Reclaiming Our Cause, Directing its Future

On Wednesday afternoon, June 27, 2007, we held a meeting at the Healing Roots Center, just off Albina and Killingsworth, to discuss creating a much-needed community advisory committee. The success of this project is critical to black women in the Portland area getting the services they need around domestic violence issues.

Here is a copy of the Evite message that went out to about 30 community leaders:

As we enter the second year of the United Way-funded project, the Healing Roots Center, we recognize that we need to build stronger alliances with the community we're serving. So we're reaching out to you in hopes that you will gift us with your advice, counsel, input and prayers.

As you know, this innovative project is intended to serve African and African American women and their children who are survivors of domestic violence. Portland has never successfully offered this type of service here, at least not for the long term. Not only do we want that to change, but we want to create a national model on how to do that.

We want this project to eventually stand on its own, so it's a service designed for and by black women and run by black women, with the support of other individuals and organizations. We believe the creation of a community advisory board would be the first step to making that happen. And we hope you will help us do that.