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The Making of Better People
May 2010 - Better Better is pleased to announce that the Howard Wallis Irwin & Dorise Carlyon Irwin Foundation has given Better People a grant for $3000
May 2010- Better People is pleased to be the recipient of the Equity Foundation's Workplace Giving Campaign.
April 2010- Better People is the recipient of a grant from the Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust for $3,500.
May 16, 2010 -
Better People presents a Jazzy Afternoon of music and entertainment featuring local all stars:
the legendary Darcelle
the phenomenal Linda Hornbuckle
the celebrated Janice Scroggins
internationally known Barb Galloway and Donna Luckett
Portland’s own Lee Anthoney Orr
join forces to bring an afternoon of pure pleasure and fun while supporting the valiant efforts of Better People to help individuals with past legal histories become positive members of our communities. This incredibly talented and diverse group of artists will WOW the audience. Sunday, May 16, 2010, at 4 o’clock pm until 7 o’clock pm, hors d’oeuvres and non-alcoholic special drinks will be served at Multnomah Art Center, 7688 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland, Oregon. Tickets are: regular $35 - patrons $50.
Obtain tickets here at our website (see Home Page – click on Donate (left side) – then click on Donate Here (near top of page right hand side) see Better People – Make a Donation To Better People – complete all information – and then DO NOT select I do not want a gift – your ticket is being purchased as a gift - you will receive your ticket(s) by mail. If you are making a contribution (not purchasing tickets) then select the designation – I do not want a gift. Thank You! See Jazzy Afternoon flyer
April 2010
Better People is pleased to be the recipients of a grant from The Collins Foundation for $10000 to help fund our Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT®) classes. Better People thanks the Foundation for our selection.
April 1, 2010 - The Henry Family Foundation awards Better People a $25,000 matching grant. Better People is asking you to please contribute to the work that we do. We need your contribution to help us reach this goal!
March 31, 2010- Rex Burkholder, Metro Councilor District 5, serves as emcee of the 2010 Spring MRT® graduation. serves as emcee of the 2010 Spring MRT® graduation. Graduation starts at 6:00 pm. at Irvington Covenant Church, 4046 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd, Portland, Oregon 97211.
March 4, 2010 – Open Meadow Community 101 Students award Better People with a grant for $1,000, provided by Northwest Health Foundation, in collaboration with PGE, and Oregon Community Foundation.
February 21, 2010- Better People Alumni Club members kicked off their 2010 Winter fund raiser- Bowling For Change, Sunday, February 21, 2010 at Kellogg Bowl on Main Street in Milwaukie, Oregon, starting at 8:00 am until 12 noon. Participants bowl at no cost for 3 games or for bowling shoes. Bowlers are expected to have sponsors who in turn pay a pre-agreed amount per converted pin or give a contribution. Everyone is invited, encouraged and welcomed to attend.
Better People presents its semi-annual educational forum to provide interested parties about health care issues encountered by people with legal histories.
February, 2010- John Buffaloe joins Better People as a volunteer. Mr. Buffaloe is helping with development.
February, 2010- Charles Vanderburg joins Better People as a Volunteer. Mr. Vanderburg is currently a student at Portland State University. Mr. Vanderburg is working on his undergraduate degree in psychology.
February 9th, 2010 – the topic is Medical Problems in Individuals with Legal Histories: Punished Twice? This forum is11:30 am to 1:30 pm, at the Multnomah County Central Library in downtown Portland, Oregon. All are invited to attend - it is a brown bag lunch– soda/water will be provided.
January 5, 2010- Sam Ayres Joins Better People as an Intern. Mr. Ayres has his Associates of Science in Criminal Justice, and is completing his Bachelors of Science in Criminology and Criminal Justice. Mr. Ayres is currently a full time student at Portland State University.
September 2009-Todd Caponetto resigns from Better People to pursue his masters in social work. However, Mr. Caponetto still works as a substitute MRT facilitator. He also serves as Advisor to the Alumni Club.
December 2009, Multnomah County Commissioner Ted Wheeler serves as emcee of the 2009 fall MRT® graduation.
August 2009- Unfortunately do to the current economic down turn Better People had to close their office in Milwaukie. Better People continues to be located on NE. Martin Luther King Jr. Bvld, Portland, Oregon.
2009- Lee Orr and Board of Directors member Yvonne Chandler-Chastin attend MRT® training in Vancouver, Washington< They each received their certification as MRT® facilitators.
