Spring 2024 Newsletter

SPRING 2024 NEWSLETTER

BOARD OF DIRECTORS & ORGANIZATION VALUES

OFFICERS

Nancy MacMorris-Adix, Chair

Retired, Legacy Silverton Midwives

Lillian Kay, Chair-Elect

HomeSmart Realty Group

Rich Schultz, Past Chair

Cherry City Metals

Jeff Moore, Secretary

Saalfeld Griggs PC

Mike Blanchard, Treasurer

Johnson, Glaze & Co.

BOARD MEMBERS

Marni Altman | Mother Tree Olive Grove and The Arbor

Steve Altman | True Private Wealth Advisors

Kyle Brouse | Salem Insurance Agency

Ross Carey | Retired, U.S. Bank

Gina Defa White | COUNTRY Financial

Deana Freres | Santiam Canyon Long Term Recovery Group

Levi Herrera-Lopez | Mano a Mano

Danae Johnson | Capital Financial Planners

Brian Johnston | Dallas Glass & Window

Rob Kansky | Green Acres Landscape

Diane McLaran | Center for Business and Industry

Wes McWhorter | Premier Remodeling & Design

Jerry Moore | Retired, Salem Chief of Police

Christy Perry | Retired, Salem-Keizer Public Schools

Leilani Slama | Salem Health

R. Taylor | Chemeketa Community College

Ernesto Toskovic | KeyBank

Becca Wulf | B Salon

Patrice Altenhofen | Executive Director

FOUNDATION BOARD

Steve Altman, Chair

Brian Johnston, Secretary

Ross Carey, Treasurer

ORGANIZATION VALUES

• We respect the unique personhood of each child.

• We believe in the power of a securely attached family.

• We are family-centered, caring and supportive.

• We strive for equity and celebrate diversity.

• We are collaborative and ambitious.

• We emphasize strengths and assume positive intent.

• We honor vulnerability and courage.

• We offer optimism and hope.

• We express gratitude for our community’s generosity.

FROM PATRICE

Family Building Blocks is very fortunate not only to have a “Rock Star” staff, we also have a Rock Star Board of Directors. Many have served for decades, still engaging, still guiding, and still inspiring!

We recently had two long-term Board members retire from our Board. We would like to thank them and acknowledge their monumental contributions to our work and the success of countless children and families.

Jody Rowell and Walt Edmonds both began serving our Board in 2001.

Always with a smile, Jody served as a tireless volunteer – at family events, at Uncorked, and as our Board Secretary. She also gave us guidance and direction on our administrative and human resource policies, serving as a champion for our staff. Thank you, Jody, for also bringing awareness to so many in our community about our mission. As a perennial Table Captain at our Luncheons, you recruited so many to volunteer with us as well as donate to us. We will miss your positivity and laughter!

Walt, a retired Oregon Court of Appeals Judge, brought curiosity, wisdom, and sage advice to every meeting. Walt served on our Program and Collaboration Committee and kept us laser-focused on our mission. Walt was a mentor to our Leadership and Program Teams, asking all the right questions about our service offering and outcomes. He was also a fixture at our Family Nights, serving dinner to families. Thank you, Walt, for ensuring we maintained our standards of excellence for children and families.

Thank you, Jody and Walt!

Patrice Altenhofen, Executive Director

2024 UNCORKED

JOIN US AT THE SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL UNCORKED

Join us May 31, 2024 or June 1, 2024 for “Italy in the Willamette Valley” at Bryn Mawr Vineyards, the Mid-Valley’s premier auction benefiting Family Building Blocks. Enjoy spectacular evenings with breathtaking views from Mt. Jefferson to the Van Duzer Corridor AVA.

Be part of the Uncorked legacy by joining us for our 17th anniversary celebration in the heart of Oregon’s esteemed wine country! Uncorked has raised nearly $6 million for Family Building Blocks, our community’s Relief Nursery committed to “Keeping Children Safe and Families Together.”

FRIDAY, MAY 31 - Kicking off Friday evening, Revelry features Oregon chefs, wineries, breweries, handcrafted cocktails, silent auctions, games, and more.

VOLUNTEER AT UNCORKED

SATURDAY, JUNE 1 - Culminating Saturday evening, Live boasts a luxurious three-course dinner and live auction offering exclusive experience packages.

SPONSORSHIPS AVAILABLE

Volunteer at Uncorked: Family Building Blocks’ biggest fundraiser of the year!

Whether you enjoy being behind the scenes or in the heart of the action, we have a role for you! Since its inception 17 years ago, Uncorked has inspired our community to raise over $6 million to “Keep Children Safe and Families Together.”

Volunteers like YOU make this happen!

When families bravely ask for help, we are there. Because of fundraisers like Uncorked, we are able to partner with children and families facing overwhelming life circumstances and offer the most specialized, critical, and voluntary supports at no cost. We believe every parent wants to give their child the best possible start in life.

