From Our Investees

(From the December 2006 Newsletter)

Earlier this year, we announced our two new investments: the Child Care Improvement Project (CCIP) and the Forest Grove School District Latino Community Network (FGLCN). Both of these programs have children as their main focus and they will expand SVPP's involvement in the Portland metropolitan area providing many volunteering opportunities for our partners. We will provide a comprehensive update on these projects in our next newsletter.

PEP (Parental Engagement Program)
Kelly Elementary:
• Portland Impact, the organization administering the SUN before/after school program at Kelly Elementary, received just over $150,000 in a matching grant from AmeriCorps to fund twelve full time "community resource member" positions at Portland Impact's eleven SUN sites. The "community resource member" position is based in large part on the PEP Coordinator model developed by Kelly Elementary, Portland Impact and SVPP.
• Trisha Balicanta is the new PEP Coordinator at Kelly Elementary as of September 6, 2006. She continues to increase parental engagement at the school by organizing events for parents,facilitating the Family Stories program as well as the Latino Parents Group.

Clark Elementary:
• SVPP Partners Alan and Marissa Crouch are donating $500 toward the purchase of books for the classroom libraries, and a matching grant has been applied for to increase this $500 donation to $1,000.
• Clark Elementary has been chosen to participate in the SUN before/after school program, with Portland Impact serving as the administering organization. This program includes a parental engagement component which will likely incorporate the Parents and Partners for Reading Excellence workshop program.
• The Tech Committee continues work on a new website for Clark Elementary.
• The Parents as Partners for Reading Excellence evening workshops for the 2006-07 school year have begun, with the first evening workshop taking place on October 10, 2006. SVPP volunteers continue to provide literacy events for the children of the parents attending these workshops. Future workshops are scheduled for November 14, 2006, January 9, 2007, February 13, 2007, March 13, 2007, April 10, 2007 and May 8, 2007.

CASH (Creating Assets, Savings and Hope)
For last year's tax season, CASH Oregon opened a Tax-Aide site at the Lloyd Center Mall in Portland, and distributed through its coalition members more than 30,000 brochures, flyers and posters. Despite being open on weekends open, the super site processed 724 returns, the second highest number of returns processed at any site in Oregon. EITC claims at the site totaled $278,732 or an average in excess of $2,000 per family. For 2006, objectives include:
• Tax Preparation - expand Lloyd Center operations to six days per week and open two new super sites in Washington and Clackamas counties. In addition, support community partner tax preparation programs (e.g., the Rockwood Weed and Seed initiative in east Multnomah County)
• Community Outreach – expand efforts to target families eligible for EITC through community partners and employer programs
• Financial Literacy – implement a financial education program
• Volunteer Recruitment and Training – operation of three super sites will require up to: 100 volunteer tax payers, 6 site coordinators, 9 screening and intake individuals, 12 specialist tax advisors, IT support and tax training
• New Initiatives - Evaluate ONE Economy's program to teach low income taxpayers to prepare their own returns on tax software provided by them

Kids Café
• Kids Café at Wattles and Blazers served meals to an average of 361 kids per day during Q2 and Q3 2006, in addition to afternoon snacks averaging 308 kids per day.
• Between both programs, 62,816 dinners and 53,849 snacks have been served to hungry youth since January. As of the end of Q2, the project showed a net loss, but this was primarily due to the Clubs being closed for a total of four weeks at the beginning and end of summer for maintenance so no reimbursements were received while the Club continued to pay the two full time chefs.
• Nutritional education classes continue to be held at Wattles three times per week. An average of 71 members participate each month in the nutrition programs. The Wattles Club will work with Growing Gardens during the next school year to teach youth how to grow and tend for fruits and vegetables and how to incorporate these into their daily diets. The Blazers Club Kids Café Coordinator installed raised garden beds on the south side of the Club so that Club kids can begin to learn how to grow their own food.
• B&GC management have now acquired the warehouse adjacent to the Hillsboro facility which will house a new gym, Kids Café and eating area. Plans are now complete and construction is expected to commence in mid-November. To date, grants totaling $1.77 million have been secured for the project. On October 5th, the Club held a ground braking ceremony led by General Colin Powell. The General addressed the kids for nearly a half hour, taking questions and sharing from his own life experiences.