[vc_row full_width=”” parallax=”” parallax_image=””][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”743″ border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”full”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]By Ed Murphy
Our guest speaker at our regular lunch meeting on February12th was Catherine Crooker, Director of Advancement for Community Action. Catherine said that she has a special affinity with Rotary. Her dad was a life-long Rotarian, and she was an Exchange Student to Denmark, and a former member of the Hillsboro Rotary Club. Catherine has been with the Community Action program for 2-1/2 years. She has over 20 years of non-profit experience, including serving as Associate Vice President for Development at Lewis & Clark College. Her professional background also includes service as Director of the Tuality Healthcare Foundation and working in development at Pacific University. She lives in rural Hillsboro with her husband, Griff, and their two cats. In her free time, she pursues a number of diverse interests, including all types of fiber arts (from spinning to weaving), music, skiing, international travel, and running, which is a recent addition to her list of favorite activities.
Catherine started her presentation by showing a brief video that explained what Community Action is (which you can watch at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmPNVOMjUZs). She explained that the Community Action organization helps families in Washington County who have fallen into poverty, helping them find a path out of poverty by empowering and strengthening them. It is a support network, providing a “hand-up” towards self-sufficiency. Catherine said the staff and volunteers work closely with other agencies and non-profit organizations dedicated to the same goal, and she gave a special shout-out to the Good Neighbor Center, which is one of its partners. She purported that if we have the right services at the right time, people can move up. It is a hopeful message.
Catherine reviewed what “low income” means, in terms of yearly incomes, and the choices families have to make every day, as they juggle expenses of housing, transportation, food, utilities, medical help, child care and more, while working at a minimum wage jobs. She said child care was a major cost – it can cost more than state college tuition. Catherine also reviewed the question of “who is in poverty?”. Surprisingly, 75% of the people in poverty have at least a high school education. And in terms of where poverty exists, she noted that poverty is right here, in Tigard. In fact, last year, there were 135 students in the Tigard-Tualatin School District who were homeless. She said many homeless people are veterans, and showed a video in which a homeless vet shared his story. (You can see that video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJRc9lqCtPo). In the video, when speaking about Community Action services, the vet said “having someone you can talk to who isn’t going to look down on you…that helps a lot. You feel comfortable”.
Catherine talked about what strategies work. She said it is different for every individual or family. Sometimes it may mean paying a utility bill or tuition for college classes. Or helping with bus fare, or money for a driver’s license, or paying the deposit on an apartment unit. It may be helping a family negotiate with a landlord who is trying to evict them, or assisting a veteran household secure VA or other public benefits. The point is, the staff works with each person to identify their particular needs, and help them plan for long-term self-reliance and stability.
Sanford Inouye has been involved with Community Action programs since he was a young man in Hawaii. He and Catherine invited us all to a 50th Anniversary Gala on Thursday, April 30, 2015 5:30 pm – 9:30 pm at the NW Event Center in Hillsboro.
You can learn more about Community Action in Washington County at http://caowash.org.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]