CARES Northwest Celebrates 25th Years of Helping Abused Children
Portland, November 16th. Hundreds of supporters came to toast the 25th Anniversary of CARES Northwest with a festive gala at Leftbank Annex. CARES Northwest is a medically-based child abuse assessment and intervention program which served 4792 children in 2011. (Photo credit, Andie Petkus) Each year, thousands of children in Oregon face physical and sexual abuse, neglect and/or domestic violence. Before CARES was founded, if children were physically or sexually abused they had to tell their painful story again and again and again. CARES brings together all agencies involved for one evaluation.
For the past 25 years, CARES Northwest has served as a community-based medical program for the assessment, treatment and prevention of child abuse. The program combines the collaborative forces of four of the region’s leading health systems—Kaiser Permanente, OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, Providence Health & Services and Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel.
“Since opening our doors in 1987, we have served nearly 30,000 children in our medical clinic, and have triaged almost twice that many referrals,” said Kevin Dowling, CARES Northwest program manager. “Most of the children we see are 12 years and younger, with sexual abuse and physical abuse being the most common reasons for referral.
“The need is great and our program is committed to serving all children, regardless of their family’s ability to pay. CARES Northwest relies on generous contributions from the community to ensure our most vulnerable patients receive care.”
Presenting Sponsor: Pacific Power
Anniversary Sponsors: Epic Systems Corp.
Philip Iosca and Anne Duden
OHSU – Doernbecher Children’s Hospital
Providence St. Vincent Medical Center
Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel
Smarsh
Silver Sponsors: CBRE Inc./Jan Bottcher
Iberdrola Renewables, Inc.
Dan Leonhardt, M.D. and Kathy Kroeger
Kaiser Permanente Northwest
Leila Keltner and Kevin Dowling
Debby Kernan and Paul Angello
Knowledge Universe
Allison Rhodes
David Rubin
Daniel Staton
Wells Fargo
Photography Sponsor: OnPoint Community Credit Union ($1,000)
In-Kind Media Sponsor: Portland Society Page