After 18 years of wrongful imprisonment, Danté Farmer is free to create his future. Without any physical barriers, the Portland native is finding personal success working as Blanchet House’s assistant cook, an expert gang witness and a minister. When released from prison, his attorneys thought Blanchet House would be a
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“I want my kids in my life so I must recover.”
Brian B. grew up in what he calls the “armpit of California”— the Mojave Desert region. It was an economically depressed area and there weren’t many job opportunities which resulted in the prevalence of crime, drugs and gangs. “I had my first gun pulled on me when I was 15,”
Volunteer Spotlight: Rebecca Cranor
Of the eighteen meals Blanchet House serves every week, only two are always the same: spaghetti for Wednesday dinners and pizza for Saturday lunches. These meals are consistently the most-attended of the week, with guests coming from near and far to dine on Blanchet House’s homemade red sauce and pizza
How JD Got His Spark Back
Around Blanchet House JD is known as a calm, kind, reliable and wise leader. It’s hard to imagine that just a couple years ago he drank himself into a 10-day stay in the intensive care unit due to liver failure. “I lost my restaurants and catering business after the crash
From Jail to Farm: A Reason to Live
Growing up in San Francisco, Calif., Dean likely never envisioned he’d find sobriety among goats and pigs in rural Oregon. He was raised with his sister by a single mother who sold drugs to support her family. Without a baby sitter, she had her children ingest enough marijuana smoke to
Blanchet Farm is Helping Men Rebuild Their Lives
Blanchet Farm in Carlton, Oregon which is operated by nonprofit Blanchet House in Portland has been offering a program to men struggling with addiction and homelessness since 1962. Danny Welch has been living at the farm for a year. He’s learned carpentry, worked on his sobriety thanks to therapy pigs
Some may be wondering why we made a mad dash to Oregon
It was a last minute trip for sure. But, when the grace of God opens a door, you walk through it. Our second oldest son, Dylan Thomas, has struggled with addiction for years now. It has been a maddening, scary, lonely journey that none of us, including him, wants to
“You can end up in a bad position pretty fast”
After successfully graduating from JobCorps’ Culinary Arts program Christian slept on the couch of a friend’s apartment in Gresham. He found a job washing dishes at a prestigious athletic club in downtown Portland. It required him to take the MAX train everyday which was an expense he hadn’t planned for.
Off the Street, Back to Blanchet
It was the early 90s in Portland. Jessica Carroll had a mohawk, a methamphetamine addiction, and most nights slept under the SW Clay St. overpass. 17-years-old, homeless and hungry she would often eat at the Blanchet House of Hospitality. “It was a place I could always go to eat,” says
Portland Police Explain Homeless Camp Sweeps
To the passerby, a homeless camp sweep may seem like a heartless way for the police to force homeless people out of sight without doing much to find a sustainable solution. But the relationship between the police and the homeless population is much more complex and so are the many