True change often starts with one person willing to take a stand for what they believe in. When individual passion aligns with a commitment to bettering the world around them, the ripple effects can inspire others to take notice and join the effort. Within communities, this spark of action is often the first step toward creating spaces where collective voices can grow stronger. Harnessing personal values to champion meaningful causes not only deepens your connection to those around you but also reinforces a shared vision of progress and possibility.
Make a Difference Through Volunteering
Volunteering offers a direct and impactful way to engage with causes that matter most to you while strengthening the fabric of your community. Giving your time and skills creates opportunities to connect with others who share your values and foster positive change in meaningful ways. Whether working on a community project, supporting local organizations, or lending a hand to neighbors, volunteering transforms good intentions into real-world results. The experience often leads to personal growth and a deeper understanding of the challenges and triumphs faced by others.
Volunteering through a faith community is one of the most impactful ways to create meaningful change while fostering lasting connections. Many individuals choose this avenue because it often provides a stronger sense of community support and deeper relationships compared to one-time events like park cleanups or serving at a soup kitchen. Faith communities, especially in diverse and dynamic cities like Portland, offer a wide range of opportunities to serve—many of which extend beyond traditional notions of religious involvement. From organizing food drives to mentoring youth or providing resources for unhoused neighbors, faith-based volunteering allows you to work alongside others who share a commitment to improving lives. These ongoing efforts not only address immediate needs but also build a foundation of trust and collaboration that strengthens the entire community.
Be an Active Participant
Engaging in community meetings and public forums is a vital way to stay informed and make a meaningful impact on issues you care about. These gatherings, often hosted in accessible venues like libraries or schools, offer a platform for diverse voices to address pressing community matters, such as health challenges or local development projects. By attending these forums, you not only gain insights into the community’s strengths and potential challenges but also have the chance to influence decision-making processes. Skilled facilitators guide discussions to ensure they are productive and inclusive. Check out Portland’s upcoming City Council meetings so you can get involved.
Engage with Local Officials
Building relationships with local officials provides a valuable opportunity to advocate for meaningful changes in your community. Sharing your perspectives directly with decision-makers ensures that the needs and concerns of those around you are heard and considered. Open communication fosters collaboration, creating space for actionable solutions that address pressing challenges. Attending meetings, participating in discussions, or writing thoughtful messages can help highlight issues that might otherwise go unnoticed. These interactions encourage accountability and strengthen the connection between leadership and the people they serve. In addition to attending City Council meetings, you can use this form to reach out to the local official most closely connected to the cause that’s important to you.
Become a Nurse
Pursuing a career in nursing offers a meaningful way to create lasting change by addressing the health and wellness needs of your community. Nurses play a vital role in promoting compassionate care, educating patients, and advocating for better access to healthcare resources. With the flexibility of online nursing programs, earning your degree becomes more accessible, allowing you to balance your studies with other responsibilities. For those already in the profession, advancing your education through RN to BSN programs provides an opportunity to deepen your expertise and elevate patient outcomes. This commitment to growth not only enhances your career but also strengthens the quality of care delivered to those who need it most.
Raise Money Through Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding platforms offer a dynamic way to rally support for nonprofits and local causes that hold personal significance. These tools provide a space where compelling stories and heartfelt missions can reach a wide audience, turning awareness into tangible contributions. By leveraging these platforms, you can connect with like-minded supporters eager to make a difference through shared goals. Every donation, no matter the size, adds to the collective effort, demonstrating the power of community-driven fundraising. For example, there are lots of different individuals, groups, and formal organizations looking to get projects started in Portland on Kickstarter. Whether you want to donate to local artists trying to get their art seen in the community, pitch in for a local community center, or help a local startup launch, you can make a direct impact with your dollars (no matter how much you choose to spend).
Create Online Petitions to Promote Change
Creating an impactful online petition is a powerful way to mobilize support and advocate for change in your community. By crafting a clear and engaging message, you can connect with a broad audience and inspire them to become active participants in your cause. Use personal stories and testimonials to make your petition relatable and urgent, transforming passive observers into passionate advocates. Promoting your petition on social media platforms can expand your reach.
