Press
Accomplished and Under 40 Class of 2020
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DesRochers announces re-election bid for Battle Ground City Council
Battle Ground City Councilor Cherish DesRochers is the latest to publicly announce her intention to run in 2021 as she seeks re-election for her Position 6 seat on council.
Program provides feminine hygiene products for girls
Jonathan Haukaas/jonathan@thereflector.com Battle Ground City Councilor Cherish DesRochers has committed to drive into Portland, pick up 200 premade feminine hygiene product kits and deliver them to Battle Ground Public School’s Family and Community Resource Center (FCRC) in Brush Prairie, for as long as there is a need. Awhile back DesRochers heard rumblings in the area about there being a high demand, but a low supply, of feminine hygiene products available to girls in the Battle Ground school district. Many times that void was filled by district staff, like nurses buying it themselves, said Martha Bellcoff, Family Resource Services Specialist at FCRC. DesRochers founded and is president of Food with Friends, whose goal is combating homelessness in the community by helping connect the homeless with various resources fit to their needs. She thought providing feminine hygiene products could be a good opportunity for Food with Friends to help local youth and started doing more research and found an organization based in Portland called Period. Period. was founded in 2014 and supplies feminine hygiene product kits to girls and women in need, primarily through campus chapters at high schools and universities. “After learning what the possibilities were, I really started to think
Battle Ground councilmember DesRochers awarded with certificate of municipal leadership
Battle Ground Councilmember Cherish DesRochers was recently awarded with the Advanced Certificate of Municipal Leadership from the Association of Washington Cities (AWC). The certificate program recognizes elected city officials for accomplishing training in four core areas of governance: roles, responsibilities and legal requirements; public sector resource management; community planning and development; and effective local leadership. “Cities around the state are continually transforming in light of changing laws and the need to meet new challenges and opportunities, AWC CEO Peter King said in a news release. “The Advanced Certificate of Municipal Leadership recognizes mayors and councilmembers who continue to enhance the tools they need today to understand the legal landscape, plan for the future, manage their resources, and foster strong relationships. The elected officials who earn this certificate demonstrate a commitment to continuous learning and a desire to bring new ideas back to their community.” According to a release from the city of Battle Ground, to earn the Advanced Certificate of Municipal Leadership, Councilmember DesRochers completed more than 60 hours of training credits and conducted community service. Originally appeared in the Reflector: https://www.thereflector.com/stories/battle-ground-councilmember-desrochers-awarded-with-certificate-of-municipal-leadership,266231?
5,000 pairs of socks donated to Food with Friends
Jonathan Haukaas / jonathan@thereflector.com Food with Friends, a homeless outreach nonprofit serving Clark County, today received 5,000 pairs of socks from a national nonprofit called Bombas. Bombas was launched in 2013 after one of the founders heard that socks are the most requested item in homeless shelters. Working with their giving partners, Bombas staff said they designed a sock that requires fewer washings thanks to a antimicrobial treatment and lasts longer with reinforced seams. Bombas operates under a one-for-one business model: a pair of socks is donated to the homeless each time pair of Bombas socks are purchased. Food with Friends was founded by Battle Ground City Councilor Cherish DesRochers and her friend Jamie Spinelli, an outreach case manager at Community Service Northwest. Along with bringing food, toiletries, clothes, and other supplies to the homeless, they do volunteer screening and training for emergency shelters and run a coordinated outreach hotline. Earlier this year they expanded their efforts by launching the Shower Outreach Project, offering free showers via portable showers they park around the county. DesRochers said a lack of clean socks is a continual problem they see. “One I didn’t realize entirely until we started the SOP (Shower Outreach Project),”
Battle Ground Senior Citizens, Home Instead team up to help Clark County Veterans Assistance Center
Christmas in July donation drive raised more than 3,000 socks, t-shirts, and more, plus cookies, to be given to the Clark County Veterans Assistance Center Battle Ground Senior Citizens, Inc., joined forces with Home Instead this month for a Christmas in July donation drive, and together they raised needed items for the Clark County Veterans Assistance Center. The Battle Ground seniors and Home Instead have been working together on this project for three years. This year, the program brought in more than 3,000 pairs of socks, T-shirts, and underwear to ensure local veterans are well equipped with necessary items. These essential items are critical in helping veterans in need stay warm, comfortable, and protected against the harsh elements. “We were able to have such a huge success with the help from some friends,” said Sharon Wodtke, president of Battle Ground Senior Citizens, Inc. She noted Battle Ground Walmart for its help. Plus Cherish DesRochers-Vafeados of the Battle Ground city council, who brought in more than 700 socks herself with her relationship with Bomba Socks. Girls Scouts Troop 10072 also brought in cookies as part of the Cookie Share program. “It is such a wonderful feeling to bring groups together to
C-TRAN Representative by Day, Nonprofit Worker by Night
Helping people is Cherish DesRochers’ passion. It shows in her day job as a C-TRAN Customer Service Representative. And it shows in the way she spends her time off the clock. DesRochers is the founder of Food With Friends, a local nonprofit organization that provides assistance to homeless people in the community. That means street outreach, serving food, distributing donated items or connecting people with other services and organizations. Sometimes, it means something as simple as a hug. The mission of Food With Friends is connecting with people on more than just a superficial level, DesRochers says. It’s forming relationships, she says, and meeting people where they are without judgment. DesRochers and other volunteers see many of the same people serving food every Saturday night in downtown Vancouver, for example, and know dozens by name. That human contact and connection can be hard to come by on the street, she says. More recently, Food With Friends has added another initiative to its list: the Shower Outreach Project. When a well-used public shower closed last year, DesRochers and others began looking for ways to fill an important, yet often overlooked need. Eventually they got connected with a person who had a
A mobile shower trailer is getting closer to providing hot showers for people living outside — and it’s got a new name.
A mobile shower trailer is getting closer to providing hot showers for people living outside — and it’s got a new name. Food with Friends aims to get the Shower Outreach Project, or SOP (like sopping wet), operational in the next few weeks. Last summer, local outreach volunteers looked into getting a shower trailer after Share House discontinued providing showers to unsheltered clients, citing wear and tear on the building and sewage problems. Portland-based PDX Cart Builder finished building the trailer, which has two showers, and it was recently moved to Vancouver. However, it still needs to be insured, registered and otherwise made street legal. Jamie Spinelli, a volunteer with Food with Friends and a case manager at Community Services Northwest, said there’s ongoing fundraising for the operational costs of the trailer. Also, she said, they’re looking for locations that could host it. The trailer connects directly to water, power and sewer. Those sites could offer as many or as few showers as they want, and provide volunteers to help staff it. “We’re working on solidifying a schedule with locations and volunteers,” Spinelli said. The aim is to bring the showers to different locations in the county, not just downtown.