What is WSP?

What is the White Shield Project?

The goal of The White Shield Project is to collect the stories, memories, and reflections of individuals for whom the White Shield Center has made a difference - women who lived and labored there, children who were born there, dedicated souls who served there - and produce a comprehensive history of the Center, as told by those who lived it.

Why share your story?

The Salvation Army in Portland, Oregon has been serving unwed mothers and other young women in need for more than a century; almost since the day Captain Mary Stillwell and her Salvationists first set foot in Portland in the fall of 1886. Since then, the White Shield Center has made a difference in thousands of lives, and its story is one that needs telling.

The White Shield story is ultimately a story about people, and if the path of your life passed through its doors (as mine did), you have a story to tell. Whether you were a birth-mother or a White Shield child, a Guild member or a social worker – your story is the story of the White Shield Center.

How to share your story:

For some, telling your story will be easy; for others, it will take amazing courage. But it all starts by sending an email saying that you'd like to be a part of The White Shield Project. Please contact me at renee@WhiteShieldProject.org, and I will do all I can to tell your story with sensitivity and integrity.

About privacy: Respect for privacy is crucial to the success of this project. Society’s attitude toward unwed mothers has seen many “changes in tone” over the decades, and thus some may wish to share their story and yet remain anonymous. Be assured that written permission will be obtained for use of any contributions (e.g., photographs, quotes, interview content, etc.) that may be included in any publication resulting from The White Shield Project, and participants may specify, in writing, any restrictions they wish to impose on identifying information to be included with those contributions.

Who I am, and why I started the White Shield Project:

My name is Renee Huskey, and I am a freelance writer and copy editor. I am also a White Shield child.

I was born at the Salvation Army White Shield Home in 1963, and returned for the first time in February of 2007 in search of a photograph. I found much more than that.

Later, as I recorded the experience in my journal, each keystroke brought me closer to the truth: by the time I typed the final sentence, I knew that those “feathery feelings at the edges of my senses” were more than just my imagination – they were voices waiting to be heard, and stories waiting to be told.

So a single day at White Shield changed everything – again – and the White Shield Project was born.

Read my story.

Then tell me yours.

Please note: I have the greatest respect and admiration for the work of the Salvation Army and the White Shield Center, and they have been infinitely helpful in providing non-client related background materials (archived news clippings, etc.) for this project. However, I am an independent writer, and neither employed by, nor accountable to the Salvation Army or its affiliates.