“Santa’s sleigh exploded at King today,” said Deb S. Allison, program manager for King Adult Rehabilitation, Adult Outpatient, Rapid Response. “Jamie Fournier, Peer Recovery specialist, received donations from businesses and people, and has gathered up enough clothes, toys, Legos, you name it, to make sure every child whose family member is in treatment through PCR gets something to wear and something to play with for Christmas! Jamie’s energy is infectious, and her love of what she does and who she serves inspires us every day.”
It started when the staff adopted a family, and Christmas Family Adoption took on four more. When Jamie realized that many of their clients would still not have a proper holiday, she sought help from Custom Home Services, The Clothier Family, Cedar Mill Baptist Church and Hillsboro-St.Helens Les Schwab Tires. Most provided monetary donations, but Les Schwab donated a huge bag of toys for Project Network, as well. Jamie took all the funds a bought a room full of toys, stuffed animals, pajamas and more.
“There is so much awesome stuff,” said Jamie. “It’s definitely one of those ‘Aha,’ feel good moments. I feel like it is an important thing, because they [the clients] deserve joy. They deserve to have Christmas. They deserve to come down on Christmas morning and believe in Santa; that somebody loves them, that somebody cares. And not to give up before the miracle happens, because I’m trying to be their miracle.”