Welcome to Faces & Places, a work of both visual and verbal texts celebrating the female pillars of the Jade and Midway Districts. The book you hold in your hands is the product of a collaborative effort between our photography and writing students at Portland Community College’s Southeast Campus. Through their process of community engagement and art-making, our students have had the unique opportunity to make a contribution that matters beyond the academic walls and to celebrate women who are vital and important to the Jade and Midway Districts. Certainly this book represents only a small number of the women who help make the Jade and Midway Districts the vibrant and dynamic community that it is. We thank all the women who generously gave their time to participate.

-Instructors of photography & writingRachel Siegel & Paul Montone

Spring 2015

Luann Algoso

Luann Algoso was born into a Filipino family in Orange County, Southern California. Being from a minority family, and the second generation in her family to go to college, she has always had a drive to change the way minorities and women are looked at. She moved from California because she didn’t know what she wanted to do with her degree, but she wanted a change of scenery, so she grabbed a map and picked a place that she wanted to go. Fortunately that place was Portland, Oregon. She moved to Portland and finished her degree in Women’s Studies. With Luann’s move to Portland, Oregon, she has had a growing interest in what is going on within the Jade and Midway Districts. Shortly after settling in, she had the opportunity to work as the community engagement manager for the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO). As the communityengagement manager of APANO, she works to make sure that the Jade and Midway District communities are protected from gentrification. Luann wants to help make the Jade and Midway Districts a safer and more walkable place for people, especially for women who live and work in the area. In ten years, Luann would like to see the Jade and Midway Districts have more spaces for community gardens and more sidewalks. She would also like to see a place built where people can gather for events. Last but not least, Luann would like to see more pedestrian crosswalks for the people who live within the area that bike and walk.

Authored by Lloyd Jones&

Photographed by Hiep Nguyen

Donna Barber

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Donna Barber has always valued community and education. A communications major at Temple University in Philadelphia, she went on to receive a Masters of Education in Urban Teacher Leadership from Georgia State University in Atlanta. In Philadelphia and Atlanta, Donna found herself working with a youth development group focusing on children in urban areas. Two years ago, her husband of 30 years accepted a position at a ministry in Portland prompting them and two of their five children to relocate. In Portland, Donna is focused on her faith, race, and the community. She hosts a weekly book study at her home, open to neighbors and people from her church. Working with the Portland Leadership Foundation, she serves as a leadership trainer and coach for students at Warner Pacific College and has spent the last school year supporting and advocating for young scholars from David Douglas and other local high schools who are now studying at George Fox University through her position as Interim Director of Intercultural Life. At local universities and in the community she helps to develop leaders and build intercultural programs. Drawing from these experiences, she strives to integrate work, neighborhood, church, and faith to create a more holistic community. Donna sees the Jade and Midway Districts as a mix of newly displaced members along with residents who have lived in the area for many years. For growth and improvement in the area, she thinks the two groups must find ways to work together and learn from one another. She would like to see colleges and universities take a more active role in their community and believes the energy and support from these institutions is vital for growth and change.

Authored by Reeves Wilson&

Photographed by Michael Todea

Lori Boisen

Lori Boisen was born in Montana, then moved to Oregon. For twenty years she worked with gemstones. Later, she spent ten years running a small advertising business. Today she works as a district manager for the Division Midway Alliance for Community Improvement and absolutely loves it. Lori says she can’t believe she gets paid to do what she does. As a district manager for the Division Midway Alliance for Community Improvement, her goal is to help revitalize the commercial corridor on Division Street to make this community a better place. She says safety is her biggest concern as there is so much dangerous, fast moving traffic through the area. Although the speed limit was reduced to 35 mph, it hasn’t necessarily reduced the speed of cars. Lori and her team are working on adding more and more crosswalks and sidewalks to make the Midway District a safe place. Another project she is working on is making a bus and transit line that will go through the neighborhood, one that will move people effectively and efficiently around town. Making the transit line would attract more people to the unique parts of this community. She likes the diversity of the large migrant and refugee business owner population. You can find various markets, restaurants, and products that are not found anywhere else around the metro area. Lori Boisen has a vision that in ten years, the Jade and Midway Districts will be a vibrant and walkable area and hopes that people from all over the metro area can experience what Midway has to offer.

