At last month’s luncheon, Monica Ford (the director of the Nest Program) mentioned that Boys & Girl Aid is currently engaging in lobbying for increased funding for homeless and runaway youth services across Oregon.  There have been a few members asking Megan for more information, and so we are including it here.

Yes, it is true.  Boys & Girls Aid is currently engaged in advocacy work with the Oregon Alliance of Children’s Programs (OACP) for increased funding for services for runaway & homeless youth across the state.   Boys and Girls Aid is requesting that funding be allocated to the Joint Ways & Means Health & Human Services Sub-Committee. It is estimated that there are 4.2 million youth and young adults in America who have experienced some form of homelessness during a 12-month period. In 2016-2017 Oregon was tied for the highest rate of child & youth homelessness; the other states were Nevada, California and District of Columbia.

We are asking if Cypress Auxiliary members wish to help with this and all who support these efforts, if you can either call and/or email the members of the committee.  Please do this as soon as you can.  We don’t have very long to make this personal plea to this committee:

Here is an idea of what you can say in a phone call or copy-paste to an email:

Hello ________.

My name is ________ and I am a volunteer auxiliary member with Boys & Girls Aid in Portland. I am writng/calling today in support of amending Senate Bill 458 to include an investment for community-based services and resources. We are asking that $6M be invested towards expanding the Runaway & Homeless Youth system statewide including outreach, shelter, and transitional housing. The investment needs to be sufficient to ensure the ability to attract, hire, train & retain high level staff. Through volunteering with Boys & Girls Aid, I have seen the importance of programs that serve homeless and runaway youth, and I believe in creating change so that these youth can receive the support and resources they need. I hope you will consider supporting our request, and thank you for your time!

and here are the committee members with their phone and/or their email:

 

Also, also is a very informative article about this.  Click here.  Also, you can view a recent article on this subject in the Oregonian.   Click here.

 

Thank you for your support,

Megan Bos | Development Officer
9320 SW Barbur Blvd. Suite 200 | Portland, OR 97219
Direct 503.542.2345| Fax 503.224.5960