MTNA Accomplishments: Spring 2024-Spring 2025

This list was compiled by Paul Leistner, MTNA Board President.

April 2024—Annual Neighborhood Cleanup: The MTNA and the North Tabor NA worked together to organize their joint annual neighborhood cleanup.Over 250 vehicles came to the event. We filled seven 40-yard drop boxes with bulky waste and recycled a lot of metal, Styrofoam, and electronics. We also had an area where people could pick up reusable items.

May 2024—Mt. Tabor Neighborhood History Event: MTNAjoined with local realtor and neighborhood historian Jan Caplener to host a gathering of community members to share some of the history of the neighborhood and to gatherpeople’s personal stories and historical photos.

June 2024—Personal Safety Workshop: MTNA invited theCity’s Safe Blocks Program staff to lead a "Take Control of Your Safety” interactive workshop for Mt. Tabor neighbors to explore how community members can use their intuition/instinct, assertiveness and de-escalation skills to increase their safety in the neighborhood.

July 2024—Tabor for All: MTNA helped found new organization—Tabor for All—with support from Mt Tabor residents Ron and KayHall and the South Tabor NA and the Friends of Mt. Tabor Park. The mission of Taborfor All is to organize the community to advocate for greater accessibility inMt. Tabor Park for people with different disabilities.

August 2024—Japanese Local Government Delegation: TheMTNA hosted a delegation of 30 Japanese local government officials who were visitingPortland to learn about community engagement and neighborhood associations. MTNA president Paul Leistner facilitated; the panel included Pastor Amanda Golbek withMt. Tabor Presbyterian Church, Diane Odeh with SE Uplift, and Bing Wong, MTNATreasurer.

September 2024—Move to Hybrid Meetings: The MTNA began offering community members the opportunity to participate in monthly MTA meetings both in-person and online via Zoom.

October 2024—District 3 City Council Candidate Forum:The Mt. Tabor and North Tabor NAs jointly hosted a candidate forum for District3 city council candidates at Mt. Tabor Middle School. Over 20 candidates andover 100 community members participated.

October 2024—CEI Hub Advocacy: MTNA joined over 40 other NAs and signed on to support community advocacy effort to increase safety and resiliency for the Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub.

October 2024—New City Form of Government Presentation:MTNA hosted a presentation by Terry Harris and Joe Hertzberg from theGovernment Transition Advisory Committee (GTAC) to help community members learn about Portland’s new form of city government.

November 2024—Pedestrian Safety on E. Burnside: MTNA formally voted to support a project led by Mt. Tabor neighbor Lee Ann Moyer to work with community members, the North Tabor NA, and SE Uplift to improve pedestrian safety on E. Burnside between SE 60th and 68th.

December 2024—Historical Mills Open Air School Community Tours:The MTNA co-hosted with the Portland Housing Bureau a series of community tours of the historical Mills Open Air School at SE 60th and Stark. PHB plans to deconstruct the school building and redevelop the property for affordable housing. This is the site of at least two other historical Mt. TaborSchool buildings from the second half of the 1800s. Over 100 community members participated in the tours.

January 2025—Support for Montavilla NA: MTNA boardvoted to support the Montavilla NA in their efforts to ensure a greater community voice in Multnomah County’s planning for a second shelter for unhoused people on SE 82nd Ave.

February 2025—Support for neighbors on land use issue:MTNA voted to formally support Mt. Tabor neighbors who oppose the City granting two adjustments for a proposed development on SE 52nd Place.

March 2025—MTNA Board Retreat: MTNA Board members heldtheir first board retreat in many years. All board members participated in person. Courtyard at Mt. Tabor, the retirement facility at SE 60th andDivision, provided free meeting space for the retreat.

March 2025—Neighborhood Place Making Project: MTNA Boardmembers voted to partner with City Repair volunteers Sen Hirano and Wendy Yang to cohost a place making workshop and place making activities in our neighborhood. * * *

Ongoing / Annual Activities:

Mt. Tabor Neighborhood History Project: During 2024 and 2025, the MTNA has worked closely with our local faith communities and schools, historical experts and organizations, and community members to research and document the history of the Mt. Tabor community. We’ve uncovered some amazing photos and resources. We plan to develop a slideshow for community presentations and materials to post on the MTNA website, and possibly develop a book documenting the history of the neighborhood. Tabling at Community Events:·

August 2024—Hawthorne Street Fair. MTNA sharedtabling space with the Richmond NA again this year.

September 2024—Mt. Tabor Seventh-day Adventist Church “Community Fun Day.”

September 2024—MTNA helped two neighbors on SE74th Ave organize their first block party and tabled at the event.Over 60 people from SE 74th and SE 75th Aves participated.

This blog post was published on 4/16/25, by Laura, an MTNA volunteer.