Our newest Roost business sponsor, mortgage broker Melissa Guthrie, knows that living simple and local pays off for her and the people she secures loans for.

She’s lived the life of big corporate banking and large mortgage firms where she too often found she couldn’t serve her customers as well as she wanted to. As a loan officer at a bank she knew that the products she had to offer on any given day weren’t always competitive with other rates and options in the market. At a large brokerage firm, she had access to more options but, still, the variety of people working together to process her clients’ loans too easily let important things fall through the cracks.

For her own quality of life and the quality service she wanted to offer, Melissa decided to go solo . . . forming her own one-woman business, MortgagesDirect, 11 years ago. Now she’s the broker and the receptionist, the processor and the closer, the manager and customer service.

She only processes a half dozen or so loans at a time so they all get her attention. She has access to all the same loans and refinance packages that a big firm does with the “small town” ability to call up the people she likes to work with most to give them the chance to match the rates and terms of a more distant firm.

When Jarrett Altman of Neighborhood Works Realty asked Melissa to join her as a Roost Sponsor, she was happy to help support our community building programs even though she has a very limited need to put her money and time into marketing. Treating her clients as well as she does, word of mouth is more than enough to keep a steady number of home loans and refinancing projects coming her way.

And as fate would have it, she said yes to becoming a Roost Sponsor before fully understanding what The Roost is. It was more than delightful to see her joy when she found out that her son, who is going into the Lodge program at Mt Tabor Middle School in the fall, has options she didn’t even realize in our new after school chill out spot for 6th, 7th and 8th graders.

While Melissa’s going to be checking out The Roost for her family in the fall, we all get to check in with her and Jarrett every quarter so we can keep up on what’s happening in the world of real estate.

Anyone interested in refinancing will be happy to know that interest rates have dropped, averaging in the mid to high 4′s depending upon your loan type, size, credit score, term, etc. Melissa’s rule of thumb on a refinance is that you want to be refinancing at least 1% below what your current rate is to recoup costs within 2 to 3 years. Credit scores are key. Ideally to get your best rate, you want to have a score of 740 or above. If you are thinking of buying in the next 2 or 3 months, now is an ideal time to prequalify. Melissa can help you review your credit and finances. She can be a voice of reason, helping you determine what you can realistically afford which, even with all the finance reforms, is still less than what you could over stretch to qualify for.

Melissa met our co-op member Jarrett Altman around the time she also left a larger firm to form Neighborhood Works Realty. Older, charming homes of the inner Southeast are Jarrett’s specialty.

Sellers: Traditionally in Portland, and this year is no exception, there are less houses on the market in the summer. Jarrett knows this makes August a great time to list a house because there’s not as much competition from other listings. Also, in the summer, there are always eager families looking to get into a particular school (like Sunnyside) by the fall. This is also a good time to plan ahead for listing in the fall taking advantage of the good summer weather to deal with any work needed to get your house on the market for September and October.

Buyers: Now that the rush for the latest tax credit incentives have passed, interest rates coming down to the lowest they have been in the 10 years that Jarrett has been in real estate is the main financial incentive for buying now. Sunnyside houses are currently in the low 300′s for a cute 2 bed; mid-300′s for a fixer with at least 3 beds; high 300′s for a 3 bed that is small, and 400-500 for a really nice 3 bed with all the bedrooms upstairs that is “done” as far as modern upgrades and renovations.

Renovations: Jarrett is a wealth of knowledge on home repairs and improvements with lots of connections to the trustworthy contractors that know how to get things done fast and well. She won’t mind a quick phone call, even if you aren’t putting your house on the market, where she can be neighborly and share the knowledge she’s gathered about the older houses of inner SE Portland.

When each of us focuses on something that makes our community more connected and more vibrant, we all reap the benefits. We can all help our local economy stay vibrant by supporting local businesses and business people committed to living and working locally. It only takes a minute to say thank you when you frequent one of the businesses that sponsor us (listed at www.sunnysideswapshop.org.) and less than five minutes to go on line under our sponsors tab to add your encouraging words in the comments section.

