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September 22, 1999
(Tlje lîorU anfc ©bsewer
P age A 5
Fred Meyer Donates
To Help Educate
Homeless Children
Do you ev er w o n d er w hat h ap
pens to ch ild ren o f hom eless fam i
lies in P ortlan d w hen other stu
dents return to school? For the lucky
ones, the answ er is the C om m unity
T ra n s itio n a l S c h o o l, w h ic h is
$ 14,050 rich er after a donation by
Fred M eyer S tores to help educate
hom eless children.
T he m oney co m es from a p ro
g ram h eld a t F red M e y er sto res in
M ay w h en m oney ra ise d from
m e rc h an d isin g P&G p ro d u cts w as
e a rm a rk e d for a P o rtla n d c h a rity
an d th e sc h o o l w as su b se q u e n tly
ch o sen.
T he m ission o f the C om m unity
T ran sitio n al School is to provide
an alternative school for at-risk chil
d ren from hom eless fam ilies w ho
are unable to overcom e the barriers
p reventing them from regularly a t
ten d ing school.
“ U nlike other kids, these stu
dents o ften com e to school w ithout
w arm coats, shoes, o r a full sto m
ac h ,” C heryl B ickle, executive d i
rec to r o f the school, said. “ B ut for
six hours every day they are w arm
and safe. T heir b ellies are full. And
they have the o p p o rtu n ity to feel
like typical ch ild ren w ith out the
heavy burdens o f h o m elessn ess.”
T he schoo l p ro v id es door-to-
d o o r tran sp o rta tio n from sh elters,
fam ily cars, and o th e r transient
locations to the classro o m s housed
at th e fo rm e r R ice E le m en ta ry
S c h o o l b u ild in g at 6 4 3 3 N .E .
T illam o o k . “ E v ery m o rn in g we
have to so rt th ro u g h d o zen s o f
m essages to find o ut w h ere to pick
up the ch ild ren w h o se fam ilies
have had to m ove d u rin g the night.
It is h ea rten in g to see so m any
p aren ts w ho are stru g g lin g so hard
to find food an d sh e lte r also m ak
ing the ex tra e ffo rt to h elp th eir
ch ild ren atten d sch o o l.
The one constant in the lives o f so
m any o f these children is their visit
each day to the Transitional School."
T he school p ro v id es p re-sch o o l
through 8th grade classes for m ore
than 300 students a year. It also
provides breakfast and lunch, m edi
cal and dental screenings, clo th in g ,
shoes, and school supplies.
"O u r e m p h asis is on th e b a
sics. T h ese c h ild re n c a n n o t d e
v elo p se lf-e ste e m u n til th e y su c
ce ed in th e ir sch o o l w o rk ,” B ick le
said . "W h ile th e y are w ith u s, w e
b e lie v e , o u r g re a te st o p p o rtu n ity
is to in sp ire th em w ith a d e s ire to
learn an d in still a c o n fid e n c e in
th e ir a b ilitie s to re a liz e th e ir ow n
d ream s. F o r so m e , w e o p en a d o o r
in to a w o rld th e y h ard ly k n ew
e x iste d .”
The S chool started in 1990 at
the Y W C A in d ow ntow n P ortland.
In the fall o f 1996, they m oved to
th eir p resen t location and in 1998
form ed an in dependent n onprofit
organization.
Fred M eyer has been h ea d q u ar
tered in P o rtland since 1922 and
fea tu re s 135 o n e -sto p -sh o p p in g
sto res in six w estern states. It is
part o f T he K ro g er Co. (N Y SE:
K R), w hich is the n a tio n ’s largest
food retailer.
New Federal And State Laws
Designed To Move More Children
Into Safe Homes In Less Time
B y R amona F oley
A dministrator of thf S tate O ffice for
S ervices to C hildren and F amilies
When I began child welfare work in
the late 1960s in SouthCarelina, I quickly
learned three “rules” about practice:
• Foster parents and foster children
are not to bond with each other when
the children are living in the foster
home. If there are signs o f bonding,
we must place the child in another
home. Foster parents m ay not adopt
the children placed in their home.
• Upon entering toster care, children
may not see their birth parents until the
children have “settled in." That is, they
are not to be made distraught by a visit
from their birth parents.
• W e have com e a long w ay since
the 1960s practice o f child welfare.
Each o f these practices is 180
degrees from w here we are now.
Foster parents are encouraged to bond
and often adopt children in their care.
A nd w ith few exceptions, visitation
w ith birth fam ilies needs to happen
as soon as possible after children are
placed in care.
Now, federal law says w hen the
child has been in foster care for 15 o f
the m ost recent 22 months, we will
begin w orking with the courts and
with other agencies to ensure perm a
nency for the child through some other
plan. W hile there may be exceptions,
the law ’s intent is to discourage the
practice o f allowing children to re
main in foster care indefinitely.
ASFA has the potential to im
prove child w elfare practice because
it stresses the safety, perm anency
and w ell-being o f the child and holds
child protective system s accountable
for actions and outcomes.
W hen child protective service
workers intervene, we may alter fami
lies forever. W e m ust strive to have a
system that ensures that fam ilies are
better o ff as a result o f the state’s
intervention - safer, stronger and
better able to care for their children.
And while we are focusing on the
child's safety, we must respect the val
ues o f the family and o f the community.
If w e do have to rem ove a child
from the hom e to ensure his or her
safety, we m ust be accountable for
this action. ASFA will help us to set
clear guidelines and time frames for
returning a child hom e or for estab
lishing another perm anent plan.
As head o f the state’s child pro
tective system , I w ant our division to
be a true partner to other fam ily ser
vice agencies and to be well respected
in every com m unity.
Finally, I believe we will have suc
ceeded when we have achildprotective
system in which we ourselves would
have confidence if the system were
called upon to serve our own families.
p a p a ftlurphtf/
The finish line at, this y ea r’s
P ortland R ace for the C ure ® event
featured a uniq u e added attraction:
a 10 X 10 M isting M assage Tent to
help p articip an ts cool dow n and
relax as they finished the Race. The
M isting tent is a special “ thank you"
to su p p o rters in the fight against
breast can cer from T eledyne W a
ter P ik, the e v e n t's local presenting
sponsor. T he M ist T ent featured
T eledyne W ater P ik ’s new est inno
v atio n , the M istin g M assag e ®
show er head, w hich gave R ace par
ticipants a sneak preview into a
w hole new sh o w erin g experience.
The Race for the C ure event took
place at W aterfront Park, Saturday,
Sept. 19, 1999.
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Valid through Oct 1999
OPENING IN NOVEMBE
F O O D & DRUG
COMMUNITY
( a ll 5 1 U -2 X X -O O .V
Thousands Of Participants ‘Cool
O ff At Portland Komen Race For
The Cure Event
H0HTEKY
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CHEESE
at Safeway.
(Ohsevuer
Tualatin High School Dance Team show their support by participating In the “Race For the Cure” Sunday
at Portland’s Waterfront Park. The event has grown each year. Approximately 4 0 ,0 0 0 participated this
year. L to R Daniela Balboa, Rachael Shindel, Sirena Mlkesell, Aubrey Buek, Chelsea Hightower, Amalia
Lucas, Lorlssa Hoffman, Kristina Neufer.
Photo b » M w .»hin<ton
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