I turned off the car radio and headed into the prevention breakfast, thinking about how lucky I was to work in a city that is so good for women.  As people from other agencies began to share about their program highlights, a startlingly different view of some of Portland's neighborhoods emerged.  A Community Child Welfare Worker from the Department of Health and Human Services spoke of the frustration and heartbreak of working with young mothers in Parkside who are addicted to opiates.  She described a situation about a woman who was eight months pregnant and on Subutex.  She was starting to go through withdrawal and desperately needed treatment but had no childcare for her four year old child.  The C.C.W. worker didn't know where to turn and she indicated that this woman was one of many who were in similar situations. 

I looked around the table and saw a wealth of services represented there that morning.  It became evident to me that rather than re-invent the wheel, we needed to pull together to find a way to help these young women access the services they needed with minimal effort.  I offered to start the conversation at the next Overdose Prevention Project meeting in December and invited them to attend.  Two weeks later, fourteen of us crowded around a conference table in City Hall and began to break down barriers that had existed for years.  Representatives from social service agencies, law enforcement, methadone clinics and Public Health shared ideas and many offered to form a special Task Force to help create a stronger network of services for young addicted mothers in Portland's neighborhoods.

Portland is a wonderful city and I am truly grateful to work here.  It has so much to offer to so many but we must not forget that our community is responsible for all of our citizens.  As women's rates of drug and alcohol addiction increase here and across the country, hopefully we can address this crisis together so that people are able to get the help they need to live healthy and fuller lives."