It’s just a wee bit of time volunteering at Heartland Humane Society each week, but those two hours are a powerful growing opportunity for my two kids. Actually, we could be volunteering just about anywhere, and it would be great, it just happens that our family has a deep love of all that meow or woof.
The kids take their work at the shelter seriously, they know which cat or dog prefers what – and they took everything they learned in their volunteer orientation to heart. But, there’s more going on than all of that: they sense they’re doing something that’s important, that makes a difference, and that they’re contributing – and they’re having a good time doing it.
There’s been a few times that they didn’t want to go, and they’ve learned we just go anyhow, and they’re always happy that we did. They really love it when a pet gets adopted, it’s like they’re sharing in the victory.
They’re gaining a work ethic, empathy, and a sense of their own abilities to make a difference – and it’s two hours we have together, sharing those experiences. All of that, and it doesn’t cost anything.
So, all those benefits sound great, but what if you’re kiddo isn’t as enamored with cats and dogs as we are? There’s are a few other opportunities as well.
However, being unabashedly biased, let’s start with Heartland Humane Society. It’s great for kids age 10 and over, and they accept a bit younger on a case-by-case basis. They have an orientation, and are super flexible about hours. Click here to learn more.
So, moving right along, in Corvallis, there is also…
Youth Volunteer Corps is a Corvallis Parks and Recreation program for volunteers ages 11 to 18. They also accept requests for new projects and have their own Youth Advisory Board. Also, that all means they do a variety of projects. Click here to learn more.
Corvallis Police Cadets Program is for youth age 16 and up. The program is designed for youth that may be interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement. Click here to learn more.
Create your own opportunity if you don’t see something here that feels like a fit. You can setup a lemonade stand with proceeds going to charity, walk with your kids distributing campaign literature, or maybe even have them volunteer at a private business. Schools sometimes have whole family volunteer opportunities too.
What’s important is that you keep it easy and fun, and pick something that fits easily into to your family’s schedule. If you have to prod every once in awhile, that’s okay, but do really hear it if your kiddo has a continuing desire to possibly move on – it could be an opportunity to try something else.
Drama Please: Do you have a kiddo, aged 7 to 11, who is clearly a future performer? Doing plays in the dining room? Telling long stories in the car? Ready to be onstage? The Majestic Theatre has the perfect offering to help them explore their passion with an acting class designed for younger children.
Titled Play’s the Thing: Acting Basics for Children, the class focuses on simple theatre games, play, and movement, without a requirement to have the ability to read scripts. At the end of the five 45-minute sessions, the intent is that students will have a comfortable grasp of the following skills: awareness of space and body, character physicality and voice, pantomime, and basic improvisational storytelling. Taken together, these skills give children a solid understanding of the building blocks of acting, as well as increasing confidence and expressive abilities.
These Friday classes run from Mar. 3 to 24, from 3:45 to 4:30 pm. Cost is $48 for in-city residents, and $60 for out of city. Add $3 if you’re student is new to The Majestic. Click here to learn more or register.
How to Spot Child Sex Abuse: The CDC reports one in four girls and one in 13 boys in the United States experience child sexual abuse. They also report that 91% of the time it is someone known and trusted by the child or child’s family members that perpetrates the abuse. ABC House offers a free workshop to teach adults how to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to child sexual abuse.
This free facilitator-led discussion isn’t just any training, the modules create an effective enough learning opportunity that the class has won national awards, and it also offers certifications to certain types of professionals.
Titled Darkness to Light: Stewards of Children, the class will be held from 5:30 to 8:00 pm, Wed., Mar. 1. The session is virtual, though you’ll need to pick-up a workbook from ABC House. Also, you’ll need to pre-register, which you can do if you click here.
Wanna Start a Childcare Business: The Oregon Senate has passed a bill that would require landlords to allow child care services to operate in rental homes when tenants meet certain requirements. Also, there’s other bills in the works that may offer seed money for startups – as well as existing child care centers looking to expand.
The upper chamber passed Senate Bill 599 with a 27-3 vote that drew bipartisan support.
The measure would help establish more child care options in both rural and urban parts of Oregon as the state faces a shortage of providers, said Sen. Elizabeth Steiner, D-Portland, a co-chief sponsor of the bill.
“This will appeal to a wide variety of people and it protects landlords in terms of liability,” Steiner said in an interview.
The Legislature also is considering other child care bills that would help finance new or expanding child care centers and plan a long-term strategy for expansion.
Sixty percent of Oregonians are in a child care desert, or a region that either has no child care or lacks options, according to a report by the Center for American Progress, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank. The center considers a Census tract with more than 50 children under age 5 with no provider or not enough providers to be a child care desert.
“This bill is an important step to provide more affordable child care options so that working families can stay in their communities,” said Sen. Dick Anderson, R-Lincoln City and the other chief sponsor, in a statement. “This security will have a compounding effect on increased workforce performance, longer tenure of employees, and more stable home lives.”
In an interview, Anderson said the child care shortage is not unique to his coastal district, though smaller child care options in homes are more common.
“The smaller in-home child care is much more prevalent on the coast and it’s because we don’t have the big facilities that are in the urban areas,” Anderson said. “That’s why Senate Bill 599 made a lot of sense.”
The bill has requirements for tenants and landlords. Tenants would have to be registered child care providers with the state, notify the landlord and, if required by the landlord, pay in advance for any remodeling on the property needed for the operation.
Landlords could not raise rent or evict tenants due to child care work.
Landlords also would have liability protections from lawsuits. They could require the tenant to have their clients sign a document acknowledging the owner is not liable for damages. The landlord also could require the tenant to maintain insurance.
Local zoning rules would still have to be followed.
The bill now goes to the House.
“I am thrilled that we were able to deliver such a strong bipartisan win for working families in Oregon,” Steiner said in a statement. “Too many parents are struggling to afford child care – if they can even find a place in their community that provides it. This is one small but important step towards making sure every Oregon kid has a safe place to learn and play while their parents are at work.”
The bill is one piece of what Oregon needs as it faces the shortage of child care providers – not the entire solution, Steiner said.
“There’s not one solution that’s going to fix this,” Steiner said.
The measure drew wide support from child care advocates and providers. They said it would be especially helpful for providers and families who are Black, Indigenous, people of color, immigrants and refugees, the Child Care for Oregon Coalition said in submitted testimony.
“These providers are more likely to live in rental housing,” the coalition of nonprofits, labor unions and providers, said in a letter to lawmakers. “And families from these groups often prefer home-based care as they see it being a better fit to their cultures, backgrounds, and values.”
Other child care bills
Lawmakers are considering other bills to bolster the state’s child care options:
- House Bill 3005 is aimed at child care providers who want to expand but cannot get financing. It would create a new $100 million fund for child care providers planning renovations, expansions and new building projects to serve more children. The fund would be managed by the Housing and Community Services Department, the state’s housing agency, and the money would be provided as grants or loans.
- House Bill 2727 would create a workgroup to look at strategies for expanding facilities in the state. The proposal seeks to help providers navigate complex zoning and code requirements, which can pose a challenge to opening a new facility.
By Advocate Staff with statehouse reporting from Ben Botkin of Oregon Capital Chronicle
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