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Page A4
M A R C H IX, 1998
(Flic P o r tla n d Oî)bseruer
3rd fàirfchdaÿ
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Fr©tí¿ F©ur Metí? ti? i«,
Fatizilÿ & F rieíids
Ch,i Id r t h
D e S e a n , D en iesh a , a n d K a e ch elle, a g e s
7, 6, and 9 m os.
T h e s e th re e A fric a n -A m e ric a n /C a u c a sia n e h ild re n n ee d a v ery
sta b le fam ily w ith lo ts o f love to h e lp th em o v e rc o m e th e ir p ast
a b u se an d n eg lec t. T h ey are th ree o f o v e r 2 0 0 O re g o n c h ild re n
c u rre n tly a w a itin g a d o p tiv e fa m ilie s .
T h ese a c tiv e c h ild re n love to p la y . D e S e a n c a n u su a lly be
fo u n d rid in g his b ik e or b u ild in g w ith le g o s. D e n ie sh a lo v e s to
p lay d re ss u p and play w ith h er d o lls. B a b y R a e c h e lle e n g a g e s in
n o rm al b ab y -ty p e p la y su c h as p e e k -a -b o o .
This th re e so m e need a lo v in g , c o n s is te n t h o m e w ith p a re n ts
w ho kn o w how to ad d ress c h a lle n g in g b e h a v io rs an d can p ro v id e
in d iv id u a liz e d atten tio n . T h e y a re in th e p ro c e s s o f b e c o m in g
legally fre ed fo r a d o p tio n .
V e le V e Y c iu t
T o learn m ore a b o u t th e c h ild re n w h o a w a it h o m e s an d th e
a d o p tio n p ro c e ss, call th e S p e c ia l N e e d s A d o p tio n C o a litio n at
T h e B oys an d G irls A id S o c ie ty - 1 -8 0 0 -3 4 2 -6 6 8 8 .
DeSean, Deniesha, and Raechelle
nw Regional
T he fourth annual M O M S . Club
NW Regional Conference will be
held on Saturday, May 9th form 8:00
am to 2:00 pm and includes work
shops, vendors, catered lunch and a
keynote speaker for a total cost o f
$25.00. T he location o f the confer
ence will once again be at the Mon
arch I Intel, located at 12566 SE93rd
Ave., Portland, OR., Exit 14 from I-
205.
R egistration will be taken form
A pril I st up to the day o f the confer
en c e and will b e allow ed at the door.
R egistration form s are available by
phoning f.eslieC o w ash at 235-5513.
W orkshops include “D o n ’t be the
N ext V ictim ,” “ Positive D iscipline,”
“ Im pact o f C hildren on M arriage,”
“ H om e S chooling,” “ Art and Y oung
Moms Clubs
C h ild ren ,” and “ S tretching Y our
D ollars,” along with “ Fast and Fru
gal M eals,” and “ PM Sand Pre m eno
pause.” T he key n o te speaker will be
Lynn Martin, w ho m inisters with her
husband at the Mt. O livette Baptist
Church. She is a dynam ic person and
addresses the need for us to nurture
ourselves and o u r m ates for a truly
lasting relationship.
A lthough this conference is geared
to stay-at-hom e mothers, many would
find the inform ation useful and e n
tertaining. It is a great chance to
connect with other m others. N ursing
infants are w elcom e, but no child
care will be provided.
For m o re in fo rm atio n , contact
C'oreen G reen at 666-5907 or Sally
H u n tle y a t 7 7 1 - 2 8 4 8 .
Non-Sexist Parenting
N on-Sexist Parenting in a Sexist S ociety is the title o f the innovative
series o f talks to be held this spring at In O th er W ords W o m en ’s Books and
Resources.
R aising kids in contem porary U.S. society is daunting. Parents often
feel caught betw een the “devil" o f sexism , hierarchy and consum er culture
and the “deep blue sea” o f children’s ow n desires and their capacities for
a fuller hum anity. This series o f discussions focuses on w hat parents can
do to cultivate non-sexist values in ehildren through topics such as gender
and self esteem , discipline, play, and sexuality. Each discussion addresses
diversity issues in parenting, including sexual orientation and racial and
social class differences. Presenters bring both an academ ic and feminist/
activist interest to the topic o f child rearing. D iscussions will be held the
last I hursday of each month, 7-8:30pm, at In O ther W ords. All discussions
are free and open to the public.
BUILDING BETTER COMMUNITIES:
Supporting Family Strengths
$130,326 Donated To
Programs For Women,
Children and Families
H undreds o f w om en shared their
success w ith w om en, ehildren and
families in Portland today at the sixth
annual Y W CA W om en’s Leadership
Luncheon. T h e event, billed as
“ Portland's prem ier w om en’sevent,”
raised a record setting $ 130,326 for
the program s and services o f the
YWCA o f G reater Portland.
Emceed by K A T U ’s Julie Emery,
the event featured speeches by sev
eral YW CA clients. Joy Fauth, a
survivor o fd o m estic violence, share
her story and spotlighted the work o f
the YW CA W om en’s Resource C en
ter and Shelter. Said Joy, “ M y family
is no longer ju st surviving, w e ’re
thriving!” Jeannine Carr, a M ult
nom ah County H ealth D epartm ent
nurse spoke about her w ork at the
YW CA T ransitional School for chil
dren o f hom eless fam ilies. Said
Je a n n in e , “ W ith h elp from the
YW CA T ransitional School, these
kids can break the cycle."
G alisa Scott, N neka A gum and
A m anda El-all age 10-shared their
experiences at the Sm art Choices
m ath/science program for girls aged
8 to 18. Said G alisa, “ At Smart
Choices, I get to do things I w ouldn’t
get to do until high school.” O kainer
C hristian D ark, an assistant United
States A ttorney, closed the event and
m ade the pitch. Said O kainer, “ Each
o f us here today can stand in the gap
for som eone being helped by the
YW CA ofG reaterP ortland." Famed
P o rtla n d p ia n ist M ich ael A llen
H arrison played an original com po
sition written fo rth e YW CA entitled
ZTtc Fabric o f Life.
Due to the generosity o f corporate
donors, all individual donations made
at the event w ere designated entirely
for YW CA programs. T h eev en tw as
co-sponsored by W estern Family
Foods and Key Bank o f Oregon.
Tw enty-six additional corporations
also underw rote the event. H anna
A nderson generously provided in
fant clothing, used to construct the
table centerpieces-life-like “balloon
b a b ie s.” C o lu m b ia S p o rtsw ear,
Storables, Inc. and W estern Family
Foods also donated in-kind item s for
use by YWCA programs.
For 97 y ears, th e Y W C A o f
G reater Portland has been a com m u
nity based organization com m itted
to the advancem ent o f w omen and
the elim ination o f racism and other
forms o f discrim ination. YW CA
program s include services for teen
parents, homeless children, at-risk
se n io rs, b attered an d h o m eless
w omen; as well as Smart Choices
(m ath and science for girls 8 to 18)
and Cam p W estwind on the Oregon
Coast.
The YW CA serves over
35,000 clients at six locations around
the Portland metropolitan area. For
m o re inform atio n , co n tac t Kari
C hisholm at 503-294-7478.
U i 1 /Men our
k
family faces
a challenge,
we face it
head on.
With all our minds
put together,
we’ll come up
with something to
meet that challenge.”
-G ENEVA JONES,
grandparent of six,
great-grandparent of three
V-fl
Multnomah
-County-
^lorUanh GDbsmter
Multnomah County's Family Centers support family strengths
with 14 locations throughout the county.
0^
centers
B uilding B etter C ommunities