Community Mania @ Park Place Coffee

Some days I have to question my crazy life of having a business and being a community advocate in Rockwood. Today I revel in it, and feel appreciated and loved because of it. Without this opportunity, I wouldn't see the goodwill bestowed upon me by so many supporters. Today, I focus on the community advocates, tomorrow- my blessed customers.

GOOD: Yesterday I received a call from the Metro President Bragdon asking if he could bring some people by from the Johnson Creek Watershed.
GOOD: Yesterday I asked my son to come help me cover during that hour and he said he would. GOOD: This morning I was off to a great start with business.
BAD: My son called me and told me he would NOT be making it.
GOOD: The group from Metro arrived, and were very patient in ordering.
BAD: I was running the show single-handedly!
AMAZING!: My dear friend came in to get coffee. With no previous experience, she stepped behind the counter and helped me get the orders out.
BAD: I was unhappy that the group did not have the most efficient service.
GOOD: WE MADE IT THROUGH and everyone seemed to be smiling (?)when they left.

Because of Mr. Bragdon's kind support many new patrons visited Park Place Coffee. I am honored to have his group visit.

The next group to grab a seat were staff and volunteers for the Multnomah County Commission of Children and Families. They were meeting at my shop with a Gresham Councilor to discuss positive efforts they would like to focus in Rockwood.

"Next! Party of Six? " Donn, the executive director of Portland Lutheran School was treating his "ambassador" students to crepes for their efforts to recruit students to his wonderful school. Donn is also an incredible regular supporter along with his students.

While Donn was in, a visitor from a local woodworking shop engaged in conversation. More was to be learned about the site of the Justice Facility, which was going to displace his business.

Another round of visitors came from the Rockwood Library. The staff at the Rockwood Library could not be more dedicated to the children of the community. This led to further discussion of gathering the different groups in Rockwood that support children activities to see if a plan could be worked out to offer a range of activities, instead of overlapping services.

Angela, an amazing resource at Centennial Learning Center was meeting with a student. Angela is working on service learning projects at CLC, and is hoping to have the students do asset mapping in Rockwood.

I only worked the early shift, and the day was only half over. So, when people ask - WHY PUT YOUR BUSINESS IN ROCKWOOD? The answer is: There is heart here, there is support here, and there is a place for wonderful people here. Park Place Coffee is lucky enough to be the beneficiary of it all.

Apartment Personalities in Rockwood

Apartments in Rockwood make headlines. The apartment complexes and the MAX transit are perceived as the reason gangs remain in our area. Because of my unique position as the only coffeeshop in the community I believe I am one of the few people that learns about the problems from all sides. Because of my unique position, I feel that with the information I have learned I have some responsibility to find answers, but have none.

The Tenants
The two notorious complexes in the area are Barberry Village and Riviera Gardens. I have customers who are tenants from both of these locations. My customer from Riviera Gardens sits in my coffeeshop while her husband goes to his appointments. I ask her why she doesn't wait at home instead of going out in the cold. She is frightened to be in her apartment by herself. She has related many incidents of mischief and violence she has experienced or witnessed.

My customers from Barberry Village are a young family who are happy that they can move out of the complex and out to Clackamas soon. They too, have witnessed violence, prostitution and live in the complex where the double homicide shooting occurred 1 month ago.

The Gang Issues
I talk to local police officers who see a transition that is going on now. The Barberry Village apartments were once controlled by the Hispanic gangs. Now the complex is being taken over by the Black gangs, with a whole new level of rivalry and hierarchy at play. The Riviera Garden apartments are still controlled by the Hispanic gangs and those that are not, are not treated well in the complex.

The Landlords
I know three good men that visit my shop who are landlords of complexes in Rockwood. Prior to meeting any one of these men, my theory was landlords in Rockwood were slumlords. All three of these owners are just the opposite. They own complexes in the roughest areas of town but conscientiously screen their tenants and seem to have limited problems. Regardless of how well they keep their units, their complexes are plagued by the reputation of the area. Their rent, their quality of applicants, and the vandalism keeps them from ever having a top notch complex.
The Social Workers
And then there are the social workers: Many complexes have partnered with social agencies who are stationed at troubled complexes. This provides an additional resource for the apartment dwellers and we appreciate the apartment owners' willingness to participate. Other complexes have members from the Compassion Connect group who work to build community there. These individuals bond with the families and make sure the children's needs are met in many cases.

All of these personalities attempt to maintain a level of peace and safety at the complexes. What is the ingredient that is missing to make all of these efforts gel into a comprehensive solution? If only we knew...

The Romance Test - Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day I put a simple Romance Test for couples to take when they came in the shop. I have left the test up, since everyday a few more couples want to take it.

I never imagined what a learning experience and healthy exercise it would be for everyone who takes it. I never imagined how much I would learn about couples either.

The questions are pretty simple: 1) Where did you first meet your partner? 2) Where was your first date? 3) Where was your first kiss? 4) Where were you the first time he/she said I love you? 5) What is his/her favorite feature of yours? 6) What was he/she wearing when you first met? 7) How long have you been together? 8) What is your anniversary date? 9) When is their birthday? 10) What is his/her favorite song?

My son suggested I take the test down because he thought it was leading to couples arguing. I explained to him, these weren't "arguments," but healthy discovery going on. Like, "you don't know my favorite song? It's (blank)!"

I observed that many times the men could answer questions like "where did you meet?" and "what was she wearing?" better than the women. I observed that once they were "defined as a couple" the women started tracking the details. It's as if that initial interest and connecting was a lot more laborious, victorious, and thus memorable, for the men.

There were couples in their 70s that took the test and scored 100%, and couples newly dating that did the same. There were plenty of young and middle-aged couples who didn't do as well. Ironically, I have not taken the test with my boyfriend. I sadly know that he couldn't answer #5 (favorite feature), nor could I answer it for him. This tells me that we don't spend the time pointing out the little personal things that we care about to one another. #10 (favorite song) would face the same challenge.

I hope those simple ten questions made those partners' day a little more fun, but I hope it also makes them think about the answers, and get to know one another better if they have more to learn. Maybe it is about caring enough to ask the questions, but not about the score if they don't get it right.