One year in Family Village!
One year ago today we opened Family Village, Oregon's first shelter featuring trauma-informed design and architecture. We wanted to share a few highlights from this unprecedented year.
February
We hosted the Lullaby Project at Family Village for the first time. Participants included 7 moms and our first dad to co-create a lullaby. The songs this year are so much more positive and hopeful, likely because of the influence that trauma-informed design had on the process.
March
The covid-19 pandemic arrived in Oregon, and we went on lock down. We worked closely with public health to create guidelines to keep Family Village safe from the spread of covid.
With schools closed and families furloughed from work, we delivered food boxes to families all over town.
May
Our playground was installed and we planted our vegetable garden for the first time, working with the kids in shelter to create a beautiful harvest. We used produce from the garden in our lunch and dinner meals all season long!
June
We received $90,000 of CARES Act money to provide $500 gift cards to 175 families. This went a long way to prevent homelessness and ensure housing stability during the height of the covid-19 pandemic.
August
Our board member John Devlin hosted his annual Back to School Backpack Drive and got enough backpacks and supplies donated for more than 100 kids! For distance learning, backpacks included school supplies, plus lap desks, headphones, and Old Navy gift cards.
September
Our board and staff kicked off a strategic planning process for Phase 2 of our Capital Campaign where we hope to build housing and additional wrap-around services on the undeveloped back parking lot at Family Village.
October
We hosted our first Virtual Family Reunion and had so much fun welcoming guests behind the scenes of Family Village and showcasing intimate interviews with our staff and families. We also hosted a socially distanced, outdoor Harvest Fest for the families at Family Village to infuse some joy into the shelter. It was a huge success with carnival games, costumes, and pizza.
December
We hired an education assistant to help support families in shelter with distance learning and education. They will provide one-on-one help to each family to make sure they have the appropriate technology and work space, and to support them in their learning and homework process.
We also hosted our first ever Adopt a Family holiday giveaway, and we have had overwhelming response. We’re able to provide presents to over 150 kids, and a family gift filled with with hot cocoa, gingerbread houses, and games and activities to do together.
This was an unusual and challenging year. Not only did PHFS continue to serve families every day during the pandemic, we also expanded services to help more families.
Please continue to invest in PHFS so more families can stay at Family Village and receive trauma-informed, culturally competent services that help people heal and thrive.
