Vision into Action (VIA) Projects and Initiatives

COMMUNITY GATHERING CENTER PROJECT

Portlanders may not agree on everything, but we do have a great deal in common. We are a community whose members care about and are committed to our individual and collective well-being. In September 2007, Mayor Tom Potter introduced a project that would translate our shared values of diversity and inclusion into a bricks-and-mortar project: the development of a multicultural Community Gathering Center.

The idea for an inclusive, diverse gathering center emerged from not only the visionPDX data, but also numerous Portland residents, volunteers, grassroots groups and community-driven initiatives. The idea garnered further support from Mayor Tom Potter's Immigrant & Refugee Task Force, a group charged with bringing forth recommendations to address systemic civic barriers of immigrants and refugees.

As imagined, this center would be a place for Portland's diverse communities to gather, interact and communicate. Providing a space for cross cultural collaboration, community organizing and leadership development were also expressed interests. The concept of the Community Gathering Center is an idea that will take additional community input to design and develop, and the Vision into Action Coalition has convened a Leadership Group of diverse community members to lead the project.

Developing the plan for the Center will take place over the next several months, building on a series of discussions that occurred with interested community leaders in the fall of 2007. Portland Development Commission will be engaged early on as well as solicitations for assistance from the architecture community.

For more information, contact Stephanie D. Stephens
E-mail: stephanie.stephens@ci.portland.or.us
Phone: (503) 823-9588