2009- Lee Orr joins Better People as an Employment Specialist. Mr. Orr has 17 years experience in performing employment skills assessments, case management, workplace advising, employment goal development and job placement. Mr. Orr has a BS degree in Political Science from Portland State University. Mr. Orr also served 5 years with the United States Army.
2009- Warren Fuker, resigned his fulltime position as an employment Specialist & MRT® facilitator. Mr. Fluker will remain part-time as a MRT® facilitator for the Tuesday and Thursday classes and assist with the alumni club
June 2009 – Housing Solutions for People with Legal Histories. A Forum put together by Better People to inform the public about the problems encountered by people with legal histories.
June 2008 - Better People completes 10 years of community service. Several former and current members of the Board of directors, and advisory council along with staff, and current and former clients gathered at the McCoy Village Community Room in celebration of Better People’s ten years of community service. Oregon State Rep. Chip Shields, Better People Founder, was presented with a congratulatory plaque to commemorate the program’s longevity and program successes. Barbara Galloway serenaded everyone on her guitar. Also present for the occasion was Marvin Dean, a member of the 1999 first MRT® graduating class. Mr. Dean has been with the same employer for over 10 years and has earned a management position. Also present was jim Milne a Better People contributor and avid supporter.
March 2009, Clackamas County Undersheriff David Kirby serves as emcee for the Spring Better People MRT® graduation.
January 2009 – The January Semi-annual Educational Forum discussed Substance Abuse in the Community and the Workplace: The Impacts of Drugs, Alcohol, and Tobacco. to inform the public about the problems encountered by people with legal histories.
2009- The Hoover Family Foundations awards Better People a grant for $550 for their Job Readiness program.
June 2008 - The Collins Foundation awards a grant for $9000 to Better People
June 2008 - Better People holds its third Educational Forum - The Public and Private Impact of Learning Disabilities on Persons with Legal Histories.
March 2008 - The Henry Family Foundation challenges Better People to a matching grant for $25,000
2008 - Direct contract with Clackamas County Community Corrections for fiscal 2008-2009
2008 - Better People continues to contract and collaborate with the Vocational Rehabilitation Division in assisting clients with disabilities.
March 2008 - Scott Taylor, Director, Multnomah County Department of Community Justice, serves as the master of ceremonies for Better People's spring Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT®) graduation.
2008-2009 - During fiscal 2008-09,l 275 clients enrolled in Better People; 126 a ready for jobs, and 80 earned full-time employment.
2007-2008 – During fiscal 2007-08, 286 clients enrolled in Better People; 140 completed Job Readiness and 100 gained full-time, permanent employment.
January 2008 - Better People hold its second Educational Forum -Protecting and Supporting Individuals with Mental Health Issues in the Community and Workplace.
September 2007 - Joe O'Leary, Senior Policy Advisor of the Governor's Office, State of Oregon, serves as the master of ceremonies for Better People's fall MRT® graduation.
September 2007 – Joe O’Leary, Senior Policy Advisor of the Governor’s Office, State of Oregon, serves as the master of ceremonies for Better People’s Fall MRT® graduation.
June 2007- Better People, in collaboration with the Department of Human Services, Office of Vocational Rehabilitation and the Sexual Abuse Clinic host their first bi-annual Educational Forum - Employing Individuals with Sexual Offenses: Misconceptions, Controversies, and Benefits.
March 2007- Multnomah County Sherriff Bernie Guisto serves as the master of ceremonies for Better People's spring MRT® graduation ceremony.
February 14, 2007 - Romance at Better People. Penny Hamm and Marty Simmons meet at Orientation in June of 2006, eventually fall in love, and marry on Valentine's Day, February, 2007. Warren Fluker, Better People Job Developer, serves as Marty's Best Man.
January 2007 - Over the past 8 years Better People has offered services to over 3500 persons with legal histories, enrolled more than 2000 into the program, encouraged more than 1100 to pass Step Three of the MRT® process (considered to be job ready), assisted over 500 in gaining living-wage jobs, helped over 300 remain employed for at least a year or longer, and witnessed the graduation of almost 400 clients who completed all twelve steps of the MRT® process.
2006-2007 - Collaboration with Southeast Works and the Portland Partners Re-entry Initiative (PPRI).
2006-2007 - Better People enrolls 278 clients in the program, of which 120 gained employment.
2006-2007- The Milwaukie office assisted 60 clients with obtaining living-wage employment.
October 20, 2006- Better People in collaboration with Bridges to Change opens and office in Milwaukie, Oregon to serve Clackamas County Community Correction’s supervised clients.
