Participants at the May 13 Daycation all-team gathering, from left to right: Brian Flores Garcia, Celia Mellow, Kalaundra Anderson and Luwam Solomon
I first learned about Daycation in December 2016, when adult staff from the Lents Youth Initiative (LYI) brought up the concept and asked if we would be interested in participating. I thought that it was an awesome and unique opportunity, and got on board right away.
Since then, we have come up with ideas for Daycations and thought of unique ways to involve others. LYI has focused on recruiting other youth organizations to help us create more youth-centered Daycations for the website and the mobile app. To date we have youth participating from Momentum Alliance, The Blueprint Foundation and Urban Nature Partners PDX – with most of the youth residing in East and North Portland.
On May 13, a Daycation all-team gathering was held at the Oregon Zoo’s new education center. Although Daycation was not created for youth, exclusively, The Intertwine Alliance has prioritized including young voices in the initiative, from app development to the Daycations themselves. Unfortunately, not all teams were able to attend, but the 13 or so people that were there had great ideas to contribute.
These places, and the memories attached to them, are very close to my heart. Daycation is the place to share them, so others can discover hidden gems they might not have known about otherwise.
The event focused on giving us a place at the table to give feedback and meet the rest of the team – including representatives from Frank Creative, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Metro, ROSE Community Development and The Intertwine Alliance. Event organizers gave youth the microphone and made it an engaging and open place to participate. We learned that there is a lot of work needed in order to make Daycation a success; but with the hard work and dedication of everyone involved, we are definitely heading in the right direction.
I am currently working on a Daycation centered on historic downtown Gresham. I've spent a lot of time here and have truly gotten to know how special the neighborhood is. My Daycation starts off at Electric Castle’s Wunderland, where I've spent many nights with my friends playing games and having a great time as a group. It has become the pinnacle of our weekend adventures.
Then we travel a few blocks down the street to downtown Gresham, where the delicious Jazzy Bagels resides. I've spent many days eating here while my cousin gets his hair cut across the street. My favorite barber shop, BarberStarrs, is right in front if I ever need an awesome haircut. It's almost become a family tradition to go there. The interior is so delightfully old-fashioned that the atmosphere alone makes you want to go in.
Next we like to head over to Red Sunset Park off NE Hogan Road, a place that is important to me because I spent a lot of time there as a kid. I have some really great memories of special family moments feeding the ducks, walking around the park, sitting at the gazebo or hanging out under the bridge. Being there reminds me of what it feels like to be a kid -- to be really surprised by everything, with endless curiosity. It's nostalgic, but it doesn't keep me from making new memories there, too. There's always something to do.
These places, and the memories attached to them, are very close to my heart. Daycation is the place to share them, so others can discover hidden gems they might not have known about otherwise.
What most excites me about Daycation is the opportunity to see another side of the Portland-Vancouver area. I think that sometimes, when we live somewhere for a long time, we start to see it only through the monotonous lens of repetition. We see it only through our own experience and don't ever bother to see the city through someone else's eyes. We lose the chance to experience something new. I think Daycation has a real opportunity to make an impact and encourage people to get know their city.
The beauty of being human is that every person is different. We all see the same place in different ways, through different lenses, and we appreciate different things. The most exciting thing for me is being able to experience Portland through someone else's eyes, someone else's life, and to be able to see the beauty of our city as someone else sees it. I love the idea of sharing our stories, sharing our lives, and most importantly, sharing what we love.
If you are excited, too – please join us! Anyone and everyone is invited to send in their Daycations. And you’ll find the Daycations our youth teams are working on popping up on the website and in the app this late spring and early summer.