April 2013

It was Spring 1981, and I walked across the Oregon State campus to Coleman Field to watch the baseball game.  Beavers vs. Ducks.  My friend Mike Black was playing second base for the Ducks.  He was a standout infielder at McNary when I was playing shortstop for South Salem.  We were on a couple all-star teams together.  I played a year at Chemeketa, so I both admired and envied Mike for making it to the Pac-10.  It was fun to see him get a base hit that day and throw several batters out at first base.  Some tall guy played that position; had a pretty good glove.  After the game I headed back to my fraternity having no idea I was in the presence of greatness that spring afternoon.

Fast forward to 1996.  I’d just returned to Salem from Seattle to head up SLF.  Our board is making sure that I’m meeting with key people around town.   Among them the quiet-but-keen CEO of the Chamber of Commerce. Within a couple years, I’m enrolled in the Chamber’s Leadership Salem class, where I not only learned about the history and workings of our community, but made many friends and colleagues.  SLF also became a charter partner of the Chamber’s Leadership Youth program, in which high-schoolers are trained in the ways of civic engagement and non-profit board membership.

I came to realize that Salem’s Chamber of Commerce had a vision much broader than just commerce.  I learned that our chamber was committed to education, leadership development, neighborhoods and non-profit organizations. I was able to work closely with that CEO and many other top-notch leaders to seek solutions and generate outcomes.  Eventually we invited him to join the Board of SLF and he helped our ministry grow to a new level of vision and strategic focus.

The Little House (or "La Casita") is owned by the Holy Cross Lutheran CaN Center Church and is operated by community partners.  It opened a year ago as a resource center to families within the Washington Elementary Fostering Hope target neighborhood.  Tuesday March 6th was a Open House for the new Library with a emphasis on early literacy and school readiness.

The community partners for the library are:  Mano a Mano, Reading for All, Delta Kappa Gamma, City of Salem Lansing Partnership, Holy Cross Lutheran Church and Salem Leadership Foundation.  A special thanks to the Union Gospel Mission for the donated book shelves and furniture, all of the volunteers who categorized, labeled and organized the 1800 books and all the amazing "bakers" who provided the refreshments.

We had 22 children sign up at the Open House for their Little House Library Card.  Stay tuned for our summer literacy program in partnership with our friends at the Salem Library.  Another exciting project at the Little House is currently underway with the East Salem Rotary,  they are designing and building a "a children's garden" in the backyard.

We are currently looking for volunteers to help with our "children's garden" this summer and staff our library for our summer literacy program.  Anyone interested in becoming a Friend of the Little House contact Carrie Maheu - McKay Area Lightning Rod @ 503-559-5677 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

March 2013

Some people know that Jennifer and I love antiques. Fiesta ware, Craftsman furniture, old photos and postcards - we especially treasure artifacts of Salem's history. One day, years ago, I was at the Salem Collector's Market at the Fairgrounds. I was thrilled to find a vintage brochure entitled Trail 'em to Salem, a promotional fold-out from 1927. I was excited as I opened the brochure and Scanned the contents... then my stomach turned as I read this paragraph-

I couldn't believe my eyes. My beloved hometown was bragging about how few people of color lived here. I grew up being told prejudice and racism were the 'sins of the South' and big urban cities. Not in Salem. I later found another brochure from 1947. "The paragraph" was smaller, but essentially the same - Population: 45,000, 99.9% White; 91% native born. When we remodeled our house we found old newspaper articles from 1922. "Marion County Klan Ticket Announced." Governor Pierce won election backed by the Ku Klux Klan. It was illegal for non-whites to be on the streets after dark...

Monday, February 25

The second annual RainFest Golf Challenge will benefit Salem Leadership Foundation (SLF) and our mission to help Salem-Keizer become the healthiest community in Oregon, truly the City of Shalom.

This may sound crazy, and you may think we’re nuts, but WE NEED YOU to play 18 holes of golf  with us on Monday, February 25, and raise some serious bucks for SLF during the time of year we need it most.  It may rain, the wind may blow … bring it on – FORE!

With hardy participation from 36 volunteers, we can raise $72,000 or more in the next several weeks to support SLF as we work with churches to help kids, families, schools and neighborhoods.  We need 36 passionate champions willing to help support SLF and our ‘City-as-Neighborhood’ strategy.

We are inviting you to participate in RainFest.  Each volunteer has a very limited, yet well-defined, responsibility.  We promise this will not take a lot of your time.  We need volunteers who will commit to follow the steps of this proven program, which will raise significant dollars for SLF and its neighborhood partners.  You can even win some great prizes like dinners-for-two, free golf, weekend getaways, and cool golf stuff.

You can be a “RainFest Challenge Champion.” Here is what each Champion commits to:
1. Show up on February 25th at 9:30 a.m. (BBQ included) to play 18 holes at historic Salem Golf Club! No matter what the weather, we’ll keep you warm, well-fed, and moving around the course.
2. Sponsor yourself for at least $100, and …
3. Give your best effort to make 25-40 contacts and strive for $2,500 in pledges. This is easier than you think, as people will want to support you in your valiant “wind-and-rain” endurance to support SLF.

You can be also be a “RainFest Challenge Team Captain.” We need Team Captains to achieve actions 1-2-3 above and put together a Foursome of Champions (including yourself).

