[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 195 (Wednesday, December 19, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15997-S15998]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             TRIBUTE TO REEDSPORT'S FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER

 Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, during this holiday season, my 
thoughts are with the countless nonprofit organizations in my State of 
Oregon that provide assistance to those in need. Ever since the days of 
the pioneers, when folks from miles around would gather for community 
``barn raisings,'' the spirit of neighbor helping neighbor has been an 
important part of the Oregon story.
  I rise today to pay tribute to the Family Resource Center in the 
south coast community of Reedsport, which, over the past decade, has 
gained a reputation as one of Oregon's most innovative and successful 
community organizations. Jointly supported by Lower Umpqua Hospital and 
the Reedsport School District, the Family Resource Center resulted from 
a community brainstorming meeting to identify ways to help Reedsport 
area families better access services. A decade after that session, the 
Family Resource Center averages 550 contacts a month and serves as a 
model of how entities can

[[Page S15998]]

work cooperatively for the betterment of the community, and how an 
entire community can get information and services in a nonstigmatizing 
environment.
  Through a series of generous grants and donations, the Family 
Resource Center has been able to supply a tremendous number of 
services, including acting as an outreach office and an information 
clearinghouse for many government and nonprofit agencies; providing 
space for an alternative school and an infant care center; offering a 
``connections'' program that matches up people in need of household 
furniture and appliances with those who have those items to give away; 
spearheading a school supply drive; providing mental health counseling 
and drug and alcohol evaluation; offering Red Cross babysitting courses 
and Oregon Child Care Basics workshops; offering victims' services, 
including women's support and sexual assault support groups, offering 
legal aid and paralegal services, and the list goes on and on.
  Mr. President, the late Oregon Governor Tom McCall once said, 
``Heroes are not giant statues framed against a red sky. They are 
individuals who say, ``This is my community and it is my responsibility 
to make it better.'' I am confident that all those who--through their 
time, talents, and treasure--have helped to write the remarkable 10 
year history of the Family Resource Center are true heroes because they 
have truly made Reedsport a better place in which to live, work, and 
raise a family.

                          ____________________