VBC Work Party and Doors of Opportunity Painting Party

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Right 2 Dream Too (R2DToo), NW 4th and Burnside

Contacts:  Trillium Shannon   503-734-4778  or Grant Swanson  503-754-9397

 

Right 2 Dream Too (R2DToo) is an inspiring community on the corner of NW 4th and Burnside. On October 10th, 2011, a vacant lot was transformed into a place where people without housing could find shelter in tents and sleep safely. Over the past year and a half, Dreamers have used their skills and talents to create a self governing rest area, where people can stay for one night or as long as it takes to find housing.  They have volunteered their time to keep each other safe, wash sleeping bags, redistribute extra food and clothing, provide help navigating the social service maze, testify in front of city governments, organize fundraisers, and celebrate the successes that come from supporting one another and being supported.  

 

A fence of doors zig zag along Burnside, creating a barrier for privacy and safety.  Many who walk by wonder if it is purely art.  But these doors are much more than that.  They symbolize home, they help sustain the rest area as sponsors donate to paint them, and they provide a shield from the rain and wind.  

 

During the VBC, Right 2 Dream Too invites you to dream with us.  We will use reclaimed materials to revamp the fence of doors, and create tiny gardens which will support the fence structure and provide fresh food for the Dreamers.  We also are rebuilding our office, where Dreamers can use computers to look for work, write grants, take online classes, communicate with loved ones, etc.

 

*Work parties*

Sunday, May 26th thru Thursday, May 30th 11-5pm

 

*Open Workshops*

We invite you to share skills and cross pollinate with our community.  We will set up a space during each work day for formal or informal workshops at Right 2 Dream Too.  Come and learn from us and we will learn from you.  Special needs we have:  greywater management, container gardening, mobile shelters.  Workshops will be announced onsite and at: www.right2dreamtoo.wordpress.com

 

Sunday, June 2nd – Doors of Opportunity Painting Party, 11-4pm

Sponsor and paint a door to support R2Dtoo.  We will also be giving tours and celebrating our hard work during the VBC.  We will be joined at 2pm by a class of 3rd graders from Creative Science School, painting their own door.

Article in the Mercury – Lawsuit Filed by Right to Dream Too to Stop Fines

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Posted by Denis C. Theriault on Mon, Dec 10, 2012 at 12:29 PM

Mark, an advocate with Right 2 Dream Too, says the rest area on NW 4th and Burnside, open since October 2011, may have saved my life.

  • Photographs by Denis C. Theriault
  • Mark, an advocate with Right 2 Dream Too, says the rest area on NW 4th and Burnside, open since October 2011, “may have saved my life.”

Right 2 Dream Too and Michael Wright, the controversial figure who co-owns the homeless rest area’s lot at NW 4th and Burnside, have finally filed suit over the city’s monthslong code enforcement crackdown—drawing close to 100 chanting protesters outside city hall and, eventually, riot cops after a brief but heated clash with security guards.

The lawsuit, filed by attorney Mark Kramer, is a big deal in that it will force some overt dialogue on a conflict the city, led by Commissioner Dan Saltzman’s office has preferred to let quietly burn. The suit says Saltzman’s Bureau of Development Services is unfairly treating Right 2 Dream Too like a “recreational campground” and asks the city treat it just like Dignity Village, a transitional housing site up in far-out Northeast Portland that isn’t subject to the same standards as a “recreational” site. State law allows two such sites in each city.

The suit also asks BDS to waive the thousands of dollars in fines it’s levied against the property owners starting a few months after BDS declared the rest area—a successful, safe and self-policing site where as many as 80 people sleep daily—a code violation.

Kramer hinted at this approach in a letter sent to city hall over the summer. He sat down with Saltzman and Housing Commissioner Nick Fish and their staffers twice since then. The city admitted it knew of no safety or health concerns at R2DToo but wouldn’t budge on waiving fines that now clock in at $1,200 a month. It also told advocates they’d support a different site in Old Town—but that advocates would have to find it themselves.

“Right 2 Dream Too is not a Boy Scouts camp, it’s not a Girl Scouts camp, it’s not a recreational camp,” Kramer told the crowd. “It’s a temporary shelter for homeless people because the city cannot meet the needs of the homeless in our society.”

