st
1 Annual Spring
Fling Benefit
Join us Saturday, May 23, 2015
Milwaukie Elks Lodge
13121 SE McLoughlin Blvd.
Milwaukie, OR
for a Dance to Benefit:
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
Clackamas Women's Services
A Village for One
Dance to Music by TASKA!! 7-10 PM
No Host Bar
Dinner (four entrees) Available Separately, 5-9 PM
Prizes for best table decorations - Call Judy at (503) 659-0075
to reserve a table
Tickets at springflingbenefit.myevent.com
$22 Couples, $12 Singles
A joint production of the
Milwaukie Elks Lodge and the Portland
Metropolitan Rotary Club
About the charities:
A VILLAGE FOR ONE
“A community uniting to uplift, support, and heal children impacted by commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking.”
The community unites to provide youth with a home, nourishment, education, holistic healing, mentorship, service, and
opportunity to grow, believe, and become their greatest potential.
“The results of the FBI’s Operation Cross Country III, a nationwide anti-trafficking sting, indicate that the Portland Metro
area is the second worst hot spot in the nation for commercial sex trafficking. Keith Bickford, head of the federal human
trafficking taskforce in Oregon reports that in Portland alone, he encounters 3-5 child victims of commercial trafficking
each week-easily over 200 victims a year.”
The average age of entry into sex trafficking is 12-13 years of age. Victims often report that they are sold 10-15 times
per night and some children face 45 customers in one night. Children are raped by 6000 buyers during their 5 year
period of victimization. Human trafficking in the U.S. is a $9.8 billion industry!! The morality rate, aka death rate, is 40
times higher for women who are prostituted than for women who are not prostituted.
NAMI CLACKAMAS
NAMI in Clackamas County is a grassroots organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for everyone impacted
by mental health through support, education, and advocacy. NAMI gives one on one support for individuals living with a
mental illness and their loved ones. They help them navigate complex systems of services for health care and find
resources for prescription assistance and other community resources. NAMI offers classes for caregivers and for
patients, as well as family support meetings. They also help to educate school professionals about the early warning
signs of mental illness. They have a lending library and a newsletter.
“Mental illness is a medical condition that disrupts a person’s thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others, and
daily functioning, often resulting in a diminished capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life.” Recovery is
possible, but fewer than 1/3 of adults and ½ of children with a diagnosable mental health disorder receive mental health
services in a given year. In the U.S., the annual economic, indirect cost of mental illness is estimated at $79 billion. Most
of that amount-approximately $63 billion-reflects the loss of productivity as a result of illness.
CLACKAMAS WOMEN’S SERVICES
“Domestic and sexual violence touches far too many lives, at least 2.3 million people in the U.S. every year experience
abuse from an intimate partner, dating partner or spouse. Clackamas Women’s Services aims to serve those who have
been touched domestic violence in their family, be it from a partner, parent or other family member, as well as those
whose lives have been impacted by intimate partner violence and harmed by someone they are dating. At least 1 in 3
women and 1 in 6 men’s lives are directly impacted by sexual violence, which can be perpetrated by strangers or, as is
much more common, by an acquaintance, friend, partner, or family member of the survivor. “
“Our agency is available 24/7 to help survivors’ safety plan and face the challenge of keeping themselves and their loved
ones as safe as possible.” In Oregon City, Clackamas Women’s Service have a home shelter serving victims of abuse and
their children, as well as a camp (Camp Hope at Camp Arrah Wanna in Welches) that they sponsor for those children.
They offer counseling, food, clothing, protection, help getting jobs, education, and living situations outside the shelter.