Success in the Community @success-communityaction - Tumblr Blog

Congratulations to Tuality Healthcare CEO Dick Stenson

Hats off to our good friend, Dick Stenson, for receiving the Hillsboro Chamber’s Emma C. McKinney Distinguished Citizen Award on May 24th.

Dick is CEO of Tuality Healthcare and served on our Board of Directors for many years. As the 2011 recipient of this award, Community Action Executive Director, Jerralynn Ness was on hand to present the 2012 award to Dick. He is pictured front and center with his wife Doreen, surrounded by family and friends.

Jerralynn had this to say about Dick at the presentation:

Once in a blue moon, someone moves into our community and quietly, effectively transforms the way people work together for the greater good. I couldn’t be happier about the selection of tonight’s award winner. Dick Stenson has been improving the well-being of Hillsboro for 20 years and truly understands that we are all in this together. For me, he has been a mentor and a friend and his 18 year involvement with Community Action made us a much stronger and more effective organization, inspiring us to always move forward and overcome challenges. It is such a privilege to be able to present this award to this exceptional leader.

Congratulations, Dick!!

The Emma C. McKinney Distinguished Citizen Award is given to an individual who lives or works in the greater Hillsboro area and has provided outstanding service to the community. For a full list of this year's award Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce award recipients, click here.

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A unique collaboration between Community Action Early Head Start and Coffee Creek Correctional Facility is being recognized by the Washington County Department of Health as part of National Public Health Week (April 2-8).

Community Action Head Start’s partnership with the Coffee Creek Correctional Institute is one of the most unique and innovative early childhood education models in the country. As part of the Early Head Start Program, incarcerated mothers who have infants or give birth while in prison are able to enroll their babies in the program and fully participate in their early development. The program also teaches parenting skills and supports temporary care-givers in laying the foundation for educational success for these babies and toddlers. The Department of Health is recognizing the health benefits for both mother and child associated with this ground-breaking program. Coffee Creek received Community Action’s Outstanding Community Partner award at the agency’s 2011 Celebration of Community Spirit Awards Banquet.

#Head Start #Coffee Creek #National Public Health Week

Community Action awarded CACFP Mini-Grant for Farm to Preschool Program

Good news! This summer, Community Action Early Head Start teachers will have something extra for the families in our Home Based program – bags of fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables and recipes for preparing them on a budget.

Increasing children’s consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables is a key strategy in preventing childhood obesity. Through collaboration with Ecotrust of Oregon, this project will provide healthy food to low-income families enrolled in our Early Head Start Home Based program while supporting local farmers. Ecotrust has brought its Farm to Preschool program to Head Start centers before, but this will be the first time that this successful program will be adapted to our home-based learning environment.

Community Action Early Head Start staff will also participate in the Ecotrust Farm to Preschool Coalition, which is being developed to share experiences and best practices for connecting families with young children with sources of fresh produce in their areas, and for expanding the Farm to Preschool program model to other preschool and child care sites.

The project is funded by a grant provided by the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), a federal program, which is part of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). CACFP plays a vital role in improving the quality of day care for children and elderly adults by making care more affordable for many low-income families. In Oregon, CACFP is administered by the Oregon Department of Education. Our program uses CACFP meal patterns to ensure that all meals and snacks served to children in our Head Start and Early Head Start centers are healthy and meet specific nutritional standards. This grant expands the ways in which families in our Home Based program benefit from CACFP funds and expertise.

We are looking forward to providing nutrition education, recipes, and healthy food to our Home Based program families, and to collaborating with Ecotrust of Oregon, which will strengthen our relationship with the community we serve.

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Check out Ecotrust of Oregon and CACFP in Oregon on the web.

#Head Start #CACFP #Ecotrust

The Oregon International Air Show awarded $2,500 to Community Action’s Homeless Children’s Program, a program which offers support and encouragement to hundreds of homeless children each year. The Homeless Children’s Program provides a stabilizing influence for children during a time of family crisis, giving children a chance to thrive despite the uncertainties they are facing as a result of their family’s homelessness. Creativity and self-expression are allowed to flourish in a supportive, structured and nurturing environment, and children have a safe place to talk about their experiences and share their feelings. Children are given the opportunity to continue to grow and learn despite the lack of a stable home environment. Success in the classroom plays a significant role in a child’s self esteem and sense of personal responsibility, so keeping children connected to familiar school environments and supporting academic achievement is critical. Program activities that focus on developing confidence and self-reliance help children emerge from this difficult time with new skills and a positive outlook on life, and include what by others are considered everyday activities—for example, arts and craft projects, planting a garden, sharing books in story time, playing outside on our play equipment, riding tricycles and bikes, birthday and “slumber” parties, and so many other childhood experiences we often take for granted. We are grateful for the Oregon International Air Show’s continued support of a program which has positive short and long-term effects on the physical, emotional, and psychological well-being of children in situations of extreme transition.

