Summer's End

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 5^th, 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.