COMMUNITY CARES TOURS
Learn about issues and ideas affecting our community and the actions you can take to make a difference on these surprising half-day tours.
Come on a compelling half day tour to learn more about local issues, and how you might help. We will begin with a 30,000 foot perspective from a local expert, then visit three or four distinctly different programs—all addressing a critical community topic. These are not fundraising events, but tours to deepen your understanding of an issue facing our neighbors, and how community organizations are responding.
The cost of the tour is $25 per person. Registration is limited, we travel by small biodiesel bus. Register online.
You will be provided with more information, including an itinerary for the morning. Questions? send an email to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Homelessness
This March 15, 2012 tour was moving and informative
• Council for the Homeless
• Friends of the Carpenter
• Share
• YWCA Clark County
Facts on Homelessness in Clark County Washington
• The Council for the Homeless (CFTH) was founded by the City of Vancouver, Clark County and the Vancouver Housing Authority to coordinate a community-wide response to homelessness. CFTH operates the county’s centralized shelter intake and referral system, collects and analyzes data to inform the community’s response to homelessness, convenes social service providers to coordinate efforts and share resources, coordinates the Winter Hospitality Overflow program, and works with landlords and social service providers to find housing for people with barriers to renting. CFTH believes that by utilizing best practices and by coordinating the work of service providers, faith communities, the private sector, and government agencies we can and will end homelessness in Clark County.
TourProfile_Council.pdf Website.
• Friends of the Carpenter is a Day Shelter; a safe place to be with supervised activities that promote positive friendships and networks of support to be established. Though there may always be need for overnight shelter which provides safety and warmth for those who are homeless, there is an equally painful coldness during the day, not so much measured in temperature but in the coldness of one’s spirit when they are lonely, feel left out and looked down upon during the day by those who pass by. Friends of the Carpenter provides unconditional, intentional hospitality. We also provide an inclusive fellowship consisting of people for a wide range of life situations, experience and skills for encouragement, support and networking. We accomplish these goals through the vehicle of woodworking, and by creating inspirational woodcraft. Our Tag Line is, “Changing Lives With Love” which happens to all people in the Friendship Center every day. TourProfile_Friends.pdf Friends of the Carpenter website.
• Share operates three shelters for the homeless, a transitional housing program (called ASPIRE), case management, a street outreach program and provides daily meals for the homeless and low-income members of our community. Share also operates a summer meals program for low-income children (600 served) and a backpack program to provide food for weekends to children receiving free or reduced-fee lunches. Additionally, Share offers financial programs that incorporate financial education and matched dollars for savings; these programs are designed to assist in the improvement of credit scores and financial management. Annually we serve: 1,415 people through our shelter system, 100 households through ASPIRE, 1,200 outreach clients, 105,000+ hot meals to the public, 600 children through SummerSLAM and 1,500 children at 55 schools through the Backpack Program.
Everyday at Share, men and women in our community reveal their story of struggle to meet the daily needs of shelter, food and security for themselves and their families. Share has faced a deepening of funding losses in both federal and state grants. And those funding losses are juxtaposed by an increasing need for non-profits’ services driven by job losses and cutbacks in government-provided services.
TourProfile_Share.pdf Share website
• ywca clark county SafeChoice shelter
The SafeChoice Program is one of seven at ywca clark county that works toward eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. SafeChoice offers a variety of services, including a 24-hour hotline, support groups, LGBTQ services and a domestic violence emergency shelter.
For nearly 40 years the SafeChoice shelter has been the only location in Clark County providing a safe and secure place for those fleeing from abuse. The shelter’s innovative approach creates an environment that is all inclusive, thrives on feedback of participants, and provides room and resources for personal space and growth. When a participant says, “You have helped me so much. You are truly life savers, and I don’t know what I would have done if I wasn’t able to come here,” it’s an affirmation that SafeChoice’s commitment to service and empowerment approach is a successful formula.
TourProfile_YWCA.pdf ywca clark county website
Youth in Crisis Treatment Programs
This tour has been rescheduled for September
• Daybreak Youth Services (substance abuse)
• Janus Youth Programs (homeless youth)
• OPTIONS of Columbia River Mental Health
• Teen Talk
Daybreak Youth Services
Janus Youth Programs
Janus Youth Programs has an established reputation in the region since 1972 and in Clark County since 1996. Janus provides innovative programs that offer an integrated continuum of care, including runaway and homeless youth services, a 24 hour teen crisis line, short-term shelters and evaluation facilities, street outreach engagement, financial and case management support and eviction prevention programs. The Youth Crisis Tour will visit, Oak Bridge, which is one of five Janus Programs in Southwest Washington. Oak Bridge Youth Shelter is the first crisis intervention program of its kind in Clark County to serve runaway and homeless youth. Oak Bridge is a joint venture between Janus Youth Programs, Inc., the Vancouver Housing Authority and the Council for the Homeless. Oak Bridge delivers 24 hour crisis intervention services and emergency shelter for runaway and homeless youth. The primary goal of Oak Bridge is to reunite youth with their families.