Encourage Youth Activism
Engaging in youth activism by joining or starting a club that aligns with your passions is another great way to make an impact. Collaborating with peers who share your interests allows you to tackle critical issues like race and gender equality, fostering meaningful discussions among students and faculty. A supportive teacher can be crucial in bridging generational gaps and navigating school bureaucracy, ensuring your club’s success. By organizing creative activities, such as events or inviting speakers, you can draw broader participation and raise awareness about important topics. These clubs not only serve as platforms for advocacy but also foster a sense of unity and empowerment among young activists.
Engaging with your community through purposeful actions can lead to profound transformations. By channeling your skills and passions into initiatives that matter, you not only contribute to the well-being of others but also inspire a collective movement toward positive change. Your efforts can ignite a chain reaction, encouraging others to join in and amplify the impact, creating a more vibrant and resilient community.
Growing a garden can be a great way to spend more time outside, learn valuable new skills, and even reduce your family’s grocery budget. Furthermore, you can also help feed those in need in your community simply by growing fresh produce in your backyard.
Remember that whenever possible, it’s better to shop locally. Buying from small and local businesses helps support the entire community and promotes a sense of shared responsibility. Look for who is helping to get the word out in your area, like PDX Local in Portland OR.
Steps to Starting Your Garden
If you’ve never planted a garden before, you might be confused about where to begin. Whether or not you’re a green thumb, getting acquainted with the soil and the various types of produce has huge payoffs. But first consider these ideas as you set out on your gardening venture.
Building raised garden beds will help you protect your crops from tunneling pests.
To plant, tend, and harvest your vegetables, you’ll need some durable gardening tools.
Test your soil to see what level of acidity and nutrients you’re dealing with, then address high or low levels with appropriate treatment, such as adding nitrogen.
Once you have all of the tools and supplies you need, you’re ready to plant. Follow the helpful tips below on growing vegetables, herbs, trees and more!
Tend to your garden each day to ensure that your plants are healthy and promptly harvest fresh vegetables.
If you’re stumped on where to begin, consider hiring help from a local gardener or landscaper. You can survey backyard landscaping companies to help pave the way for your garden.
Preserving Your Delicious Harvest
It’s possible to plant and grow just enough in your garden for you and your family to consume, plus a little for friends, too. But if you end up with more fruits and vegetables than you know what to do with, these methods will allow you to preserve them so that they don’t spoil.
Canning your surplus vegetables is a great way to keep them fresh for months.
Incorporate your canned vegetables into one of these healthy recipes!
Stock your freezer with frozen fruits and vegetables for soups and other dishes.
Whip up homemade jam to make your breakfasts taste a little sweeter.
Serving People in Need
Food insecurity exists in every community. In addition to selling your produce at the local farmers market for a discount of what the grocery store charges, here’s how to ensure that your extra produce goes to the people who need it most.
Offer to drop off your extra produce and some non-perishables at one of Portland’s community food pantries.
Encouraging your children to help you distribute food to vulnerable people can teach them about the root causes of poverty and other forms of injustice.
Host a food swap to exchange produce and canned goods with your neighbors!
Consider working with others in your neighborhood to establish a community garden where people can tend their own plots and share fresh produce.
Gardening on a Small Scale
Perhaps all this sounds great but you’re looking around at your small apartment and thinking there’s no way you can maintain a garden in such a small space. Think again! Granted, you obviously can’t feed an army in a small space, but there are plenty of people who maintain successful gardens from apartments.
When you begin your garden, you may have to go through some trial and error as you learn the ropes. But when you’re cooking up delicious dinners with your veggies and helping your neighbors put food on the table, you’ll be happy that you took on this rewarding project!
PDX Local is an all-volunteer organization dedicated to helping get the word out about important community resources and small business. Call 971.412.2493.
It’s a shame that everybody in America assumes that if you’re talking about class you are Marxist. It’s a shame that in these United States populism became a dirty word — shades of racism and authoritarianism. I wrote an essay a while back trying to unpack the ways that class dynamics entrench and deepen divides around race and gender.