-Lisa Goodwin Development Manager

On November 16th, nearly 250 friends and community leaders gathered at the Embassy Suites at Washington Square for Community Action’s annual People You Should Know breakfast. As one of our largest fundraising events, the breakfast generates vital dollars to support programs and services benefiting low-income families in Washington County.

In addition to raising money, People You Should Know has become a touchstone for those interested in our work. Many guests come back year after year to hear Executive Director Jerralynn Ness’ update about critical issues impacting families and the ways in which Community Action makes a difference. A central message at this year’s event was that when our community is strong and when families and businesses prosper and thrive, we all benefit. This was illustrated so poignantly by our guest speaker, a single mother who, with the help of Community Action, has been able to chart a new course toward success. Today she is achieving her career goals, her son is excelling at school, and they are active and contributing members of their community. They are thriving.

As it does each year, the event concluded with a request for donations. More than $45,000 was committed by a long list of generous donors, including 42 first-time contributors to Community Action. Presenting sponsor Kaiser Permanente also played a critical role in the financial and programmatic success of the event. We truly value the partnership that has developed with Kaiser Permanente over the years and thank them for their continued support.

Both informational and inspirational, the People You Should Know breakfast once again brought our community together, as it has for more than a decade, to make a difference. Thank you to the many friends who expanded our reach by promoting the event, to our table hosts who helped us achieve our best turnout to date, and to the many donors who invested so generously in our work. You are valued partners in making hope and help possible for struggling families throughout Washington County. Thank you!

SAVE THE DATE: Don’t miss Community Action’s Celebration of Community Spirit Awards Banquet on May 9, 2012 at the Oregon Zoo. Consider joining the growing list of businesses that support Community Action as event sponsors. For more information about sponsorships or purchasing a table of 8, contact Lisa Brown at [email protected] or 503-693-3230.

Evergreen Middle School Students’ “Attitude of Gratitude” Focuses on Family Shelter and Head Start Class

A big thank you to Mrs. Love’s classes at Evergreen Middle School and their fantastic “Attitude of Gratitude” initiative! A group of 7th and 8th graders collected over 400 much needed items for the Hillsboro Family Shelter, including nonperishable food, diapers and wipes, and detergent. With these items Community Action is better equipped to meet the needs of families residing in the shelter as they seek stable housing and strive to regain stability.

A number of students and parents made the generous delivery and went on a tour of the facility. In addition to experiencing the family atmosphere at the shelter, they learned about an historic home that provides a safe haven for families during a time of crisis.

Evergreen’s “Attitude” continues through December as they Adopt-a-Class, taking responsibility for providing a local Head Start classroom with a new coat for each student and classroom resources for the teachers.

We truly appreciate the leadership and support demonstrated by Mrs. Love, Evergreen Middle School students, Principal Petrick, and Assistant Principal Harrington. Because of their efforts, families currently without a place to call home know that the community cares.

-Lisa Goodwin Development Manager

VANS Warped Tour Makes Sizable Food Donation for Washington County Residents

To some local residents, the annual stop of the VANS Warped Tour in Hillsboro each summer may be memorable for the traffic challenges, the loud rock music, and the sight of thousands of teens lined up along the fairgrounds, but for Community Action and hundreds of residents in need of food, it is an event which provides great relief and resources. Tour manager Kevin Lyman, who founded the tour in 1994, and Lana Posner, Director of Feed Our Children Now, partner to promote food donations at the tour stops. Our own Hillsboro Family Shelter was selected to receive this donation for the second consecutive year.

The summer of 2011 was one of the biggest years ever for food donations at the Warped Tour. Concert attendees who bring canned food get in to the event faster, and food donations go straight from the concert to local agencies which give food out for free to anyone who needs food. For Community Action, this year’s effort provided a staggering 4,000 pounds of food for the Hillsboro Family Shelter which provides Emergency Food Boxes to those in need. Long-time Community Action volunteers Tom and Bonnie Jacquemin picked up the food and delivered it to the shelter – a significant contribution of time and effort that we truly appreciate.

