Together with community partners, CCS has developed a vision to build a new Family Resource and Child Development Center at the site of the former St. Vincent de Paul building on the main CCS Campus on Portland Road. The Center will help children and families flourish by bringing together services and care providers in a single, convenient and accessible location.
CCS received a very generous donation of $1 million in support of the project from Developer and Investor Larry Tokarski.
“I committed a leadership gift to this project in recognition of Catholic Community Services’ long history of leadership in bringing the community together to meet the needs of children and families facing adversity,” Larry said. “This Center will pave the way to a new level of collaborative service partnerships that will change the odds for our community’s most vulnerable children.”
It is often difficult for families in need to access services due to lack of service integration, transportation to various county locations and scheduling. Lack of knowledge about which services are needed, available and affordable can also be a barrier to improving the health and well-being of these families.
The promise of the Center is to help children and their families to thrive and flourish, increase their success at school and in the community, strengthen family resilience, reduce disrupted foster care placements, improve collaboration and service integration among health care professionals, social service providers and educators, reduce service duplication and increase accessibility.
“Any time we can support our children from birth to school age with strategic collaborative partners, our students will be school-ready and prepared to thrive in a community that cares deeply about them and their success,” said Christy Perry, Superintendent of Salem-Keizer Public Schools.
In addition to a traditional capital campaign in which donors can make charitable contributions, a limited number of shares are being offered as ownership participation in the Family Resource and Child Development Center facility. The CCS Life Fund allows investors to receive an income for life while sharing their values and blessings to help vulnerable children and families in our community.
To make a donation, visit ccswv.org. For more information about the CCS Life Fund, contact (503) 856-7001.