Program Accomplishments

 

Program accomplishments and activities (2013-Present)

  • Transferred fiscal sponsorship of the district to APANO.

  • District staff and community members regularly participate in City initiatives and projects, including multiple transportation projects and the 82nd Ave Coalition project.

  • In collaboration with the Harrison Park SUN school, supported the fundraising efforts and completed the Harrison Park Community Garden. This project was completed with the support of numerous volunteers, district staff, and the Portland Timbers. The gardens are utilized by many of the diverse immigrant community members.

  • In 2014 the district completed a community district visioning process that was translated in five different languages. This process engaged community members from varying economic and cultural backgrounds. The community visioning process laid the foundation for many district projects, including the redevelopment of the furniture store building located on the corner of 82nd and Division.

  • Jade District staff and community members have been actively involved in the Powell-Division Transit and Development project, now the Division Transit Project, by participating on the project steering committee and organizing community outreach, roundtable events and the development and implementation of the Powell-Division Local Action Plan.

  • Over the past four years community volunteers join together for the annual ‘Polish the Jade’ event to assist with district trash and graffiti removal event.

  • Hosts the annual Jade District International Night Market. The event is held two evenings in August and draws over 25,000 visitors to the district. The Jade International Night Market is a crucial tool to help support local small businesses in the Jade District neighborhood. The annual summer event has taken place for the last four years and provides a space to celebrate and recognize the diversity and culture of the communities who live and work in the Jade District and sheds light on the issues impacting a neighborhood in transition.

  • APANO relocated their headquarters from inner NE Portland to the Jade District in 2014. APANO and the Jade district completed the build-out of their office space located in Wing Ming Plaza.

  • The Jade District continues to play a crucial role in facilitating the development of the furniture store site on SE 82nd and Division. This project has been a collaborative partnership between Metro, Rose CDC, PHB, APANO and Prosper Portland to deliver a project that was realized through the district’s community visioning. The district supported APANO’s Roots to Rise capital campaign to fund the purchase of the commercial space. The future mixed-use development will include affordable housing, APANO and district offices and a community space. The district provided $230,000 of district TIF funds to support the design, purchase and buildout of the commercial space.

  • Hired a consultant to facilitate a governance work group comprised of APANO board members and Jade District Steering Committee members to discuss and train volunteers on understanding the relationship between the fiscal sponsor APANO and the Jade District program including budget oversight, decision making authority and processes, and work areas.

  • The district has implemented numerous TIF projects in the district; including business improvement grants and lighting improvements.

  • Expanded Jade district staff capacity and hired Community Organizer, Linh Doan, to support business outreach efforts.

  • In partnership with SBDC and Multnomah County, developed food safety training in language for district restaurant owners. The Jade District and Division Midway Alliance partnered to obtain grant funding to provide mini- grants for imaginative place making community engagement projects. The districts hired artist organizers to facilitate workshops and collaborate with partners to ensure successful project implementation. The districts also developed the Jade Midway District Art Plan

  • Established API culturally specific business technical assistance in the district that provides basic business assistance and connects business owners to Prosper Portland’s Inclusive Business Support Network.

  • Oregon Solutions in late 2016 identified the Jade District as a priority area for increasing the green infrastructure of the Jade District. The project known as Jade Greening kicked off a multi-day design charrette. The project will also include tree planting in the district and other greening projects.

  • Partnered with SE Works to host a community Job Fair at the Jade APANO Multicultural Space (JAMS).

  • The district has received several grant awards from partners and foundations to fund district projects, programs and operations.

  • Partnered with PBOT to install Jade District branded garbage cans throughout the district. Contracted with PBOT to implement pedestrian safety workshops for the Vision Zero Division Street Multi-Modal Safety project. Conducted outreach to residents and business owners to inform them about the project. Provided feedback and business owner concerns to PBOT partners.

  • In 2017 the district was awarded a Metro Community Placemaking grant. Using art, the district plans to transform an underused pedestrian bridge in the district to promote traffic safety and honor the area's vibrant cultures.

