News
Link: http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/11/childrens_levy_comm...
The Portland Children's Levy allocation committee this month agreed to spend $100,000 a year for three years on mental and social services for 30 mothers and their children who are chronically homeless or at high risk of homelessness. The money will be combined with $250,000 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Other partners are Impact Northwest, Catholic Charities and Portland State University's Regional Research Institute. PSU researchers plan to study the project for ways to break the cycle of poverty and abuse. "These are women and children who have been traumatized for years and are high users of the area's social services," said Lisa Pellegrino, director of Portland Children's Levy. "In addition to addressing the families' needs, we want to determine if we can develop a model that could be used in other parts of the country." Approved by voters in 2002 and 2008, the Children's Levy generates about $12 million a year through a property tax to pay for programs for needy children. Much of the money goes to parenting classes, abuse-prevention programs, early childhood and after-school enrichment activities, and services for kids who are homeless, in poor health or crime victims. The new allocation is part of the levy's Leverage Fund Collaboration Grant; $500,000 has been set aside for projects in which agencies work together to help at-risk mothers and their children with health, education, housing and financial stability. Most of the families selected for the project live at two low-income housing complexes: Esperanza Court at 3605 S.E. 28th Ave. and Richmond Place at 4140 S.E. Division St.
