A Call To Action

On the Connor and Tavi front, the brief respite that gave us all a little hope is fading back to confusion and fear. No one seems to have answers when it comes to motive or reason. This is the email I received today, on behalf of Steph:

From: Organic Internet
Subject: A Call To Action - and a thank you for all of the support
Date: Friday, December 19, 2008, 10:22 AM

This is a Call To Action.

Many people have asked “what can I do?”… I have really left it up to individuals to come up with their best way of participation, as I am not really good at asking people for things, and I am not sure what support is needed. As things have progressed, and through suggestions from others, I have come up with several different ways that our community (both locally and nationally) can help Connor and Tavvi in their struggle to stay with their family.

The following is a list of directions and a plea for help.

Case # is HN18847

Judge name: E. Preston Grissom
Presiding Judge Chesapeake Circuit Court

Contact Pat Cannon.

The children's GAL, Pat Cannon, can be reached at 757-409-8189 cell, e-mail pc_sharkbite@yahoo.com.

She is a legal advocate for the kids in the state of Virginia , and she opposed this decision to move the children. She helped pave the way in Virginia as we were working here, in Oregon , to oppose the removal of the children Tuesday, December 16th.

Due to the legal nature of this situation, Pat cannot give out much information, but she can listen. If anyone wants to offer their support to the children and have it represented in court, please email Pat Cannon.

What we need now is jurisdiction transferred back to Oregon . We need any and all folks who know these kids, have seen their progress to write letters on their behalf (some of us have already done that and are on record with OR DHS, but need to do it again).

We need to be loud, assertive, respectful, and peaceful. Please mail letters to Pat Cannon the children's GAL, who is fighting this fight by herself in VA. She needs as much support as we can muster in OR.

Anyone who doesn't know the kids, but are moved by this story please write an opinion piece and send it to Pat Cannon. She needs all of this for court. Anyone who have any ideas for legal support, community awareness now is the time even more than before for action. We want to keep these kids home.

You can e-mail letters to Pat Cannon.
pc_sharkbite@yahoo.com

Help Get Legal Representation

I will be calling and emailing today. Timing is so horrible; I understand that it is going to be hard to get anyone’s attention right now, before Christmas. We only have a few days to move some pretty big mountains. I would appreciate help in calling and emailing legal aid and assistance people and groups. If these groups are contacted respectfully by a community, instead of just an individual, we may get a crack at some attention even during the holidays.

www.osbar.org/probono/substantive.html

CASA (child advocacy) contact Leslie Roemmer at 503-988-5115
Oregon State Bar Problem Solvers (this is for kids to access from age 11-18)
Attorney for Youth, contact carlnoonan@dwt.com
Lewis and Clark Legal Clinic, contact Richard Slottee at 503-768-6500
St. Andrew Legal Clinic, Joel Overlund at 503-281-1500
Helping Hands at 541-386-4808
Bradley-Angle House, conact Karla McFarland at 503-282-9940
ACLU, Jann Carson at 503-227-3186.
These are attorneys that work with family law/ child custody cases.

Randy Phil Oetken 503-659-4440
John C. Moore 503-675-4300
Steven Edward 503-636-3595
Jon Thomas Pixton 503-968-2020
James Elery Carroll 503-245-5003
Bruce Grant Thompson 503-226-6491
Robert Harris 503-228-6099

Contact State Representatives

Help us lift our voice up the chain!

Oregon

http://governor.oregon.gov/Gov/contact_us.shtml

http://wyden.senate.gov/contact/

http://gsmith.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home

Virginia

http://www.governor.virginia.gov/AboutTheGovernor/contactGovernor.cfm



Contact Virginia DHS

Now, this one is a bit sketchy. I have put some thought into this, however, and I think that if the DHS system in Virginia is consistently reminded that there is a community loving, protecting, valuing, and advocating for these children, that it looks a lot different than two kids that can just be bullied and then snagged.

I IMPLORE you… I beg. Please, if you choose to contact Virginia DHS, use non-violent communication, respect, and be polite. What I am asking for is this:

Call and/or email.

Keep it simple.

“Hi, my name is __________. I am part of Tavvi and Connor’s community and I need to voice that I support them and value their family connection. I oppose efforts at removing them from their home. Thank you.”

If you email, please “cc” Pat Cannon onto the email (pc_sharkbite@yahoo.com)

Ethel Hassell
757-382-2250
ehassell@cityofchesapeake.net

Email Chain

Everyone on your contact lists are fair game!

Subject Line:

Child Welfare Emergency

Content:

(You can add your own content, if you rather)

Two children, Connor and Tavvi, are being threatened with forceful removal from their family – right before Christmas.

www.theystayhome.blogspot.com

www.helpuskeepthemhome.blogspot.com

Please, help us pass along this information by forwarding this email to everyone you know.

Thank you for the consideration.



Websites and Blog and Bulletin Repost

You can copy the email above, and keep it simple, or write your own opinion piece on this situation. When you post it, please ask others to do the same. If you are comfortable with it, I will post a link to your blog on www.helpuskeepthemhome.blogspot.com to show a chain of support. If you do NOT want a link to your site or blog posted on ours, please do not let that stop you – the link is optional.

Media

Oregon Media

I will work on a press release that can be posted far and wide. I will also update with more media contacts (numbers, specific names, more sites) as I do some research. If you have any ideas of media outlets (radio shows, etc), please let me know. I would be grateful if a LOT of people contacted the media… help us get the exposure that we need right now.

Evaluations and Conversations

Do you have a degree or certification in a field that can lend its legitimacy to our situation? Talk with us! We are trying to compile documentation, and connecting with help is very important to us right now.

Other

Does anyone have experience with building websites or have webspace for hosting a site? I have some know how, but my resources are limited right now, and time is a factor. I will be trying to get an actual website put together in the next day. I would be grateful for any assistance.

Do you have a video camera or a digital camera that we could borrow this week? Our digital camera has some serious technical limitations, and we have no video capacity. We really want to create some video media on our own.

Do you have a skill or talent that can help? I am totally open minded… If you have a website, please drop a small blurb with a link to our blogs.