It was based on my own personal, lived experience. And oh yeah, there was a song that went with it.
The personal is political. That’s an ethos underlying hip hop and also feminism. I remember the day I took my friend for a walk in Forest Park. I don’t know if he’d ever been out that way before, even though he grew up in Portland. We were recording video for a crowdfunding campaign we had planned. Don’t know whatever happened to that footage. It’s probably lost until the end of time.
I don’t know what your street name is by now. You went through at least three in the time that I knew you.
I wrote this story at the end of March. Feeling a little bit alarmed that two months later, parts of this nightmare vision appear to be coming true. Ted Wheeler needs to do more to address the looming crisis of poverty and houselessness in this city. A night or two of curfew is not enough. The specter of riots and looting isn’t going anywhere, any time soon.
Imagining July 2020
by Rose C.
Successive waves of closures and reopenings have failed to stop the spread of Coronavirus, but left massive social and economic dislocation in their wake. Area hospitals have tents pitched around them, with patients being treated outside in cots. People are still lining up to get in. Grocery stores operate with armed guards outside the doors, due to periodic flare-ups of looting. Almost every other business is closed.
The National Guard has been called in to maintain order because local law enforcement is overwhelmed. A strict curfew is in place. Houseless people are being arrested and jailed. As a direct consequence, a large tent city of houseless people has grown up inside Forest Park. They are not bad people or criminals. They just don’t have anywhere else to go. Somebody has a weenie roast over a campfire. Sparks fly.
Soon all of Forest Park is in flames. The people camped there perish.
The sky darkens. The air is full of ash. Healthy people and sick people alike are choking, unable to breathe. Death rates skyrocket. The city will never be the same.
How can we avoid this fate? Very simple. Mayor Ted Wheeler needs to raise taxes and institute an emergency fund to house people and restore order. This special organization should have a different jurisdiction and coordinate closely with Multnomah County government. Distrust of the police is at an all-time high right now, but that doesn’t change the importance of the city delivering social services. It only increases the urgency.
We also need to ensure a better mechanism so that houseless / homeless people are able to vote in the fall elections.
As of a Portland, Oregon resident and taxpayer, I would gladly pay more taxes to keep my city safe in a time of need.
Who is Molly Muriel? What inspired you to choose that name?
The name Molly Muriel was inspired by my dog. That was her name, and she was my biggest inspiration when I started this company. She was just a pup back in 2002, and sadly left this Earth last year, at almost 16 years of age. So she had a very long and happy life. Her legacy lives on with this business, and she is still a great inspiration.
I read your story on the website. Can you tell us more about the journey from a candle making class to your own line of vegan soaps, balms, and cosmetics?
After spending a good year trying every kind of candle I could find info on, I wanted to branch out. I’m not sure why soap was my goal, but I quickly dove in and tried my first batch. Back then there wasn’t so much information online like we can find now, so I was reading books on fixed oils, fragrances, colorants, and pretty much tried them all. I truly feel that not being able to access so many recipes and info gave me a huge advantage of completely understanding the process of formulation and saponification from the ground up. Through many mistakes and troubleshooting came the beginnings of the product line that exists today.
What does being vegan mean to you? Do you personally practice a vegan lifestyle?
I’m not one to love labels, i.e. vegan, vegetarian, etc. I live my life more from a conscientious standpoint. I’m a clean eater, avoiding processed and chemical derived foods. As for environment, I try to avoid plastic when possible, and use as many recycled goods as possible. Veganism is such an individual thing and can mean different things to many people. Being a lover of animals, I do what I can to respect them in all of my life choices, including the food I eat, the clothes I choose to wear, and the goods I purchase.
What goes into your testing and product development process?
My process begins with research and development. I do a lot of investigation on ingredients I want to implement. I read about their nourishing attributes, as well as potential allergens or irritants. I also dive deep into sourcing to make sure that the ingredient that reaches me is the best quality. As for testing, my friends and family are usually my best test subjects. They give me honest feedback about scent, function, reactions, or anything else that may pertain. I’m so thankful to be surrounded by great people who will take the time to try some of my creations.