October 2006 – Better People hires Janet Niell as its first full-time permanent employee to be a graduate of the MRT® program. Ms. Niell is the receptionist for the newly opened.
October, 2006 - In cooperation with Bridges to Change and Clackamas County Community Corrections, Better People opens an office in Milwaukie, Oregon in collaboration with Bridges to Change.
October 2006 - Better People hires Janet Neill as its first full-time permanent employee to be a graduate of the MRT® program. Ms. Neill is the receptionist for the newly opened Milwaukie, Oregon office.
September 2006 - Oregon State Representative Greg Macpherson serves as the master of ceremonies for Better People's fall MRT® graduation ceremony.
August 2006 - Better People welcomes Valerie Keita back as an Employment Training Specialist & MRT® Facilitator. Prior to taking an extended maternity leave, Ms. Keita was a Recruitment Specialist & MRT® Facilitator. Ms. Keita has an undergraduate degree in Administration of Justice and is pursuing a master's degree in Family Counseling. She is also a published author of several books such as: Forbidden generation, and I found Comfort in the Storm.
Spring 2006 - Metro Councilor Rex Burkholder serves as the master of ceremonies for Better People's MRT® spring graduation ceremony.
2006 - Better People hires a new Employment Developer & MRT® Facilitator for the Milwaukie office, Todd Caponetto. Mr. Caponetto has a BS in history from Portland State University and has had over 10 years of job placement experience.
2006 - Better People adds four additional hours to its Job Readiness program, including resume' and telephone interviewing techniques.
2006 - Better People partners with Volunteers of America, Metropolitan Family Services and Irvington Covenant Community Development, Inc., to work on a youth re-entry program. This program, called Community Partners Re-entry, was developed to assist individuals between the ages of 18-26 who were low-risk offenders in order to support them in training and help them return to the community.
2006 - Better People collaborates with the Bureau of Housing's Community Development Program on the PPRI contract.
2006 - Better People collaborates with SE Works for PPRI.
2006-2007, the Milwaukie office assisted 60 clients with obtaining living-wage employment.
2006- Better People collaborates with Bridges to Change as a sub-contractor to provide services to Clackamas County Community Corrections' supervised clients.
2005-2006- Better People enrolls 178 clients; 52 clients gain employment.
2005 - Better People earns the Portland Monthly Magazine's and the Oregon Community Foundation's “Best Kept Secret” award during its First Annual Light a Fire awards celebration.
2005- Better People collaborates with Volunteers of America, Metropolitan Family Services and Irvington Covenant Community Development Corporation to provide services to youth ages 16 to 18 returning to the community from prison.
2005- Better People receives a 3-year grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help fund the Job Readiness Program.
Fall 2005- William ‘Chip' Shields, Oregon State Representative serves as master of ceremonies for Better People's fall MRT® graduation ceremony.
Spring 2005 - The Honorable Clifford L. Freeman of the Circuit Court in the State of Oregon, 4th Judicial District serves as master of ceremonies for Better People's spring MRT® Graduation Ceremony.
2004-2005 - Better People enrolls 227 people; 71 clients gain full-time employment.
Fall 2004 - Oregon State Senator Margaret Carter serves as the master of ceremonies for Better People's MRT® fall graduation ceremony.
Fall 2004- David Applin leaves the Corporate Representative-Job. He received a job at the Multnomah county Aging and Disabilities Services. Better People Will miss him.
September 2004- Better People partners with the Community Partners Reinvestment Re-Entry for Youth Offenders Project. This is a 5-year project that provides services to men ages 18-25 that were convicted of nonviolent Measure 11 offenses and will be released into Multnomah County. This project is led by Volunteers of America.
March 2004 - Oregon Senator Avel Gordy serves as the master of ceremonies for Better People's spring MRT® graduation.
January 2004 - Better People is awarded The Skanner's “Drum Major for Justice Award” by Bobbie and Bernie Foster, Publishers, Skanner News Group, at The Skanner's 18th annual Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast.
2004 - Better People adds a 12-hour Job Readiness Program to its curriculum.
2003- Tanisha Wells Replaces Tracy Muller’s job as Administrative/ Program Assistant. Ms. Wells has a certificate in Business Technology from Chemeketa Community College.
2003- Valerie Keita replaces Ms. Boston as Recruitment Specialist. Ms. Keita has an undergraduate degree in Administration of Justice and is pursuing a master's degree in Family Counseling.
