Space for Grace

by Terri Conlin

“Man is born broken. He lives by mending. The grace of God is glue.” Eugene O’Neill

The first time Brenda Hebard walked into Northwest Children’s Outreach, she almost cried at the sight of it—tidy shelves of organized clothing bins, coats in a row, tiny layettes. She had long envisioned just such a place in her mind’s eye, but for her reluctant heart she tarried. By her own admission, Brenda was eager to do. Her hands tingled to sort, categorize, and make tidy compartments of clothing for the children of poverty. This she did easily and yet, there was work to be done in her heart, the crumbing of a wall creating a space for grace.

Brenda began as a faithful volunteer at the original Beaverton NCO warehouse, which satisfied her task-driven self. When she later became Center Coordinator for the Washington Square location, engaging in relationships with volunteers and care providers, a new self awoke. As soon as she said yes, a key clicked in a lock freeing a door on rusted hinges. That door swung wide open when Brenda read What’s So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey. In those pages, Brenda encountered the challenge to extend grace to others in a world of ungrace. She began to see people differently—less through their mistakes and poor choices and more through the truth that they matter to God just as they are. At this time, NCO volunteers packed an emergency order of twenty bags for 5 Rock Ranch, a Christian ranch in Yamhill dedicated to the healing and preservation of families and marriages. Their calling is to father the fatherless, and the NCO clothes were for children caught in the swing between fist and face. Brenda saw these kids of domestic violence running around the lodge, innocent and carefree in clothes and shoes that fit, and felt grace tumbling down all around her.

When the quiet unfinished space in the RHCC’s Lower Level is filled with the noisy sounds of construction, hammer to nails, it will be the grace notes of brighter music, the new home of Northwest Children’s Outreach coming to life. As the shelves go up and the clothing, books, and toys are sorted into bins, the doors will fling wide to a remarkable place of grace right below your feet. Please welcome Northwest Children’s Outreach and the Tualatin Center Coordinator, Brenda Hebard, to the Rolling Hills family home.

Ruby's Pearl

By Terri Conlin

Ruby’s life work is connecting the poor with resources and support. She has been a caseworker for various social agencies over the past decade, visiting migrant camps, conducting home visits to families in crisis, and meeting with schools to support children at risk. Six years ago she discovered the gem that is Northwest Children’s Outreach, a non-profit organization with a heart to provide basic necessities to children. Through the generosity of NCO, Ruby can give coats, clothing, shoes, diapers, and sometimes formula or carseats to her desperate clients. Before NCO, resources were buried as in an abandoned mine. Now those treasures can be reached with the click of a button shining light into the dark shaft that is poverty. Ruby estimates she has been able to help almost 10,000 families over the years because of Northwest Children’s Outreach.

Ruby remembers one pregnant homeless woman walking through her door with nothing for her baby. NCO gave the essentials for bringing the infant home while Ruby worked on reconnecting her client with family and friends for housing and support. That first moment of grace provided through NCO cleared the path to establishing trust and revealing deeper hurts and needs. Recently Ruby experienced her own moment of grace. While expecting their first baby, her husband lost his job with health benefits. Suddenly, her fledgling family was in the distress she had seen many times in her work. Ruby is grateful for family and friends encircling her with encouragement and support through the birth of her baby, but realizes many she serves are disconnected from family.

Currently Ruby is an Outreach Specialist providing prevention services, such as parenting classes, to families at risk. She works closely with Child Advocates who first make a home visit to assess needs followed by a family action plan complete with goals. A parent’s willingness to work with the Advocate toward a healthy family prompts an order with NCO. Orders include the child’s age and gender along with a wishlist of needs and sizes. Volunteers sort and organize donations, then tag large black bags with orders. One night a week volunteers arrive to fill the bags from the orderly shelves of the warehouse praying as they go. Toward the end of the week caseworkers come to their local NCO warehouse to pick up orders. Ruby began serving families from the original Beaverton location, but now her local warehouse is in the Pearl District.

Ruby says NCO is a miracle where needs and resources meet through the faithful hands of countless donors and volunteers. She is impressed, inspired, and intrigued by their sparkling spirit of generosity that has allowed her at times to deliver up to 50 bags per week to children wearing their last threads. Ruby’s heart reflects the glistening gratefulness spread across family faces blessed by NCO. Ruby’s best days are when familiar families return with their own donation for Northwest Children’s Outreach.