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, 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