The Oregonain (Portland, Oregon) 
August 20, 2006 

IMMIGRANTS' NEEDS ARE SIMILAR, BUT CHALLENGES ARE DIFFERENT
Dreams - A forum brings together minority groups with community and elected leaders
By Karen Johnson

If Portland's immigrant communities listed their top concerns, they might look familiar to many residents: education, health care, housing costs, homelessness, transportation, the environment.

Dig a little deeper, though, and you might find issues such as fear of racial profiling, lack of inclusion, a sense of being targeted.

"Most of us came here because of the freedoms and civil liberties," said Entisar Azouz, an Arab community advocate. "Lately, it hasn't been easy to participate freely without thinking something will happen to you."

Those concerns were the basis for a forum Saturday at City Hall titled "Immigrants and Refugees in Portland: Sharing Our Dreams." The forum brought members of the African, Latino, Asian, Slavic and Arab communities together with elected officials and minority leaders.

The topic of the meeting: "What will Portland look like in 20 years?" It's a question politicians struggle with daily, and the city's immigrants have a few answers of their own.

Shukri Osman envisions a thriving community center for immigrants. It would be a hub for civic engagement, a small-scale United Nations, Osman said. The center could provide guidance and support for youths and poor families.

"We are here to be independent; we don't want to be on public assistance," said Osman, a doctor originally from Somalia. "We want to be doctors and lawyers. We have something to offer, believe it or not."

The gap between services offered and services needed was a common theme. Different as their backgrounds are, the 70 or so immigrants and refugees who attended spoke of similar challenges adjusting to life in Portland.

Many immigrants struggle with language barriers, access to affordable housing, finding and keeping jobs, and education that matches the needs of recent arrivals.

The forum was the second of its kind organized by Bridgetown Voices, an advocacy group for immigrants and refugees. In December, the center set up a meeting with Mayor Tom Potter at which more than 200 explored ways to overcome the barriers to civic engagement for newcomers.

On Saturday, the mayor said he would take a resolution to the City Council in October calling for increased involvement by both groups in city matters.

Last year's forum inspired a series of meetings every other Thursday, sponsored by Bridgetown Voices. The meetings grew into a grassroots effort that brought organizers into their communities with surveys, sponsored by a VisionPDX grant from the city, said Evelyne Ello Hart, coordinator of the African Women's Coalition.

"This has been my first chance to meet with different organizers and discuss the issues that we're all facing," Ello Hart said. Preliminary survey results presented Saturday reflected the key issues brought up by forum participants. High on the list was education, opportunities for youth and affordable housing.

Kayse Jama, a Somalian national, said the forum was another step in the effort to improve life for refugees and recent immigrants. Jama, who founded the Center for Intercultural Organizing, was one of the forum organizers.

"This year we are going deep into the communities," Jama said. "The next step is strategizing what we need to do about it."

Karen Johnson: karenjohnson@news.oregonian.com; 503-294-5918

©2006 The Oregonian