LETTER: Your votes and taxes make life-changing impacts

Published 11:02 am Monday, December 23, 2024

You have voted and paid taxes to support programs that help those most in need. You have voted to support our planet so that our children have a future to look forward to. You have voted to support our youngest so that they can thrive.

Too often, we forget to say thank you. As a volunteer running an after school program at a family shelter serving up to 70 families needing housing, I see the result of these taxes.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I thank you for the smiles I see as kids gather around a table to make decorations for their rooms, chatting happily and singing.

I thank you as I see someone going from reading first words to conquering a full book.

I thank you as I watch parents gathering and exchanging support as they navigate difficult lives.

And I thank you as I say goodbye to a family moving into permanent, good housing.

We don’t get everything right. Many of these programs are in their infancy, working to solve problems that are decades in the making.

But we are moving forward. We learn and improve every day, thanks to the many dedicated workers who give so much. And thanks to you.

You make this happen. I am so grateful.

Carol Greenough of Tualatin is a board member and volunteer for Family Promise of Tualatin Valley Bridge to Home shelter in Washington County.