Author: United Community Action Network

Letter from the Executive Director – Fall 2024

Posted on December 10, 2024 by - Newsletters

Shaun Pritchard

UCAN CONTINUES ADAPTING TO MEET URGENT NEEDS

I am always excited to share the news of new programs and initiatives that UCAN is offering. This newsletter has articles describing two new services for UCAN.

Shaun PritchardThis year we have offered a pilot Diaper Distribution program, generously supported by the Community Action Partnership of Oregon and PDX. The program helps the many families of babies and infants who struggle to pay for diapers and wipes. This year, we served about 750 Douglas County families, more families than were served in any other county, keeping our youngest healthier and happier. The pilot program wraps up in February, and we hope that it will be extended.

We will be starting a new nurse home visiting service in early 2025. Through Family Connects, all new parents in Douglas County will have the opportunity to have a UCAN nurse meet with them to address concerns and connect them with resources. The program is voluntary, free, and requires no insurance.

While excited about these new efforts, I also hope you can help us better address some very basic needs. Feeding Umpqua, our Douglas County Food Bank, lacks the food needed to best address hunger at this time. More families than ever are struggling to eat three meals daily. Cash and food donations to Feeding Umpqua will help us to better nourish our neighbors.

We have received some funds to operate a warming shelter in Roseburg, but the amount will only allow us to operate on the coldest winter nights. Those lacking shelter are much more likely to suffer hypothermia and frostbite. We are looking for volunteers to work at the shelter, and donations will allow us to operate the shelter on more freezing nights.

As the year comes to a close, I want to thank all of the many people and agencies who have supported our efforts, whether through partnerships, donations, volunteering or otherwise. We could not do this work without all of you. I wish you all the happiest of holidays!

Food Needed Now

Posted on December 10, 2024 by - Newsletters

Food Needed Now

Hunger and poor nutrition are serious problems in Douglas County. Folks with less resources often have to skip meals. When they do eat, they typically rely on cheap, nutrient poor foods, like highly-processed, convenience foods, to get by. We all know what it feels like to be “hangry.” Lack of food not only leaves us irritable, it makes it hard to focus on the job and at school. Hunger can lead to a number of lifelong health issues.

Food Needed Now

As the costs of food continues to rise, more people than ever are in need of emergency food. A substantial portion of Douglas County is food insecure, with a higher proportion of children lacking adequate food. In 2021, 16.8% children alone were food insecure in Douglas County. In 2022, the percentage of children who are food insecure in Douglas County increased substantially, to a worrisome 23.3%. That means we had 3,630 more hungry children in 2022.

More hunger means more demand for the food that Feeding Umpqua distributes to pantries and community kitchens throughout Douglas County. Unfortunately, it does not mean that more food is coming in to the Feeding Umpqua warehouse. The amount of food made available to Feeding Umpqua has plummeted since the end of the Pandemic. This is why support from local residents like you is so important at this time.

You can donate a wide range of foods to Feeding Umpqua. Foods we especially appreciate include: fresh produce, canned meats (tuna or chicken), chili, stew, soups,
peanut butter, nuts and dried fruit (low sugar), canned vegetables, canned fruits (without syrup), cereal and protein bars. Consider hosting a food drive at work, your church, or a club you’re a member of to increase your food donation. We have tips for running a food drive on our web-site: https://www.ucancap.org/food-donation/

Better yet, donate money to Feeding Umpqua. We’ll use your donation to purchase foods most needed by community members. You can donate by going to: https://tinyurl.com/2024holidaygiving and selecting Feeding Umpqua from the drop-down menu. Every dollar you donate provides 3 meals for local residents.

More Support Coming for New Moms

Posted on December 10, 2024 by - Newsletters

More Support Coming for Moms

UCAN already offers a nurse home-visiting program to some Douglas County families with new babies. But our existing Nurse Home Visiting Program only offers services to a fraction of these families. As a new Family Connects provider, we will be able to offer free home visits to many more families.

More Support Coming for Moms

Anyone who has been a parent knows that a new baby affects families in many ways. Parents of new babies can face challenges bonding with their baby, feeding their new little one, addressing their baby’s health and safety needs. At the same time, parents may be sleep deprived, feel scared, or uncertain of how to match parenting styles. Parents also have new financial responsibilities while they may be adjusting to changes in their availability to work.

UCAN’s Family Connects nurses will offer home visiting services to all families with newborns up to 6 months of age, including foster and adoptive newborns. There is no income, insurance or eligibility requirement to participate in the program. At the same time, the program is completely voluntary. Nobody is required to participate.