What are some of the challenges of marketing, manufacturing, and distributing an independent, plant-based brand in a crowded global marketplace?
Marketing is a huge part of business, it has the largest impact on getting my brand out there. It also happens to be my least favorite part of running a small business. But I’ve found that it’s very necessary to have a great marketing strategy or you won’t get the information about your products to the people that are looking for it. I’ve done everything from trade shows and cold calling to emailing and visiting potential stores in person to try to connect. It’s a lot of work, but can also be very rewarding. Manufacturing can be challenging as well, as I’ve gotten to points where I’ve had to purchase ingredients in larger quantities and make bigger batches, there’s always a learning curve with each step forward. I still go through that now, 16 years in! As for distribution, I’ve realized that my industry, natural beauty/body care, has been on the rise and will just keep going, so I don’t try to compete with large companies. I have a vey different product that will appeal to those folks that seek natural and healthy lifestyles. I do what I can and figure that beyond that the products will speak for themselves, and so far they have.
What are some gifts you would recommend for vegans? (These can be from your store, but they don’t have to be.)
Of course I would suggest anything from my product line. However, one of our lines stands out for vegans. It can be very difficult to find vegan lip balm, most is made with bees wax. We use candelilla wax and floral wax instead, which is so very nourishing to chronically chapped lips. My favorite is the lavender mint. Outside of my product line, I really love Queen Bee products using vinyl instead of leather. They also have a 25% discount buy-back program that rocks! Also, a gift certificate to Blossoming Lotus or Sweetpea Baking Company would be excellent, two of my favorites! Yum!!
What is the most popular item / product among your customers?
Our bar soaps have always been great sellers, specifically the Volcanic Bliss bar. I can’t seem to keep that one in stock. During the winter months we sell a lot of candles, the Spice It Up being a big hit, it has cinnamon and clove essential oils and is warm and spicy during those winter months.
This isn’t a question but I have to say that as someone with perennially chapped lips, your lip balm is truly the best thing I have ever tried. Better than all the national brands. Thank you.
Founder Branda Tiffany
Well, thank you! I find the same thing to be true. I had chronically chapped lips for years and did research to formulate this product for myself. The mimosa floral wax I use helps not only to heal tissue, but is a great protectant against the elements. I’m sure that’s why it has been so great for me 🙂 I’m so glad that you’re experiencing the same thing!!
You’ve been in business since 2002. Any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?
I would say, put your focus on feeding your soul before your bank account, and this can be a very sustainable venture for you in the long run. Of course we have to be practical, but true happiness comes from choosing to do something that we love and the money will follow. Don’t give up, just keep your eyes and ears open, and listen to others’ advice, whether you take it or not. One of the worst things we can do is to be stubborn and let our ego get in our way. If we move that aside we can be very successful in all the ways that matter.
Did you know that if you run, hike, or bike on a day when the air quality is labeled “Unhealthy,” you can permanently damage your lungs? Don’t take a chance. If you want or need to be active outdoors in areas experiencing air pollution due to heavy industry, car traffic, or forest fires, these products will help keep you safe.
Everything listed below is washable and reusable. I specifically chose affordable products available online. You can save a few dollars and buy a cheap disposable ventilator mask from a hardware store, of course, but it will be less comfortable, offer less protection, and as a throwaway product, contribute to the problems we are all concerned about.
If you have yard work to do this weekend, or if you want to keep walking or biking to work—even when the air is bad—considering investing in a reusable mask.
Disclaimer: This site is not intended to give health, medical, or fitness advice. Exercise at your own risk. Consult your doctor or another helaht professional if you are unsure whether it is safe to exercise or to be outside. All opinions expressed are those solely of the PDX Local blog, and do not represent its sponsors, affiliates, or guest contributors. No paid advertising or paid endorsements have been provided for the products featured above. The reviewer makes no claims regarding the efficacy, workmanship, utility, or safety of any of the products listed above. Use and purchase at your own risk.
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What goes into your testing and product development process?
