ATTENTION COMMUNITY MEMBERS!

UTOPIA PDX was selected to collect feedback from our community on the State Health Improvement Plan (2025-2029). As the Oregon Health Authority has released a list of proposed health priorities last month, we are hoping to connect with as many of our partners and community members as possible before April 30th to hear about what health issues are most important us!

WHEN:

Friday, April 25th from 7PM-8PM

Saturday, April 26th from 10AM-11AM

What is it?

The State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) provides information to improve Oregon's public health through seeking input from Oregon residents. The goal of this project is to ensure all Oregonians can achieve optimal health, regardless of their race, ethnicity, ability, gender, sexual orientation, income, nationality, or location.

Why is it important?

Oftentimes, the health needs and concerns of our Pasifika, BIPOC and LGBTQ2SIA+ communities are undervalued and ignored. Listening to our community and advocating for our needs is extremely important to gain greater access to health service and care. The feedback that we collect will be shared with local public health departments and community based organizations.

Who is it for?

UTOPIA PDX is specifically seeking feedback from our Pacific Islander and QTPI community members, as well as BIPOC and QTBIPOC community members to be a part of this virtual gathering Community members who register to attend one of our virtual feedback events, will be entered for a raffle to receive a $150 VISA gift card! (10 available)

Register for the event at bit.ly/utopiarsvp, we hope to see you there and have your voice included!

Join our Journey Transformation team as we throw a family/child focused event!

When: Saturday, April 19, 2025
Where: Russell Elementary School
Time: 12:00PM - 4:30PM

Join UTOPIA PDX and IRCO SUN for "Cultural Odyssey: A Day in Pasifika!" to learn about traditional healing, artistic, storytelling, fishing, and farming practices from across Pasifika in an afternoon full of crafts, activities, & music! Plus goodie bags for the first 40 families and a raffle!

For Additional Info Or Questions About The Event Please Email Either:
isaac@utopiaportland.org or kawika@utopiaportland.org

 We invite you to participate in the Queer Resource Fair on April 12, 2025—a wonderful opportunity to connect, inspire, and support our vibrant community!

We will have exciting activities planned including a wellness cafe, tabling resources, Musubi competition and more! Together, we can create a more inclusive and welcoming space for all.

Don’t miss this chance to be part of something special! Click the link below to register and join us in celebrating queerness & diversity.

We have an updated date for our cancelled Elei with Peta Workshop!

Save the date for Saturday, March 22nd! We will continue with our planned event co-facilitated with SPDC!

When: Saturday, March 22, 2025
Time: 11:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Where: UTOPIA PDX OFFICE - 7535 NE Ambassador Pl. Suite F.

SPDC proudly introduces B-HCC (Building Health and Climate Resilience through Culture) - a unique initiative blending health education, climate justice, and culture preservation. This session will feature the talented Elisapeta Alaimaleata, who will lead a hands-on Elei-Making Workshop, offering participants the opportunity to learn traditional Samoan textile art while exploring its connection to health and climate resilience.

Don’t miss this inspiring blend of creativity, culture, and community well-being!B-HCC stands for Building Health and Climate Resilience through Culture, a program designed to address the unique challenges and climate resilience needs of the Samoan and broader Pacific Islander communities. By integrating cultural workshops with education on health and climate justice, B-HCC fosters awareness, sustainability, and well-being, ensuring traditions are preserved while preparing communities for environmental and health-related challenges.

Register for the event @ bit.ly/utopiarsvp

We hope to see you there! 

Career Fair: Save the Date!

Please join us for our UTOPIA PDX Career fair where we will be providing job resources to the community and providing resources from QTPI and QTBIPOC-centered folks in the community!

We will have resume assistance, conversation circles, and more!

This event will be held on Saturday, March 15 from 11-3 pm at the UTOPIA PDX office located at 7535 NE Ambassador Pl, Ste F, Portland, OR 97220.

MASKS REQUIRED (KN95s will be available)

++About the location++
Free Parking
Max Red Line: Mt Hood Station
2 ADA bathrooms

If you have any accommodation needs and/or if transportation is not accessible
for you please reach out to stephanie@utopiaportland.org by February 8th

You are invited to join us for our next March Cove event: Tongan Weaving Workshop with Manita Pulotu! When: March 8, 2025, Saturday
Time: 12 pm - 3:00 pm
Place: 7535 NE Ambassador Pl Suite F Portland, OR 97220
Skill Level: BeginnerMelelatai (Manita) Wolfgramm Pulotu has resided in Oregon for over 23 years. Her credentials include a Business Management degree from BYU Hawaii and over 25 years of experience in hospitality as General Manager, Trainer, Mentor, and Auditor.About Manita: Manita developed a deep appreciation for her culture, island crafts. Her passion for artisanal creation is inspired by her family members, who include her grandmother, mother, aunties, and uncles who skillfully crafted items for both personal adornment and supplemental income.Through hard work she developed her skills and expertise in crafting baskets, mats and various handicrafts utilizing coconut, lauhala leaves, tapa cloth, and other natural resources.Manita shares that here in the United States, we effectively utilize existing resources to maintain and transfer our cultural identity to the next generations. It is gratifying to see that our islander youth who grow up here in the States demonstrate a keen interest in their cultural roots and actively take part in preserving them.Get to meet Manita and learn about Tongan Weaving our next March Cultural Workshop! Pre-Registration is highly encouraged at bit.ly/utopiarsvp
If you have additional access needs in order to fully participate in this event please contact kaina@utopiaportland.org 72 hours prior to the event.