If you want to get started on a loan or refinancing:

Melissa Guthrie
MortgagesDirect
Portland: 503-233-8750
Cell: 512-797-4662
Efax: 512-233-0571
maguthrie©earthlink•net  (maguthrie©earthlink•net)   or mguthrie©mortgagesdirect•com

For great inner southeast real estate services:
Jarrett Altman: jarrett©nworksrealty•com (503) 407-4200
Neighborhood Works Realty

Fortunately for me and everyone else reading this, there are little pockets of joy right here in Portland where you can feel really good about what you have bought, who you have bought it from and how it was made. Humble Luna – Whimsical Designs for Children – is definitely one of those pockets of joy. Our own swap shop member Heidi Witte has a humble little business making custom costumes and colorful art smocks for kids that she sells in person and on line.

You can see some of her designs at her website, Humble Luna – Whimsical Designs for Children . Better yet, you can meet her most Wednesday afternoons as she moves quietly around our arts and crafts room helping kids craft their dreams. Heidi is one of the most peaceful people I know and that’s reflected in the way she sweetly meets every kid who wanders into the art and crafts room for our weekly craft meet up. It’s also reflected in the pieces she makes: puffy dragon tails, felt birthday crowns, smocks from vintage materials.

Sure the $40 price tag for a wrap-around-your-belly, hang-way-out-behind-you spotted dragon tail is more than most of us would usually spend on a whim but is is a real artist’s wages for work well done . . . the price of knowing the person you are interacting with and a great way to help secure a place for local crafting in our community.

The best part of building a friendly relationship with the people we buy things from is that ability to be a part of what they sell. We get a chance to let them know the things they make that we think are wonderful and also give our feedback and ideas on ways to grow.

Heidi is working right now on a hood that will make kids look like a whimsical little lion. If you have a child that would really be into their own lion hood, let her know. She makes custom costumes too so you aren’t putting her out when you meet up with her at the swap shop and describe the costume that would really rock your little guy’s or girl’s world.

Who knows? Your custom design might become her next best seller for her local and on-line customers as nearby at Eugene and as far away as Israel.

I don’t know if anyone else practices the same kind of justified big spending that I do, but I’ve discovered I’d much rather go to the more expensive local shoe store for one or two pairs of shoes for each of my kids each year now that most everything else they wear costs me nothing more than our time to look through the swap shop bins and clothing tables at the big exchanges.

Now that we have the swap shop, I get to spend the same amount of money I might have spent on a bunch of cheaper things on fewer better-made items that I feel a lot better about. It’s great to know that we can add Humble Luna to our list that already includes Small Wonders kid’s consignment shop on 79th and Foster as one more local way to find sweet gifts for kids.

I was just at Small Wonders checking in with their owner, Lisa Knudson, this week and fell in love with a tan and country red bouncy horse that she has (one of those exersaucerish baby jumpers). My kids were way to old to justify buying it and running home to put it in my house but, if you are interested and it still there for sale, it’s a discontinued model that you can’t buy new but you can get it from her for $60.

You never know what you will find on Heidi’s Humble Luna web site or at Small Wonders so peek in often and think of both of them when you need a great gift for a special kid. Say hi to Heidi when you are at the swap shop on Wednesday afternoons and Lisa when you are at Small Wonders. It’s a small wonder and a great feeling to be able to support each other well and have great things for our kids. A big thank you to both of these women in business entrepreneurs for becoming Roost sponsors.

Humble Luna – Whimsical Designs for Children
Heidi Witte
humbleluna©gmail•com
971-222-9994

Small Wonders Children’s and Maternity Consignment Store
Lisa Knudson
7979 SE Foster Road
Tue-Fri 10am-6pm; Sat and Sun 10am-4pm
(503) 772-1920

So where do massage therapists go when their own bodies needs a tune up? Our own co-op member and talented massage therapist, Dana Buhl, goes to Israel Sostrin.

His official title is physical therapist but his real title should be “motion maximizer” since he spends his days helping the injured, the aging, athletes and new parents work smarter not harder to move and rest well.

