Save the Land. Imagine a Future.
Hello Friends and Allies!
We are the Falcon Collective, a tenants union representing the residents of the Falcon Art Building in the Humboldt neighborhood of North Portland. The Falcon Art Building is owned by Brian Wannamaker; renowned gentrifier of Mississippi Street; a multi-millionaire who has been displacing BIPOC folx in North Portland for decades.
We tenants at the Falcon comprise a community that is both diverse & close knit, representing BIPOC, queer, disabled, poor & elderly identities. Our garden is home to several 100+ year old trees, a nest of bees, families of crows, squirrels, owls, Black-crowned Night Herons, hummingbirds, Blue & Scrub Jays and so many more sweet creatures, not to mention flowers & food-producing garden plots. The garden is where our community is built & sustained. It's where we gather to connect & develop relationships, to celebrate milestones & mourn deaths among us. For some of us, it's our only access to green space. For those that struggle with their mental health, the garden is a safe haven for peace.
Brian Wannamaker, our landlord, sold our precious & beloved community garden, including our only bike shed, for personal gain -- to build non-inclusive, non-accessible luxury condos, bringing construction & congestion & turning our neighborhood into an urban heat island. GENTRIFICATION IN REAL TIME. He gave us 10 days notice.
We are heartbroken but not defeated. We are organizing to:
*Save the garden
*Preserve safety, peace, community & access to green spaces for BIPOC, queer, poor, elderly & disabled
*Fight for food equity & climate justice
*Stop gentrification in North Portland
*Hold multi-millionaire white gentrifiers accountable in North Portland
YOUR SUPPORT WILL HELP EMPOWER OUR COMMUNITY.
The developer for this project is Robert Pile, from HOMMA, Inc. a remote tech hedge fund developer based out of Silicon Valley California. The development proposal is two, fourteen unit (28 total) high-tech, exclusive residences which are below the 20 unit threshold to require inclusionary housing measures, effectively pushing out low-income individuals and families that make up the very fabric of our neighborhood.
We reject this plotline. It doesn’t have to be this way. We have a proposal to create the future our neighborhood deserves.
We believe we can win this. The Sumner-Albina park was created through direct community action against property development and remains a center of community, as the official pocket park of Humboldt.
We thank you for your patience as we adjust to meet the demands of this project, as many of us are first time organizers with mental health disabilities.
If you have any questions and/or proposals for allyship, please follow us on instagram @falconcollectivee and/or send us a message at [email redacted]
We are volunteers working each day to save and preserve this land. If you would like to help us in our mission to save this land from development please reach out, we are excited to meet you. We love you! We need you!
In Solidary,
Falcon Collective
