A D V E R T I S E M E N T Jamie Sparks, 17, who recently moved into a Gresham homeless shelter
for families, attended her friend Logan Webb’s senior prom on Friday, May 8, after local businesses and residents donated everything from dinner to a spiffy car to make the occasion special. For a few blissful hours on Friday night, a Gresham girl forgot she was homeless. Jamie Sparks, glamorous in red satin and a sparkly tiara, danced the night away at her first prom thanks to the generosity of local businesses and residents who donated everything from transportation to dinner. “It was one of the best nights of my life,” said the 17-year-old David Douglas High School senior, who attended her friend Logan Webb’s prom at Fir Ridge High School on May 8. “I was in a dress just like the other girls. I looked good just like the other girls. And I had fun just like the other girls. And that was really cool. I felt just like everybody else.” Sparks moved into My Father’s House, a Gresham shelter for homeless families, in late April with her mother Jodi McCarthy, sister Jayde McCarthy, 11, and brother Joel McCarthy, 9. It’s the latest stop of many for Sparks, who’s bounced from foster homes and relatives’ houses since seventh grade, when her mother was arrested for burglary and auto theft.
She’s lived with an aunt in Southeast Portland, her grandmother in Molalla and her 21-year-old sister in Oregon City. But a year ago, seeing stability in her mother’s new life, she decided to give her another chance.