Community Action also benefited from recent publicity about the tour and donations, being listed as one of the top 3 recipients of food this year from the tour. You can read more at www.vanswarpedtour.com/blog/id/1845067. We are grateful for the support of our partners, and to the thousands of local concert attendees who contributed food!

-Lisa Goodwin Development Manager

Target Grant Benefits The Learning Circle

Thanks to Target, children and families involved with The Learning Circle programs will be well supplied again this year! Last year Community Action’s Child Care Resource and Referral Program was awarded Target’s $2,000 Early Childhood Reading Grant specifically for The Learning Circle (TLC) programs. Our reapplication this year resulted in again being awarded the grant to help supply books and materials.

The Target Early Childhood Reading Grant helps programs promote a love of reading and encourages them to read with their families. Funding will help trainers Donna Bennington and Joyce Suchoski as they work with child care providers to incorporate art, song, movement, and math into teaching literacy to children through age 4. Children will receive books which are most relevant to their language, interests, and reading level, and will be able to keep the books to promote reading at home. As child development and literacy experts know, creating a learning environment which not only promotes a love of reading, but also reinforces the cognitive process with the social and emotional experience of reading, can have a lifelong impact on children. TLC I and II helps about 400 children each year. We thank Target for their significant support!

-Lisa Goodwin Development Manager

PacificSource Charitable Foundation Continues to Help

For the third consecutive year, Community Action’s Opening Doors program will receive support from the PacificSource Charitable Foundation. Since 1992, PacificSource has been helping the community by providing resources and funds for the health and welfare of the underserved, which in turn lessens the burden on government. Since 1998, Opening Doors has been helping hundreds of low-income, uninsured pregnant women gain medical coverage and receive prenatal care.

Healthy birth weight is critical to lifelong health and has even been proven cost-effective. According to the March of Dimes, babies born preterm or at a low birth weight can experience breathing problems, brain hemorrhaging, heart problems and other serious health risks. Many of these challenges affect children during their first year of life or even longer. At the time of birth, the average first year medical costs for premature/low birth-weight baby is $49,033 compared to $4,551 for a baby without complications (WIC).

PacificSource funding will specifically help us reach out to women throughout Washington County, connect them to medical care, confirm their first prenatal appointment, and connect them to an array of services available to help them be successful mothers. Opening Doors connects women to medical care, but educates clients on how to use the managed health care system and fosters a proactive view of health care. The program also connects low-income, pregnant women to other opportunities, including parenting classes and additional services which help both mother and child thrive after birth. We are grateful for the generous and continued support of PacificSource!

-Lisa Goodwin Development Manager

"I can do what I couldn't do before."

Dear Community Action,

Your shelter staff – every one of them – is exceptional. They are true heroes! I was not really sure of coming to the shelter, but did so to get my children out of a wet tent. The first night I was welcomed by caring compassionate humans – not just another employee. By night two I knew there was a reason we were here, other than the obvious fact of being homeless.

As the weeks went by I found myself remembering the person I once was and the life I wanted. I made friends with some people here that I will never forget. Your staff actually made a change in me come about through their willingness to share some of their own personal triumphs – and just being there when I needed a smile or words of encouragement.

I will truly remember these last five weeks as some of the most beneficial of my life, and am walking out of these doors now with fond memories, true friendships, and a new found self esteem and positive outlook (or the old me remembered). I can do what I couldn’t do before because of the kind people I have encountered here. Several of your staff will be in my heart forever as they allowed me a look into their lives and enabled me to see a glimpse of what I want my future to be. They gave me hope and courage. I owe them more than words can say.

Thank you with all my heart! -- Chris L. and family

P.S. I hope you will allow me the pleasure of coming back – only this time as a volunteer!

In recent years, there’s been a strong push by legislators and program managers to keep meticulous data and show quantitative outcomes about the clients we work with. I understand the need to keep data to prove that the services we provide are vital, but when you add in the news of budget cuts, new legislation and program changes it’s easy to become overwhelmed by all the data and lose sight of why we do what we do.

Over the last couple weeks I’ve heard my coworker, Kristin Ludwig, on the phone collaborating with other school district employees to prepare reports to summarize her work this year. She’s arranged transportation for hundreds of students this year, and Hunter is one of them. Hunter is one more student in the “arranged transportation” category. He’s one more student with a “graduated on time” check next to his name. To me, Hunter was one more statistic to keep track of, but then Kristin shared with me a little bit about who Hunter really is. She reminded me that there is a unique story behind all the “numbers” that we see and hear everyday.

