Making a Difference: Every Child Central Oregon joins NeighborImpact to expand support for Central Oregon families

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A Central Oregon organization that has spent years providing essential items and support to families involved in child welfare is joining forces with NeighborImpact.

Every Child Central Oregon, also known as Marked for Love, is now part of NeighborImpact’s supportive services department. The partnership is intended to provide the program with additional resources and infrastructure as demand for its services continues to grow.

Every Child Central Oregon is one of KTVZ's six incredible 21 Cares for Kids partners.

Melissa Lovemark, the supportive services director for NeighborImpact and founder of Every Child, said conversations between the organizations began in October 2025. At the time, Every Child Central Oregon was already partnering with NeighborImpact through its Diaper Bank program.

“We began conversations with NeighborImpact in October of 2025,” Lovemark said. “We were already partnering with them on Diaper Bank. And we just started talking about what else we could partner on. And it made really good sense.”

The partnership became official in May 2026.

Lovemark said Every Child Central Oregon began as a grassroots effort that operated out of her garage before growing substantially over nearly eight years.

As the organization expanded, more time and resources were being devoted to administrative and structural work needed to keep it running.

Lovemark said joining NeighborImpact will allow the program to focus more resources on serving families.

“This coming together with NeighborImpact really gives us the ability to run and to serve more people, to give infrastructure and staff to things that my tiny team was piecing out and trying to do,” she said.

Every Child Central Oregon will continue operating under its existing name and providing its community tangible support program, My Neighbor, to families involved in child welfare.

“We have more requests than ever. We have more items going out than ever,” Lovemark said.

Lovemark said even with the support of a larger organization, community support is still critical.

"I'd say at this moment, right now on our Every Child Central Oregon website, we have quite a few tangible needs items that kids and families are needing. So please go there," she said. "Also, our Amazon Wishlist is up to date so you can buy things there. And those go directly to families and items that have been requested and continue to support us financially."

The organization's warehouse has also moved to the NeighborImpact campus in Redmond, bringing the operations under one roof.

Lovemark said the new structure will allow the program to grow while reducing some of the barriers the organization faced as a smaller nonprofit.

The partnership will also allow Lovemark to work within NeighborImpact’s supportive services department to explore additional ways to support families involved in child welfare.

Community support remains an important part of the program, Lovemark said. People can help by providing items requested by families through the Every Child Central Oregon website and its Amazon wish list. Financial contributions are also needed as demand for services continues to increase.

“Just because we joined a bigger hood doesn't mean that the work doesn't need support still,” Lovemark said. “It is, like I said, growing, and we still need the community in the same way we did before.”

The partnership is also bringing the organization back to its roots.

Lovemark said Every Child Central Oregon originally started under NeighborImpact, which served as its fiscal sponsor before the organization eventually became independent.

“And then we went out on our own and then kind of just came home,” Lovemark said.

Click here to learn more about Every Child Central Oregon.

Click here for the Tangible Needs list.

Click here for the Amazon Wishlist.

Click here to learn more about KTVZ's 21 Cares for Kids partners.