You are invited to participate in Healing Transformation's Two-Part "Protecting Ourselves Workshops - Finance & Self Defense"!When: Saturday, February 22 from 10AM - 4PM
Where: UTOPIA PDX Office, 7535 NE Ambassador Pl, Ste F, Portland, OR 97220.

Our First Workshop: Protect Your Wallet, Introduction to Budgeting and Credit with SPDC.
In this workshop, we will provide an introduction to budgeting and credit. After a short presentation, we will have Q&A time to talk with our host to answer any questions you have about your specific financial needs. This introductory to finances workshop will be co-facilitated with Marytianna Galo with SPDC.

Our Second Workshop: Protect Yourself, Self Defense Workshop
We will provide a self defense class from Holly Ng Forette from Safe Together. In this workshop, we will cover the following Personal Safety Foundations: Mindset, mentality, risk assessment, Safe distance management, Survival & escape from common attacks.

All body types and abilities welcome!
MASKS REQUIRED (KN95s will be available)Please register in advance at bit.ly/utopiarsvp

++About the location++
Free Parking
Max Red Line: Mt Hood Station
2 ADA bathroomsIf you have any accommodation needs and/or if transportation is not accessible
for you please reach out to stephanie@utopiaportland.org by February 8th

So nice we're doing it twice!

In collaboration with UTOPIA PDX’s COVE program, SPDC proudly introduces B-HCC (Building Health and Climate Resilience through Culture)- a unique initiative blending health education, climate justice, and culture preservation. This session will feature the talented Elisapeta Alaimaleata, who will lead a hands-on Elei-Making Workshop, offering participants the opportunity to learn traditional Samoan textile art while exploring its connection to health and climate resilience. Don’t miss this inspiring blend of creativity, culture, and community well-being!

When: February 15, 2025 11:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Where: UTOPIA PDX OFFICE - 7535 NE Ambassador Pl. Suite F
What: Join SPDC’s New Health Program: B-HCCB-HCC stands for Building Health and Climate Resilience through Culture, a program designed to address the unique challenges and climate resilience needs of the Samoan and broader Pacific Islander communities. By integrating cultural workshops with education on health and climate justice, B-HCC fosters awareness, sustainability, and well-being, ensuring traditions are preserved while preparing communities for environmental and health-related challenges.

Register for the event @ bit.ly/utopiarsvp

We hope to see you there!

Aloha and happy Tuesday!Come Join the Healing Transformations team in collaboration with "Death Doula Does" for Weaving and Grieving. We will be making vision boards as we say goodbye to 2024 and hello to 2025
while processing grief in a collaborative peer-to-peer environment.
Pre-registration is HIGHLY encouraged. Registration can be found at bit.ly/utopiarsvp.The event will be held Saturday, January 25 from 12-4pm at the UTOPIA PDX office. located at 7535 NE Ambassador Pl, Ste F, Portland, OR 97220.MASKS ARE  REQUIRED (KN95s will be available)
++About the location++
Free Parking
Max Red Line: Mt Hood Station
2 ADA bathrooms
If you have any accommodation needs and/or if transportation is not accessible
for you please reach out to stephanie@utopiaportland.org by January 8th.We're excited to see you there!

Hafa Adai & maila (Come) - gather with us to explore printmaking with motifs and symbols from Oceania, using and creating images and ideas that express the islands and our ocean homes. Clothing and the objects we have are what connects us, a way to recognize each other in the world, and helps us celebrate who we are and where we come from!With Special guest Roldy Aguero Ablao join us for Cove’s next cultural workshop: Ta'lo fan/ Do it again: Printmaking and Stencil Workshop!Where: 7535 NE Ambassador PL Suite F Portland, OR 97220
When: 1/19/2024 12pm (noon) - 3pm
Seats available: 15 participantsTo participate, register for the workshop @ bit.ly/utopiarsvpSuggested donation of $20
Donate @: https://www.utopiaportland.org/donateIMPORTANT:
Participants must bring upcycled materials to print on. (ie: clothing, bags, blankets, towels, etc. and plan to be on time to start in the beginning and stay till the end to help clean up.In this workshop, people will have a chance to create their own stencils, making designs and patterns that call to land, sea and ancestry. Guests will also have an opportunity to use screen prints and other stencils provided by the artist, using them to print on clothing, bags, curtains - whatever you would want to bring. Colors provided for the workshop will be black, white and gold. Maila!