Community Economic Development

  • Planned and executed the fifth annual Jade International Night Market at Portland Community College Southeast Campus. Approximately 25,000 people attended the two-night market. The overall budget for this year’s event was approximately $45,000, and through sponsorship and revenue raising actions such as the beer garden and vendor fees, the event was revenue- neutral. As our signature event, the goals of the Jade International Night Market are:

    • to anchor the diverse communities that comprise the Jade District by creating an outdoor event that reflects their culture;

    • to provide an economic opportunity for Jade District businesses;

    • to provide an opportunity to engage with the Jade District program.

  • Muralist Rodolfo Serna completed a mural on the pedestrian bridge on SE 87th and Division.

  • The Orchards: Collaborated with ROSE CDC staff in developing the application and screening process for housing in the new building. The plan includes intentional marketing to vulnerable residents in the Jade District and hosting several in-house workshops to help community members with the application process. The application process opened in late December and we hosted more than 400 applicants for 48 units of affordable housing.

Organizational Development

  • With the completion of The Orchards, the Jade District now has community space available for programming and events.

Business Development

  • Business outreach and one-on-one conversations with business owners in English and Vietnamese related to the PBOT Outer Division Multi-Modal Safety Plan and the TriMet Division Transit Project. Gathered feedback and coordinated with PBOT staff to integrate business owner feedback into the safety plan.

  • Executed the Jade Business Development Workshop Series in collaboration with Portland State University Business Opportunity Program. Provided in-language support to Vietnamese- speaking businesses, including marketing to Portland Beauty School, a business that trains many Vietnamese salon workers and potential business owners.

  • Collaborated with Multnomah County in order to improve food safety outcomes for restaurant owners in the Jade District. Developed a curriculum, created materials, and held events that assist business owners in multiple languages in a culturally specific way.

  • City of Portland Small Business Relief Fund - Old Chinatown & Jade District (March 2020): In January/February, we heard and saw that many of the Jade District businesses - mostly API-owned - were already struggling after the news broke about COVID-19 in China. We received $150,000 from the City of Portland and the Jade District contributed $50,000 toward relief grants to small businesses in Old Chinatown and the Jade District. Those grants brought temporary relief to the businesses, and on a greater scale brought attention to the issue around COVID-19. This process also informed / enabled us to apply a similar process for other grants later in the year.

  • APANO-Jade District Relief Fund (April - November 2020): The pandemic continued to impact more and more of the community, many small businesses had to reduce and/or lay off employees, especially restaurants that hire immigrant and minimum-wage employees. In the first quarter of 2020, no government assistance programs were available yet; hence, APANO-Jade District initiated a crowdsourcing campaign to solicit donations which would fund gift cards that would be distributed to individuals and families who were impacted by the pandemic. By the second quarter, we realized that more communities were impacted and the gift card program was expanded to include other partner community based organizations, such as CAT, Africa House / IRCO and Virginia Garcia, etc. As an organization, we raised over $60,000.

  • Oregon Workers Relief Fund OWRF via Innovation Law Lab (June - December 2020): Resume Jan 2021 with additional funding The Oregon Worker Relief Fund OWRF provides financial support directly to Oregonians who have lost their jobs yet are ineligible for Unemployment Insurance and federal stimulus relief due to their immigration status, and now face hunger, homelessness, and economic hardship. https://workerrelief.org/​ We are one of the partner organizations and have referred members of the community to this resource. This fund has received $110 Million as of January 2021 and will implement a round of small business relief fund as part of the grant in the next couple of months.

  • PPE Supplies Distribution to Community (June 2020 - ongoing until resources are no longer available): Our team has been able to provide PPE and other essential supplies to the community through support from the Emergency Coordination Center (ECC) / Portland/Multnomah Joint Volunteer Information Center (JVIC). We’ve distributed face masks, paper products, sanitizers, detergents, household and personal hygiene products, thermometers, and diapers to community members since the summer when supplies were scarce at retail stores. Due to huge demand, JVIC now has set a maximum value of $1,000 that each organization can order in January 2021, and future needs will be based on budget availability.

