For youths, the vacations are a magical time. Clark County shelters don’t need that magic to be misplaced for kids who can’t be house for the vacations.
“If we can just add that little piece of home or give them something a little extra they’ve never experienced … that they can take with them and remember fondly, that’s all we want to do,” mentioned Candace Lowe, program supervisor for Oak Bridge Youth Shelter in Vancouver.
Youngsters in lots of shelters throughout Clark County will get up to Christmas timber and presents.
A few of them will know that the Clark County neighborhood got here collectively to gather and donate presents. Others will revel within the pleasure that Santa Claus nonetheless knew the place to search out them, despite the fact that they needed to depart house.
Get Assist
In case you are experiencing homelessness or struggling to remain in your house, name the Council for the Homeless Housing Hotline at 360-695-9677 to study accessible shelter and housing help in Clark County.
To achieve Household Promise, name 360-210-5165.
To achieve Oak Bridge Youth Shelter, name 360-891-2634.
Workers at shelter group Household Promise, which hosts as much as 14 households in particular person rooms at its day heart in Battle Floor and drives them to church shelters at evening, will test to see if households have a good time Christmas, Govt Director Shane Scalf mentioned. In the event that they do, they’ll give them timber and decorations.
“They’re just kids. They have natural expectations of what Christmas is,” Scalf mentioned.
Youth ages 9 to 17 staying on the Oak Bridge shelter will take journeys to see the adorned Christmas lights on Franklin Avenue in Vancouver, have a standard Christmas dinner and obtain presents.
“They’re kids, and they deserve it. It’s hard being away from family in a strange place with kids you may not know,” Lowe mentioned. “And if we can give them a piece of normalcy in the chaos of their lives that brought them here, that’s what we want to do.”
Many of those shelters’ vacation presents are because of donations, together with one from Rotary Membership of Vancouver for teenagers staying in Share’s shelters, which allowed them to purchase $100 price of things from JCPenney.
Brondalyn Coleman, deputy director of the Vancouver homelessness nonprofit Share, mentioned she observed a younger woman round 9 or 10 years previous shopping for a coat that was too massive for her together with her JCPenney cash. When prodded about it, the woman defined it was for her mother.
“It was beautiful seeing that she wants to take care of her parents,” Coleman mentioned. “Even in that moment, there wasn’t a selfish bone in her body. She wanted to make sure that her mom got a gift as well.”
Scalf mentioned he’s grateful for the assistance Clark County residents have offered homeless shelters this month. Nonetheless, Household Promise nonetheless receives 100 to 150 calls a month, irrespective of the season, from households in want.
“I think people can have more compassion for the children during the holidays when they’re suffering,” Scalf mentioned, “but it really is an issue all year round.”