THE CHARBONNEAU VILLAGER 11
February 2020
Boys and
Girls Aid
By ZOE NIKLAS
Boys receive sports bags
during Christmas time
“The World is a
dangerous place to
live, not because of
the people who are
evil, but because
of the people who
don’t do anything
about it.” — Albert
NIKLAS
Einstein
Val had been
with me through the long months in
the Seattle Youth Center. We both
were fighting in court against abusive
parents. A month after my release, I
discovered Val in the Big Junction of
West Seattle. It was so good to see her!
Grabbing her, I breathlessly exclaimed:
“We made it, Val! We are out! When
did you get out? Do you like your foster
family?” Finally, releasing her from my
exuberant hug, I noticed that she
wasn’t happy.
“I wasn’t as lucky as you,” she said
with a defeated air. “It’s okay, I guess,
as long as I stay away from my foster
father. He scares me.”
We continued our reunion that rainy
December evening, promising that we
would meet again. As she walked
away, I wished her luck with her new
family, but I never saw or heard from
her again. She just vanished.
This account, although true for some
children, is not true for the children
served by Boys and Girls Aid in Ore-
gon. One of the programs of Boys and
Girls Aid is called Safe Place. It is spe-
cifically designed to assist homeless
and runaway children. It is the only
homeless and runaway shelter for kids
in Washington County. What we do
here is rebuild the broken bridges the
children suffer between their biologi-
cal, or adoptive, or step families. This
sanctuary allows the children a break
from constant worry as to where they
will be the next day, or when their next
meal will come. It is truly a safe place.
After their stay at Safe Place, the
youth may be aided in securing stable
housing through STEP, which stands for
Stabilization, Transition and Evaluation
Program. These youth are served in cer-
tified foster homes. The children are not
thrown back on the streets as runaways
but are counseled and helped to find sta-
bility in their environment.
Boys and Girls Aid designs its pro-
grams for permanent placement with
carefully screened foster or adoptive
parents. Focus is directed at the physi-
cal and mental health of the children
by providing positive experiences. The
Cypress Branch in Wilsonville is in-
strumental in several of these.
Among these positive experiences is
the assembling of sports bags at Christ-
mas for 30 of the boys served by Boys
and Girls Aid. These sports bags were
financed through a grant from the Wil-
sonville Rotary. Each sports bag con-
tains a basketball, sweatshirt, socks,
water bottle, a box of 24 homemade
cookies and a variety of other things.
We assembled them at the house of one
of our members and then sent them to
Portland for the boys’ Christmas party.
Among those attending the party were
the boys at Safe Place and in the STEP
program. These children were thrilled!
It was reported that when the bags
were opened one of the boys protec-
tively carried his box of cookies around
for the rest of the evening.
Another positive experience for the
children of Boys and Girls Aid are Eas-
ter baskets assembled for and given to
girls. At Christmas we give gifts to all
the children served by Boys and Girls
Aid. Each gift has been specifically re-
quested by each child. The baskets and
gifts are donated by members of the
Charbonneau branch.
When children are no longer young
enough to be covered by the foster care
system but have not been adopted they
are served by the Transitional Living
Program. This ministry provides hous-
ing and stability to young adults get-
ting ready to be independent. They live
in apartments, either work or go to
school (or both), save their money and
are provided with training needed to
branch out on their own. This training
can be in the form of cooking, money
management and caring for a child.
Yes, some of these teens have children
See BOYS AND GIRLS AID / Page 12
CAI award for CCC
Community Associations Institute
Oregon Chapter Awards
to Charbonneau Country Club
- Very Large Association -
2019
Community Association
of the Year Award
Award presentation to Lindy Anderson
and Jim Meierotto (holding the plaque).