  • Food Delivery App Fee Cap 10%: In July, we heard from our restaurant owners that most of their sales went to delivery services such as Grubhub and DoorDash. By pushing up their concerns to the APANO Advocacy team, they and Independent Restaurant Alliance of Oregon were able to advocate for the Portland City Council to pass the City of Portland “Food Delivery App Fee Cap” in support of small independent restaurants from delivery price gouged. We connected Jade District businesses to provide testimonials in support of this effort. https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/07/portland-approves-10-cap-on-fees-that-food-deliv ery-apps-can-charge-restaurants.html

  • Federal PPP & EIDL program (September 2020 - ongoing support for small businesses and possibly continue with re-opening of PPP on January 11, 2021): We’ve connected businesses to the small business technical assistance program, business advisors and other small business owners to each other for support and answer questions regarding these Federal programs. There is great need for language support to immigrant owned businesses.

  • PBOT Frontline Partnerships (August - December 2020): PBOT Frontline Partnerships program aims to ensure that the Safe Streets Initiative and all COVID-19 response efforts account for and support the needs of frontline community members. The Safe Streets Initiative includes over twenty actions supporting physical distancing on our streets, implemented through three programmatic pillars: Slow Streets, Safer Busy Streets and Healthy Businesses. The business-focused pillar of the initiative, helping local businesses adapt to physical distancing guidelines with a Business Toolkit, by providing more space for pickups and deliveries, as well as places for customers to line up to pick up their purchases, work with businesses and organizations to allocate space in the sidewalk and street for retail, services, restaurants/cafes, and groceries. We connected with businesses to gauge interest and provided assistance to apply for the PBOT COVID-19 Response programs.

  • Business Oregon Grant (September - December 2020): In August, APANO applied for and received a grant from Business Oregon to provide small business technical support to API-small business owners. With this grant, we were able to bring Grace Henricks, our in-house small business advisor, to full-time and we contracted two Jade District small business owners who have been supporting and providing in-language assistance for COVID relief grants, PUA, technical assistance, etc. This allowed us to increase our reach and connect more businesses to resources.

  • Multnomah County CARES Partners Block Grant (November - December 2020): APANO recently granted another round of funding from the Multnomah County Partner Block grant - which provided funding to mostly small businesses that did not receive grant funding from the PDX CARES grant and the PDX CARES Partner Block grant.

  • VN Community Health Education - COVID-19 PSA (December 2020): We recognized that the Vietnamese community had limited access to COVID resources and information in language and/or unfamiliar with OHA resources. Since APANO has a contract with OHA to provide communications/ outreach support, we collaborated with CareOregon and OHA to host an interview/ PSA in response to commonly asked questions about protection and vaccine information. We plan to post the video on Vietnamese social media pages and Jade District online platforms. The next session will be with CareOregon about access to resources available to members of the community.

  • City of Portland CARES COVID-19 Digital Divide Response Grant (December 2020 - January 2021): The 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) Funds for the COVID-19 Digital Divide Response Project to distribute and setup digital
    inclusion response Technology Kits – Chromebooks, iPads, Internet and training -- and related components to community members. APANO and the Jade District team developed a process to reach community members - via our community leaders, food security program, volunteers and organizers to promote this resource. We received over 2,000 applications for the 120 chromebooks and 280 gift cards.

  • “We Are Open” A-Board project (Sponsored by PBOT, ODOT and Raimore Construction December 2020): We received a grant from ODOT, PBOT and Raimore Construction to provide 8 a-boards and permits to businesses in the Jade District to promote pedestrian safety and let the public know that businesses are open. This support included a 4-year permit that is required by BDS City of Portland. (PDX CARES Grant / PDX CARES Partners Block Grant)