Saltzman, who’s handled the conflict in low-key fashion while trying to separate Right 2 Dream Too (which his office likes) from its landlords, like Wright (a former adult bookstore baron embroiled in several legal fights with the city) has increasingly earned the ire of advocates. The Rev. Kate Lore of downtown’s First Unitarian Church of Portland started a “shame on you” chant aimed at Saltzman. Others chanted, at times, “Pennies, nickels, quarters, dimes, Dan Saltzman squash those fines.”

Saltzman was out of the office during the protest and wasn’t available for comment.

After the news conference, advocates tried to swarm into Portland City Hall to personally deliver copies of the complaint and speak to commissioners. That set up a clash with guards that almost turned violent—thanks to a decision to phone in the riot cops.”

To continue reading, please go to the article:  Article in the Mercury – Lawsuit filed to stop fines

RIGHT 2 SURVIVE & RIGHT 2 DREAM TOO PRESENT: A NIGHT TO DREAM

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A Benefit Dinner and Silent Auction For The Houseless

Saturday, May 12, 6 p.m. at SEIU Banquet Hall 6401 SE Foster Rd, Portland, OR 97026
 
Portland, OR-Featuring the first-ever live performance of Tom Waits’ epic poem ‘SEEDS ON HARD GROUND’ by celebrated Portland Actors: Ebbe Roe Smith, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Robert Projansky, Brynn Baron, Karen Wennstrom, Penuel Corbin, Brian MacEwan and Valerie Martinka. As well as musical entertainment by activist-rapper Mic Crenshaw, who the Portland Mercury called (with the Lifesavas) “two of the very best hip-hop acts in PDX”.  Come and meet some amazing unhoused individuals who are making a difference not only in their lives but in the lives of their neighbors and community. Come enjoy a buffet style dinner, auction items, and educational materials raising awareness about the houseless community in Portland.
 
Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at Right 2 Dream Too on NW 4th and W. Burnside or online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/243993
For More Info or Tickets, Please Contact Sophia K. at (971) 409-0275 or kinhnarathsophia@gmail.com
Proceeds will be used to pay the fines of Right 2 Dream Too and to fund Right 2 Survive projects.
 
Right to Survive (R2S) is an organization of homeless people of circumstances, the formerly homeless, and their allies. R2S is working to ensure that everyone has the right to sleep, the right to shelter, the right to self support, the right to safety, the right to simple living, the right to sustainability, the right to sit and lie, the right to share and barter and the right say so!
 
Right 2 Dream Too (affectionately called R2D2), is a nonprofit organization operating a space where people can rest or sleep safely and undisturbed. It’s mission is to provide refuge for Portland’s unhoused community who cannot access affordable housing or shelter space.
 
Right 2 Dream Too exists to awaken social and political groups to the importance of safe and undisturbed sleep. Our purpose is to create a place where unhoused people can rest or sleep without being rousted by police or private security and without being under the constant threat of violence. We hope to create a cost-effective, self-sustaining model that can be replicated elsewhere.

RIGHT 2 DREAM TOO RALLY AT CITY HALL

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Waive the fines on Right 2 Dream Too!
Wednesday February 1
8:30am
Portland City Hall
SW 4th and Madison

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/162521970523197/

Hundreds of people sleep on the streets of Portland every night, there are often no beds available at shelters, and it can take months or even years to get into transitional or permanent affordable housing. Right 2 Dream Too provides refuge and a safe space to rest or sleep undisturbed for dozens of people who are experiencing homelessness in downtown Portland at no cost to the city.

The City of Portland’s Bureau of Development Services (BDS) says R2DToo must comply with state Recreational Camping Ordinances or pay monthly fines. The initial fine is $641.30, and doubles every two months after that.

Join us at the rally Wednesday February 1.  Tell the City of Portland to waive the fines imposed on Right to Dream Too and support our work providing refuge and a safe space to rest or sleep undisturbed for Portland’s unhoused community who cannot access affordable housing or shelter.
Right 2 Dream Too and Right 2 Survive
r2spdx@gmail.com (503) 839-9992

Right 2 Survive is a group of houseless and formerly houseless individuals dedicated to teaching about and defending the human, civil, and constitutional rights of people experiencing homelessness.

Right 2 Dream Too provides refuge and a safe space to rest or sleep undisturbed for Portland’s unhoused community who cannot access affordable housing or shelter. R2DToo was established on World Homeless Action Day, October 10, 2011.