Man Saves One Child At A Time
Ray Morgan’s face reveals nothing as he recounts his visit to a home with maggot-covered soiled diapers and rotten food strewn over the floor. Detachment is his style, for good reason.
He didn’t have to be in the home. The visit had taken him away from his job as general manager at Coeur d’Alene’s Unique Printing. The stench had soured his stomach. The scene had sent his blood racing.
“I wondered how someone could live like that,” he says. “But, I’m there to get information and I won’t get it if I react.”
Ray is a volunteer with Court Appointed Special Advocates. The group tries to protect the futures of children whose parents are accused of abusing or neglecting them.
The parents in this case weren’t malicious, Ray decided after dozens of interviews with them and their friends, teachers, relatives, neighbors. But they were incredibly ignorant and overwhelmed. One of their children was deaf. Two had emotional problems.
State social workers stepped in to help with the children. Ray recommended the family stay together and that the parents take parenting and housekeeping classes. The judge listened.
“The way they live may not be your way, but it’s not dangerous,” he says a bit reluctantly. “Sometimes people are in situations through circumstances beyond their control.”
Ray’s son in law school introduced him to the non-profit program three years ago. Ray believes in community service. He passed the background checks and training, then took on eight cases in the next few years.
Sometimes, he recommends that the court revoke parents’ rights to their children. Those are his toughest cases.
Sometimes, no one heeds his advice. Then he remembers the story of the man on a starfish-covered beach throwing starfish back into the water. Another man tells him he can’t possibly save all of them.
“‘But I saved that one,”’ Ray says, smiling at the story’s significance. “It’s discouraging when things don’t work out. But if I only help one, that’s one that wouldn’t have been helped otherwise. To make a change in a child’s life - that makes it worth it.”
For information on Court Appointed Special Advocates, call 667-9165.
On the run
The days of Anchor House boys running from the law hopefully are over. Now they run with law officers.
Kootenai County Juvenile Probation officers work down the street from the group home for boys who, for any number of reasons, can’t live at home. A few months ago, the runners on the probation staff invited the boys to jog along with them at lunchtime.
They started slowly, running three times a week, and worked their way up to Coeur d’Alene’s five-mile Spring Dash. This weekend, one boy will run in Coeur d’Alene’s half-marathon.
Eight want to run with North Idaho law officers on the annual Torch Run for Special Olympics. Officers will carry the torch Wednesday from Bonners Ferry to Coeur d’Alene, then on to Moscow where the Special Olympics Summer Games start Thursday.
The torch runs in each town aren’t long, but they’re important. Runners raise money from pledges and T-shirt sales to keep Special Olympics training programs and games going.
Sounds like a good project for the Anchor House gang. If you want to sponsor a runner or buy a T-shirt, call David Kramer at 267-2412 or Wayne Longo at 769-1433.
Big appetites
Kootenai County residents hung 26,884 pounds of food on their mailboxes two weeks ago for postal workers to collect. That was a nice surprise for area food banks. What other surprises have you found in or on your mailbox? Deliver your story to Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814; fax to 765-7149; or call 765-7128.
, DataTimes