Authored by Max Chubok &

Photographed by Filipp Tkachev

Shawna Bolles

Shawna Bolles has lived in Portland for most of her life. Although she has moved away from the city, she has always found her way back here. For Shawna, family, friends, faith, and her country are the most important things in life. She’s a mother to four great kids and a loving grandmother to four wonderful grandchildren. She started working at a very young age, and by 2007 she retired from the power company. After retirement, she began to run a home daycare. Throughout the years, Shawna enrolled her kids in Little League Baseball. Although her kids are no longer playing, she decided to serve on the board for Little League in 2001 and remain a part of the organization due to her love of the sport and the kids involved. Currently, she performs about fifty hours of volunteer work between Little League Baseball and Young Marines. Working with Little League has been a full time job for her; she has enjoyed this journey with the kids. However, this is her last season. The past fourteen years have kept Shawna very busy juggling life at home, work, and volunteer duties.  Shawna is hoping that the Jade-Midway project will benefit the community for the better. She would like to see work done to address the issues of homelessness and prostitution. She feels that a lot of people don’t feel safe in their neighborhoods, and she would like this to be solved.

Authored by Berenice Marin-Puc &

Photographed by Crystal Seligman

Shawn Demarest

Born and raised in Boulder, Colorado, Shawn Demarest is a wonderful artist who has been living in Portland, Oregon, for the past ten years. She has earned several degrees, including a BFA for Printmaking and Painting and a BA in Mathematics from the University of Colorado. She has received grants from the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) to continue her work. While she was in Summer Lake for a four week visual arts residency at PLAYA, one of her paintings was selected to become part of their permanent collection. Several of her other works have been chosen to join other various collections or shows, such as the RACC’s Portable Works Collection and New York’s George Billis Gallery. One collection, titled “You Are Here,” was featured in Portland Monthly Magazine, which has close to four thousand readers. Currently Shawn is working on a commission of three paintings for PCC’s Southeast Library, which is expected to be installed in July. Additionally, she received funding from RACC for a new group of paintings representing SE Portland to be exhibited at PCC in November. She paints both from observation and using photos she takes as a reference. A spot here at home that Shawn enjoys is the Mt. Tabor area, whether it’s to paint or enjoy a nice run. Following a short hiatus from painting in which she did a little work with architecture, got married and had children, she quickly came back to her passion, and resumed her career in the arts. One of her future goals is to teach summer classes to teens in the community.

Authored by Joshua Benefiel &

Photographed by Lan Pham

Christine Egan

Christine Egan works on special projects at PCC’s Southeast Campus, such as CultureSEast and the Jade International Night Market. She served as the campus’s community relations manager for three years; prior to this position, she worked for two years on campus planning for Cascade and Southeast campuses with the PCC Bond Program. Raised in Nevada, Christine received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from schools in Oregon. After serving in the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic, she returned to Oregon where she worked with Senator Mark Hatfield and then Representative Earl Blumenhauer. There she worked towards getting people together to help develop policies that affected them as citizens. Later, she spent four years working for the Portland Development Coalition helping communities in unfavor-able conditions. Christine is a volunteer for the Jade Steering Committee. She likes this position because she can be involved in the neighborhood and help decide the direction of the Jade District. She enjoys that the committee is not top down; instead of politicians choosing the direction of the Jade District, the community members do. Her goal is to use her expertise of community organizing to help improve the Jade community. Christine loves the Jade community and feels like the people are diverse, hardworking, and real. She hopes to see more investment in the community from the government, as well as in storefront improvements from the city. She would like to see more investment from the community in the neighborhood to help youth become more engaged. She hopes to be a part of the change for a more vibrant community and will continue to volunteer her time to help the citizens be heard in this process.

