Join the Sustainable Families Program
“Birch understands all the barriers to financial freedom.” – Rosalyn C., BCS Participant
BCS is a place of empowerment, achievement, purpose, and hard work. Birch helps families find their success through serving alongside each other, attending financial classes, and sitting down for regular one-on-one meetings with a Financial Literacy Counselor.
Onboarding Process
1. Thoroughly read through our program overview to ensure it’s a good fit. The average family commits to Birch for two to three years.
2. Confirm you are eligible. (Someone in the household is working or actively looking for work, able and willing to volunteer and discuss finances, a primary household member speaks conversationally fluent English for program communications, able to pay $80/month in dues, and ready to practice our Cultural Values and Principles.)
3. Fill out the Online Application.
You will want to gather recent financial records (remaining balances on all types of debt, annual income levels), and will want to plan for about 30 minutes to fill out the form.
4. Check your email regularly. We will review your application and once approved, will notify you by email that your name is placed on the waiting list. The approximate wait time is 2 months, after which you will be emailed to schedule an intake appointment with our staff.
Just looking for food assistance? Use the Oregon Food Bank Food Finder, or check out the resources on the right.
Many of our agencies provide emergency food assistance.
Multi-Lingual Program Participation
While we are honored to serve people from many ethnic backgrounds, all shoppers, the primary contact for the household, and all volunteers, must be fluent in English. This enables clear communication regarding limit signs, answering questions, addressing other shoppers, etc., while shopping and volunteering, allowing BCS to serve people well by creating a safe environment for all.
We are excited to announce that we now offer financial literacy counseling in Spanish with Matías Castaño. This allows program participants to discuss personal finances in a more comfortable and confident way.
In addition to counseling, we offer our cornerstone financial course, re$tart, in Spanish. Please reach out to your counselor if you are interested in attending the Spanish version of the course.
We look forward to continuing to expand our program to include education and counseling in more languages in the coming years.
Are You a Good Fit?
- Are you working at least 20 hrs./week but still struggling to make ends meet?
- Are you open to hard work, life changes, and living with a plan?
- Are you willing to volunteer monthly and become part of a financially accountable community?
- Are you able to pay $80/month for your household (remember participants receive an average of $1200 of groceries monthly)?
- Are you able to make it to the warehouse (located near NE 181st Avenue on the border between Portland and Gresham) at least every other week to shop?
Not a Good Fit for BCS? Check out these local food resources:
- Snow Cap
503-674-8785 - Portland Adventist Community Services (PACS)
503-252-8500 - Oregon Food Bank
Food Finder
503-252-0555 - Sunshine Division
503-823-2119 - 211 can provide free guidance and information about family resources
Want to find out more about our program at Birch?
Here are some of our guidelines and requirements for you to learn before you apply (or while you wait for your application to be processed):