The program will provide between one and three nurse home visits to every family with a newborn beginning at about three weeks of age. Using a tested screening tool, our nurses will evaluate both baby’s and mom’s health. Our nurses will also assess family strengths and needs, and connect the family to community resources.

A lot of families have needs after the birth of a child. While not all needs are unique, they often feel that way to the family. Even parents who have already had several children can find themselves struggling with caring for their new baby. Our registered nurses will bring the comfort and care shown to improve family well-being.

The Joy of Working as a UCAN Home Visiting Nurse

Posted on December 10, 2024 by - Newsletters

The Joy of Working as a UCAN Home Visiting Nurse

UCAN took over Douglas County’s Nurse Home Visiting Program about eight years ago. At the time, Ashley Pittam Hays was working for the County, so she became one of our first home visiting nurses. Having grown up locally, Ashley obtained her associate’s degree to be a registered nurse from UCC, and then her bachelor’s degree from Oregon Health and Sciences University. She had a variety of positions after completing her education, but soon decided that she wanted to be a home visiting nurse.

The Joy of Working as a UCAN Home Visiting NurseAfter eight years in this position, the work continues to be very meaningful to her. For one, Ashley gets to work with families who live in communities similar to where she grew up and continues to live. While their circumstances may be very different from Ashley’s, they’re folks whose challenges she understands from having grown up here.

Unlike many other nurses, who often work with a patient for less than one day, Ashley works with families for many days, even months. She connects with each family intimately, in locations that work best for the family, has time to really understand their needs, to address those needs comprehensively. Ashley has the opportunity to work with families to problem-solve complex issues. Over time, she gets to see dramatic changes in the well-being of the parents and young children with whom she works.

One family she’s been working with recently has two children, both with serious developmental disorders. The youngest had to have heart surgery while still a baby. Mom, dad and the kids live with several cats and dogs in a remote corner of Douglas County. The parents lack basic resources, as dad just lost his job, and they need a lot of support to understand and connect with medical professionals.

Ashley serves as their guide, helping them find doctors, get to appointments, understand what doctors are telling them, and she advocates on their behalf to ensure their children get the care they need. She checks in on mom’s mental health. She screens the ongoing development of the children. And she works to get them resources, many of which UCAN offers, like help paying utility bills. Ashley says: “Their needs are so great, they were overjoyed when I brought them a single food box, and arranged for some Christmas toys for their children.”

While Ashley enjoys the challenge of her work, she points out one more reason she loves her job. Many employers require nurses to work odd shifts. Many don’t get typical vacation days off. Ashley has a flexible schedule here. She is able to ensure that while she meets the needs of so many vulnerable families, she is able to prioritize the needs of her own family.

UCAN Takes the Lead on Diaper Distribution Program

Posted on December 10, 2024 by - Newsletters

UCAN Takes the Lead on Diaper Distribution Program

This past year, CAPO received an award of $1.2 million from the US Department of Health and Human Services to pilot a diaper distribution program in Oregon. CAPO selected UCAN as a partner agency to offer the program in Douglas County. UCAN has developed a number of strategies to maximize the impact of this program locally.

UCAN Takes the Lead on Diaper Distribution Program

We used our Feeding Umpqua food warehouse to store large quantities of diapers and associated supplies. Feeding Umpqua partnered with our WIC program, which serves thousands of families with young children monthly, making diapers and wipes readily available to families. We established a Diaper Hotline (shared with most agencies serving young children), so families could easily find out when we had supplies available. And we allowed families not eligible for WIC to pick up supplies as long as they could attest that they lacked resources to obtain them on their own.

The response to our pilot program has been remarkable. UCAN has already provided diapers, wipes and cloth diapers over 1,500 times to about 750 Douglas County families. No other county has had such a positive response to its program.

You might think that only low-income families can’t afford diapers. This is simply not the case. In the United States, disposable diapers cost nearly $1,000 per year, per child, and nearly 1 in 2 families in the United States need diapers they struggle to pay for, according to a study by the National Diaper Bank Network. Colleen May-Weir, our Director of Health and Wellness, shares that “many moms have tearfully thanked staff upon learning they would get free diapers in addition to other WIC services.”

Diapers and wipes play a pivotal role in the health and well-being of babies and toddlers. Those who are forced to wear diapers without fresh changes risk developing diaper rash, urinary tract infection and disrupted sleep. Their parents can experience stress leading to post-partum depression and other mental illnesses. Moreover, a shortage of diapers often prevents children from going to childcare. This leaves parents unable to go to work or school.