Authored by Nancy Alcantara &

Photographed by Scott Blair

Romanna Flores

Romanna Flores is an application interface designer who works on Web applications and Website designs for Intel. She speaks English, and she understands Spanish and computer language. She came to the Jade and Midway areas because of the diversity of cultures in the schools and the wonderful diversity of the ever-growing community.                Romanna feels everybody has something to contribute and people should feel welcomed and comfortable to do so. She would like the Jade and Midway Districts to be seen as a rich culture where people can learn different things about community anytime they walk in the neighborhood. New stores are opening, Portland Community College has a growing enrollment, and different arts are coming in this neighborhood. That is the reason why she lives in this community.  In order to meet new kids and their families, Romanna likes to contribute to and share knowledge with others by involving herself with after school programs at PCC. She would like to see more community gardens for the neighborhood. “I love to garden!” she says. “It is fun to grow your own food and share with neighbors.’’

Authored by Solange Zihindula &

Photographed by Shuchan Zhao

Debra Giannini

Debra attended Marylhurst University near Portland, Oregon, where she earned her BA in Interdisciplinary Studies in Psychology and Expressive Therapy. Later she decided to continue her education by attending Goddard College where she received a MA in Health Arts and Sciences. She thinks that schooling has helped her become the person she is today: a leader and a nuturing figure to many teenagers. Debra Giannini was an advocate and educator for the Multnomah Education Service District from 2001 to 2013. In 2012, she became a teacher for Matter of Balance, which focuses on teaching the elderly and anyone with balance issues to continue to stay safe as they age. Debra currently substitutes for a juvenile detention center and focuses on helping the youth rehabilitate. Debra strives to be a leader to the youth; she describes herself as “Someone who steps up and inspires others.” She has learned to bea nuturing figure to children who don’t have a close relationship with their biological parents by simply being there to listen, talk, love, and inspire them. In her spare time you can find Debra dancing, playing or teaching music, gardening, and spending time with her husband. With the help of the community, Debra encourages change in the Jade and Midway Districts. She would like to see more bus stops to ease transportation of travelers without cars. Debra also believes that more local businesses in the area is important for growth. She envisions more engagement from community members, both in their work and their everyday lives.

Authored by Carmen Foca &

Photographed by Sarina Lee

Emily Glasgow

Emily Glasgow grew up on the west side of Portland and attended Portland Public Schools, from grades 1 through 12. After graduating high school, Emily moved away to study, work, and live in other parts of the country for almost twenty years. During this time, she worked as a teacher and administrator in urban public schools in Oakland, New York, and Boston. Emily says that she “fell in love with public education and quickly discovered a passion for school leadership.” In 2013, Emily and her husband decided to bring their two young children back home. Emily says, “We couldn’t think of anywhere we’d rather raise our children than Portland.” Fortunately, PPS and Vestal have provided Emily the opportunity to pursue her professional passion as the principal of Vestal, while settling back at home. Selfishly, Emily says that “one of the hidden treasures of these districts is Vestal! ” Emily has loved getting to know this school community over the past two years. She believes that “Vestal serves an extremely vibrant and diverse population and offers a wide-range of top-notch programming.” She adds, “We have a dedicated and experienced staff and increasingly engaged families who are looking to make Vestal a beacon of promise and best practices in PPS. I strongly encourage community members who haven’t been inside to come give us a visit. I think they’ll be pleasantly surprised at what they find.” Emily Glasgow hopes “that these districts will be able to thrive and develop without losing the racial, cultural, and linguistic diversity that makes them so rich and dynamic.”

Authored by Elena Beardall &

Photographed by Eugenia Castro Fonseca

Leslie Gregory

Authored by Johnathan Woodward &

Photographed by Kandi Dougherty

Leslie Gregory is a physician assistant who works for a nonprofit organization called Right to Health. Right to Health is a mobile medical unit that addresses health disparities in the minority and uninsured communities all throughout Portland. One day she would like to see economic equality, particularly for people of color. She says that economic equality would bring forth a more diverse range of businesses and more employment opportunities, as well as help clean up the streets while improving the quality of life for everyone. Leslie is indeed a very important part of this community. Through her work, she has touched and brought light to many lives in the Jade and Midways Districts, as well as all over the city.

