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Partner Spotlight:
Black Parent
Initiative
On Monday, January 21, 2008, an enthusiastic group of eight
volunteers came out to fix up the Black Parent Initiative’s
new home with a warm coat of fresh paint. Led by project
leader Andy Nelson (Executive Director of Hands On), the
group scrubbed down the walls, filled nail holes, and rolled
on some color through out the NE Portland house that serves
as their office space. This project was one of 15 volunteer
projects sponsored by both Hands On Greater Portland and
United Way for this year’s MLK Day of Service, which
mobilized over 300 volunteers in Multnomah, Washington,
Clackamas, and Clark counties.
The Black Parent Initiative (BPI) comes to Hands On as a new
partner, with the MLK Day of Service serving as its
inaugural Hands On Calendar project. However, the Black
Parent Initiative has been involved in the greater community
for over a year now, fulfilling its mission “to inspire,
empower, and mobilize Black parents in hopes of closing the
educational achievement gap.”
According to statistics listed on their website, African
American students in the Portland Public Schools
consistently perform lower on Oregon State tests than white
students. The Black Parent Initiative believes that stronger
parental involvement in their children’s education can help
bridge this gap, and they are poised to work to mobilize
Black parents, who have voiced feeling unwelcome in the
schools.
Through cooperation with a number of local churches, and
funded in part by Concordia University, the BPI offers free,
high-quality tutoring to children in its network, and works
to empower African American parents by providing leadership
development and community based mentorship, aimed at helping
families become active in their community and engage their
children’s schools.
To learn more about the Black Parent Initiative, check out
their website at:
http://www.thebpi.org.
And be sure to check back in the future with the
Hands On Project Calendar and Referrals postings to find
more ways to get involved as a volunteer!
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