As the heat and festivities of a west coast summer come to
an end, the fresh and new feeling of fall awaits. In all but a blink of an eye,
swim trunks and BBQ’s turn into khaki shorts and Friday night football games.
The children start their annual journey back to school as the oranges, reds and
yellows start to appear on the trees. Here at Catholic Charities Refugee
resettlement we are rebooting our systems from a busy summer and are “falling”
(if you will) into another busy stretch lasting into our autumn months. So as
we transition from season to season, let us fill you in on events to come
(please see Updates below) while hoping you will come along for the ride.
UPDATE: Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement will be
hosting a Volunteer orientation on Wednesday, September 5th, 2012
from 5:30PM until 7:30 PM. The orientation will be held in our Clark Family
Center Building (main office), located at 2740 SE Powell Blvd, Portland, OR. NEW and Experienced volunteers are invited to join this ever-evolving conversation
about how to best help refugees transitioning to life in the greater Portland
area. During the orientation, we will learn about the challenges newcomers face
and the resources available to them. Furthermore, during the orientation there
will be time to share your experiences, ask questions and seek suggestions
while meeting other Volunteers. Most importantly this is a chance to connect to
one another while having a bit of fun. If you cannot make this orientation, the
next Volunteer orientation will be held in November.
Please RSVP: Jeanne Toal at jtoal@catholiccharitiesoregon.org
or call 1(503) 688-2683.
Something else to keep an eye on: The Refugee Resettlement
office has continued connections within the community to help out families who
have concerns with clothing needs. If one of your families is in need of
clothing for work, school or other similar situations, please contact myself, syoung@cartholiccharitiesoregon.org
(1 (503) 688-2684 or Jeanne Toal (listed above) in our office for more
information on the subject.
UPDATE: Erin Carkner, our child advocate in the Refugee
Resettlement office is still looking for extra school supplies to help,
specifically glue sticks. The
children are always asked to provide glue sticks and currently we are running
low on our supplies. So if you have any extra glue sticks lying around you may
be able to help support the next Claude Monet or Vincent Van Gogh.
