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:
- Co-Chair Sen. Lee Beyer, 503-986-1706, Sen.LeeBeyer@oregonlegislature.gov
- Co-Chair Rep. Rob Nosse, 503-986-1442, Rep.RobNosse@oregonlegislature.gov
- Sen. Dallas Heard, 503-986-17021, sen.dallasheard@oregonlegislature.gov
- Sen. Rob Wager, 503-986-1719, Sen.RobWagner@oregonlegislature.gov
- Rep. Cedric Hayden, 503-986-1407, rep.cedrichayden@oregonlegislature.gov
- Rep. Andrea Salinas, 503-986-1438, Rep.AndreaSalinas@oregonlegislature.gov
- Rep. Sheri Schouten, 503-986-1427, Rep.SheriSchouten@oregonlegislature.gov
- Rep. Duane Stark, 503-986-1404, rep.duanestark@oregonlegislature.gov
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