As we continue swiftly adjusting to meet the growing and changing needs of our families, your sponsorship helps fund:

• Therapeutic Classrooms for Children

• Home Visiting for Families

• Family Mental Health Services

• Concrete Supports like our Clothing Closet, Food Pantry, and Diaper Bank

• Parent Education Contact Julie at jduran@familybuildingblocks.org for more information about sponsorship opportunities.

THANK YOU TO OUR 2024 UNCORKED SPONSORS!

EVENT RECAPS

SUSTAINERS HAPPY HOUR

What an amazing night! Thank you to everyone for supporting our Sustainers Happy Hour 2024. The room was filled with over 600 guests in community together, hearing the mission of Family Building Blocks, and sharing the family story of a little boy named Jahir and his single mom Gregoria, an incredible family that partners with our team in Independence. We were thrilled to see all of you as we celebrated the importance of “Keeping Children Safe and Families Together.”

PRESENTING SPONSORS

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

ENGAGING SPONSORS

IN-KIND SPONSOR

Allied Video Productions

PRINTING SPONSORS

Select Impressions

Pretty Good Printing

CONTRIBUTING SPONSORS

Capital Financial Planners

SMI Real Estate - Elesa Doll

Summit Wealth Management, LLC

Valley Credit Union

WINE SPONSOR Croft Vineyards

PRESENTING SPONSOR

POLK COUNTY LUNCHEON

Thank you to the Polk county community for making our Polk County Luncheon 2024 an amazing event! We welcomed almost 250 guests at The Gate Community Youth Center in Independence. We celebrated our joyful Jahir, and our Indy Place Outreach Home Visitor Marci shared how community support, like the Les Schwab Diaper Drive, impacts the families she partners with. We also remembered fondly Judge Charles Luukinen, a founding Family Building Blocks Board member. Thank you to everyone who joined us!

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

CONTRIBUTING SPONSORS

AAA Oregon/Idaho

Lane and Francine Shetterly

ENGAGING SPONSORS

IN-KIND SPONSORS

Allied Video | Pretty Good Printing

Select Impressions

The Gate Community Youth Center

The Law Office of Jill F. Foster TO

HIGHLIGHTS

CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION MONTH

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

This April, the Blue Ribbon Tree was installed at Riverfront Park, with each blue ribbon representing a victim of child abuse or neglect in Oregon. For 2022, that number was 10,711. Thank you to Salem Electric for helping us hang the ribbons and remember these children and the power of prevention. Thank you also to our Rock Star Staff and everyone who attended the Child Abuse Prevention Car Parade April 5 in Salem! The Car Parade is an April tradition to acknowledge and raise awareness for National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

We believe everyone has a role to play in promoting the social and emotional well-being of all children and families!

We celebrated Volunteer Appreciation Week this April. Volunteers are the heart of Family Building Blocks! From our Therapeutic Classroom Volunteers to our Special Events Team to our Board of Directors, volunteers multiply our impact on our community, and we are so very grateful!

Whether you enjoy being behind the scenes or in the heart of the action, we would love to have you join us! Contact Gaby at volunteer@familybuildingblocks.org for more info on getting started.

HIGHLIGHTS

LES SCHWAB DIAPER DRIVE

From April 1-30, Mid-Willamette Valley Les Schwab Tire Centers hosted their annual April Diaper Drive benefiting Family Building Blocks.

You, your business, community group or school partnered with us in collecting thousands of diapers for families in our community! As children are born and families grow every single day, we know our families have a consistent need for reliable access to diapers. Throughout the year, FBB will be using and delivering diapers collected from the drive!

Thank you for covering babies from top to BOTTOM in our community with us!

YOUNG LEADERS COUNCIL UPDATE

Thank you to Hannah Fouts, our outgoing FBB Young Leaders Council (YLC) chair. Since 2019, Hannah has served on the FBB Board as the YLC Chair, and as the Committee Chair for our annual Gala of Trees event. She will be staying on as a Board Member and a Gala of Trees chair going forward.

We are thrilled to welcome, Kyle Brouse, our incoming YLC Chair. Kyle and his committee have already hit the ground running hosting YLC Pint Nights and promoting our upcoming Uncorked events.

Thank you to our YLC for presenting “Pint Nights,” a monthly fundraiser hosted at various locations throughout the Mid-Willamette Valley all to support Family Building Blocks. For every pint or drink sold, donations are made to Family Building Blocks. Special thanks to The Yard Food Park, The Best Goose, and Hazel’s on Main for participating so far in 2024.

Mark your calendars for the 3rd(ish) Thursday of the month!

May 16

4:00-8:00 PM at Killer Burger Salem

The week of May 12-18, get 10% off your entire order using the promo code FBB10 and 20% of your discounted total goes back to FBB. PINT NIGHT

May 31-June 1

Join us for this premier event at Bryn Mawr Vineyards jduran@familybuildingblocks.org

To learn more about joining YLC please contact Kyle at kbrouse@ saleminsagency.com

August 3

10:00 AM-2:00 PM | FREE

Join us at Salem’s Riverfront Park dholmes@familybuildingblocks.org

SPONSOR:

To update your physical address for our quarterly newsletter and to join our monthly IMPACT e-news list, contact Laura at lstovin@familybuildingblocks.org

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA.