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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 5, 2023)
April 05, 2023 Page 5 50th Annual Tualatin Lions Easter Egg Hunt Special Hunt for visual impaired added National Social Work Month Honorees, Alexandra Ronning and Amanda Catchpole Celebrating Excellent Child Welfare Casework Meet this year’s honorees for National Social Work Month The Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) celebrates National So- cial Work Month in March. Social work is inherent in the work done by the Child Welfare Division and other areas at ODHS, which annually helps 1.5 million Oregon residents through all stages of life. “National Social Work month is a time to recognize that those who do social work are important to our world and our community well-being,” said Child Wel- fare Interim Director Aprille Flint-Gern- er. “The positive contributions they make keep hope alive for communities, fami- lies, young people, and children. As we continue to carry out our work, we ad- here to the values and beliefs of the Child Welfare Division Vision for Transforma- tion which include service to humanity, social justice, integrity, human dignity and competence.” Tom Moan (1940-1985) spent his entire professional career as a child welfare case- worker and administrator in Oregon. He recognized that those most committed to child welfare often go unrecognized. Upon his death, Tom Moan’s family, friends and colleagues created The Tom Moan Memo- rial Award to honor excellent child welfare casework practice. ODHS recently named Amanda Catch- pole from Clatsop County and Alexandra (Alex) Ronning from Deschutes Coun- ty the 2023 (awarded in 2022) recipi- ents of the Tom Moan Memorial Award. Awardees are chosen through nomina- tions from families, community organiza- tions, Child Welfare Division employees and organizational partners. This year’s awardees will attend the National Associ- ation of Social Work Conference in Wash- ington DC as part of their recognition. The annual conference highlights best practices and developments in the field of social work. All expenses for the award are raised privately by ODHS staff and the Tom Moan award committee. Amanda Catchpole, one of this year’s winners, is a certified Licensed Clinical Social Worker and recently served as a supervisor in Clatsop County. She now is a Child Welfare trainer for the PSU Part- nership. Amanda was nominated for her outside-the-box thinking in accessing sup- ports for children and resource parents to maintain stability. She pushes people to see beyond what has been traditionally done and encourages new and innovative ideas. Alexandra (Alex) Ronning is a Certifi- er for resource families (formerly known as foster families) from Deschutes County who has also worked as a child protective services worker. She is a strong advocate for resource families but also has great judgment in assessing the safety of chil- dren. She values positivity and builds that into her care for fellow staff as well as with children in foster care and their resource families. She is passionate about support- ing children and families and can work with anyone from any background, what- ever place they may be in their life. “We are exceptionally proud of both Amanda’s and Alex’s work serving and strengthening the children and families of Clatsop and Deschutes Counties and throughout Oregon in their work,” said Interim Director Flint-Gerner. “We deep- ly appreciate the support from the com- munities they serve in nominating these outstanding Child Welfare workers. Rolf Moan, Tom Moan’s son and committee chair noted a common thread in all the nominee and awardee interviews: a belief that the circumstances these children and families faced were temporary and that they could play a role to help children and families reach their full potential. These skills are also important components of the Vision for Transformation and the child welfare system we are working towards.” Nominations for next year’s Tom Moan honorees are now open and will close at the end of May. Honorable mentions for the award in- clude Amanda Hurst (Polk County), Isa- bel Garcia (Marion County), Mark Davis (Benton County), Reo French (Douglas County), Heather Glazier (Jackson Coun- ty), Natalee Evans (Clackamas County), Paul Homan Anderson (Jackson County), Phillip Herrera (Baker County), Courtney Langer (Oregon Child Abuse Hotline- Multnomah County) On Saturday, April 8, 2023 at 1:00PM, the Tualatin Lions Club will hold their 50th annual Easter Egg Hunt at the lush, green Tualatin Community Park, 8515 SW Tualatin Road, Tualatin, Ore- gon. The Easter Bunny has already been talking to the Tualatin Lions, making ar- rangements to be there early for photos with all of the Easter Egg Hunters and their families. As in the past, there will be separate hunts for different age groups. Toddlers to 2-year-olds will be in the play area east of the central picnic shelter; 3 and 4-year-olds will be in the field south of the picnic shelter; 5 and 6-year-olds will hunt in deep left field of the softball field and 7 and 8-year-olds will hunt in shal- low left field. A very special addition this year will be a hunt for visually impaired hunters up to age 8. The Tualatin Lions are part- nering with a special friend, Ady Alva- rez, and her family to provide beeping Easter Eggs and are looking forward to this great feature as a part of its annual gift to the children of the region. Every hunter will receive a bag of Easter candy from the Scouts of Troop 530 and 2 hunters from each age group will receive big “special prizes” in return for finding “special eggs”. Troop 530 Scouts and Tualatin Lions can identify those “special eggs”. The Tualatin Lions will sell fresh popcorn, soda and water. Everything is just $1 and all funds raised go to Lions charitable community projects including school vision screening in the Tigard-Tu- alatin and Sherwood Schools, eyeglasses and hearing aids for neighbors in need and more. The Lions will also happily The Easter Bunny, seen here with Ady Alvarez of Newberg, Courtesy photo: Tualatin Lions Club accept donations of non-perishable food and cash that will directly go to the Tu- alatin Schoolhouse Pantry. Families from all over the region are welcome beginning at noon on Saturday, April 8th for photos with the Easter Bun- ny and fresh popcorn. Egg hunts begin at 1:00PM and everything will go off, regardless of the weather. The Tualatin Lions can be reached at tualatinlions@ gmail.com. Find Progressive News at www.portlandobserver.com