2003- Clariner Boston becomes the new Executive Director of Better People. Ms. Boston was originally on the board of directors of better people before the doors opened for business. Ms. Boston then became the Recruitment Specialist for the company. Ms. Boston received a BS degree in Marketing from the School of Business Administration, Portland State University, a Masters in Public Administration and A Masters in Administration of Justice, both from the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government, PSU. She is also a MRT® Cognitive Behavioral Therapist.
2003-2004: Better People enrolls 239 people; 64 clients gain full time employment.
2003-2004 Board of directors changes. The board of directors welcomes Judith Belk, Ph.D. Dr. Belk operates the Center for Communication & Learning Skills, as a speech pathologist.
2002-2003 – Better People enrolls 315 people; 63 clients gain full-time employment.
2001-2002 – Better People enrolls 365 people; 75 clients gain full-time employment
2001-2002 – Better People reaches 70% One year job retention. This is a record for the program so far.
2000-2001 – Better People enrolls 347 people; 72 clients gain full-time employment.
June, 1999 -- 40 clients employed at an average of $8.78/hr. Fourteen of 15 direct placements still employed. Gunderson Inc. hires its first person from Better People. Meyer Memorial Trust awards $75,000 grant payable over three years. Dr. Robert Hughley and Brian Ross to join Board of Directors in July.
May, 1999 -- Alumni Club grows to nine members. Club's first event, a carwash fundraiser, nets $289 for Alumni Club and Rose Haven, a program that helps homeless women.
March 1999 -- Sam Jackson, Jr., formerly of Gunderson Inc., joins Board of Directors and lays inroads to having Gunderson join major companies like Oregon Iron Works, Walsh Construction and J.A. Freeman and Sons in hiring Better People clients.
March 1999- Jay Thomas, Ph.D. and Paula Truax, Ph.D. of Pacific University's psychology department along with Ph.D. candidate Mike Kraemer and research assistant Elizabeth Walsh, MS Correctional Administration, join Dr. Lee of Portland State University evaluation were suppose to join a team to evaluate better people. Instead Clariner M. Boston MPA, MS, Administration of Justice with assistance from Alison L. Meier, BA, Sociology, & Annette Jolin, Ph.D. wrote an evaluation of Better People. The evaluation included insight into the ideas of Moral Reconation Therapy
March 10, 1999 -- Michelle Roberts, reporter for The Oregonian newspaper, writes an in-depth feature on the negative effects on the children of incarcerated mothers by locating the proposed women's prison in Umatilla, 180 miles from the homes of their children.
February 1999 -- David Applin moves to Corporate Representative-Job Retention position. His primary responsibility is to ensure that our clients succeed in jobs. Berry Scheib hired as Marketer.
December 1998 -- Shields gives clients Larry Johnson, Marvin Dean and Dejaun Chesterfield the charge of developing Alumni Club that would give back to the community and be a vehicle for clients to help themselves financially. Johnson, Dean and Chesterfield accept the challenge and begin planning.
October-Dec., 1998 -- Annual Campaign raises $72,419. First fundraising auction held at Bima. Event organized by Jay Swedblom and Jane Jackson. Todd McKee of Merrill Lynch, Jack Wagner of Sedgewick and Jay Swedblom of Intel join Board of Directors.
October 1998 -- The Oregon legislature’s argument over the citing of women's prison reaches crescendo. Shields sends letters to the editor of 23 publications citing research by Denise Johnston, M.D., author of Children of Incarcerated Parents, that "Children of incarcerated parents need to visit their mothers frequently in order to develop well, both emotionally and cognitively." He calls on officials to locate the prison in Western Oregon since most of inmate's children reside there. Letter published in The Oregonian and the Women's Journal.
October 14, 1998 -- Bills submitted in Salem that would privatize some Oregon prisons. The Skanner newspaper calls Shields for comment for its October 14 issue. Shields, who has written on prison privatization, is quoted as saying, "Privatization is not a good idea. There's too much money to be made in corrections as it is. I think Jesse Jackson was right in that we are in the midst of a prison industrial complex."
September 1998 -- Better People sponsors blues concert at the Oregon State Penitentiary featuring Duffy Bishop and Her Palace of Culture. Event reaches over 600 inmates. Plans set for second concert on September 5, 1999. The United Way of the Columbia-Willamette awards a one-time $20,000 grant from its Community Investment Fund. Grant is to help the working poor gain and retain living-wage jobs.
