BELLEVUE BREAKFAST ROTARY CLUB

 IN THIS ISSUE:

Vol. 15, No. 33, February 10, 2003

Foster Kids in the Community –
The Olive Crest Story

Olive CrestSharon Moores, representing the Washington office of Olive Crest, in Bellevue, presented the organization’s story to the BBRC Friday. Olive Crest, you’ll recall, was the recipient of the car raffled off by the Club in November, when the winning ticket holder, CR Anderegg, turned the Volkswagen over to Olive Crest. The transfer came under supervision of the State of Washington Gambling Commission, under which the raffle operates.

Olive Crest is celebrating its 30-year anniversary, after its founding in California. Some 3,000 kids a day are served by the group in three states: California, Nevada, and Washington. Principal clients are victims of child abuse, often involving meth labs, where the children are caught in the middle. Every 10 seconds, a child is abused in the United States.

“The goal of Olive Crest is to get children out of institutions and into foster homes,” Sharon said. “Our program is to provide homes for children of neglect. We were invited by the State of Washington to bring our program to this state. After watching our successful programs in California, where we have 50 children in foster homes, and they’ve stayed there, Washington could see Olive Crest’s success. We recruit and help license foster parents. We offer education and vocational training to the children, as well as individual, group, and family counseling.”

Moores said the major problem for foster children is they have a “lack of education. Moving from home to home also moves the child to a new school each time. Their education suffers. The average high school graduating rate for foster kids is only 50%. Olive Crest kids get their high school diplomas and are eligible for scholarships to college.”

After age 18, state programs end. Olive Crest is dedicated to breaking the cycle of abuse. “This issue costs society a lot of money,” said Moores. “Medical care, legal issues, and incarceration when the child is imprisoned for breaking the law cost this country $94 billion annually to deal with the aftermath of child abuse. Olive Crest does make a difference in the life of a child.”

Olive Crest’s mission is “dedicated to preventing child abuse, treating victims of child abuse, and to preserving the family … one life at a time.” Its goal is to turn these kids into contributing members of society.

Lisa Gorski
Lisa Gorski

Lisa Gorski, a staff member in the Bellevue office, said that Olive Crest’s goal is to serve 5,000 children and their families by the year 2005. “We are dedicated to providing family preservation programs and sponsoring education on parenting and prevention of child abuse. We also offer health, nutrition, and recreational activities for our client children. Future projects include an Olive Crest campus, where foster housing and schooling is available.”

The local Olive Crest organization is guided by a 13-person board. Olive Crest is the sponsor of “One Life at a Time Auction,” which is set for March 14 at the Bellevue Hyatt. The goal is to raise $100,000. No items are too small or too big to be welcomed onto the auction list. Olive Crest also sponsors an annual fall Golf Tournament and an activity called “Rock N’ Bowl for the Kids.” They also hold a holiday campaign where they strive to fill the children’s wish lists.

Moores, Shrader
Sharon Moores is presented a certificate by President Kim Shrader.

Rotarians can become involved by sponsoring a child, giving camping scholarships, and helping in the Back to School campaign, where back packs are made available to the children.

For her presentation, Sharon Moores was awarded a certificate for 240 doses of polio vaccine to help Rotary achieve eradication of polio by the year 2005.

Thanks to Brian Evison for his introduction.

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