OPTIONS of Columbia River Mental Health
The Options youth program serves young people ages 14 through 24. The program serves youth who are out of the home or at imminent risk of an out-of-home placement. The program is designed for youth meeting the criteria of serious emotional disturbance (SED) with a need for mental health care, who voluntarily consent to participate.
Options’ goal is to help prepare and support youth during their transition from youth to independent adulthood. We focus our community based services on housing, community life skills, employment, and education. Our role is to provide strength based support; advocacy and guidance in helping youth define and achieve their goals, develop self-sufficiency skills, and otherwise prepare youth for life in the real world. Youth voice is strong and family involvement is encouraged and valued. We are committed to providing an early intervention with recovery based transition services.
The Options program is located at the Clark County Youth House.
Clark County Teen Talk
TeenTalk is a peer to peer support program for all young people in Clark County. Local teens complete 32 hours of training so they can give the best possible to support to another young person. Whether the conversation happens over the phone, through instant messaging, or by email, young volunteers offer support without judgment, and options without attitude. Many youth in our community do not have the easy access to kindness that every young person deserves. At TeenTalk, any young person can find out about resources and talk things over with someone who genuinely cares.
TeenTalk – where rock stars of compassion are in action.
Environmental Sustainability, the Green Tour
May 22, 2012 8:30 to noon
• Columbia Springs
• Empower Up
• Parks Foundation
• Vancouver Watersheds Alliance
Columbia Springs
Columbia Springs is a leading environmental education organization that provides hands-on learning opportunities for the community and students of all ages. Last school year more than 7,500 Clark County students and chaperones visited Columbia Springs for field trips and service learning activities offered through our On-site Education program. We offer the following partner-sponsored programs to the community throughout the year: Environmental Education Outreach; Master Composter/Recycler and
Salmon in the Classroom
We are located on one hundred acres of urban green space and share the campus with the 1938 historic Vancouver Trout Hatchery located at 12208 SE Evergreen Highway. The campus includes a laboratory classroom, an outdoor classroom and interpretive trails. Visitors can enjoy walking the nature trails, observe birds and wildlife, and visit the working hatchery.
Empower Up
Empower Up is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that diverts used electronics from the waste stream in order to empower the citizens of our community. Empower Up provides free computer technology education and free Internet access to the public. Empower Up accomplishes this by working with our partners: Clark County, The City of Vancouver, Clark College, The Salvation Army and Waste Connections to divert usable computers and electronics from the waste stream and re-purpose them into the community. Empower Up provides free resources to help those in need get access to technology and the Internet.
Parks Foundation
The Parks Foundation of Clark County raises funds through public and private partnerships in support of the parks, trails, and recreational programs of Clark County.
The foundation accomplishes its mission by creating and nurturing innovative partnerships, administering strategic grants, and establishing special funds to enhance the parks, trails, and recreational programs of Clark County.
The Parks Foundation, as a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization, accepts and administers donations, gifts, and bequests, and provides support and assistance in raising funds and promoting the special projects and programs as identified and prioritized by the cities of Clark County.
The Parks Foundation serves as a resource and network to the individual groups and organizations working to enhance the parks, trails, and recreation programs of Clark County and provides annual funding to the cities of Clark County through its Community Grant program.
Vancouver Watersheds Alliance
The Vancouver Watersheds Council was established in 2008 to bring together and engage the community to protect and enhance the natural environment of Vancouver watersheds. We are dedicated to building a sustainable Vancouver that includes citizens, businesses and government actively involved in the stewardship of Vancouver’s natural environment.
We accomplish these goals by sponsoring community activities such as plantings and festivals, public education such as classes and films and building partnerships in the community that contribute to a sustainable future. Join us as we make Vancouver the most sustainable city in America!
Arts in Clark County Nonprofits
Summer 2012
• Arts of Clark County
• Columbia Dance
• Magenta Theater
Early Childhood
June date to be determined
• Support for Early Learning and Families
• Innovative Services N.W.
• Educational Opportunities for Children & Families
• Clark County Public Health
