More home-based help for children with emotional and behavioral problems and their families in rural Oregon will be one of the results of a recent $250,000 donation to Youth Villages-ChristieCare of Oregon from Roseburg’s Ford Family Foundation.
The donation is part of the ongoing Turning Point Campaign, which has raised $1.2 million to help the recently merged organization expand and enhance programs that help children and families in the state. Along with Ford, significant donations have been made by Meyer Memorial Trust, Oregon Community Foundation, Collins Foundation and other private donors. The campaign’s goal is $1.8 million.
“We appreciate the Ford Family Foundation and our other donors who are helping us change the lives of some of Oregon’s most vulnerable children and families,” said Lynne Saxton, executive director of Youth Villages-ChristieCare of Oregon.
ChristieCare, which had helped Oregon children for more than 150 years through residential and educational services, merged with the national nonprofit Youth Villages in June. The organization’s approach is called Evidentiary Family Restoration ™, providing intensive help to children and their families in their homes and communities when possible. EFR offers measurable outcomes and accountability to both funders and families.
Since the merger, Youth Villages-ChristieCare of Oregon has expanded intensive in-home services to children and families in Clackamas and Washington counties and is working toward offering the services statewide in both urban and rural areas.
The Ford Family Foundation was established in 1957 by Kenneth W. and Hallie E. Ford. Its mission is “successful citizens and vital rural communities” in Oregon and Siskiyou County, Calif. The Foundation is located in Roseburg, Ore., with a scholarship office in Eugene.
Along with intensive in-home services, Youth Villages-ChristieCare provides residential treatment at its Christie Campus at Marylhurst and its Clackamas River Campus, which includes the Cedar Bough Native American Program, offering culturally responsive residential treatment for Native American youth and youth who can benefit from a strong cultural and spiritual life program. Youth Villages-ChristieCare also offers an independent living program for young adults who have aged out of foster care or state custody.
One of the nation’s first and largest providers of intensive in-home services, Youth Villages this year will help more than 18,000 children and families from more than 20 states. Named one of the Top 50 Nonprofits to Work For by Nonprofit Times and Best Companies Group in 2010 and 2011, Youth Villages has been recognized by Harvard Business School and U.S. News & World Report, and was identified by The White House as one of the nation’s most promising results-oriented nonprofit organizations.