Deborah Starr Hodges, left, an employee of Self-Enhancement Inc., distributes decorative cupcakes to her grandchildren Naiheem Barrett, 3, center, and Nailah Barrett, 5. SEI sponsored a Halloween "Harvest Party" for the neighborhood that included games; inflated, bouncing pirate ships; free candy; and prizes.

The area's strong economy is producing jobs, but many of these don't pay enough to cover basic living costs.
That's a major finding of the 2006 Hunger Factors Assessment, a biennial survey of emergency food box recipients in Oregon and Clark County, Wash.
"People are hungry because they don't make enough to cover basic living costs," said Rachel Bristol, chief executive officer, Oregon Food Bank. "The high cost of housing, health care, child care and fuel make it difficult for low-income individuals and families to have enough to pay for food."
The Oregon Food Bank Network conducts the Hunger Factors Survey every two years to assess the factors that create the need for food assistance. This year, 121 food pantries distributed the survey to emergency food box recipients during a three-week period in April.
Oregon Food Bank analyzed the data from the 3,676 completed surveys, which represent a balanced sampling of households served throughout Oregon as well as Clark County.
Nearly a third (29 percent) of the recipients said they need help because their wages are too low. This is a major change from 2002, during the economic downturn, when 19 percent of recipients named low wages as a reason for needing help feeding their families. 

More than 10,000 African refugees have realized a long-held dream: They have opened a home of their own called "Africa House." Designed to be a one-stop social service center by and for Africans, Africa House will serve as a "home away from home" for the 20,000 Africans who live in Portland and the surrounding area, half of whom are refugees. 

Services offered by the SUN Community Schools program will be scrutinized by a task force organized by Multnomah County Chair-elect Ted Wheeler.

SUN (Schools Uniting Neighborhoods) Community Schools are a key element of the county's network of health and human services delivered to children and families and offered at 55 area schools. The county also has formed partnerships with other government agencies, local nonprofit agencies and the business community to offer programs.
The Multnomah County Board of Commissioners last spring reduced funding for SUN Community Schools and theit services. The board also called for the creation of a task force to address what services could be provided for school-aged youth and how families can receive them.

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., signs his new book, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream after a presentation on Oct. 26 in  Benaroya Hall in the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium. Obama called for changes in the nation's Iraq policy and improvements in health care, education and climate change but did not discuss a potential bid for U.S. president in 2008.

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Barack Obama, the Democrats' rock-star senator and potential White House contender, on Thursday brought his "Audacity of Hope'' road tour to a longtime Republican stronghold that could send a Democrat to Congress for the first time.
Obama, a boyish 45 and with only two years under his belt in the Senate, has gotten a star buildup by his party and the national media after writing a book, touring his ancestral homeland in Kenya and announcing Sunday that he's considering a presidential bid in 2008.
He was the big draw at a campaign rally for Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who has a commanding lead in the polls for re-election next month, and Darcy Burner, a former Microsoft program manager who hopes the national anti-Republican tide can help her oust freshman Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash.

Washington school districts on Monday asked the courts to throw out the state's system of financing special education, saying over 120,000 students are being shortchanged by Olympia.
A loss could cost the state at least $100 million a year in more generous budgets.

If anything was learned from Katrina, it's that public and private agencies must work together to prepare for a disaster.
That was the message during a conference in King County last week entitled, "Katrina's Lesson: Reach Our Vulnerable Residents NOW."
"If we learned anything from Katrina, it is that we need to know how to reach our vulnerable residents now if we're going to meet their needs in a disaster," said King County Executive Ron Sims. "King County is committed to building a resilient community where everyone is supported in a crisis and no one is left behind."

The subject was housing at the seventh annual African American Alliance for Homeownership Fair last weekend, and several of those who visited the fair in Legacy Emanuel Hospital's atrium were glad they did.
Karen Hudson and Charlene McGee each won a $2,500 gift certificate toward the purchase of a new or existing home, and others received other home-related prizes.

For the first time in more than four years, the Housing Authority of Portland will open a new waiting list to receive federal Section 8 rent vouchers.
Applications for a chance to join the waiting list must be submitted before Nov. 17. By applying for the waiting list, applicants will enter a lottery-style drawing to be held next January. The first 3,000 names picked through the lottery will be placed on the waiting list.
"Rent assistance is a very precious resource," said Steve Rudman, executive director. "We are providing access in the fairest way we know, and we encourage anyone in need to apply."