dad's pride
The Alberton Papers, Vol IV, # II
By Dick Darne 3-26-07
"Hi, guys," I said as I entered the tank the next morning. "I’m gonna tell you all about my trip to Portland, I’m very proud of my daughter, Meghann. She’s one of Alberton’s own. She’s been here since she was an infant, graduated from Alberton, received her degree from U of M in social work, moved to Portland, started working in north Portland, wound up working with teens, trying to keep them in school when they are faced with many difficulties. She then went back to school and received her master’s degree in social work. She found that many of these youths’ difficulties with school attendance stemmed from being essentially homeless. Not always being completely "out on the street", but "couch surfing" or bouncing from relative to relative, then friend to friend, with none of them being conducive to school attendance or employment, leading to dropout and unemployability. While services are available downtown, they may as well be on the moon for her kids in north Portland. Meghann then produced a documentary for Rosemary Anderson H.S. to raise awareness (and hopefully funds) about this problem. The documentary, "Unseen: a HOME Project Documentary" was shown to a packed house at the Firehouse Theater on Interstate Blvd., in N. Portland. As soon as she sends me a copy, I’ll have a showing here."
"That’s great", said Bill, "but isn’t doing social work like taking a vow of poverty?"
"Some things are not measured in pecuniary values," interjected Gno. "You can’t put a price tag on good works."
"You can’t put a value on a Dad’s pride in his baby girl either." I had to say.
"To improve on one of the whacko’s talking points; It’s better to help them now, so we don’t have to pay a lot later." Added Johnny.
"She has a long term goal of establishing a group home for teen girls. I’ll keep you posted on that." I said.
"Does it take a village to raise a child?" cried the booming voice of Padre.
"Good topic!" someone hollered.
Since I had work to do, I had to leave. Keep ruminating. dd
By Dick Darne 3-26-07
"Hi, guys," I said as I entered the tank the next morning. "I’m gonna tell you all about my trip to Portland, I’m very proud of my daughter, Meghann. She’s one of Alberton’s own. She’s been here since she was an infant, graduated from Alberton, received her degree from U of M in social work, moved to Portland, started working in north Portland, wound up working with teens, trying to keep them in school when they are faced with many difficulties. She then went back to school and received her master’s degree in social work. She found that many of these youths’ difficulties with school attendance stemmed from being essentially homeless. Not always being completely "out on the street", but "couch surfing" or bouncing from relative to relative, then friend to friend, with none of them being conducive to school attendance or employment, leading to dropout and unemployability. While services are available downtown, they may as well be on the moon for her kids in north Portland. Meghann then produced a documentary for Rosemary Anderson H.S. to raise awareness (and hopefully funds) about this problem. The documentary, "Unseen: a HOME Project Documentary" was shown to a packed house at the Firehouse Theater on Interstate Blvd., in N. Portland. As soon as she sends me a copy, I’ll have a showing here."
"That’s great", said Bill, "but isn’t doing social work like taking a vow of poverty?"
"Some things are not measured in pecuniary values," interjected Gno. "You can’t put a price tag on good works."
"You can’t put a value on a Dad’s pride in his baby girl either." I had to say.
"To improve on one of the whacko’s talking points; It’s better to help them now, so we don’t have to pay a lot later." Added Johnny.
"She has a long term goal of establishing a group home for teen girls. I’ll keep you posted on that." I said.
"Does it take a village to raise a child?" cried the booming voice of Padre.
"Good topic!" someone hollered.
Since I had work to do, I had to leave. Keep ruminating. dd
posted by aldermandarne | 11:21 PM
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