Peninsula Children's Center/Children's Investment Fund ($500,000) with United Way of the Columbia-Willamette ($570,000) and the Maybelle Clark Macdonald Fund ($50,000): for a total investment of $1.1 million

Portland's low-income families will benefit from a three-year grant totaling $1.1 million providing childcare tuition assistance and other services at Peninsula Children's Center to help ensure a healthy start in life for some of the city's youngest and poorest residents. This grant will expand Head Start-like services to all the families Peninsula serves throughout North and Northeast Portland, the majority of whom are low income. The funding will help cover tuition costs for about 80 children at Peninsula annually for the next three years through June 2009. A host of other services offered to children and their families include:

• Early childhood development specialists providing on-site and home-based parent education as well as referrals for additional services.
• Family advocacy assistance to help families obtain basic necessities such as housing, food, employment and support services for children.
• Pediatric nurse services meeting children's developmental needs.
• Hearing and speech specialists from the Hearing and Speech Institute to provide screenings as well as direct services. Another component of the grant includes a partnership with Morrison Child and Family Services to offer childhood mental health services and parenting classes at Peninsula's main campus and its before- and after-school sites.

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