June 12 2007
Stimson Lumber Company Donates to Child Centered Solutions' Columbia County Project
Columbia County children involved in high conflict family disputes will receive legal representation and educational support thanks to the generosity of the Stimson Lumber Company
COLUMBIA CO., OR, June 11, 2007 - Stimson Lumber Company, together with the Stimson Miller Foundation and Stimson President Andrew Miller, have made funds available for Child Centered Solutions (CCS) to institute the following programs to help the children of Columbia County.
Child Centered Solutions, in partnership with Columbia Community Mental Health services, will institute a program to provide a psychological and educational support group for children whose parents are divorced or divorcing. The purpose of this program is to help children understand that they are not to blame for their parents' divorces and provide constructive solutions to deal with family disputes. The projected start date for this program is September 1, 2007.
CCS will provide pro bono legal assistance to the court for the children to aid children in high conflict cases where the court is concerned that the best interests of the child are not being met. Columbia County attorney Robert L. Salisbury will spearhead this portion of the program and will start taking cases July 1, 2007.
All appointments for this program will be made by Columbia County Circuit Court Judge, Ted Grove. Judge Grove noted, "It is wonderful to have a local business, such as Stimson Lumber Company, identify issues that are important to the wellbeing of our community and who are willing to back up talk with both actions and funding."
Services such as educational support groups and pro bono legal representation for children are valuable resources relied upon by family court judges when they are concerned that parents are not acting in the best interest of their children. Due to governmental budget restrictions, services such as these are regularly unavailable. It is only when local business such as Stimson Lumber and foundations such as CCS take interest and action that this void is filled.
"The Stimson Lumber Company is committed to the communities in which it opens mills," said Stimson Lumber Company President Andrew Miller. "Stimson has a consistent history of meeting the needs of young people in our communities and, we hope that this donation will help provide some of the necessary resources for the growth of families and the greater community at large."
Click here for more information about Child Centered Solutions.