Late last month, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici toured one of Neighborhood House’s Head Start sites in Northwest Portland. 

Neighborhood House’s Head Start, Early Head Start, and Preschool Promise Programs provide free and affordable early childhood education to children ages 0-5 at three sites on Portland’s west side. These programs prepare children for success in school and beyond. 

However, as Congresswoman Bonamici highlighted during her visit, there is a child care and early childhood education crisis happening in Oregon – and across the country. 

According to Oregon’s Early Learning Division, 492 preschoolers in Multnomah County are on waitlists for four Head Start and Oregon Pre-K providers. This makes Multnomah County, and every county in Oregon, a child care desert. This is due primarily to an extreme lack of qualified staff.

Neighborhood House Head Start Education Coordinator Caitlin Curtis said of the issue, “We are not at capacity, most of our classrooms are not fully enrolled and both of our centers have classrooms that are not even open because we are unable to staff them to ratio.”

Lindsay Wills, Neighborhood House Head Start Director, said there can be barriers to entering the field. Head teachers at the Head Start preschool programs need a bachelor’s degree.

“I do think there needs to be different pathways,” Wills said. “I don’t believe college is the right pathway for every teacher. I think we can build skills with apprenticeship programs, which is something we do internally in our programs.”

Many teachers in Neighborhood House’s Head Start Programs were once parents who gained experience and training on-site from already qualified teachers. 

This crisis highlights the importance not only of Neighborhood House’s Head Start Programs, but also Neighborhood House’s work with at-home child care providers. Our Child Care Improvement Project and the new Oregon Child Care Alliance support child care businesses through business and technical support, community building, and more. 

Please see this article by Courtney Vaughn in the Portland Tribune for more information.

I started using the Free Food Market. I learned about more programs that could help us. But the biggest change wasn’t the services themselves.

It was how I was treated. 

For the first time in my entire life, I was met with dignity. 

I wasn’t talked down to. I wasn’t made to feel ashamed for needing help. I wasn’t forced to “prove” I deserved to survive. At Neighborhood House, people spoke to me with genuine respect, something I have so often not been given, simply due to my circumstances. That changed everything. Even now, it still brings tears to my eyes. 

When you’re disabled, when you’re parenting alone, when you’re just trying to get through the day without falling apart…asking for help is hard. Being treated with kindness backed by action? It’s life-changing. 

That kindness empowered me. 
I joined the Head Start Policy Council. 
I became involved in statewide advocacy work. 
And eventually, when someone asked if I would consider joining the Neighborhood House Board, I said yes. 

Being on the board fills a need I’ve carried my whole life: the deep need to give back. There is so little any one person can do alone. But when we connect, when we come together as a community, everything becomes possible. 

People sometimes ask me why services like Neighborhood House still matter. 

My answer is simple: 

Because income inequality is growing. 
Because our systems do not prioritize people in poverty. 
Because without places like Neighborhood House, people really would go hungry. Children would go without resources necessary to thrive. Housing insecure families would be turned out into the streets. 
And that is simply not acceptable.

Until we change the systems that create these conditions in the first place, we need community-based organizations that keep people alive, keep families housed, and treat every neighbor with dignity.

And there’s one more thing I want you to know:

No one chooses this. 

Everyone is doing the best they can. 
Sometimes people just need a little boost.

When you donate or volunteer at Neighborhood House, it is truly life changing. You may never meet every person you help—but please know there are so many of us who feel overwhelmed with gratitude because these services exist.

I am one of them.

So today, as we close out the year, I’m asking you to help more neighbors like me.

Here’s how you can help right now: 

  • Make a gift today — your support goes directly to families who need it most.
  • Start a food dr​ive — our Food Security Program is a lifeline and always needs support. 
  • Share my letter with a friend who believes in a more just and caring community.

Thank you for believing in this work.

Thank you for believing in people like me. 

With gratitude,

Love 
Board Member & Program Participant 
Neighborhood House 

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