We have created a website for RainFest and it’s the key to our success.  It’s the easy-to-use place where you enter your sponsors’ pledge information.  The goal is to get pledges from folks you know: friends, family, colleagues, associates.  Our web site will send them a thank-you note, a tax-deductible letter, and details on how/where they can send their sponsorship amounts.  Easy as a tap-in putt.

People give to People … all you have to do is ASK and we can significantly help SLF and the incredible partnerships it creates for after-school programs, mentoring, neighborhood revitalization, homeless outreach, foster-family support, neighborhood centers … and hope.

To get more information contact Ryan Collier our Player Captain at:
503-485-7224 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

To sign up to be a Team Captain or Participant Champion (making three commitments above) click here

To Pay a RainFest Pledge/Sponsorship click here

RainFest Sponsors - THANKS!

February 2013

I spoke at a church conference last week.  A denominational gathering of churches from Oregon and Washington.  The keynote theme was “Building a City of Shalom.”  As the day progressed, I was energized by the many hearts yearning to ‘love thy neighbor’ and ‘build bridges with the community.’  I was also encouraged by the depth of experience many of the churches have in these endeavors.  More and more pastors and lay leaders are eager to pursue ‘incarnational ministry’ with neighbors and neighborhoods.  People-of-faith learning how to work with (and minister to) people-of-goodwill … both on the streets and at the tables of decision-making.

It was gratifying to share stories of what various churches and ministries in Salem-Keizer are doing. It reminded me of how blessed our community is … many of the things we take for granted here are considered ‘cutting edge’ by others.  For example, the dozens of church-school partnerships in town and the quarterly meetings between Supt. Sandy Husk and ministry leaders.  Or the comprehensive pleas-for-partnership from civic leaders around meth, foster care, Safe Families, and prisoner re-entry.  Not to mention the strong collaborations between churches and Neighborhood Associations, United Way, Marion County Children & Families Commission, Dept. of Human Services, Community Action Agency, Polk County Service Integration Team, Marion Polk Food Share, Mid-Valley Mentors, et al.

In fact, if you listen, you’ll hear it all over town.  ‘Churches’ this and ‘faith community’ that.  In recent weeks I’ve heard ‘church’ come up in conversations at the Chamber of Commerce, several restaurants, the IKE Box, several school meetings, Community Progress Team meetings, Marion Polk Food Share, City Hall, the Boys and Girls Club, NW Human Services, the County Courthouse, and the Pine Street Resource Center … the common thread is “how much the churches care, and partner up.”

December 2012

The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. John 1:14 (The Message)

The more familiar version goes like this: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. I’ve always liked Eugene Peterson’s concept of ‘the neighborhood,’ which appears dozens of times in his Bible translation. The words he paraphrases are always geography-based: dwelling, gate, market, village, fields, hills. Because the word ‘neighborhood’ contains the word ‘neighbor’ there’s something more personal and more relational in the connotation.

Jennifer and I moved into the neighborhood in 1998. Of course, our move is nothing compared to the magnitude of Jesus’s miraculous incarnation! But it’s not unrelated. Since A.D. 33 (plus or minus), the Body of Christ has been moving into neighborhoods all over the world with the same humble (if imperfect) heart: to be salt and light, love and mercy, agents of change.

Some neighborhoods are tougher than others. Jennifer and I felt led to leave the comfort of our middle-class life to take up residence in north-central Salem. Certainly, in history and around the world, there have been neighborhoods far worse than the Grant-Highland district in the late-‘90s. But in the Salem-Keizer context this was a rough area; rife with gangs, drugs, crime and blight. High tension and low expectations. High poverty and low hope. I can remember a friend asking us, “how many guns do you have for safety?” Others refused to join us for meals at our diverse neighborhood eateries for fear of food poisoning or worse.

Written By Stephen Custer (December 6 2012)

Families build strong bonds as they go on adventures together, pass along values and learn about our world when they read together. These strong bonds will last as memories of story times together continue on long after the stories themselves are forgotten. A strong family supports each other, and reading as a family shows support for each member’s pursuit of education. Imagination and a deep curiosity of the world are nurtured in these family story times; a curiosity that will serve parents and children alike as they pursue lifelong learning. Adults and their children are pursuing this lifestyle of education at Broadway Life Center with the help of the Reading for All program. Broadway Life Center offers adult community education classes such as English, Employment Network and ASL for Families, and their children are invited to participate in our Companion Children’s Program. While parents are pursuing

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Written by Capi Lynn (December 5, 2012)

The attendants at this Christmas tree lot are not Boy Scouts or music boosters or members of a church youth group. They are homeless men and women. They live in the park or in their vans. They struggle to find their next meal or hot shower. But this holiday season, out of the goodness of their hearts, they are volunteering at a tree lot on Turner Road SE, helping to raise money for an ironic cause — homeless children nearly 3,000 miles away.

The men and women are teaming up with the Salem Missional Community Network and Greater Salem Young Life to support Korah, where tens of thousands of children live at a garbage dump outside the city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
“They’re in the same situation here as the people in Korah,” said Kyle Heward, one of the organizers of the tree lot, “but they’re helping them.”
These men and women, who are not getting paid a dime for their time, think the children of Korah are worse off. These children, they have heard firsthand from people who have lived there, spend their days scrounging among the mountains of garbage for things to eat, wear and sell.

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