C.A.S.H. seeks to help low-income families in the tri-county area --- Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas Counties --- take advantage of state and federal income tax credits and build solid financial futures through savings, credit repair and financial literacy programs. SVPP's objective is to evolve the current loosely-organized Oregon Tax Credit Coalition into a self-sustaining organization with professional staff and strong community and government support.

For more information or to get involved with this investee, contact team lead Bruce Murray at bruce.murray@comcast.net , or Jim Harper,
Executive Director, jimdharper@comcast.net
Read the lastest CASH quarterly report here. Read the 2007-2008 Annual Objectives here

PEP is focused on creating a sustainable partnership model to improve elementary school performance at low income schools in the Portland area and reduce the achievement gap by building stronger parental involvement in these schools through collaboration of businesses, community groups, parents and school leaders. Both Clark and Kelly Elementary are Title 1 Schools located in Southeast Portland with significant (35%+) minority populations spread among many different immigrant groups. Both schools are led by terrific leaders who are motivated to improve student performance and reduce the achievement gap.

SVPP's goals are two-fold. First, provide funding and volunteers to build a strong community of engaged parents at each school. Second, define a model for community building that can be replicated and sustained across a large number of schools.

For more information on this investee, or to get involved, please contact team lead Kirsten Day at kirsten@pactrust.com. Click here to read the most recent quarterly report for this investee.

The Child Care Improvement Project (CCIP), a program of Neighborhood House, works to improve the quality of home-based child care in Multnomah County. They currently coach and provide resources to nine networks in the county.

The objective of SVPP's investment is to create one to two additional home child care networks. SVPP volunteers will also help providers in Neighborhood House CCIP networks to grow their child care businesses by providing technical assistance, marketing advice, business training, and expanding and strengthening CCIP's infrastructure and programs. SVPP will also work with the City Club of Portland and others to advocate for improved early education and child care in Oregon.

If you are interested in volunteering opportunities please contact team leads Bill Porter at bill@edfunders.org or Eli Lamb at eli@lamb.name. Read the most recent quarterly report here. Read the 2007-2008 Annual Objectives here.

The Forest Grove School District Latino Community Network (FGLCN), led by the Forest Grove Education Service District, was initiated in 2006 because the school district has seen more than a 200% increase in its Latino population since 1993. The educational results have been disappointing with 80% of the Latino students not meeting state standards in English/language arts, and 90% not meeting standards in math. Parents want their children to succeed in school but, with the average Latino parent educational level at the second grade level, they lack the ability to help their children. The FGLCN program has identified four areas of focus to strengthen parent engagement and student learning skills.

Opportunities for SVPP partner engagement with this program exist at various levels, from district-wide programs to working with individual students and schools. For more information or volunteer opportunities, please contact the team lead, Laurie Weiss, at leweiss@att.net. Read the most recent quarterly report here. Read the 2007-2008 Annual Objectives here

Founded in 1997, The Shadow Project (TSP) fosters social and academic growth for children with learning disabilities in grades K-8. Using a low cost model, TSP collaborates with special education teachers in the public schools to make learning a more rewarding experience. Two thirds of the children served come from homes at or below the poverty level. According to a Portland State University study on The Shadow Project, 100% of participating teachers saw improved motivation and social skills; 89% saw improved quality of work, and 67% saw increased homework completion among their Shadow students. To learn more about TSP, click here to listen to an interview of TSP conducted by Allison Frost of Oregon Public Broadcasting on July 16.

SVPP will partner with The Shadow project to analyze existing operations and then develop an expansion and "replication readiness" plan to strengthen the existing operation and achieve their goal of serving additional at-risk children.

Opportunities for SVPP partner engagement with this program exist at various levels of commitment, from "done in a day" activities to participation on ongoing projects. For more information or volunteer opportunities, please contact the team lead, Megan Leftwich, at leftwich@earthlink.net. Learn more at www.shadow-project.org. Read the most recent quarterly report here. Read the 2007-2008 Annual Objectives here.

New Avenues for Youth seeks to empower homeless youth to exit street life and prevent other youth from becoming homeless. Over the past five years the number of adolescents dropping out of Oregon's state foster care system has increased and many of these youth have turned to the streets of Portland. SVPP will work in assisting New Avenues to go upstream and take on this neglected issue through their Fostering Independence Project (FIP).

The FIP will be utilizing proactive detection, prevention, and intervention mechanisms to identify foster youth at risk of running away and becoming homeless. This project will leverage existing public and private resources to assist youth who do not thrive in traditional placement, reduce the number dropping out of foster care, and ensure that even the most high-risk receive the skills necessary to transition to independence. A successful FIP program will eventually transition into a model used in communities around the nation.

Many opportunities exist for SVPP Partners to engage in the FIP and New Avenues for youth, from the FIP design and implementation team, to the New Avenues PAVE program (Promoting Avenues to Employment), to assisting youth in job training at their Ben & Jerry's Partnership in downtown Portland. For more information or volunteer opportunities, please contact the team lead, Mark Adams, at mark.t.adams@intel.com for more information or to volunteer. Learn more at www.newavenues.org. Read the most recent quarterly report here. Read the 2007-2008 Annual Objectives here.