Trina Hing

As the lead instructor of the English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program at Portland Community College, Trina Hing spends most of her time involved in the college and community. Trina has been teaching English for thirty-four years and doesn’t plan on retiring anytime soon. Not only has she taught in the Jade and Midway Districts for thirty-four years, but she has also lived in the heart of the community during her whole career. Trina has two children, one of whom received her associate’s degree from the Sylvania campus of Portland Community College. Trina loves to be involved in making changes for the better, seeing people grow through education, and improving the environment of her community. Trina was born in Hong Kong and then adopted into a Chinese family in Seattle, Washington. During elementary and middle school, there was no program such as ESOL, so Trina stayed up every night with her parents trying to learn the proper use of English. After pushing through her studies and graduating from high school, Trina was employed full-time and was enrolled at the University of Washington for her bachelor’s degree. Not giving up, Trina successfully completed her degree in ten years. Trina goes out of her way to see others succeed and help them achieve their goals in life. As for her philosophy, Trina puts her faith in one simple belief: treat others the way we wanted to be treated. Trina believes that equality is the solution to almost all issues around the world, especially our own community. Loving and respecting everyone like family is what makes the environment a happy and lively place.

Authored by Munir Abdul &

Photographed by Rachell Wilson

Chau Hoang Fossen

Chau Hoang Fossen was born in Vietnam. Her and her family immigrated to America during the fall of Saigon to a small town in Wisconsin. For the longest time they were the only Vietnamese family in town. When Chau was a young girl, her father made it a priority for her and her siblings to know their culture. He taught language classes and would make Chau and her siblings read and write Vietnamese. As a young child she tried resisting it all because, to her at that age, it wasn’t a big deal to know about her culture. As an adult today, she is very thankful for everything she knows about who she is and where she comes from. For the longest time, Chau resisted studying library science due to all the stereotypes surrounding it. She started to notice that in every job she had, she found herself loving the research aspect of it all. She moved to Portland, Oregon, about twelve years ago and then went on to get a MA in Library Science. Chau always worked part-time with all of her librarian jobs, up until a year ago when PCC offered her a full-time position as a reference librarian. She is very proud of where she stands today with her career. Chau currently resides in the Jade District. Some of her fa-vorite stores and restaurants in the area are Wong’s King, Thai Fresh, Mojo Crepes, and Ocean City Seafood. She lives and works in the district and is looking forward to it becoming an area that she can be proud of. She hopes to see more businesses and more walkability in the neighborhood.

Authored by Brook Johnson &

Photographed by Genesis Bennett

Jessica Howard

Originally from Texas, Jessica Howard, her husband, and daughter arrived in Portland, and they’ve take every opportunity to get out and explore the Pacific Northwest. Jessica’s doctorate is in Perfor-mance Studies from New York University. She acted in college and considered a career on stage (or off of it as a director) before concen-trating more on education and learning the most promising ways to help students learn. After college, Jessica taught part-time at commu-nity colleges and a university, and held a full-time position as the director of fine arts at a private K-12 school. After earning a full-time community college teaching position, she moved up the ranks as a department chair, associate professor and vice president. Originally the president of the Extended Learning Campus, Jessica has supervised nearly all non-credit programs at PCC, including Career Pathways, Corrections, CLIMB, Workforce Devel-opment, Occupational Skills Training, and Community Education. Now leading the college’s fourth comprehensive campus located in Southeast Portland, Jessica’s role involves lower-division transfer, developmental education and career technical education programs as well as PCC Links and Adult Basic Skills (ABE and ESOL). Although she holds multiple degrees in higher education (bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate), Jessica never earned attended community college or earned an associate’s degree. That changed in 2010 when she completed the needed courses and earned her AA. Attaining this credential now constitutes a highlight in her profes-sional life, and cements her commitment to the community college mission. While completing her associate’s degree Jessica realized how much she missed being around students. “It was a net gain for me to be back in the class,” Jessica said. Now she’s happy to be on a growing campus with frequent student interactions.