Like a lot of us in Portland, Israel wasn’t completely satisfied with “the way things are done” and went searching for better ways across several parts of the planet and multiple modalities. For Israel the journey included Baltimore, Arizona and Seattle and several schools of massage and physical therapy before coming to Portland. He originally picked up a book on the Feldendrais method of physical therapy for his own personal interest – in part because he and the method’s creator, Moshe Feldendrais, have similar Jewish roots. Happily, he found his way into the best four years of his professional education to date.

In talking with Israel, it’s easy to tell that he’s also found a piece of his life’s passion that he gets to share with clients who, up until they meet him and the Feldenkrais method he uses in his practice, often think physical therapy is just a series of hot and cold packs and a list of stretches to do at home.

Everything we do with our body uses some combination of our strength, our flexibility and our endurance. Addressing just one of these three and not the others, as some of us can vouch for, can make the problem even worse. Israel’s work is all about better coordinating our own body’s natural balance while honoring that simple truth that we have gotten into whatever pinch we are in for very good reasons more complex than it all first appears.

One part of physical therapy that doesn’t have to be complex is getting qualified for regular care. The State of Oregon mandates that the first 60 days of physical therapy should be reimbursed without a referral for all insured patients. Still there are policies that vary from insurer to insurer and even within the various levels of coverage from each insurer requiring certain notifications or approvals.

While you and I only navigate our insurance policies (car, body or home) every once in a while, the office Israel works in on Hawthorne lives and breaths that special insurance language every day. One quick call or email and they can evaluate your policy more easily than you can and let you know what’s available to you.

I was surprised and delighted to find out that, having Kaiser, I could still be eligible to see Israel for physical therapy. His front desk staff was great to work with and had an answer in just one day on what my deductible and co-pay would be plus the steps I had to take through Kaiser to be approved.

While most of his patients are working through insurance for their care, he does bill some patients directly. His current rates are $100 for the initial visit and $85 for follow up appointments. I can’t speak to your co-pay but mine would be $35 per visit. Best of all, you are never shuffled off to an aid with your physical therapist just overseeing your care. Israel spends time directly with his patients, listening and learning what’s right for your body and your life.

A lot of us will be very happy to know that his office space is fabulously kid friendly with a great big stuffed lion in one corner for those appointments where you need to bring your little loved ones along.

Israel’s littlest loved one is his 10 month old daughter Aubrey. If your injuries or nagging aches are from the funny positions you’ve gotten into feeding, caring for and picking up (or picking up after) the newest members of your family, Israel will be both sympathetic and empathetic while he helps you adjust to the higher stress/lower sleep way of life you’re now living.

Like Dana, Israel is a popular practitioner with a busy schedule. He purposely leaves a few spaces open every week for emergencies like motor vehicle crash injuries that can’t wait and for new, first time patients just getting started in his care.

Whether you are dealing with some new stresses and strains or have been dealing with unresolved physical issues for a while now, both Dana and Israel are great family resources to help get you back to a place of comfort and ease.

You don’t have to save and then recall this exact email to get in touch with them or any of our great community minded Roost sponsors. They are all a click away on the Sunnyside Swap Shop Co-op home page at www.sunnysideswapshop.org .

To contact Dana Buhl right away for a relaxing and very therapeutic
massage:

Dana Buhl, LMT
1128 SE 30th Ave. (just 5 blocks from the Swap Shop)
503 807 6697
danabuhl©gmail•com

Appts. Mon and Thurs noon – 8, Wed and Fri 9 – 4

To set up a first time appointment with Israel Sostrin:

Anisha – Center for Holistic Health
4031 SE Hawthorne Boulevard
Portland, Oregon 97214
WHOLENESS IN MOTION
Israel Sostrin MSPT, CMT, GCFP
P: (503) 231.3633

I don’t know if this comes as good news or bad news, but as the parent of an almost 9 year old and, shocking for me, an already 12 year old, I can comfortably say the process that starts with picking your first caregiver, day care or preschool continues on a similar theme for many years. The mental list of what’s best for your child, your family and your bank account gets revisited time and time again with every program, summer camp and public or private school decision.