I met Hunter and his mom 2 years ago, when Hunter was a sophomore at Glencoe High School. During his sophomore year, Hunter and his mom stayed at our family shelter, as well as other family shelters in Washington County. They were moving between school districts, but because of Hillsboro School District’s McKinney-Vento Title X program, Hunter was able to stay stable at Glencoe through the many transitions. Because of that stability, and a lot of hard work, Hunter excelled in academics and athletics. He proudly became a scholar athlete. Hunter’s mom was also hard at work. She was connected to Community Action’s Family Advocacy Program, and her Family Advocate supported her in finding and keeping stability in their lives. After many months of struggling, she found a job and a place for her and Hunter to call home. Unfortunately, earlier this school year, she lost her job and our paths crossed once again. Hunter decided to stay at various friends’ houses and his mom ended up sleeping in her car. Through all the difficult circumstances, Hunter never gave up and never stopped working hard. This June, he graduated from Glencoe High School and was accepted at Western Oregon University. While applying for Western Oregon, he received over 10 letters of recommendation from his teachers and community members, who all know that he has great gifts to offer the world. He was also the first to receive a new award, “Most Inspirational Student”, created by Glencoe High School Staff who were touched by his hard work and ability to overcome adversity . Hunter plans to study exercise science in hopes of building a career in physical therapy where he can help others to find healing and wellness in their lives.

Thanks Kristin for reminding me of the value in every interaction we share with clients.

-Leah Brand Housing & Homeless Services

Carla, I just wanted to say thank you for help last week. You took the time to listen and not judge me. You expressed some compassion and empathy ... two things I did not expect when I had to swallow my own pride and ask for help, yet again. It's not easy being on the receiving end. Thanks, Mindy

Carla Chilton is a Community Resource Advocate in our Energy & Emergency Rent program. Carla is known throughout the organization for her kind heart and compassion, but as you can see, her natural way of caring about people extends well beyond the walls of Community Action.

So often in the work that our programs do with families, we aren’t able to see the total impact our interventions have on the trajectory of their lives. It is a rare and wonderful thing to see where the paths that we help families find lead them.

I wanted to share an email from Pat Rogers our Housing and Homeless Services Manager to one of his Family Advocates:

Faith,

You had a client named Vunnara. She left your caseload in April 2010. While she was with you, you connected her with Habitat for Humanity. She ran with it, and has purchased and participated in building a brand new single story home. She is featured in current spring edition of Willamette West Habitat News.

Sometimes the good doesn’t happen for people while we’re working with them, but sometimes “because of” and after. Out of a long list of things you probably worked on with Vunnara, you facilitated one small connection to this resource and look what happened in one year! Pretty cool…Have some chocolate, the good stuff.

And Faith’s response:

Thank you for sharing this great news with me and for the encouragement. Makes it all feel worthwhile to see clients like Vunnara work really hard and then to reach the goal of having an affordable home. Awesome!

Click here to check out Vunnara’s story.

-Katherine Galian Grants Manager

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HopeSpring, a transitional housing program for homeless mothers and their children, has been named the winner of the 2011 Cameron Award for Outstanding Community Collaboration by The Vision Action Network of Washington County. The program is a partnership of Lutheran Community Services Northwest, LifeWorks NW, Community Action, and Domestic Violence Resource Center. Over the past 16 years, HopeSpring has helped 339 families who have experienced domestic violence or struggled with drug and alcohol abuse. The program offers monetary assistance, counseling, education and relapse prevention support. “HopeSpring was chosen because it exemplifies multi-organization collaboration that utilizes creative approaches to address one of our community’s most pressing needs, and has measurable and substantial impact,” said Karin Kelley-Torregroza, executive director of Vision Action Network, in a written statement. The Cameron Awards, founded in 2005, have been presented annually in recognition of those groups and individuals who value collaboration to serve others. The awards are named after Charlie Cameron, longtime Washington County administrator and a founding board member of Vision Action Network. The award will be presented during the network’s annual celebration at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, June 2, at the Glenn & Viola Walters Cultural Arts Center, 527 E. Main St., Hillsboro. The event is free, but registration is required by calling 503-846-5792, or by sending an e-mail to [email protected].

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Last week one of the students staying in our shelter had a science fair at her school. For weeks before the fair she and I carefully monitored three yellow rose petals. She decided to test claims that Vitamin E can slow the aging process. We put one rose petal in a plastic bag with Vitamin E, one rose petal in a plastic bag with water and one rose petal in a plastic bag with nothing else. Everyday the student took pictures of each of the rose petals and wrote down observations about the “aging” of the petals. In the end we found out that the rose petal with nothing added was in the best condition.