Hey QTPIs! We're happy to announce our first event for 2025!

Join the Healing Transformations team (formerly Oceania Healings) for “Let’s Make Friends: An Opportunity to Find Community!”

When: Saturday, Jan. 11. | Time: 12-4PM | Where: UTOPIA PDX office located at 7535 NE Ambassador Pl, Suite F, Portland, OR 97220.

We will gather and get to know each other, eat pizza and popcorn, and watch Moana together. Food boxes to be provided by Pacific Climate Warriors.

Pre-registration is HIGHLY encouraged.
Register at bit.ly/utopiarsvp.++About the location++
Free Parking.
Max Red Line: Mt Hood Station.
2 ADA bathrooms.If you have any accommodation needs and/or if transportation is not accessible for you, please reach out to stephanie@utopiaportland.org by January 8th.

The design of the 2024 AIDS Walk is inspired by the incredible work of Keith Haring. A prolific artists living with HIV during the 1980s, Haring devoted much of his time to public works, which often carried social messages, especially around HIV & AIDS.

His work is often immediately recognizeable and resonates deeply with those in the LGBTQIA+ and HIV communities. By expressing universal concepts of birth, death, love, sex and war, using a primacy of line and directness of message, Haring was able to attract a wide audience and assure the accessibility and staying power of his imagery, which has become a universally recognized visual language of the 20th century.

Join UTOPIA PDX at the AIDS Walk by joining our team and walking with us at the event. Sign up with us here: https://2024.aidswalknorthwest.org/team/596641

"Join our Beginner 'Ukulele Workshop with Uncle Francis Doo on Sept 18, 2024, from 12-2 PM at 7535 NE Ambassador Pl, Portland. Limited to 15 spots—register now! Bring your own 'ukulele or request one during sign-up.

Sign up HERE!

Come join us at Shemanski Park at Land Back, an immersive festival celebrating Indigenous culture, art, and education. Celebrate our third annual event showcasing interactive activities, cultural presentations, music, poetry, and artists. Engage in games and art installations, listen to stories from our elders, witness live art making such as wood carving, and beading. Hear the drums and singers for a special cultural demonstration as dancers showcase some of their favorite styles. A variety of local mutual aid and grassroots organizations will be tabling, hosting giveaways and activities. Experience a truly unique and memorable celebration, where culture thrives and relationships flourish.

Keep checking back as we have more suprises to be announced as we add to our programming!

Stage:

Cultural dance presentation presented by the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara Nation (North Dakota)

28 Tha Native (presented with live band)

NW Medicine Singers and Dancers

Macuilshochitl traditional Meshica - Tolteca prehispanic dance group

Panel Discussion: What is Land Back and how can we support?

Shuina Sko

Sherri Davis

Activities:

Wood carving demonstration by Lelooska Foundation & Culture Center

Ecology through an Indigenous lense with Wombyn's Wellness Garden

Craft with our elders, presented by Pi-Nee Waus Elders of Portland, Oregon

Screen Printing with Cada Casa

Food and Craft Vendors to be announced

Organizations:

NARA

Native Arts and Cultures Foundation

Pi-Nee Waus Elders of Portland, Oregon

Future Generations Colabrative

NAYA

Lalooska Foundation

Sponsors:

Portland Events and Film Office

The Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation

Travel Portland

Tattoo 34

Tribal Vibes

Learn More:

https://www.facebook.com/events/447275647682387/

Social Media:

Facebook: Ittibani

Insta: @ittibani

Interested in sponsoring this event? Email: ittibanipdx@gmail.com

Get ready for an epic QTPI PATI on August 30th from 6pm - 9pm at the UTOPIA - PDX Office! It’s our FIRST QTPI PATI in our new space!!! YAY!

Enjoy silent disco, karaoke, a Photo Booth and of course delicious FOOD!

Register now at bit.ly/utopiarsvp

See you at the PATI! :)

Come to the UTOPIA PDX office and join us for our new Keiki Music Hour. This event must have your youth between the ages of 4-11 and must be accompanied by an adult.

Sign up at bit.ly/utopiarsvp to secure your spot!

We are hosting a COVE Workshop for Beginning Ukulele!

Come in a learn basics of the Ukulele and get into the island feel!

Register for this event at bit.ly/utopiarsvp to secure your spot!

Join OMSI for their second annual Pasifika and Asian American Community Science Night! This family friendly event welcomes visitors of all ages for a night of museum exploring, science demos, lectures, and cultural entertainment. All are welcome!

Questions? Email events@omsi.edu. Ticketing questions call 503.797.4000 x0

The Body Positive Block Party takes over a whole block and turns it into a community party!

Join us Sunday August 11 from noon-5pm for a free, all ages Body Positive Block Party! Come celebrate body diversity at this event full of pop-up shops, food, drink, music, activities, and community! Meet and hang out with the artists, service providers, fashion designers, creatives, small business owners, organizations and neighbors that make Portland a powerhouse city for Plus Size fun!