A win-win deal for church, community

by Rebecca Koffman, The Oregonian
Thursday October 02, 2008, 12:04 AM

BRENT WOJAHN/THE OREGONIAN
Karen Hery, coordinator of the Sunnyside Swap Shop Co-op in Southeast Portland, plays with 20-month-old Henry Ehn in the cooperative’s outdoor play area.

Karen Hery moved to Portland from San Jose, Calif., with an idea for a different life.

Newly divorced and having left a corporate job, she wanted to be in a community, “treading lightly on the planet. I also needed to do something that would allow me to spend time with my girls.”

Now, 2 1/2 years later, she’s at the center of a revitalized church and community building in the Sunnyside neighborhood. …more…]

The rest of the article is here.

We’re especially proud to see the Portland Tribune’s article which was published April 8.

[…]If you’re looking for some good news in these all-too-depressing economic times, check out what’s been going on over the past few months on the corner of Southeast 35th Avenue and Yamhill Street.

In a once decaying space in the grand old Sunnyside United Methodist Church, for 12 hours a day, six days a week, children now tumble through indoor play structures. Grown-ups gather for weekly meet-ups and companionship, and families of all shapes and sizes give what they don’t need and take what they do.[…]

From
Radical rummage
Give-some-take-some exchange has a bigger purpose
BY AUDREY VAN BUSKIRK in The Portland Tribune, Apr 8, 2008
Read the full article