PBOT pilot program creates community events in neighborhoods

The Portland Bureau of Transportation is helping shut down streets in residential neighborhoods. The reason isn’t for road repairs or filling in potholes, but to allow kids to safely play and create community.

The Play Streets program is a current pilot that allows nonprofits in Portland to create community centered pop-up events. PBOT provides a trailer at no cost that is filled with furniture, canopies, games and other supplies to be used at events, as well a grant to help groups purchase materials they might need such as barricade rentals.

Sahar Wilson is the marketing and communications coordinator for the Pacific Refugee Support Group. Kate Sechrist is the building coordinator at Rose City Park Presbyterian Church. They both have been holding events through the pilot and join us to share more.

The following transcript was created by a computer and edited by a volunteer:

Jenn Chávez: From the Gert Boyle Studio at OPB, this is Think Out Loud. I’m Jenn Chávez. This summer, the Portland Bureau of Transportation has been helping to close down neighborhood streets to traffic, not for road repairs or construction, but for play. The pilot program, Play Streets, helps Portland area nonprofits hold events on a block of their choice so kids and grownups can safely play and build community. As of now, it’s not funded past this year, but two people who’ve been throwing these events are here to tell us about how it’s been going this summer. Kate Sechrist is the building coordinator at Rose City Park Presbyterian Church and Sahar Wilson is the marketing and communications coordinator for the Pacific Refugee Support Group. Kate and Sahar, thank you so much for being here.

Kate Sechrist: Thank you.

Sahar Wilson: Great to be here.

Chávez: So Kate, I’d love to start with you. Can you tell us a bit more about what this program, Play Streets, actually is? What does it allow organizations like yours to do?

Sechrist: Sure. Yeah. So it was aimed specifically at nonprofits and nonprofits that are located in areas of the city that don’t have access to green spaces, so really do need to go out into the streets in order to gather in a community.

Chávez: Yeah, and just like you say, not every neighborhood is equal in terms of the numbers of parks or green spaces. So it sounds like this program is specifically, that’s part of the idea, right, to target this towards neighborhoods and towards Portlanders who might not be able to just walk down the block and go to their nearby beautiful park, right?

Sechrist: Yeah, that’s right. We have some events, like a farmers market and things like that, but no place for people to sit and really spend time talking to one another. So it was nice to have a more long term, long format community event.

Chávez: So now I know your church has joined with other groups in the Hollywood neighborhood to host a couple of events through this program. Tell us about the ones you’ve had so far. Where have they happened, first of all? And what have you been doing?

Sechrist: So the other organizations that we’ve been working with, that was how our program was a little bit different from some of the other folks that applied for this grant, is that we did a coalition of folks in the Hollywood neighborhood. So other nonprofits in the community, and those were the Mother and Child Education Center, the Community for Positive Aging, Playwright Inc. and the Northeast Community Center.

So we’ve done two of our three events so far. The first one was in front of the Community for Positive Aging, which is, I think it’s 44th and Hancock. And then the second one we had ‒ that was back in June ‒ and then the second one we had just recently, on August 17th in front of our location, which is 44th and Sandy and it was just kitty corner and at the exact same time as the Hollywood Farmers Market.

So yeah, it’s been really fun. They were kind of slightly different events because of the different locations and we took leadership opportunities at different ones. But we gave away lots of free ice cream. We had all of the games out for people to play with. And at our one, we also had some live performances. So we had Playwright doing some play performances out on the street and a martial arts group, which is Shorinji Kempo, doing some martial arts demonstration with both really little kids and also grown adults. So it was super cute.

Chávez: Oh my gosh, that sounds incredible. OK, I want to turn to you now, Sahar. Your organization, Pacific Refugee Support Group, has also hosted two events this summer through Play Streets. What were they like? What sorts of activities have they included?

Wilson: Thank you. So for our events, they took place in the same street and the same neighborhood. We held two. We have one more to go next week. And these events were being in the same neighborhood the very first time. It was a new thing, though communities and neighbors gathered kind of like there were little chats happening, friendships developing, as well for our community members who were in that neighborhood. It was a very creative way to help these new neighbors build community within their neighborhood. The second time we had our visitors had grown and came from other streets to join the festivities. We had free ice shave, because it was really hot.

