Portland, OR. Lines for Life cut a the ribbon on a new call center that’s designed to support veterans nationwide. The nonprofit is expanding the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL). On hand for the November 9th ribbon cutting were Senator Ron Wyden, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, Chair Deborah Kafoury, Commissioner Sharon Meieran, Lines for Life CEO Dwight Holton and VCL team leadership and staff. Dwight Holton thanked the leadership of Senator Wyden who was instrumental in securing a contract with the National VCL and recognizing the Lines for Life team both in Oregon and in DC.
During the ceremony, Ryan Seymour, Military Crisis Intervention Specialist and Former Oregon Army Guard Sergeant, shared his experience and reason for joining the team, “When my friend from the army died by suicide, I thought to myself, ‘What do I need to do to be part of the solution?’”
Ryan joins several members of a new 30 person team with connections to Military Service. Their dedication and experience provides common ground for callers in crisis.
The new call center will offer free and anonymous help calls and texts for veterans, their family, and their friends struggling with mental health.
Lines for Life, a 24/7, 365-days-a-year suicide prevention hotline. The Veterans Association estimates that since 2008, roughly 6,ooo veterans kill themselves each year. This new call center, in partnership with the Veterans Crisis Line, is expected to field about 1,200 additional calls each month.
Lines for Life CEO Dwight Holton explained, “Services like this where we’ve got partnerships with national VA and organizations like Lines for Life are essential to helping meeting those mental health crisis needs and helping folks find a way forward and help build strong families among our veterans.”
There is a strong need to help care for the mental health of America’s veterans. According to the RAND Center for Military Health Policy Research, 20 percent of those who served in either Iraq or Afghanistan suffer from either major depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.
If you are a veteran in need, contact the free military help line at (888) 457-4838. You can also text MIL1 to 839863. Someone is available to talk to you at all hours of the day.
Portland, OR. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) hosted its annual gala on May 12th, where 500 donors joined together to support OMSI’s special brand of hands-on science education across the region. OMSI President and CEO Nancy Stueber and OMSI Emeritus Trustee and Gala Co-Chair Kimberly Cooper helped highlight the meaning of “Industry” in OMSI by honoring longtime industry partners who are helping inspire the next generation of technology leaders to take on the challenges of tomorrow. (Photo credit, Erin Riddle and Kate Horton of KLiK Concepts)
Traci Wheeler, OMSI Trustee John Wheeler, CEO of Vernier Software & Technology, and OMSI Board Chair Penny Serrurier of Stoel Rives
Piper Park and Jim and Cathy Rudd
The event was co-chaired by Christopher and Jill Hall and Kimberly Cooper and Jon Jaqua, and presented by Vernier Software & Technology. Gala attendees were treated to fine food and cocktails provided by Bon Appetit and a performance by award-winning blues artist Curtis Salgado. The evening ended with the Moonstruck Chocolate Lounge where dusted truffles and after-dinner cocktails were served to guests in the Planetarium beneath a twilight display of falling stars. Eleven live auction packages were sold at the event, including a trip to Hawaii’s Big Island with an exclusive telescope tour on Mauna Kea. It was certainly an electric celebration.
At dinner, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, OMSI Emeritus Trustee David Vernier, Congressman Earl Blumenauer, and Christine Vernier
Auctioneer Johnna Wells and Emcee Dale Johannes
Greg Chaillé, Co-Chair of the OMSI Strategic Priorities Campaign
Award winning blues artist Curtis Salgado topped off the evening with a stellar performance
OMSI Trustee Claudia Valderrama of Wieden+Kennedy and Graciani Valderrama enjoying cocktail hour with friends
Toni Stevens, from family of OMSI founder J.C. Stevens, and her special guests take a selfie
About OMSI:
Today, the museum serves over 1 million visitors at the museum and through off-site education programs. OMSI is ranked as one of the top science centers in the United States and has an international reputation for its innovative exhibits and educational programs.
Portland, Or. In celebration of the Oregon Historical Society exhibition, High Hopes: The Journey of John F. Kennedy, the Oregon Historical Society welcomed Caroline Kennedy for a special lecture. She took time to meet Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, Governor Barbara Roberts, and Governor Kate Brown at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on September 19th. Gov. Roberts gave opening remarks. Caroline Kennedy served as the U.S. Ambassador to Japan from 2013 to 2017. Caroline spoke about her experience as ambassador and why strong U.S.–Japan cooperation is so important for the security and prosperity of both countries.
Ambassador Kennedy poses with the Mark Family outside of the Oregon Historical Society exhibit High Hopes: The Journey of John F. Kennedy, on display now through November 12. Pete Mark, who passed away this past spring, was the catalyst for bringing the Ambassador to Portland. Much of the High Hopes exhibition features artifacts from his personal collection, and is the fifth exhibition of artifacts and rare documents from the Mark Family Collection to be displayed at the Oregon Historical Society.
Ambassador Kennedy met with Keiko & Rex Ziak prior to her lecture to hear about their work with the OBON Society, a non-profit that provides opportunities for reconciliation between family through the return of personal items taken during war.
