INTERVIEW WITH RAEANN RUTH    By Caroline Snyder   “Young women with a voice”   There’s a young willow sapling just beginning its first year in the back yard of The Portage For Youth house on Fremont Avenue in Dayton’s Bluff.    The day I was there for the interview every limb was heavy with new growth.  To me it epitomizes the promise of spring and a renewal of life’s never-ending challenge - to make a difference in the life of just one individual is paramount to the fulfillment of life’s journey.

Raeann Ruth has already made a difference in the lives of many young women.   The environment in the house and around the property was very peaceful and tranquil.  Capturing Raeann in this moment was perfect.  I was seated across from her at a dining room table that seated at least 20 people.  We began to talk about Raeann.    At least it was intended to be about Raeann but inevitably the conversation turned toward The Portage for Youth project.  The house was filled with the scent of fresh flowers. Lace curtains adorned the windows allowing the sunlight to filter in.  Artifacts and mementoes of a lifetime created an ambiance of challenges and achievements.  The house that “came alive” when the new tenant arrived is a legacy to the fruits of her labor.   Raeann Ruth (right) and her daughter, Amber

When she tells me that the grandparents of the young women thank her with “seeds from Vietnam” for her garden, this resonates a sense of real appreciation. Some of the Hmong young women are 2nd generation whose grandparents were  “boat people” that fled from Vietnam. They were rescued by the Indonesians, later immigrated to the United States and some eventually found their way to the Dayton’s Bluff area.    The garden outside the kitchen deck area is already showing the new buds of the perennials that have been nurtured by the young people who are part of the project.  Gardening is one of the many programs offered throughout the year.  Bread baking and flowers for the table are also ongoing assignments for the girls.       The Art in the Alley building behind the portage house is very busy all year round.  During the fall and winter months the girls use computers with Internet access. During spring and summer they perform car repairs.  They will change your oil, work on the engines and do other repairs.  This sense of empowerment is directly related to the variety of programs offered to them at the Portage      One of the most visible programs is the Photo Mentoring Program.  Black and white photographs, photographed and framed by the students, hang on the walls in the sitting room.  Recently, one of the photographs was purchased and will be displayed in a national women’s calendar.  Their photographs will also be exhibited at the Black Dog Cafe on June 9, 2000 from 7-9 p.m.  They reveal a special sensitivity of the workings of the soul that are magnified in these productions.  A 1998 photo exhibition won first prize.  On August 12th they will be exhibited at the Dayton’s Bluff Summer Fest at Mounds Park.  Also look for the Portage Carousel music wagon, a 1926 circus relic, at Summer Fest.   A singing group comprised of 5 Portage girls called  “Jagged Innocence” has already produced their first CD.  It is entitled “Faith In Someday.”  The girls write and record their own music.  In June they will be performing on Madeleine’s Island.  In August they will be submitting their new CD (“Voices in the Wind”) and if they are chosen they will be invited to a recording studio in New York City.   The designer Steve Minn, Atlantic Records and the Sam Goody video franchise provide sponsorships.     Raeann has only just begun. Her accomplishments with the girls of the Hmong community of Dayton’s Bluff are embraced by the traditional families who have experienced her love and expertise.  I felt a sense of excitement and exhilaration as she contemplates her new goals.   Aspirations for “her girls” include the goals of a college education and a profession in life that can be self-sustaining.   Raeann was born in West St. Paul.  Her grandparents emigrated from Prussia.  She attended private schools, graduated at age 17 and married at age 18.  She and her serviceman husband lived in Las Vegas, where her son was born, for 5 years.  Their next move took them to Jacksonville, Florida and this was home for a period of time.  She returned to the Dayton’s Bluff area and started college, taking courses in business administration.  She worked for St. Francis Cabrini Catholic Church in the church office.  Her daughter Amber was born during this time and today, 20 years later, Amber is now attending St. Catherine’s College and majoring in veterinarian medicine.   She was selected to represent the East Side of St. Paul in a recent Winter Carnival Pageant.  Her horse “D. J. Marco Amigo” is an Arabian and is kept in Lake Elmo.  Raeann also has a grandson who at age 2 can already “sign” and is a source of great pride and joy for her.     The birth of the Portage for Youth was 6 years ago.   Raeann started the first Council of Parents at the Native American Magnet School.  She would take the kids on canoe trips and camp outings and became a mentor for the kids from this school.    “Inner City kids need to have this experience with nature,” she relates.   For 3 years she worked diligently with the youth for 14 to 16 hours a day and did not receive any compensation.   She suffered a serious injury to her leg in an accident with a horse but this did not deter her from taking the kids up to the Boundary Waters for their annual canoe and camp out.       Raeann works with one translator and several ESL volunteer mothers.   She collaborates with HAP and the Minnesota Literacy Council.  The Hmong girls have the opportunity to enjoy a 70-acre camp on an island located near Brainerd, which was made available to them by a former pastor of First Lutheran Church.    A 500-pound electric generator was donated to the portage for use during the months of June, July and August for 4-5 day excursions.  A pontoon boat was provided for the campers to transport them to and from the island.   Raeann is instrumental in the Mounds Theater renovation project.  The theater was shut down thirty years ago.  Built in 1922, it was the first of the silent movie theaters in St. Paul.   The price tag for the renovation is $750,000, half of which has already been raised.  A S.T.A.R. grant of $200,000 and a 3M contribution of $40,000 have already been committed to the project.  There are plans for a karate school in the theater for her students and other Mounds Park children.  The balcony will be turned into office space and the theater itself will be used for plays. One of their initiatives is to provide opportunities for blossoming actors to perform in live theater.    A variety of upcoming Portage for Youth fundraisers will go to support the theater renovation project.  One of these is an Internet Avon products marketing adventure. Check it out on the Portage For Youth web site (www.the portage.com).  30% of each Avon product purchased will go into the theater renovation.   Future plans on the Portage calendar include a charter school at the YMCA on Arcade, a Language Immersion school, Girl Scouts and 4H.    Ballet and tap will be offered in addition to the karate classes.  All of the girls have received their blue belts and are now working on their green.  A rural project is also in the wings.   Austine Van Williams, professional dancer, singer and songwriter will bring in programming for the blossoming Portage for Youth.   Raeann will be a permanent fixture in Dayton’s Bluff community for a long time to come.  We are so fortunate to have Raeann in this community.  She brings a sense of “joie de vivre” to all she touches.  Her belief in the potential of every young person is evident in the “young women with a voice” project.