Authored by Brandon J Brown &

Photographed by Alyssa Lantz

Rosaline Hui

Rosaline Hui studied business management at Hong Kong Baptist University. She ran an entertainment business and a music store with her husband in Hong Kong before they came to Portland in 1992. The move was a challenge for both of them. As holders of college degrees, they had a difficult time finding work at that level. It didn’t feel like the American dream was going to come true. When the opportunity came, they started a Chinese language newspaper, Portland Chinese Times, which benefits the Chinese community by providing updated information to residents who don’t speak much English, especially older Chinese community members. It is her mission to help bridge communities, to promote Chinese culture, and to provide Chinese immigrants a sense of home here. Rosaline puts a lot of effort into this community. She is one of the members who started and made the Jade District a Neighborhood Prosperity Initiative (NPI) district in Portland. She still remembers what she said to Sam Adams when he was sworn in as mayor : “This area is heavily Asian populated, and we have been working on our own without any help for all these years. Now it is the time for the City of Portland to reach out and help to make it a better place.” Since then, she has acted as a representative from the Chinese community to help further develop this district. She is looking forward to seeing the neighborhood renewed and the transit project for the Jade and Midway Districts attracting more businesses to the area within the next few years. More and more people love to spend their time walking, browsing, and shopping around safely and enjoying their time in the area. Making the Jade District become a special area that demonstrates all the different cultures from different ethnic communities is the future she would love to see.

Authored by Kenny Chen &

Photographed by Jiahuan Huang

Nancy Judd

Being an artist and an environmental advocate, Nancy Judd creates couture sculptures fashioned from trash to raise awareness about environmental issues. She grew up in Northwest Portland, and her mother was the president of the Pacific Northwest College of Art. As a child, she had a learning disability called dyslexia. At school she went through many hard times, and she barely graduated from high school. However, in college she started getting Bs and As after lots of Cs and Ds, all because of her rigorous hard work. She thinks that dyslexia was a gift for her that made her work hard and focus on her goals. In her sophomore year, she started her first official upcycling business and sold her creations at Portland’s Saturday Market. 10 years later, she became the Recycling Coordinator for the City of Santa Fe and co-founded a recycled art market and trash fashion show. In 1998, she made her first recycled fashion while working as the Recycling Coordinator. She co-founded an event called the Recycle Santa Fe Art Market that is still going strong. At present, she exhibits her garments in airports, museums and shopping malls around the US.   Nancy moved to the Jade District last year. Returning to Portland after 30 years, she finds her neighborhood very friendly and loves the Midway and Jade Districts because of the diversity. In addition to the exhibitions she also give workshops and speeches. The focus of everything she does is environmental education. She encourages people to change at least one thing in their lives to benefit the environment. Moreover, she is a fabulous emcee for trash fashion shows. Last but not the least, she feels honored to have one of her pieces, The Obamanos Coat, in the Smithsonian Institution’s permanent collection.

Authored by Nista Shrestha &

Photographed by Moo Moo Doe

Alissa Keny-Guyer

Alissa Keny-Guyer has been state representative of House District 46 since 2011. Alissa thinks that the transit project in the Jade and Midway Districts will bring increased transportation in a timelier manner for people. Some of the things she would like to see added to this area are wider sidewalks, more trees, and room for housing that contains retail on the first floor and affordable living space above.  Along with safer streets, Alissa would like to see a more vibrant, multi-cultural neighborhood with a community center and night markets, as APANO and the Jade District have launched. When she worked in Indonesia for 3 ½ years, Alissa saw whole families come out at night and participate in events and get together. This is something she would like to see in the Jade and Midway Districts. Alissa wants to build community engagement, connect-ing the schools with businesses so that everyone can feel a sense of belonging and responsibility.

