Tivnu Week in Review

by Richard Patrych

This was our first full week with our new construction trainer, Eric. Eric has worked in the Portland area for 20+ years as a trained carpenter and with Steve at Portland Youth Build, so he was a great candidate for the job. He’s lived up to his billing so far as he’s been patient, productive and understanding during our time at the work site. Tuesday, when I was getting over a mild concussion, he was able to guide me into productivity by doing little yet important tasks on the work site without having to do ladder work, carrying or building walls in risk of possibly re-injuring myself. He was patient and understanding of the situation.

On Wednesday we went to Salem, the capital of Oregon, to rally on behalf of a housing policy that would allocate up to $100 million for more affordable housing in the Portland area. It was a great learning experience in that we got to see what has to be done before even coming close to passing a bill. Lots of time, hours and work are put into it; and well, lots of debating and story sharing. We participated in a short march to the capitol building, where we shouted phrases such as “2, 4, 6, 8, We need homes to educate!” and “House keys, not handcuffs!”. The energy was inspiring because it illustrated just how many people passionately care about the cause, even if their not directly affected by the potential housing policy or homelessness/poverty.

Because of my concussion, I abstained from our Saturday event which was at a Trampoline park. From everybody I’ve heard from, they had a blast and it was one of the better events this year. You could say I’m a little upset I was unable to go. Today, 2 members ran in the Shamrock Run 5k with 11,000 other participants. The atmosphere was great, being one of the bigger running events in Portland. It’s been a relatively mundane week for me because I’ve had to rest due to my concussion, but I know the next few weeks will be more eventful. We have a trip to Seattle, batting cages, and a few hikes coming up which all look to outstanding and valuable events.