The House of Umoja, long a symbol of the African-American
community's determination to fight gangs by reforming
gangsters, is closing the doors of its residential program
and will be shifting its focus--as soon as it figures
out what that is.
Starting Jan. 1, Umoja will shut down its eight-bed
residential program at Northeast 17th Avenue and Alberta
Street and lay off 10 employees, according to executive
director Sharon Lincoln. The agency will continue its
outreach and employment programs, however.
Founded on the principle of using Afrocentric values
to get young men out of gang life, Umoja opened in 1991
amid great fanfare, glowing media reviews and high hopes.
Over the years, however, the agency struggled to live
up to expectations ("The Hype of Umoja," WW,
Jan. 30, 1992). By 1997, Umoja was the subject of a
scathing report by Multnomah County's Department of
Juvenile and Adult Community Justice, which said Umoja's
clients often committed new crimes soon after they were
back on the street ("Trouble in the House," WW,
July 23, 1997).
That report prompted Johnnie A. Gage, the nonprofit
agency's executive director, to leave the following
year and pushed Umoja's board of directors to obtain
a $250,000 grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust to re-evaluate
its mission. That, in turn, compelled the $1.1 million-a-year
agency to make what county officials consider a gutsy
move: walk away from $185,000 in county contracts.
The question is why. According to executive director
Lincoln, what's going on reflects the changing reality
for African-American youth in Northeast Portland. "Gangs
are still an issue, but only one of the issues that
impact our youth," she says. Indeed, along with its
other woes, it seems clear that Umoja is suffering from
a shortage of raw material--gangsters.
Since 1997, the number of juveniles on probation in
Multnomah County--Umoja's traditional client base--has
plummeted from 1,200 to 820, says county gang specialist
John Miller.
As a result, only half of Umoja's beds have been filled
on a regular basis, according to Bob Robinson, a contract
manager for the county's Juvenile and Adult Community
Justice agency.
Although the residential program had a high public
profile, it was only one part of Umoja's mission. The
agency also receives $447,000 in county funding for
gang outreach and youth-employment programs.
Umoja performs well in this regard, says Mary Li, division
manager of community programs and partnerships for the
Multnomah County Department of Community and Family
Services. A May 1999 county fiscal-compliance review
found that Umoja had "some areas of non-compliance but
no serious accounting problems," according to Kathy
Tinkle, DCFS's contract compliance manager.
Miller adds that since Lincoln's arrival, the county
has been pleased with Umoja's performance.
Umoja will spend the next three months drawing a new
profile of Northeast Portland youth and then figure
out how to serve them. Lincoln says the rethinking makes
sense because Umoja is nearing its 10th anniversary,
"and you've got to figure out whether certain elements
fit the community or whether you need to change them."
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Willamette Week | originally
published December 22,
1999