Authored by Jon Osterhout&

Photographed by Steven James

Miranda Kuntz

Miranda Kuntz, the presiding student body president of the ASPCC at Southeast Portland Community College, was born, raised, and currently lives in the Midway District. Since enrolling at PCC two years ago, she has been involved in student body government, the Public Safety Committee, has been the Women’s Resource Advocate, and Director of Legislation, all while completing her coursework. One of the contributions Miranda has made to the Jade and Midway Districts is participating in Polish the Jade, a neighborhood clean-up day. She got together with eighty-plus volunteers—including Mayor Charlie Hales, community members, PCC students and her leader-ship team—to pick up garbage, provide graffiti abatement, and build raised beds in the Harrison Park Gardens. Miranda and her leader-ship team have also created a discount system for PCC students with seven of the local businesses in the Jade and Midway Districts, including one of her favorites, Thai Fresh. Miranda has two children who she loves spending time with—going camping and hiking—when she can. She believes the most important things in life are equality, acceptance of other people, and being good to one another, values which she tries hard to pass on to her children. Miranda feels she is in the world to help people through health care, public health, advocacy, or leadership, although she is not sure which one, just yet. She is graduating this year from PCC with an Associate of Science Oregon Transfer Degree with a Social Justice Focus Award, and then transferring on to PSU. Miranda would like to thank PCC and the Jade and Midway Districts for the opportunities to grow personally and help the community. She says she feels “a communal connection to the people of PCC and the Jade and Midway Districts that will last a lifetime.”

Authored by Silbestre Ceballos&

Photographed by Kandi Dougherty

Linda Laviolette

Linda Laviolette has always found education very important to her growth. Finding a love for reading at a young age, her escape was the local library. Focusing on non-fiction work, she read about the lives of people such as Helen Keller and Albert Schweitzer, inspiring her to contribute to the community. At twelve, Linda taught herself braille, then volunteered with the blind. After receiving a four year scholarship to UC Berkeley, she began her career at the US Environment Protective Agency in San Francisco, and later worked as a publicist and producer for a dance and theatre company. Linda found her way to Portland, Oregon, through the co-housing movement, and became the first executive director for the Portland Parks Foundation and the Oregon Jewish Museum. Now residing in the Jade District, Linda is a non-profit consultant for places such as Serendipity Center, Pittock Mansion, and Big Brothers, Big Sisters. In her free time, Linda continues to do pro-bono work for nonprofits and is continuously involved with book groups, classes, and other engaging events. In first grade, Linda befriended a girl from Japan and spent a lot of time at her home, forming her passion for other cultures. This inspired Linda to travel to many places including taking her daughter to Bali, hiking throughout Nepal, reaching the elevation of base camp at Mt. Everest, and backpacking six months in Southeast Asia. The front of her home is adorned with thriving native plant life, showing her love for the environment. This has inspired some of her neighbors to follow suit, switching water wasting grass for native plants.  Along her street are trees she helped plant with Friends of Trees. Linda encourages others to volunteer planting trees, recommending nature beautification of your surroundings as a first step to help the community.

Authored by Breana Whittington &

Photographed by Michael Todea

Reyna Lopez

Reyna Lopez is a courageous advocate and a determined leader. She dedicates her life towards fighting for economic justice and issues that affect documented and undocumented Latinos. She attended Willamette University, in Salem, Oregon, as a first generation college student. It was there that her passion for campaigning and politics grew when she took part of an internship with the senator and learned more about policy. In 2009, Reyna worked for the Bus Project, where she organized thousands of young people and mentored them to learn about the power of politics. She then became the civic engagement director at Causa Oregon where she fought for immigrants rights. Today, as the outreach director for Our Oregon, she continues to inspire and create new leaders to fight for economic justice. Reyna never forgets her roots. As a daughter of Mexican immigrants, Reyna prides herself in her culture, identity, and language.You’ll find her singing along to a Selena song while in the office and rolling an extra rrr in "Reyna." She says, “Keep saying your name in your accent; it's a reminder of who you are and where you come from.” It is her people and her culture who have made her who she is today. “Everything gets engraved through people,” she says. “I am a product of my people.”  She has no doubt left a mark in the Jade and Midway Districts. It is there that she has held many canvassing events and helped mentor and guide leaders from both PCC and Warner Pacific College. She is amazed to see the streets and stores within the district so cultur-ally diverse. “It's all very unique,” she observes. “This is a place where refugees, immigrants, and international students can feel comfort-able calling Portland their home.” Her hope for the districts is that they keep investing in public works and teaching in a way that is culturally competent.

Authored by Sofia Velasquez &

Photographed by Moo Moo Doe

Melissa L. MagañaMelissa Magaña is a fifth-generation Japanese-American, born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. Melissa attended Punahou School from kindergarten through high school graduation. She then attended Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, where she attained her Bachelor of the Arts in Classical Studies. Melissa has an extensive background as an event planner, organizer, and coordinator, which dates back all the way to her middle school days. After college, Melissa worked for the Service Employees International Union, Local 503 (SEIU Local 503) where she worked in Meetings and Travel. She later became a travel manager for a mid-size Portland-based corporation. She is currently the office and events manager at the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO), an organization that aims to unite Asian and Pacific Islanders to achieve social justice. The opportunity to work for APANO solidified her interest in the Jade District. She enjoys engaging with the community and supporting local businesses. In ten years, Melissa envisions the Jade District to be free of many lingering issues, such as pedestrian hazards and petty crime. She also envisions more established local businesses, young homeowners, and a neighbor-hood where at least a dozen languages can be overheard on a casual trip to the grocery store. Melissa’s interests have always been in theatre, music, dance, books, food, and nature. In her downtime, she enjoys reading, singing, gardening, cooking, and hanging out at home with her partner and their pets. Melissa believes that family, friendship, community, personal accomplishment, and legacy are the most important things in life.

Authored by Saint Dely &

Photographed by Steven James

Rut Martinez-Alicea

Rut Martinez-Alicea was born in 1975 in Puerto Rico and grew up in a very unlikely context. Her father is a former pastor who identi-fies with the principles and values of communism, and her mother worked for a back for over four decades and identifies with the values of socialism. Her family is part of the four-percent population of Puerto Rico who believes in independence for the island. Puerto Rico is a colony of the United States where its US citizens cannot vote for the president of the US. Rut reflected that she is defined by where she grew up.  Rut wanted to go to a graduate school for art therapy because she wanted to become a clinician, but she discovered that she was not interested in that area, so she started volunteering for things that she was passionate about. She is an educator at heart. Although Rut has not worked in the neighborhood for long, she has lived in Jade District for ten years, and she has been a long-time volunteer in the area. She is on the board of directors for an organization called Living Stages, which is an interactive theater troupe for social justice. Since 2003, she has been training others to understand systems of oppression and social injustices people face.  Her husband is very active in the Montavilla Business Association and has volunteered for the Montavilla Neighborhood Association.  Through her work in PCC’s Multicultural Center, Rut’s goal is to create a bridge between the community and PCC to advance education equity in our community. 

Authored by Mahesh Bhattarai &

Photographed by Virginia Mayberry

Trami Nguyen

Trami is a twenty-one year old Southeast Campus PCC student working on her transfer degree with aspirations of attending medical school to become a family practitioner. Involvement with her church and the community are very important to her. One person who influenced her most was her grandmother, San, who pushed Trami to do well and inspired her to work with people and the community. Trami directs the choir and teaches kindergarten at her church, is a mentor to fifty-three kids, and has served as an intern for Meyer and Wyse House of Law, Children’s Relief Nursery, HDR Engineering, and Mayor Charlie Hales. Growing up in a strict Vietnamese family emphasizing rules and tradition—as well as her exposure and experiences with her church and internships—has helped to bring her to work in the Jade and Midway Districts. She recently began working part-time for the Jade District and APANO as a Vietnamese outreach worker and organizer. Trami loves her job and feels it is very rewarding boosting the community and helping it grow. Trami believes the Jade and Midway Districts are very unique, with the largest Asian Pacific Islanders population in Portland. “It’s a fun place to be in,” she says.  Trami would love to see less crime, more activities in the community, and businesses grow. She believes the new community center on 82nd and Division is going to be a great place for the community to connect. Trami has accomplished, seen, and experienced a lot of great things. No matter where life takes her, she will continue to be a positive inspiration to her friends, co-workers, and community; she will continue to strive at making a difference in the community where she lives and works.