July 31, 1998 -- Marvin Dean and Dejuan Chesterfield represent Better People's first job placements. They are hired by PCRI at $9/hr. plus health benefits. Both are still with PCRI today.
July 1, 1998 -- David Applin hired as Marketer. His primary responsibility is to "sell" Better People's employment services to Portland businesses.
June 15, 1998 -- Better People officially opens at 4839 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
June 1998 -- Black United Fund of Oregon becomes the first major foundation/public charity to invest in Better People. The William Brod Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation also provides support thanks to the effort of Beth Hulsman. Win McCormack becomes a major donor.
May, 1998 -- Clariner Boston is hired as Recruitment Specialist and resigns her Board position. She is primarily responsible for client outreach and referral agency relations.
April 1998 -- The Urban League of Portland pledges free meeting space for Better People MRT groups. Shields gives a speech on "what works" in offender rehabilitation to a rally of people seeking to repeal Measure 11, Oregon's harsh mandatory minimum law.
March 15, 1998 -- U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics announces 1.8 million Americans were in jail or prison at mid-year 1997, which is triple the number incarcerated in 1980. The Sentencing Project, a Washington DC advocacy group, projects 2 million incarcerated by 2000. The Oregonian newspaper states "That's a figure no other democracy comes close to matching." The article states almost 60 percent of federal inmates are incarcerated for drug offenses; for state prisons and jails, the figure is 22 percent. Those numbers are triple the rate of 15 years ago. One in 20 Americans are likely to be incarcerated at some point during their lifetime. The figure is 1 in 4 for African-Americans. March 1998 -- With approximately $80,000 in the bank, and evidence that major foundations will give only once the group is operational, the Board approves the opening of Better People with a June 15 start target date. Shields is appointed Executive Director at a salary of $2200 per month. Clariner Boston, assistant adjunct professor of Administration of Justice at Portland State University, joins the Board of Directors.
February 1998 -- Zoe Perez, now with Wilshire Financial, joins Board of Directors. Lifers Unlimited, Seventh Step and Uhuru Sa Sa, inmate self help groups at the Oregon State Penitentiary, endorse Better People. Nella Lee, Ph.D., of Portland State University's Administration of Justice joins the Better People program evaluation team, replacing Dr. Jolin who moves temporarily to Germany.
December 1997 -- Meyer Memorial Trust, Public Welfare Foundation and Center on Crime Communities and Culture decline to fund Better People, indicating they may reconsider once Better People is operational.
August 12, 1997 -- First formal Better People board meeting held. Officers elected. By-laws adopted.
July 22, 1997 -- Better People is incorporated in the state of Oregon. Shields, Hill and Lundberg are incorporators.
March 1997 -- Bob Kingery, founder and CEO of Nextlink Interactive, becomes the organization's first major donor. He refers Shields and Hill to Bob Warren, Jr., CEO of Cascade Corporation, who also becomes a major donor. Shields resigns from The Private Industry Council to work part time at The Salvation Army so that he can devote more time to Better People's development. Annette Jolin, Ph.D., of Portland State University's Administration of Justice program, agrees to join the Better People Advisory Council and program evaluation team.
January 1997 -- Shields completes the plan and shows it to anyone who will listen. One of the first to take interest is Ed Hill, a labor lawyer and Better People's current board president. Hill arranges meetings with potential donors.
November 1996 -- Shields begins working on the Better People business plan with the help of Zoe Perez, an MBA graduate and business consultant with Anderson Consulting.
September 1996 -- While lying on a rock in the Sandy River, Shields gets the idea of how MRT, the cognitive-behavioral therapy developed by Correctional Counseling Inc. could be weaved into employment services for ex-offenders.
June 1996 -- Shields begins work as a job developer at The Private Industry Council in Portland.
February 1996 -- Shields resigns from the Employment Connection after six years of service. He moves to Portland.
February 1994 -- Chris Lundberg, then a Lewis and Clark law student and Summer Youth Employment Coordinator for The Private Industry Council (now WorkSystems Inc.), encourages Shields to start an ex offender program in Portland.
Dec. 1993-January, 1994 -- William (Chip) Shields, Director of Development of the Employment Connection , an ex-offender employment agency in St. Louis, Missouri, volunteers at nation's most successful job placement and offender-rehabilitation programs to learn their systems. These agencies are Cleveland (Ohio) Works, Correctional Counseling Inc . (Memphis, Tenn.) and the Chicago Commons Association. He also gleans ideas from the Employment Connection and BASIC, a successful drug treatment program in St. Louis.
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