Ambassador Kennedy poses with Oregon Historical Society Board President Carl Christoferson and Executive Director Kerry Tymchuk.
Ambassador Caroline Kennedy is an attorney and editor of nine New York Times best-selling books on constitutional law, American history, politics, and poetry. From 2002 to 2011 she was Vice Chair of the Fund for Public Schools, raising over $280 million to support public school reform and engaging a record number of New Yorkers to volunteer in New York City schools. She is Honorary President of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and a member of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award Committee. A graduate of Harvard University and Columbia Law School, Caroline is also Honorary Chair of the Senior Advisory Committee of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University.
Caroline Kennedy toured the exhibit at the Oregon Historical Society which is on display through November 12th. It celebrates President John F. Kennedy in what would have been the 100th year of his life. The new 6,000-square foot exhibition, “High Hopes: The Journey of John F. Kennedy” features hundreds of items from the president’s life and time in office. It is be the largest display of its kind outside the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.
Caroline Kennedy is a prominent member of the Kennedy family and the only surviving child of President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy.
There are many photos of John F. Kennedy from visits he made to Oregon.
The Oregon Historical Society is located at 1200 SW Park Ave Portland, Oregon 97205
Portland, OR. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) hosted its annual gala, where 500 donors joined together in support of increasing accessibility to science education throughout our region. The event on May 13th, was co-chaired by Gary Maffei, Marcus Lintner, Christopher Hall and Jill Hall. It honored David and Christine Vernier of Vernier Software & Technology. Gala attendees were treated to music by The Bylines and a rap written and rhymed by OMSI’s own Michael Wilson and a performance by broadway star, Shoshana Bean. (Photos by Eric DePangher for VEV Studios)
First Gentleman Dan Little, OMSI Trustee Sue Miller, and Governor Kate Brown.
Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, OMSI Teen and Google Science Fair Award Winner Anushka Naiknaware and Beaverton Mayor Denny Doyle.
Portland’s own Shoshana Bean, who starred on Broadway in WICKED, donated one of over a dozen live auction packages.
Gala honorees Christine and David Vernier of Vernier Software and Technology have some fun with science.
Here’s a history of OMSI:
OMSI began with the exhibition of Oregon’s rich natural resources with the opening of the City Hall Museum in 1896. But with the Great Depression and World War II, it wasn’t until the mid-forties that support for the museum really began to grow. Businessman Ralph Lloyd hosted the temporary “Oregon Museum of Science and Industry” in his house on NE Hassalo Street, boasting the Northwest’s first public planetarium and its 20-minute trip to the stars.
With annual attendance swelling to over 25,000 in 1955 and the house scheduled for demolition, the City Council stepped forward to lease land in Washington Park to OMSI for the sum of one dollar per year. In the spirit of pioneer barn-raisings, over 400 volunteer union brick layers and hod carriers laid 102,000 bricks in one day, and on June 7, 1958, the dream of a dedicated, hands-on science museum became a reality.
By the mid-1980’s, OMSI’s popularity surpassed the size of its facility six times over and a new group of community leaders began a $32M campaign to build a state-of-the-art science center, culminating with a milestone donation from longtime supporter, Portland General Electric, of an 18.5-acre site that held a historic sawdust-fired power generation plant. On October 24, 1992, the new 219,000 square-foot facilities opened, adding the USS Blueback, the last non-nuclear powered submarine built by the U.S. Navy, just two years later.
Today, the museum serves over 1 million visitors at the museum and through off-site education programs. OMSI is ranked as one of the top science centers in the United States and has an international reputation for its innovative exhibits and educational programs.
Portland, November 8th. Close to 500 people joined together at the Portland Art Museum to support Central City Concern. The event raised $270,000 for Homeless Action Fund for Self-Sufficiency. CCC volunteers at check-in: Danielle Lawrence, Krista Matsell and Claudia Krueger. (Photo Credit, Andie Petkus)
Central City Concern Executive Director Ed Blackburn, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish
Longtime staff member Billy Anfield and past client Fletcher Nash
Central City Concern Executive Director Ed Blackburn and Governor John Kitzhaber
With generous sponsor support and stellar honorees, our luncheon was warmly received by about 500 people!
CCC Board member Jonathan Radmacher and CCC Director of Public Affairs Dedee Wilner-Nugent
Central City Concern meets its mission through innovative outcome based strategies which support personal and community transformation.
Direct access to housing which supports lifestyle change.
Integrated healthcare services that are highly effective in engaging people who are often alienated from mainstream systems.
The development of peer relationships that nurture and support personal transformation and recovery.
Attainment of income through employment or accessing benefits.
The success of these four elements results in an transformation of world view and self image from a negative to a positive outlook, enabling people to become productive citizens who want to “give something back” to the community
Central City Concern (CCC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency serving single adults and families in the Portland metro area who are impacted by homelessness, poverty and addictions. Founded in 1979, the agency has developed a comprehensive continuum of affordable housing options integrated with direct social services including healthcare, recovery and employment. CCC currently has a staff of 600+, an annual operating budget of $41 million and serves more than 13,000 individuals annually.
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