Authored by Connie Andreas &

Photographed by Maya Morley

Susie Peterson

Susie Peterson has worked with Friends of Trees as their contract administrator for five years. Her work benefits the community by giving neighborhoods a natural feel and creating a healthy environ-ment for all residents. She is a certified arborist, so not only does she utilize her accounting skills for contracting, she also participates in the grand planting of trees. Along with planning and contracting for Friends of Trees, Susie is an advocate of the importance of trees and their value to the community. She fears that in the next ten years the Jade and Midway Districts may fall victim to industrial development, thus taking away the natural aspects of these districts that Portland has always prided itself in. She enjoys the Jade and Midway Districts and would like to see more green spaces, as well as more small businesses take root and flourish. She feels that if there are more small businesses available to the residents of the Jade and Midway Districts, it will alleviate the pressures for community members to have to commute such long distances to their places of work. Susie also believes the continued beautification of the area and the growth of more small businesses will make the district more appealing to the current residents as well as future residents. This will encourage people to stay in the long run, so that the diversity of the community stays protected.

Authored by Ryan Marcum &

Photographed by Jake Santangelo

Sharon White

Sharon White started her career as a commercial interior designer, which led her into her work with affordable project housing management. She adopted two daughters from China and found herself drawn to the Jade and Midway Districts because of the diversity of the people and her love for Asian-American culture. As time passed, she joined a group called Weed and Seed, whose pur-pose was to weed out the gangs and violence in the community and plant new seeds of hope. Ten years ago the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation took notice of her community outreach skills and offered her a job with them as a pedestrian and bicycle safety leader. Sharon’s current project is as an advocate for Project Zero. Her goal is to see zero pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities in Portland.                Sharon has an absolute love for the strong diversity of people, the large variety of what is available, and the savory food here in the Jade and Midway Districts. She would never want to change the culture that has grown here; however, she would like to make the sidewalks safer and more welcoming to her fellow neighbors and passersby. She has a vision of someday having slower speeds on 82nd and Division and wider sidewalks with more street trees. Also, she someday hopes to see more enhanced bus stops in the area that bring a stronger sense of welcoming, safety, and comfort.

Authored by Tanya Small &

Photographed by Danielle Solis

Michele Wong

Michele Wong is the owner of Old School Coffee Shop, located in the corner of the PCC Southeast Campus Library. She has owned four businesses in her life, all near the Jade and Midway Districts. Michele grew up in the area with her siblings and family. She’s been in the coffee business for quite some time, with three of the four businesses serving coffee. Even though the Old School Coffee Shop has not been there long, she sees quite a few faces, though of course, not as many as she would like. Michele wants the coffee shop to be an open place for students to study. She says, “Most people are used to being rushed out of restaurants, where this is an open place for people to study.” Michele doesn’t notice the “Keep Portland Weird” factor as most do, joking that “It’s just normal for me having grown up here. When my employees talked about how weird Portland is, and that I don’t notice it, they would say it is because I have been here for so long that I am weird myself!” Michele has seen the area change and says, “The traffic has gotten worse over the years because of all the people. 82nd should be more pedestrian friendly; there are too few crosswalks, and the sidewalks don’t exist in some places!” One thing Michele does love about the Jade and Midway Districts is the wide food variety—her favorite type is Mexican. Michele has been part of this community a long time, and has enjoyed living and working in this area. She is looking forward to seeing how the community will improve and change it.

Authored by Alexander Nava and Erica Lewis &

Photographed by Alyssa Lantz

Colophon

Instructors of photography and writing: Rachel Siegel & Paul MontoneImages and text created by students enrolled inArt 140: Digital Photography & Writing 121: English Composition Spring 2015

We would like to thank:Christine Egan, Nancy Judd, Trina Hing, Lori Boisen, Melissa L. Magaña, Luann Algoso, Todd Struble, Pamela Chipman, Vong and Aroon at Thai Fresh, Jeremy Smania, Delores Krumm at Brown Printing, Division Midway Alliance for Community Improvement, APANO, Linda Wysong, Horatio Law, and all those who generously gave their time to participate.

Faces & Places was funded through a grant from the Jade-Midway Place Making Projects.

This is an edition of 200, printed on sterling stock and saddle stitch boundby Brown Printing Inc. in Portland, OR.

Layout and design by Jeremy J. Smania.The text is set in Garamond & Perpetua. Cover image by Hiep Nguyen, colophon image by Filipp Tkachev.

All works © 2015 their respective authors.