Michelle LaFollette, director and owner of Wren’s Nest Preschool, a Montessori in-home preschool for 20month olds to 5 year olds just a few blocks away from the Swap Shop on Yamhill, has an almost kindergartener and a middle schooler of her own. If Michelle and I could somehow transfer all our observations and knowledge from a decade of placing our own kids in schools and from touring parents through the programs we’ve created, what an email post this would be!

Or would it? Walking that path from holding our babes in our arms to attending graduation ceremonies raises up adults as much as the journey helps our children grow. We learn as much about ourselves as we do about our kids picking places to give our support and energy to over the years.

Other than saying – go with your gut instincts – I wouldn’t for one minute want to get in the middle of telling you what schools or programs are best or try to suggest the best way to evaluate the next caregiver for your child. I can tell you that every Montessori teacher that I have ever known has a calmness and a lively spirit about them that allows for inspirational learning day after day.

Also, there is something developmentally magical about those trays full of natural materials presented with awe and wonder to tiny bodies and little busy minds inspiring even the youngest toddler to give up their crash and thrash tendencies while they take out a little rug to sit on and patiently sort buttons.

Michelle and I both come from Silicon Valley and can laugh while sharing a cup of coffee in her livingroom turned classroom about 2 hour commutes (each way) and high strung parents with big agendas for their offspring. In part as a retreat from that lifestyle but also in response to the way SE Portland lives are shaped, Michelle has set up Wren’s Nest Preschool with a couple of unique features not usually found in a preschool or a daycare. Preschools tend to take the summers off. Wren’s Nest is a haven for children all year round. Day cares are open from the early hours until just before dinner time. Wren’s Nest families arrive between 8:30 and 9 and every child is back with their family by 4pm.

The very best part news for parents of toddlers reading this post: most preschools require children to be potty trained and at least three years old. Michelle’s youngest learners are not yet two and potty training is not a requirement to attend.

Before you pick up the phone to see what days she has available for your not-yet or just-barely two-year-old, I can tell you what you might already imagine, spots for toddlers are popular and go quickly. She already has a full toddler program for the summer and fall. Rather than keep a waiting list she just asks that you check in with her now and again for openings.

If you have been wondering what your three year old is ready for, Michelle opened Wren’s Nest almost three years ago and her first set of toddlers are now moving on to kindergarten leaving 9 open spaces for new 3 to 5 year olds. Jed Arkley’s daughter is one of those first students to go all three years at Wren’s Nest. I got a chance to ask him . . . why Montessori and why Wren’s Nest?

He looked at a lot of different schools and found Michelle’s program more affordable than some of the other Montessori schools he looked at. He loved the intimate setting with less than 10 kids together in the toddler or 3-4 classrooms and he loves the community building that happens along with academics matching each child’s true interests and readiness.

If you haven’t already gone through the sticker shock: preschool, day care or a nanny can sometimes feel like a second mortgage. I understand full time care hovers between $1,200 and $1,500 a month.

More like a college student’s rent than a mortgage: two mornings a week at Wren’s Nest for a toddler: $475. Full day, five days a week for a 3 ½ year old to 5 year old: $740.

While we can put a price on days of the week, we can’t put a price on the best parts of preschool . . . a break for parents, friends for our kids, and, in the case of Wren’s Nest, moments picking berries and tasting herbs in the back yard and a great Montessori classroom experience.

Just like at The Roost, the need for a place to be (for toddlers or teenagers) isn’t just about the parent’s work schedule but about some of the important work of childhood that gets done a bit away from home, in a place where parents aren’t near by, but caring adults are right there with subtle guidance and a calming way.

Wren’s Nest is a very low key place without a sign out front or even a web site. You can drive or walk by and see the front yard play area and families coming and going at 3815 SE Yamhill Street (last block of Yamhill before the Belmont Library). You can call or email Michelle at (503) 235-0093 or vassarlearningcenter©yahoo•com .

Contact info for all our other great community minded Roost sponsors on the
Roost sponsors page.

Administrator Don Snow and owner Chuck Lawrence of Lawrence Convalescent Center at 48th and Belmont have a great deal to share with us that can make a big difference in the quality of life for our families. Since most of us will be involved in just a handful of end of life care decisions for our parents, our partner’s parents and at some point our own care as well, it’s comforting to lean on the wisdom of two men who have dedicated a big part of their adult lives to helping families juggle the financial, physical and emotional challenges that aging brings.

