Sounder The Islands’
Serving Orcas, Lopez and San Juan County
Vikings coverage – Page 8
WEDNESDAY, January 20, 2016 n VOL. 49, NO. 3 n 75¢ n islandssounder.com
An Orcas foster mom shares her story by Kim Ihlenfeldt
Special to the Sounder
A little boy held my face in his hands and looked me square in the eye as his big blues cried out, “I just wish someone loved me enough to keep me.” His hands were soft but dirty from playing outside, his spiky blond hair was laced with beads of sweat. He was your typical little boy. He had an incredible heart. But, with no one to care for him, he left Orcas the next day for a foster home off-island. This was in 2014. He was the 12th child I provided respite for, so I was already well into it, but this was one of those moments that changes your heart for forever. I was all in after that. Foster care is defined as a person who acts as parent and guardian for a child in place of the child's natural parents, but without legally adopting the child. Right now there are no licensed foster homes on the island. Last April, alone, there were 10 Orcas Island children removed from their homes. A handful of them were taken in by island relatives and family-friends, also knows as fictive-kin. The others were sent off island, stripped from everything familiar to them and from our community, and sent away. I’ve seen it happen several times. It’s not that they aren’t wanted here; it’s that no one steps up for them.
Data from a July 2015 report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services shows 10,603 children in the foster care system in Washington state, and 411,433 nationwide. Children can be in foster care anywhere from a couple of months to several years or more. The need is there. These children need people to help them grow, wipe their tears, hug them tight. They need loving adults to wake them in the morning, cheer them on in their endeavors, encourage their ambitions and hold their hand through their struggles. You’ll share family meals, teach them boundaries and laugh until your sides split. It takes our community, as a whole; it takes a village. Our community provides familiar faces, routine and meaningful relationships. The kids find peers to relate to, adults who nurture; they get to know the faces of the community and the community gets to know the children, as well. Foster care isn’t for everyone, and there are other ways that you can help. One of the things that I love about our community is its ability to fill a need. There are opportunities to sponsor children, volunteer, donate, provide respite care for foster homes or fictive kin and more. I think the most important thing we can do as a community is to support our own and the children who quickly become our own.
Community meeting about fostering Kim Ihlenfeldt photo
Christina Urtasun, a liaison for Fostering Together, will be at the Eastsound Fire Station on Wednesday, Jan. 27 at 6:30 p.m. to share information and answer questions on how to help community children in need. All are invited to attend.
Special 2016 election for Orcas voters Orcas Island Park and Rec District Levy
School Maintenance and Operations Levy
by Colleen Smith Armstrong
by Mandi Johnson
The Orcas Island Park and Rec District is asking voters to approve a 15-cent property tax levy to support its current programing and finish improvements to Buck Park. Ballots will be mailed on Jan. 19 and election day is Feb. 9. The new levy is 15 cents per $1000 of assessed property value, and replaces the old levy of nine cents. If approved, it will start in 2017 and go for six years. Sixty percent approval is required to pass the measure. “Buck Park land was a gift to Orcas Island from the Buck family. State money developed the park. Caring for it properly is our legacy to Orcas Island and future generations,” wrote Rec Commissioner Martha Farish in the “pro” statement published in the voters’ pamphlet. The park and rec district, which has been in operation for nearly four years, offers year-round activities for youth and adults in sports,
Residents of Orcas are going to vote Feb. 9 on a levy that is necessary to help students in Orcas Island School District continue receiving the education they deserve, according to the district. “If this levy were to fail, it would be devastating to the district as it would result in cuts and/or elimination of programs and faculty,” said OISD Superintendent Eric Webb. The levy provides nearly 25 percent of the school district’s annual budget: 30 percent of teacher salaries, 90 percent of music and athletic program funding, 75 of classified staff salaries (librarians, paraeducators, clerical and maintenance staff), 65 percent of English-language learners and staff training and 25 percent of special education are all maintained by the levy.
SEE OIPRD, PAGE 6
SEE M&O, PAGE 7
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