®lje ÿtnrtlanh (Observer
O ctober OI. 2003
Page AS
Wearing matching sweatshirts and armbands, Dads for Education are a visible force o f volunteers in Portland's schools to help students and schools succeed.
Dads Making a Difference in Education
by J aymee R. C uti
T hf P ortland O bserver
about their education. T hey’re volved in the education o f c h il
not moms; th e y ’re dads.
dren.
T h e y v o lu n te e r in th e ir
Portland Public Schools has
A ro le tra d itio n a lly c o n
ch ild ren ’s classroom s, help out adopted a national program , nected to m others. Dads volun
in the lunchroom , read to stu Dads for Education, to encour teers firm ly believe that men
dents, assist teachers and help age fathers and other male role must be visible and active as
their kids make critical decisions m odels to becom e more in- positive male role m odels and
need to take a jo in t leadership
role alongside m others to edu
cate their children.
“This program is for fathers o f
all backgrounds to get active in
schools,” said Christian Miner, a
spokesman for the district.
The program , which started
this month, is attracting prom i
nent education leaders includ
ing the districts com m unica
tions director Lew Frederick and
retired teacher Ken Berry, co
ordinator o f the program.
Dads are currently present in
18 schools, many in north and
northeast Portland. Program lead
ers hope to expand involvement
to more schools in coming years.
For more inform ation, call
503-916-6470.
■m m
Oregon Partnershi 9
K eith F redrickson
F or toe P ortland O bserver
by
Alliance Fights Drug
and Alcohol Addiction
Recovery
can start
with a simple
phone call
,
If you or a loved one is having
trouble with alcohol and drugs,
call Oregon Partnership. W e’re
here to help.
Oregon Partnership is a non
profit organization that reaches
out to communities across the
state with our prevention educa
tion and treatment referral ser
vices. We operate three telephone
hotlines to assist people strug
gling with all kinds o f substance
abuse — alcohol, crack cocaine,
m e th a m p h e t
amine, coke, mari
juana, inhalants,
ecstasy, prescrip
tion and over-the-
counter drugs.
Our telephone
assistance is free
and confidential.
All you have to do is pick up the
phone, talk to one o f our trained
staff persons or volunteers, and
you’ve taken the first step to
ward recovery.
Make no mistake, treatment
for alcoholism and drug addic
tion is not an easy journey. But
treatment and recovery work.
And the first step to achieve a
clean-and-sober lifestyle can start
with a simple phone call.
I wish you could have seen -
and felt - the energy on this past
Labor Day when some 500 people
in recovery spanned the Inter
state 5 Bridge, joined hands and
celebrated the freedom - and joy
that comes with sobriety. It
was magical.
Oregon Partnership's main
phone line is 1-800-923-HELP.
HclpLine operates at all hours,
seven days a days. It is staffed by
adult volunteers trained in help
ing alcoholics and addicts who
want help to find help. We also
welcome calls from people who
have loved ones suffering from
substance abuse.
We also operate a Spanish
HelpLine (“Linea de Ayuda”),
which is answered by compas
sionate, highly skilled volunteers
who are bilingual and bicultural.
Linea de Ayuda’s number is 1-
877-515-7848.
Our YouthLine, 1-877-553-
TEEN, lives up to its name. It is
a peer-to-peer hotline that al
lows teenage callers to talk one-
to-one with other teens about
substance abuse problems. Our
teen volunteers are supported
by adult mentors. Like the vol
unteers for our other lines, these
young people also undergo ex
tensive, ongoing training to help
them deal with all kinds o f sub
gram where parents, grandpar
ents and other volunteers are
trained to deliver alcohol and drug
prevention education in kinder
garten through six-grade class
rooms.
Oregon Partnership also has a
resource library, free and open to
the public, that offers a wide
range o f substance abuse infor
mation, educational tools and
c o m m u n ity -o rg a n iz in g
re
sources. Open from 9 a.m. to 5
p.m. weekdays, the library is
located at Oregon Partnership’s
m ain o ffic e at 6443 S.W .
Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy., Suite
200.
Oregon Partnership also houses
the Center on Alcohol Marketing
and Youth, a public health project
based at Georgetown University
in Washington,
D.C., that moni
tors the market
ing practices o f
the alcohol in
dustry to focus
attention and ac
tion on industry
p ra c tic e s that
jeopardize the health and safety
o f our young people.
Over the next year, Oregon
Partnership will work in alli
ance w ith The Portland O b
server to help fight the epi
demic o f drug and alcohol ad
diction that threatens our com
munities. Along with inform a
tional ads, w e’ll also be pub
lishing a series o f articles that
deal with specific drugs such
as crack and meth, as well as
stories aimed at supporting and
inform ing parents and other
adults engaged in the struggle
to make our com m unities drug-
free. O ther articles will focus
on young people and the struggle
they face in avoiding this ter
rible epidemic.
W e’re here to help. Together,
we can m ake so m e m a g ic
happen.
Make no mistake, treatment for
alcoholism and drug addiction is
not an easy journey. But
treatment and recovery work.
i
stance abuse and other prob
lems.
Oregon Partnership also oper
ates a suicide hotline - 1-800-
SUICIDE. W e're the only alco
hol and drug program in the
United States that has passed the
rigorous accreditation process
involved with handling suicide
calls. Earning this accreditation
show s how w ell-trained and
compassionate our volunteer and
staff members are when it comes
to helping people in crisis.
Our phone hotlines comprise
ju s t one o f the O regon
Partnership's services. We also
provide community outreach and
training to help communities fight
alcohol and drugs, and we have
another program called the O r
egon Coalition to Reduce Under
age Drinking that works to ad
vance public policies and laws
that reduce consumption o f al
Keith Fredrickson is commu
cohol by youth. We also have a nications director for Oregon
parents teaching prevention pro- Partnership.
Portland Libraries Busiest in Nation
According to a recent report
issued by the Public Library As-
sociation, Multnomah County Li-
brary ranks No. I in annual circu-
lation of books among all public
libraries serving populations o f
500,000to 1 million.
In 2002, residents checked out
16.1 million items—orover24books
for every man, woman and child in
the county.
"This wonderful news confirms
what we already know-that our li-
brariesarewell-lovedandwell-used
by people of all ages," said Interim
DirectorofLibraries Ruth Metz, add-
ing that over 13,000 people visit a
Multnomah County library daily,
Library board president and
longtime library advocate Susan
Hathaway-Marxer echoes the li-
brary director’s enthusiasm, not-
ing that the support of library users
has made a critical difference.
Alcohol and
drug addiction
is color blind...
gender neutral...
...and targets
all ages.
But help is available.
Call our free and confidential HelpLine:
800-923-HELP
OREGON
PARTNERSHIP
Preventing Substance Abuse. Changing Lives.
orpartnership. org
«