A lot has changed over the years in end-of-life care. Hospice care is a relatively new concept and the more general nursing homes or rest homes that we may have visited to sing songs or deliver Valentines in our youth have been divided up in to more specific categories – skilled care, intermediate care, assisted living, residential care and adult foster care homes – each with their own types of care and associated costs. With all the options and some associated restrictions on what insurance policies and the state will and won’t cover, we aren’t just making one care placement decision but a whole series of them as strokes, dementia and other factors affect our parents.

Full convalescent care carries around a $70,000 a year price tag that drains family finances very quickly as Don well knows since Lawrence Convalescent Center accepts both private pay and Medicaid for residents. His biggest piece of advice financially to all of us is this: Don’t wait until a loved one is already in need of care to attempt to move assets between family members in preparation for applying for Medicaid. The state works very hard to find all available assets and will scrutinize finances in the years and months right before benefit applications very carefully.

As much as we’d all rather talk about the weather or our kids or anything else but delicate financial matters around the holiday table, I know I’ll be asking a for a few more details when I visit my parents in San Diego this Christmas and feel a lot better for it.

As some of us already know, there is big role reversal that happens in the parent child relationship in the later years. Suddenly the woman who used to ride you to eat your vegetables needs gentle and not so gentle prodding to eat well and keep on top of medications. You can find yourself very quickly in the position of trying to help figure what’s best, what’s needed and what’s missing in your parents lives and being a part of orchestrating their living situation in ways you never imagined.

Lawrence Convalescent Center is a small, family run intermediate care facility with 41 beds, locally owned, not part of a big corporation. Don, in his 15 years working in assisted care, 10 as an administrator, has worked both in places that are quite large and bustling with activity and places like Lawrence Convalescent Center that are small, quiet and serene.

While the average stay in a care facility is in the 2-3 year range, Chuck, Don and his staff can talk fondly about residents that lived in one care facility for 5,10, 15 and even 20 years. Don told me some really great, inspiring and sometimes surprising stories about what makes a great placement for adults in their later years.

One woman was quite upset when, at almost 105 and ten years into assisted care, her private pay funds were exhausted and she had had to move into a larger place that would take Medicaid. It didn’t take long for her and her family to discover that she had been a bit lonely at her quiet little private pay center. She found herself quite enlivened and invigorated by all activity at her new space.

Some of the larger, newer care facilities in our own neighborhood are more attractive to families initially as they look for the very best place for grandma or grandpa to be. Lawrence Convalescent Center, built in 1970 can, at first glance, seem by some to be too small and simple. Don knows that families that take the time to come in and speak with the staff often really like what they find. While large and busy is great for some residents, especially for dementia residents, small and quiet is exactly what’s needed. Don is glad that, as an administrator, he doesn’t have to push staff to stick to business only so they can get through every patient on a busy floor. Taking the time to talk with residents and listening to their stories in a small facility is often, for the staff, the very best part of the job.

They kept it simple but certainly not small as they served Thanksgiving dinner last Thursday afternoon to their residents and a large, joyful gathering of extended family members who live nearby and have been grateful to have the expertise of Lawrence Convalescent Center to lean on in the passing years.

Not just as a Roost business sponsor, but in many other ways as well, Chuck Lawrence is the antithesis of the corporate executive just looking at the bottom line. He’s a regular participant in the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association leading the crime prevention meetings and he has dedicated two Saturdays a month for years to graffiti removal in the neighborhood.

It only takes a minute to stop by the convalescent center for a visit. Gardening volunteers and people who want to volunteer with residents are always welcomed. While you are there, Chuck and his daughter Lisa, Don and his staff can give you great advice on services and resources that make some of the most challenging care decisions a lot more bearable.

Much thanks to you, Chuck and Don, for supporting The Roost for our neighborhood youth and for everything else you do to support community. Who knows, by putting a little money into The Roost, Chuck may very well be saving himself some money and time on his graffiti rounds as well. Time will tell.