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Neighborhood Family Councils present family-led engagement and services in Keizer
Summary
CBEL representatives told the Keizer Community Diversity Engagement Committee about neighborhood Family Councils that run bilingual parent classes, playgroups and community events, citing grants from Meyer Memorial Trust and others and reporting outcomes such as improved park use and hundreds of families served.
Ashley Russell, assistant director of CBEL, and Eduardo (deputy director) presented to the Keizer Community Diversity Engagement Committee about neighborhood-based Family Councils in Title I schools in Salem and Keizer.
"Resilient communities don't happen by accident," Russell told the committee, describing CBEL's three-part "theory of change": civic engagement, systems integration and equity. Eduardo said the councils are family-led, school-based groups that center five protective factors for children and families: caregiver competence, social connections, parenting knowledge, concrete supports and children's social-emotional competence.
The presenters listed activities led by parents and neighbors at Kennedy and Cummings elementary schools and other neighborhood sites: bilingual parent classes, Fun Fridays events, literacy nights, playgroups for infants and toddlers, and school-based attendance and social-emotional learning supports. Eduardo said Fun Fridays brought together parents, kids, firefighters and roughly 48 community organizations and government and nonprofit partners; CBEL described Fun Fridays as multi-hour events that have attracted hundreds of participants in recent years.
CBEL said it funds operations primarily through grants. Russell cited Mountain West Center as an early funder, a recent larger grant from Meyer Memorial Trust and additional grants from the Corbin Community Foundation, plus event sponsors and local business support. The group uses twice-yearly anonymous family needs surveys to set priorities; common needs they reported included housing insecurity, mental and social-emotional health services, tangible supports and neighborhood safety.
Presenters pointed to a neighborhood outcome: families and volunteers partnered to transform Northgate Park (mural work, permanent bathrooms, regular programming), which CBEL said helped families reclaim and reuse the public space. Russell invited committee members to CBEL collaborative gatherings that CBEL runs every other month; the next announced gathering (on early learning) was listed for March 5 in their materials.
Committee members asked about CBEL's founding and reach: Russell said CBEL began as a project under the Mountain West Center for Community Excellence in 2019 and became an independent nonprofit in February 2024. The presentation materials and meeting packet attached to the agenda were available to committee members.
The presenters closed by describing how council members take leadership roles on CBEL's board to ensure lived-experience priorities guide programming and resource allocation.
The committee thanked the presenters and invited CBEL back for follow-up questions in April.