This project reminded me of a wonderful children’s book I was given years ago called Where Can I Build My Volcano? by Pat Van Doren. In the book a young girl, living with her mother in a shelter, struggles to feel at home in a completely new, often overwhelming environment. In addition to the whirlwind changes she is experiencing upon becoming homeless, she has to grapple with building a science project in a shelter filled with curious kids and myriad distractions.

In both the book and real life, the girls were comforted by having something they could work on day to day. This helped ground them and gave them a sense of pride and ownership. Both stories illustrate the importance of having after-school programs for children facing housing instability.

Head Start doesn’t just teach kids, it teaches parents how to be teachers to their kids

My son and I began attending Community Action Head Start five years ago in the Family Partners Program. Admittedly, I was very hesitant about this class. My personal life situation was demanding that I find a full-time child care provider, so I could work and provide basic needs for my son and I, who desperately needed to get out of a domestic violence situation. I had no family around us, few friends, no life direction and zero confidence. I had never heard of Head Start. This particular program had me coming to school with my son and being part of a “family classroom”, and it was wonderful. It was fully worth the cross town max/bike ride with my son in the front basket on my bike.

I still remember the trepidation I felt before coming, and how kind the teacher was when she first called saying, “Just try it out and see if this is a good match for you. You can always drop if you are not comfortable.” Well, it turned out to be a perfect match for my son and me, for that year and many more years to come.

Before starting Head Start, we were inches away from homelessness and financial ruin. Since living with my abuser was not an option, I was paying my rent with credit cards, and paying credit cards with other credit cards, staving off utility companies and maniacally clipped coupons to make the little food stamps we received stretch.

I did everything short of stealing to get free bus tickets to get around town, since having a car was a pipe dream. A computer, cell phone, TV, were also ridiculously unattainable at that point. We had less than the bare minimum. I did what I could with what I had and used what I knew. It was a very difficult time.

Through Head Start, I was able to obtain information, resources, a sense of self and direction, and of course, an invaluable head start in school for my son.

Through the help of Community Action, I was actually able to stabilize. I will be eternally grateful. The sheer relief of not getting evicted was only the beginning. Community Action helped me not only get rental assistance, but energy assistance as well. No more heart thumping shut-off notices in my mailbox! Oh the joy of being able to turn on a light or cook a meal without freaking out.

Can I say thank you enough? I really can’t. But thank you all the same. With our basic needs met, I was able to focus on the very important task of taking care of my son, and myself :)

When my son started in the full-day preschool program, I was able to start working, and thus began the process of emerging from that giant hole of desperation and stress.

In school, my son received every kind of screening you can think of to catch any problems early. The Family Services Teacher guided me to take parenting classes and parent-child interactive therapies to help with behavior and anxiety issues my son was having. I utilized all the information that was given to me for the sake of my son. I also utilized parent training funds from the program to get my education. I did not realize it at the time, but as I was helping my son, I was also helping myself, all thanks to Head Start. Through this wonderful program, I found my direction in life. I was introduced into a world of helping others to help oneself. The Head Start family services gave me a hand up, not hand-outs.

Head Start doesn’t just teach kids, it teaches parents how to be teachers to their kids. Today I stand here, as not only a proud former Head Start parent, but as a proud Head Start Family Services Teacher.

I work full-time with the families and children I love as my very own. I cannot begin to express how lucky I feel to be in a place to give back the love and care that was given to me, and receiving it again ten-fold from all the children in my classroom.

I absolutely love giving back to a program where I feel a strong familial bond, and am whole-heartedly thankful that I am now fully self-sufficient and happy. Thanks to Head Start, we have been able to head forward. Again, the thanks cannot be measured, but thank you again and always.

Unfortunately, my story is not unique. I’ve seen and felt it firsthand from the families I work so closely with. I feel it is completely unjust that families with preschool aged children are punished with poverty and stress. It terrifies and saddens me to witness and know what families go through just to survive. All during the most important and influential years of a human’s life: Birth to age five. Head Start provides an option, help and hope.

My son graduated from the program at 5 years old, but the benefits of his three years in the program will last him a lifetime. At seven years old, he is now a beaming, well-adjusted second grader at Templeton Elementary, where I currently work in the Head Start classroom.

He has overcome his emotional problems and still absolutely loves school. If you do the math, you’ll realize that he is actually supposed to be in first grade. Because he developed such a love of reading and math during the time spent in Head Start, he was essentially “kicked out” of kindergarten and placed in the first grade. Currently, his academic capacity is at end of third grade.

Did he get a head start? What do you think?

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