This month we had another visit from elected officials to support a child tax credit expansion, we share Patti's story of a long-time Free Food Market shopper, art therapy for Ukranian refugees, save the date for Welcome Home and more!

We were so pleased to host Senator Ron Wyden and Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici at our Head Start center at The Ramona last week to promote the proposed child tax credit expansion. More than 160,000 children would benefit from this poverty-reducing effort, including 11% of our own Head Start families.

Executive Director Chris Chiacchierini called Wyden and Bonamici "heroes to Neighborhood House, two steadfast advocates, challenging the unjust systems that result in wealth inequity. We have never needed them to fight the good fight more than we do now."

Thanks also to Susannah Morgan, President of Oregon Food Bank and Dr. Atika Khurana from University of Oregon's Ballmer Institute for Children's Behavioral Health for speaking on behalf of the initiative.

Patti has been going to the Neighborhood House Free Food Market since her vision declined to the point she couldn’t work, about 15 years ago. Her sisters help her shop and bring food home. She shared her story with Neighborhood House to support the 18th Annual SW Hope food and fund drive:

Losing my vision made it hard to work. Eventually my only source of income was social security and disability and it wasn’t enough. Plus, food is so expensive now.

You don’t go to a pantry if you have any money. You get to the point where you know you have to ask for help.

Scenes from SW Hope 2024

St. Luke's Lutheran Church was a founding member of SW Hope. Their food drive this year brought in 355 pounds of food - enough for almost 300 meals.

Cub Scout Troop 599 collected 972 pounds of food in the Rielke and Bridlemile neighborhoods and from Vermont Hills UMC during their annual Scouting for Food drive.

Our Parenting program is working with Live True Counseling to offer an art therapy group for Ukrainian refugees, led by Ruxandra Lazarescu.  

Art therapy has been shown to be a useful tool in managing stress, processing trauma, and building resilience. The focus of this group is on engaging with the art making process to find healing through exploring themes of change, transitions and transformation. This program aims to help participants navigate these challenging and uncertain times through the creative process.  

The group will meet every Thursday through May 9 as a pilot program that will serve as a model for future collaborations to serve across our communities. Our hope is to use lessons from this first group to help other communities through their own challenging times.

“I love working with children because they bring joy to my life every day.”

- Zahra Mohamed started in the Head Start program as a volunteer. She credits Neighborhood House for supporting her to get CDA certification so she could work in many other areas, from Head Teacher to Inclusion Support.