspired items open THU & FRI 9-2 pm beginning July 8th! coffee, pastries, treats, drinks, arts & crafts, & more!!
✨ SAT community markets! new (& returning!) vendors & makers will be back with their summer camp inspired items every Saturday in July starting July 10th from 12 - 4 pm + we’ll be open for your morning coffee & pastry needs Saturday 8 - 11 am as well ✌🏻
✨ SUN brunch with guest chef @jon.w!! y’all ever wanted to eat hog dogs for brunch? breakfast cereal lattes? us too!! tix available soon for pre-fix pre-sold tickets starting July 11th 🌭
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SE Uplift
(503) 232-0010
info@seuplift.org
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