Chávez: Mmm, I’m sensing a theme here.

Wilson: Yes. And our first one, it was right after that heat wave. The second one, it was actually when we had that thunder storm and we were like, oh my God, we have ice shave, is it going to be, will people like it, will people not? But it was in the beginning of the day, so it was the hot portion. It was pure luck.

Chávez: Oh, good.

Wilson: It was awesome. And people enjoyed the ice shave. They enjoyed a lot of things, and we’re hoping for even a bigger one for the third one. Pretty exciting.

Chávez: And your events have happened in Northeast Portland on Northeast Roselawn, right? Why did you choose that location?

Wilson: So, part of the work that our organization does is help community members new to Portland find housing. And so we chose this very close to where our, I guess, like most recent community members were housed. So, we went with that. Our nonprofit work is all around Portland and actually beyond in the Pacific Northwest. And so, while trying to really decide on one street and one street only was a bit challenging. But then at the end, it was just really rewarding and we’re hoping that we can, for future years, we can take this community building event to all across town. We’re crossing our fingers for that.

Chávez: Yeah. And like you’ve been saying, your organization supports refugee communities here in Portland and beyond. How else did that factor into the type of activities and events that you’ve been creating for Play Streets this summer?

Wilson: So, this is definitely one, trying to really, in our promotions, in how we communicate that this event is happening. We try to really reflect the languages represented in our communities over there, as well as having, for example, we had cakewalk and it was a big hit, the cakewalk. And we had music playing, a playlist of music that is recommended by our community members. So people, as well as neighbors in the community. So a lot of music ‒ sing along music ‒ that just kind of created this pretty cool atmosphere. And I’m going to share that playlist at the end of our events. So it was, it just really created really cool memories. And I think this is our mission here. It is to help individuals and families who were displaced find community in their new home over here. And I think Play Streets really helped us really bring this to the ground, like life.

Chávez: Yeah. Okay, I’m ready to leave the studio and go out and watch martial arts demonstrations and have some ice shave right now. This all sounds so cool. Kate, turning back to you. So as part of this program, I know that the city ‒ the Bureau of Transportation ‒ has been providing grants and other support to the organizations participating in these event series. What did you use in terms of, what did you use that grant money for? How were you supported?

Sechrist: Yeah. So they gave us access to a few different resources. One was that they waived the cost of the permits, which was really great. They also gave us access to this Park and Play trailer which had a ton of play equipment inside of it as well as seating and pop up tents and things like that. So that you would need to supplement it with some of your own stuff. But it gave you the groundwork that you could use to start one of these events. So that was all really great. And then of course, this $5,000 grant for all three events. And we used it for a number of different things, some signage and advertising, but kind of the big ticket items have been barricades and porta potty rentals. So these are things that I think we’re all learning like, whoa, okay, that actually is a significant cost. So we were very grateful to have some financial support for that.

Chávez: Oh, it’s so funny. I don’t think… maybe if I was like, yeah, let’s just have a fun event, and then I’m like, I’m not thinking about renting barricades. So glad you had that support. Did you run into any challenges or maybe just things you weren’t expecting in the course of planning these events?

Sechrist: Oh, yeah, of course, that’s part of the game. And this whole thing, we really hope to continue this forward in years ahead too. And so this is the proof of concept and learning, all right, that doesn’t work, and what to fix next time. So, learning what companies to go with for barricades, what locations to do because we did ours in a couple of different locations. We found that by doing ours right next to the Hollywood Farmers Market, who are very experienced street performing people, we could share a lot of the costs of the lavatories and the barricades. And then there’s a lot of free advertisement and mixing that happens naturally from that that benefits both of us. Also a working microphone, for sure, next time is on the list so that we can announce all of the fun performances and attract more people to our events.

Chávez: Well, we are in a room full of working microphones right now.

Sechrist: I’m taking notes.

Chávez: What kind of feedback have you gotten from folks in your neighborhood about the events you’ve had? What did you hear from people who stopped by?

