March 2022
“I believe that attending Friendly House deeply impacted me as a person. Not just learning social-emotional developmental skills, but also how to be in community, to share and collaborate.”
Carrie Hoops is a very special part of our Friendly House community. Not only does she have a significant and long-lasting personal connection to Friendly House, but she is also the Executive Director of William Temple House, a long-time partner organization with Friendly House. William Temple House and Friendly House serve many overlapping populations, and as we strive to not duplicate our services, referrals go both ways in this treasured relationship. Continue reading to reminisce with Carrie about her childhood attending Friendly House Preschool and how that link has allowed our two organizations to have, as Carrie puts it, “a symbiotic connection that is working to build a stronger, more connected community in Northwest Portland.”
“I grew up in Willamette Heights right next to Friendly House. If my memory serves me correctly, I believe I started attending the preschool in 1970 at the age of four. Many other neighborhood children also attended, and it came highly recommended as a safe, high-quality learning environment for children. My teacher was the beloved Glenda Croes.
I have so many fond memories of that era. The way the room felt. Even though it was in the basement, it still felt light and bright with kids’ art tacked to the walls, classical music playing on the record player, graham cracker and peanut butter snacks set out on tables, and afternoon story time in the corner of the room on the sisal carpet where Glenda read us countless books, including Robert McCloskey’s “Blueberries for Sal” and Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are.” Glenda would make homemade “playdough” every week in the small kitchen in the back part of the room. There was a rugged wooden play structure that was constructed in the center of the room.
A few years later, I came back to attend the annual Summer Camps. I remember packing our sack lunches and then all loading into the school van on adventures up to “Old Ben’s” zipline and giant A-frame swing in the woods off Skyline & NW Germantown Road. I remember hiking up Balch Creek Trail to make small dams in the water, and splashing in the wading pool in Wallace Park on long hot summer days. Later, when I was attending Lincoln High School and learning about photography, I was able to access the darkroom at Friendly House where I made my first black and white prints.
I believe that attending Friendly House deeply impacted me as a person. Not just learning social-emotional developmental skills, but also how to be in a community, to share and collaborate. I made life-long friends at Friendly House. Several of them I still see regularly fifty years later. I cherish the deep connections I made there.
Friendly House has evolved so beautifully over the years from its founding as a settlement house to its current configuration of programs and services. I see the agency as an integral part of our community, a safe accessible place where all people—from the young to senior citizens—are welcomed and respected. In my current role as Executive Director of the William Temple House, I connect on a different level: as an important collaborator in our safety net serving people in NW Portland, providing referrals to Friendly House for families seeking services, including hot showers, holiday family programs, affordable preschool, and summer/winter camps. Friendly House staff, in turn, refer their families to our mental health services and to our food pantry. We have a symbiotic connection that is working to build a stronger, more connected community in Northwest Portland.”
A huge thank you to Carrie for sharing her story and being a part of this project!
If there is someone whose story you would like to hear or if you would like to share your Friendly House story, please reach out to us by emailing info@fhpdx.org.