Rivermark loves working alongside partner organizations in our community that believe in our “Building Financial Empowerment Together” vision and lives it through their actions. Parenting With Intent is one organization that truly lives out that vision and mission. They work alongside families involved with the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS), Child Welfare. Parenting With Intent’s mission of “Building Strong Connections for Healthy Communities,” is embedded in the belief that healthy relationships are the vehicle through which youth and families can grow and thrive. Through this mission, they remove barriers to optimal family health and reduce the traumatic efforts of foster care by providing support services to families and youth.

Who is Parenting With Intent?

Parenting With Intent was founded in 2011 and has grown rapidly into a thriving non-profit that caters to youth and families in the Foster Care system in Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties. In 2017, they launched the Youth Empowerment Services Program known as “YES!” The YES! Program provides individual, long-term professional mentorship, foster placement support, and stabilization to youth in foster care. This program has become the largest mentorship program in the state funded by the ODHS. At it’s inception, they began with mentoring just 20 youth, and the program has grown to support over 200 youth to date.

The idea to start this organization began by Founder and Executive Director, Ashley Woodcock. Ashley spent much of her early career working with families and children involved with Child Welfare in various capacities. In witnessing the disempowerment and isolation experienced by this population, Ashley’s work has always emphasized empowerment through building authentic relationships. It’s from this emphasis that the mission of Parenting With Intent was born and continues to be a driving force in the mission and culture of Parenting With Intent today.

With skillful engagement, Parenting With Intent strives to establish trusting and meaningful connections so that every youth they serve can find their voice, advocate for their needs and build the confidence to pursue their aspirations. Their work is intentional, relationship-based, and driven by four guiding principles: that each person involved in their programs learns to identify an authentic sense of self, develop and sustain healthy relationships, recognize and participate in safe communities, and ultimately to live their lives with intention.

How does Rivermark and Parenting With Intent partner together?

Rivermark has partnered with Parenting With Intent in several ways. We have sponsored fall and winter celebrations, donated game consoles and games, sponsored a giving tree for youth members, and most recently, we’re partnering with Parenting With Intent for their Financial Counseling and Youth Banking program.

“RIvermark has welcomed us with open arms and been so supportive of the work that we do. They are not only supportive of our mission, but they also actively cheer for us, share our work with others in the community, and consistently reach out to us to see how we can grow and deepen our partnership and work more closely together in the community,” said Chellie Dering, Development Director

Parenting With Intent also partners with several other organizations in our community, including, Nike, Project 48, Urban Gleaners, Next Adventure, Project Lemonade, Block Parent Initiative, Howard’s Heart, For Goodness Cakes, and Enterprise Car Rental.

Their approach works to equip youth and families with the tools to access helpful resources, the voice to advocate for their needs and the confidence to make positive changes to pursue their aspirations. We look forward to continuing this partnership with Parenting With Intent and supporting all the good they are doing for our community members and families.

Learn more about Parenting With Intent.