‘Job & Volunteer Fair’ connects Centennial community

Take a look at this first of what organizers hope will become an ongoing series of fairs to help bring outer East Portland folks together …

This location proved ideal for a new kind of fair – one created to help people find work, as well as volunteering opportunities.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

In the building formerly known as the “Rosewood Initiative Center” – the space now renamed The Center Powered by Y.O.U.T.H. – neighbors were welcomed on Saturday afternoon, February 18th, something brand-new: The Centennial Neighborhood Job & Volunteer Fair.

“At ‘Youth Organized and United to Help’ (Y.O.U.T.H.), we motivate, inspire, and empower youth, family, and educators – using tutoring, advocacy, literacy and training, and DEI education to create awareness on the issues that cause the ‘school-to-prison pipeline’ and what we can do to end it,” said the organization’s Executive Director Paula Byrd.

Lots of people are on hand to help guests learn about new opportunities at the first-ever Centennial Neighborhood Job & Volunteer Fair.

Neighbors, and those with nonprofit organizations and government agencies, went from table to table talking with exhibitors and one another.

“Our intent with this fair is to activate folks in the Centennial neighborhood to become more engaged – and put them in touch with whom to contact,” said the fair’s organizer, Karen Wolfgang.

Many stop by the Centennial Community Association table to learn more about their own neighborhood association.

“This idea came to me in the middle of the night — and it occurred to me that something that we ought to do,” Wolfgang told East Portland News. “I mentioned the idea to my collaborators in Centennial Community Association, and the Centennial Neighborhood Emergency Team (Centennial NET), and we all agreed it was a worthy effort, so we got it together and did it.”

Here are the folks who worked to put this fair on: Gayle Palmer from East Portland Resilience Coalition; Paula Byrd, of Youth Organized and United to Help; David Linn, Chair, Centennial Community Association; Karen Wolfgang, Chair, Centennial Neighborhood Emergency Team; Benjamin Lostheart, Executive Director, Day One Tech STEM; and Jean Fang from East Portland Collective.

“All the organizations represented here are looking for more volunteers,” said Wolfgang. “We all want to get more people involved in our efforts to do really good work that is positive and exciting. This gives us an opportunity to share our enthusiasm for volunteerism.”

Some of the employers who indicated they would be present didn’t exhibit for differing reasons that afternoon, the organizer noted.

Representatives with the Centennial School District talk about job openings in transportation and schools.

Look for the next Centennial Neighborhood Job & Volunteer Fair in the future; it’ll be listed in our ever-expanding Community Calendar.

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