We fold so people can fly
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We fold so people can fly *
ABOUT US
Paper Planes PDX is a community development corporation built on a simple belief — that business and human care don’t have to compete. When folded together thoughtfully, they can do something neither can do alone. They can help people fly.
Most of us remember folding paper planes as kids. You’d start with a blank sheet, crease it with care, and then comes that moment — you let it go and watch. There was something quietly hopeful in it. Something that believed in flight before it could prove it.
That’s still what we do.
Our two current initiatives — Neighbours Table Coffee Shop and the U.ME.US Food Pantry — are both rooted in Portland, Oregon, and both exist because people deserve more than survival. Neighbours Table gives people a way to fly — jobs, job training, and a place to rebuild a vocational story, especially for those coming out of foster care, sober living, or navigating the gaps in their work history. U.ME.US gives people the ability to fly — ensuring that families aren’t held to the ground by food insecurity, because no one soars on an empty stomach.
One initiative builds capacity. The other removes barriers. Together, that’s Paper Planes.
We are still folding. We’d love for you to join us.
paper planes initiatives
UMEUS Food Pantry
Established in 2011, the U.ME.US Food Pantry is a shopping cart style environment valuing inclusion, hospitality, dignity, and partnership. For many families and individuals living in Portland food insecurity is all too common, and for the hundreds of people who have experienced this place, it’s become more than a food depot, it’s a place of encouragement, community, and consistency. The U.ME.US Food Pantry does not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, sex, gender, marital status, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, or disability. Read more.
We are open the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Sunday of each month from 1:30pm - 3:30pm. We are closed the 1st and 5th Sundays. Our partners include The Oregon Food Bank, Whole Foods Burnside, Cultivate Initiatives, Alongsiders PDX, and supportive neighbors. The U.ME.US Food Pantry is a 501c3 non-profit.
@NEIGHBOURSTABLE
Neighbours Table Coffee Shop
We are Neighbours Table Coffee and Commons, a non profit 501c3, located in the Kerns neighborhood of NE Portland. Our vision is to ‘table together,’ to be a place where you enjoy great coffee and good company.
Our job training initiative is one way we tell our story of neighboring. NTJT is a paid three month job training experience for marginal youth, those in recovery, or those needing to gain job history and/or experience due to a gap in employment. In partnership with Cascadia Coffee Roaster’s our three month training will focus on learning the coffee trade from "beans to barista". This training will develop and enhance both personal and professional skills, build confidence, and provide a way forward through hard work and determination.
We proudly serve Love Coffee. Love Coffee is an initiative between Portlands very own Cascadia Coffee Roasters and Laundry Love a national non-profit who washes the clothes and bedding of low to no income families and persons. With every 5 pound bag of coffee served $5.00 goes straight to Laundry Love national efforts and with every 12oz bag of Love Coffee purchased at Neighbours Table $4.00 goes straight to the national efforts of Laundry Love.
Neighbours Table Coffee and Commons leases space from Alongsiders Inc. We are not affiliated with any entity who leases space at 2830 NE Flanders St, but due to being in a mixed-use property, cross pollination happens. Neighbours Table Coffee and Commons does not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, gender, sex, marital status, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, or disability.
The Neighbours Table is an initiative of Paper Planes PDX a charitable nonprofit corporation created to unfold ideas around business and human care.
LEADERSHIP
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Greg Russinger
FOUNDER of PAPER PLANES PDX
& BOARD PRESIDENT -
Jeffrey Lowe
BOARD MEMBER
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JAMIE BENZ
BOARD MEMBER
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JOEY KING
BOARD MEMBER
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JANAN COLE
BOARD MEMBER
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Allison Hester
OPERATIONS
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Susan Thomas
NEIGHBOURS TABLE
MANAGER & DIRECTOR -
Michele Russinger
UMEUS FOOD PANTRY DIRECTOR
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paper plane fun
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