Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Pass it On

**City of Portland Fix-it Fairs are coming! The 2016-17 fairs are scheduled for the following Saturdays: Nov. 19th at Ron Russell Middle School; Jan. 28th at George Middle School; and Feb. 25th at Madison High School. New this year: workshops presented in Spanish at every fair. The fairs are a free event where people can learn simple ways to save money and connect with community resources. The PCL has several tables at the fairs: if your organization is interested in attending any or all of the fairs to spread the word about your services, please contact marygay.broderick@portlandoregon.gov

**PCL has a limited number of sponsorships available through its Event Sponsorship program for nonprofit organizations looking for help to underwrite event costs. The Levy will award 10 $500 sponsorships per year for events related to its funding areas; five sponsorships are available for events from January through June 2017, with applications accepted on a first-come, first-served basis in early December.

Details can be found on PCL website here or contact https://www.ywcapdx.org/what-we-do/social-justice/marygay.broderick@portlandoregon.gov with questions.

**The 2016 PCL Progress Report is out. Click here to view online. 

**The Portland Children’s Levy has a whole new look to its website! Click here to visit and let us know what you think by emailing marygay.broderick@portlandoregon.gov

**Follow PCL on Twitter here

**Playworks can help providers working with children integrate safe, healthy and inclusive student play into existing school activities through a series of thorough and interactive workshops that highlight constructive tools and methods. The trainings are designed for before-, after- and out-of-school program staff.  Go here for more info. 

**The YWCA offers high-quality and engaging social change trainings. All of the info can be found here.

** Meals 4 Kids, a PCL-funded program through Meals on Wheels People that delivers meals to children and their caregivers throughout Portland, is looking for volunteer drivers. Interested? Contact lynette.vicens@mealsonwheelspeople.org

PCL launches website Volunteer Page 

The Volunteer page is up and running on the revamped PCL website here.

You can find the link in the middle of the homepage here, as well as in the drop down menu under About Us.  

Also, it’s never too late to be listed, so if you are an org that accepts volunteers, please email marygay.broderick@portlandoregon.gov with: 

1.    A link: either to your website where volunteer information can be found, or the email and/or phone number of the name of the person responsible for volunteers.

2.    A short blurb about what you are looking for from volunteers.

3.    If you would like to include any specific wording about outreach to older and/or retired potential volunteers.

 Thanks to everyone who has participated.

Programs Making a Difference: Camp Fire USA Portland Metro Council

If I could be more like one of my students, I would choose AMW. She has taught me a great deal about resilience, kindness, unity and persistence. We spent her 6th grade year building a mentoring relationship and she was outspoken about her love of Camp Fire. After attending regularly at the beginning of her 7th grade year, her school and Camp Fire attendance began to fade and she stopped seeking me out during the school day. I learned that her school attendance was particularly low, so we set aside some time to talk. She told me that she had been going through some extremely difficult things outside of school. As a result she “didn’t really feel like a leader,” and thought that unless she was a perfect leader, she was not Camp Fire material. By validating the extreme circumstances of her life, we shifted her paradigm of leadership. She was like a hiker with a backpack full of heavy bricks comparing herself to hikers with empty backpacks and wondering why she wasn’t hiking as fast. I explained my deep faith in her and together we made a plan to help her feel more supported and able to attend school.  

This plan continued to evolve to include more of the school community. I coordinated with her social studies teacher and the three of us had a meeting that ended with the teacher validating AMW’s skills and making a plan that gave AMW traction by working in the Camp Fire room. We also set an intensive goal when her attendance dropped really low. We agreed that if she came to school every day for two weeks, I would bring her favorite snack to school. She went from attending a few days per week to 100 percent attendance for two successive weeks. Much of what our Camp Fire group became is due to her, and much of what I believe about group cohesion, unity and support came from watching her in action. Without her enormous heart, fierce determination and willingness to try and try again, we would not have developed the deep respect and mutual admiration that we currently share. 

This year, she coined the term, “family-ship.” It’s a group of people, unrelated by blood, who show up and support each other. This is her story and I’ll close with her words, usually shouted from across the room: ‘We are a family-ship. And family-ships stick together!'”

 211info for Foster Care Parents

Oregon foster parents can get the guidance they need from trained experts through the Foster Parent Support Line. The free service is provided by the Oregon Department of Human Services in partnership with 211info. 

Foster parents can connect with 211info staff specifically recruited and trained to be foster family support specialists by dialing 2-1-1 and listening for the parenting option, or sending an email to foster@211info.org

The Foster Parent Support Line is an on-call, compassionate resource for advice, referrals and crisis intervention, especially when DHS offices are closed. Foster parents can access help on a wide range of topics including:
* Parenting support
* Child development
* Behavioral challenges
* Transitioning youth out of foster care
* Community resources
* DHS foster parent roles and responsibilities
* Contacting DHS caseworkers and certifiers

The Foster Parent Support Line also offers a list of free and affordable activities across the state for foster families. Support Line staff connect daily with DHS staff in local offices to make sure all have current information about the needs of children in DHS care and any necessary follow-up steps are taken.

Early Childhood Update

**Friendly House has openings at its half-day educational preschool program. The program includes play-based curriculum, outside and inside play space, meals, parent-teacher conferences and more. Full scholarships funded by PCL are available and there are also multiple openings for families able to pay tuition on an affordable sliding scale — monthly payments as low as $260. Any child who has turned 3 is eligible. Visit the preschool webpage here for more information or call 503-228-4391 — tours are available as well!  

Allocation Committee News

For those who missed Monday’s Oct. 31st PCL Allocation Committee meeting: read a meeting recap, view it online or see meeting related documents — all located on the PCL website on the page here. The next AC meeting will be Monday, Dec. 5th at 2 p.m.