Urban League of Portland

Housing and outreach assistance - the Urban League of Portland housing programs provide outreach, assessment and support services for those who are homeless or at imminent risk of becoming homeless. Through our street outreach programs, the League identifies and builds rapport with individuals and families who are experiencing chronic homelessness and are in need of intensive services to have access to safe housing. Among the services provided are information and referral services, financial assistance with housing costs, access to transportation, food, and identification. We offer permanent supportive housing and housing placement services for people who are chronically homeless to find safe, stable and permanently affordable housing.the League also works to help prevent eviction, provide rent assistance, mediate tenant landlord disputes, secure stable housing, and more. We offer long term wraparound services to help people work through individual challenges that can threaten their housing, such as substance use disorders, incarceration, or unemployment, to remain safe and stable in their homes.

Workforce and youth services - the Urban League's workforce development programs work to increase employment for african americans and others to enhance their quality of life by offering comprehensive job training and placement services. With an expanding workforce department, the League continues to find employment for professionals and executives, those in the trade and skilled labor markets, in addition to entry-level individuals and students, as it has successfully done for the last six decades. The League also provides job-related events, such as its career connections job fair, held annually and for over thirty years. The Urban League provides a summer youth employment program that provides job readiness training on fundamental skills required to obtain and maintain employment. Separate programs are designed for middle school students, as well as a high school, and a young adults program. As part of this program, participants go on site visits to local employers and higher education institutions. The League, in conjunction with Portland public schools, provides an after school leadership program that provides extracurricular support to middle school and high school students to promote academic achievement and post-secondary education.

Senior services - the League has served seniors for more than forty years, providing one of the only african-american, culturally-specific senior service programs in the state. It provides or connects seniors with services that allow them to remain safely in their homes and communities, including services such as preventative health services, crisis/emergency counseling, telephone reassurance to homebound elderly, case management services, transportation, advocacy, and other programs and activities for hundreds of seniors living on fixed incomes in the north and northeast sections of Portland. Additional senior services include outreach support and assistance, cultural advising, and culturally specific congregate meals for african americans, african immigrants and refugees from all geographical areas of multnomah county. In addition, the League coordinates activities such as sports, performing arts, games, cooking, and crafts that appeal to the interests of adults 60 years and older to promote healthy living and socialization. Community health workers & healthy families - the Urban League is working to build the workforce of community health workers throughout the state, and to more fully integrate them into health care teams to ensure high-quality, culturally competent care to traditionally under-served black populations within an integrated and coordinated health care, education, and social service system. Community health workers (chw's) are trusted community members who promote health in their own communities and who bridge the gaps between communities and social systems. Urban League chw's make important contributions to preventing disease and promoting health via education and self-management, and by increasing access to care through health insurance outreach and enrollment. Our family advocate chw's are helping empower families to self-advocate, and decreasing health and educational disparities by directly addressing social determinants of health and educational achievement. Our community health workers help community members navigate and access a wide variety of community resources including health insurance navigation, parent and child education, stable housing, and hiv testing and education. Additionally our chw's provide access to recreational activities and creative arts and music workshops that help develop cultural pride, while also promoting inclusivity.

Advocacy and civic engagement - the ace department works to achieve justice, and civil rights for african americans and others in Oregon. It works to advance the League's mission of economic empowerment and civil rights through building partnerships and coalitions, advocacy, outreach and community organizing, policy research and analysis, issue campaigns, and publications that elevate the issues of its community and propose solutions for policy and social change. The League also conducts research and proposes specific solutions that focus on the african-american population through "the state of black Oregon" publication that highlights the unique structural inequalities and barriers to racial equality in Oregon. Legislative advocacy is critical to the League especially in working collectively to bring compelling messages to state legislators to influence policy development and/or change. Creating institutional change requires an organized approach that the League understands and practices through racial and health equity promotion. The League works closely with health and community advocates to develop strategies and tools for equity.