Albinas Dawson Park coming back to life through community and city efforts [Video]

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – Tuesday in North Portland saw a joint effort to reclaim a park plagued by gun violence and connect the community with much-needed resources. This was the focus of the Albina Housing Information Expo, a collaboration between community nonprofits and the city’s Safe Blocks outreach program.

“It’s a reassociation of the people who were originally here saying, I Am Dawson Park,” said Michael Tabor, founder of nonprofit Saturday Samaritans and the man behind what he calls the I Am Dawson Park movement.

Dawson Park sits in Portland’s historically Black Albina district- and you’ll typically find it unoccupied. Neighbors cite rising gun violence. The most recent shooting in July killed one man and left behind more than 70 shell casings.

Tabor doesn’t shy away. Instead, he’s dedicated to reclaiming the park just blocks away from Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church, where he is an elder.

“My church is one of the only churches Martin Luther …