PortlandTribune.com | Some enchanted evening
There are 18 residents at the prom this evening, out of a total of 58 who live full time at the Center for Medically Fragile Children. Part of the Providence Portland Child Center, it’s the only facility of its kind in the Pacific Northwest, having started several decades ago as an orphanage operated by the Sisters of Providence. The orphanage closed in the 1960s but the center still serves children from birth to age 21, some coming from as far away as Idaho and Montana.
The Portland Tribune has a very nice article about young people who live at the Providence Portland’s Center for Medically Fragile Children. These students are medically fragile with complex medical needs. Most are unable to communicate verbally, and all are physically disabled to a profound degree. Lewis Elementary has a classroom that serves several of the 58 students who live at the Providence Center. The teacher, nurse, and paraprofessionals who work in this classroom are exceptional people doing exceptional work.