Sechrist: I mean, people were kind of shocked, I think, because it’s a beginning event, it’s getting people used to the idea that we’re here and who we are and that we’re not trying to sell them something. We’re giving them something for free, that’s joyful and just for fun, to connect. But yeah, I would say shocked, surprised, joyfulness, and then people stopping to have conversations with one another, like Sahar was referencing. We saw a lot of that too.

There was this really cute moment. We had these, Puddletown Knitters Guild was one of the folks that tabled at our event and they were giving out free yarn and some children came over and they were learning to finger knit. And so there was this really cool cross generational intermingling that was happening. And then we’ve had folks reach out to us like other nonprofits and other people in the neighborhood that are interested in joining in on our last event. So it truly feels like just the beginning of something that’s going to be even better next time.

Chávez: And Sahar, what about you? What have you been hearing from your community members about the events?

Wilson: So, I think I do agree with Kate. In the beginning, definitely there was a lot of surprise and, so I can… and why is this street… or what, this is like a fun thing. A lot of people were like, really, our street? You’re coming here? They were very flattered and it was just really a good feeling when we’re trying to invite individuals. This is free, this is just having fun, building community.

And when at the end of the events, just hearing people saying that we will be there on whatever the next date is. That was very reassuring that we’re doing something good. We have left an impact and a lot of people are more and more… Between the first event and the second event, there was a lot more engagement and people are now comfortable, they know what to expect and they are looking forward to the third one because now we have like, okay, we are planning something big. And for our third one, for example, we were able to partner with two other organizations so that our last one is going to have the FLIP Museum, which is like a mobile museum, activities for kids as well as a little bit of pickleball. So something for the adults, something for the kids. And then we will be there with our Park and Play trailer. And by our, I mean, PBOT, but it has been, I think the team was very supportive and I just felt that’s why I really look forward to it being a continuing collaboration with them.

Chávez: Yeah. And like Kate mentioned a little bit earlier, the neighborhoods and streets holding the events are usually ones without a lot of options for safe play areas. What do you think it meant to have a safe place for kids and adults to run and play together?

Wilson: It is definitely something missed and sometimes there is a little bit of extra communication, inviting people, because of how our society, after the pandemic, all of these factors that are right now the emphasis on that this is very like, this is open to you. This is for the community, this is for the neighbors. There was, in the beginning, it was something I guess unexpected. So there was a little bit of like, oh, I don’t know, it’s like sometimes we forget how to be outside.

Chávez: Yeah.

Wilson: And then with consistency, we feel more comfortable like, okay, I know what to expect. And this is something even as our work with trauma informed care is what we somewhat pride ourselves in our organization is that making sure that we are clear in our communication, we have some consistency. We let people know what to do, how to do it. And limit, minimize the surprising part. Good surprises, but minimizing the unexpected just to be prepared and be more open to actually relax and be able to build that community, build that conversation, build that friendship and neighborly relationships.

Chávez: Well, Sahar, I know that you said there’s one more event coming up, I think it’s September 6th. Kate, I think there’s one more for y’all around Halloween time, right?

Sechrist: Yes.

Chávez: Sahar talked a little bit about how she hopes events like this could continue. What about you? Do you feel like even if perhaps this pilot program is not continued, how do you feel about, would you try to hold events like this in the future?

Sechrist: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I feel like this was a really empowering opportunity for everybody that was involved. And that was part of the benefit for us as well is not just the wonderful reactions from the people that we were hosting this for, but also getting to meet other organizations and getting to form connections and now be able to share resources, things that work with us. And we were having so many conversations after the second event saying like, OK, well, next time we can do this and next time we can do that and maybe we do this quarterly or something. So I think there is an immense amount of support and enthusiasm behind continuing this.

Chávez: Well, Kate and Sahar, thank you so much for being with us in the studio today.

Sechrist: Thank you.

Wilson: Thank you, Jenn.

Chávez: Kate Sechrist is the building coordinator at Rose City Park Presbyterian Church and Sahar Wilson is the marketing and communications coordinator for the Pacific Refugee Support Group.

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