Believing in families: Julie Hilty joins Family Building Blocks outreach

By Mary Owen

Stayton’s Family Building Blocks outreach to area families has a new community outreach coordinator.

Julie Hilty, a married mom of two boys, was a member of the South Salem MOMS Club that hosted a fundraising event once a year for Family Building Blocks. That undertaking led to the organization offering her a position in 2009 as the community outreach coordinator. Her transition to Stayton in August came when FBB received a grant from The Doris J. Wipper Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation to support a new home visiting program in Stayton, Mehama and Lyons.

“It is estimated that there are over 200 families in the southeast Marion County area that would qualify for Family Building Block’s free home visiting services,” Hilty said. “These families face struggles of poverty, isolation, lack of transportation, mental illness and drug and/or alcohol addictions.”

Hilty joins Hanna Cashen, who currently provides educational home visits and offers parent-child playgroup opportunities to families with children from birth to age 5.

“We partner with those who want to learn more about early childhood development and improve their parenting technique,” Hilty said. “During a home visit, Hanna brings information and activities matched to the ages of the children, provides referrals to ensure access to medical services and resources for meeting basic needs, and helps parents identify and accomplish goals leading to self-sufficiency.”

As a former FBB volunteer Hilty fell in love with the organization’s mission, she said.

“And working with families that truly want to change their lives around,” she added. “But they just don’t have the tools and support to break the negative cycles they were raised in.”

Hilty, who has worked in Stayton and the surrounding area since mid-August, said she has enjoyed getting to know the community.

“It has been so much fun stopping in to meet business owners and meeting residents,” Hilty said. “One day after a meeting with Mike Jaeger, the branch manager of West Coast Bank, he encouraged me to introduce myself to Monte Mensing. I stopped in to say hi to Monte at Monté’s Coins and before I knew it, one of his customers, Sharon, was showing me around downtown!

“This community has such a huge heart for welcoming others and for each other,” she added. “I hope to partner with the community so that together we can offer support to families who are challenged by difficult life circumstances.”

Hilty said FBB’s goal is to intervene early in the life of a child.

“We want to promote resiliency in children, strengthen parents, and preserve families through an array of comprehensive and integrated early childhood and therapeutic family support services.”

According to Hilty, in 2010, all of the 270 children enrolled in FBB’s Home Visitation Services were able to live safely with their families, thus avoiding the trauma of abuse, neglect and foster care.

“We anticipate similar positive outcomes with a new presence in this community,” she said. “It is great to work for an organization with such incredible outcomes.”

Family Building Blocks is now in the process of identifying and moving into a more permanent space where regular meetings with families can take place as well as parent-child playgroups, she said.

“We continue to meet with local community leaders and partner organizations who are helping us learn more about what the needs are for families with young children and how best to reach out to them,” Hilty said. Community help is welcomed, she added.

Immediate needs are formula, diapers, children’s books, and clothes for children ages 3-5. Long-term needs include donations, volunteers, community partners and advocates of FBB’s work.

When not working, Hilty likes to run, hike and hang out with her family.  She and her husband, Dwayne, started Soma Church three years ago in West Salem, and have immersed themselves in the Edgewater Neighborhood where they live and serve.