Dawson Park resource fair event highlights - June 3, 2025

On June 3, 2025, Safe Blocks’ Eliot Neighborhood Team, in partnership with Cascadia Health and Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church, hosted a resource fair in Portland’s Eliot Neighborhood near Dawson Park. As Dawson Park remained unavailable due to the Historic Boulders Project’s restoration efforts, the fair took place on a temporarily closed section of N Stanton Street between N Williams and N Rodney.

The successful event included resources and services from the following partners:

• The Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Play Streets Program provided a trailer with games, activities, furniture, and supplies;
• The Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church offered a food pantry to increase food security and distribute grocery staples to community members in need;
• TaylorMade Comfort Food prepared delicious hot meals;
• Portland Fire & Rescue grilled hamburgers and hotdogs;
• Cascadia Health assisted with mental health referrals and services;
• Prism Health and Cascade Aids Project provided sexual health education and testing for those in need; and
• Self Enhancement, Inc. (SEI) and the Street Services Coordination Center met with community members experiencing homelessness, offering assessments and housing placements.

Safe Blocks continues to host events and bring together the community to provide resources, food, clothing, and housing, all for the purpose of reducing gun violence and providing a safe place for community members to gather.