Neighbors share messages of strength, positivity on ‘the hope fence’
Click here for updates on this story
PORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV) — A neighborhood in Northeast Portland is finding creative ways to stay positive and show strength during these challenging times by sharing uplifting messages on a front yard fence.
Outside of a home in northeast Portland, color fills every wood panel.
Everything on the fence all started because of one message that Jen Tate wrote at the beginning of the pandemic.
“I was feeling a real need to connect with the outside world, and I couldn’t do that. So I grabbed some poster paint that we had in the closet and went out, and I painted ‘we’re all in this together,'” Jen Tate said. “Right as I was finishing, a woman drove up and yelled out, thank you from her car. And it turned out she was on her way home from chemo. “Jen Tate says she and that woman had a real connection, and she realized others may benefit from having this kind of outlet.
“It very quickly turned into something where it was like, well this can be our you know community journal,” Jen Tate said.
Now it’s covered with all kinds of messages from the community.
Jen and her daughters say anyone can come and add whatever is meaningful for them on ‘the hope fence.’
It’s a way to connect in this time of isolation.
“I feel really warm because I know that they’re meaning for me and everyone else to see that,” Jen’s daughter, Brinley Tate said. “So I just feel like they’re talking to me without actually talking to me, which makes me feel less alone.”
It’s even become a place for the community to gather in these hard times safely.
In one instance, Jen Tate says the neighborhood gathered for a memorial to honor a neighbor who passed away.
Her daughter Rylan says the fence is a safe place for expression.
“Right now in society, we have so many rules coming down us, specific orders from all these different people, and I think that it’s good to have something that has no limits, has no rules has no restrictions,” Rylan Tate said. “It’s just colorful and bright and beautiful.”
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