We expect the current pilot to last through February. At that time, we will see whether CAPO receives funds for another year of diaper distribution. In the meantime, we are very grateful we’ve had the chance to meet such a fundamental need of local families.

UCAN to Operate Warming Center in Roseburg This Winter

Posted on December 10, 2024 by - Newsletters

UCAN to Operate Warming Center in Roseburg this Winter

As temperatures drop, UCAN and St. Joseph Church are stepping up to operate the
Roseburg Warming Center this winter, offering warmth and safety to those in need in our community. The shelter will have limited days of operation, only opening when the low temperature is 30 degrees or colder, or the weather is inclement and nighttime lows are 32 degrees or colder. UCAN will not only offer beds to those seeking shelter, but will also provide a hot meal to those staying overnight.

UCAN to Operate Warming Center in Roseburg this Winter

Holly Fifield, UCAN Director of Housing Stabilization notes: “One warm night can be the difference between life and death for some of our most vulnerable community members.” People living on the streets have a much higher risk than the general population of developing fatal cases of hypothermia or frostbite. Each year, 700 people at-risk or experiencing homelessness are killed from hypothermia in the United States.

Last winter, UCAN provided emergency shelter through the Roseburg Warming Center to 83 individuals and offered reprieve from the cold to 12 additional guests who came just for the warm meal. We even took in their pets, including a duck (pets do have to be kept in crates). Our warming center not only provides a safe place to sleep and a hot meal, but also a community to lean on.

You can be part of that community by volunteering to serve at our warming center! Volunteers are the heart of the warming center’s success, providing warmth and kindness to those seeking shelter and a vital lifeline for the community’s most vulnerable. As a volunteer, you can help offer meals, support check-in procedures, provide company to those seeking shelter, or perform other tasks.

UCAN is actively seeking volunteers at this time, and will offer volunteers an orientation in December. Orientations will last for about 1 and half hours. If you or someone you know is interested in volunteering at the warming center, please email us at volunteer@ucancap.org.

Struggling to pay your energy bills this year?

Posted on November 5, 2024 by - Announcements

We are offering free classes to those who have trouble making ends meet in the Winter, when energy bills soar. We already offer help paying utility bills, and we can even weatherize homes so they stay warmer. But you can also take steps to lower your own bill. Sign up for one of our new Home Energy classes, and learn some neat tips and tricks for lowering your energy use. You can sign up for a class by calling us at 541-492-3902 or selecting a class on-line here. We will check to make sure you income qualify for our class.

Apply to Be an AmeriCorps Host Site!

Posted on September 19, 2024 by - Announcements

UCAN AmeriCorps is accepting applications from organizations that will benefit from an AmeriCorps Member’s service. If you’re interested in hosting an AmeriCorps member or learning more, please complete this form. Our program manager will reach out shortly to discuss next steps. We offer ongoing virtual info-sessions and are available for one-on-one meetings to answer any questions and discuss project ideas together.

You can apply for a Member to serve for two months (300 hour position). The deadline to apply for a two month Member is February 15th. Our Members improve organizational capacity of project host sites to deliver direct services addressing education, economic opportunity, or healthy futures. To apply, please read the attached RFP first. Then complete and submit the application, assurances, and position description. Use the checklist to make sure you’re submitting everything needed.

Letter from the Executive Director – Summer 2024

Posted on August 6, 2024 by - Newsletters

Shaun Pritchard

Early this summer, we were asked by CAPO (the Community Action Partnership of Oregon) to take over operations of the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Program in Klamath and Lake Counties. We knew that without our help, the veteran families might lose SSVF services in the region. These services provide critical supports so veterans and their families can obtain and retain permanent housing.

Though we primarily focus our services to support Josephine and Douglas Counties, we did not want to leave these veterans and their families at risk of losing critical SSVF supports. So we agreed to step in, and within one month, transferred the entire program over to our agency. We have bridged this gap with existing staff, while hiring new staff to operate the program in Klamath and Lake County.

I am very proud of the hard work our current SSVF staff have put into keeping programming going beginning in June. They’ve spent a lot of time on the road, driving back and forth from Grants Pass and Roseburg to Klamath Falls. I’m happy to report that we’ve transferred services seamlessly, with the assistance of CAPO, standing up programming in the new counties with no disruption to services.

This issue of our newsletter also focuses on our Douglas County WIC Program. Though many of our programs have waitlists because of limited funding, our WIC Program can actually help far more than the 3,000 pregnant and post-partum women and children (newborn to age 4) we currently serve. The US estimates that about 50% of those eligible for WIC don’t enroll. Reasons for under-enrollment are varied, but we know that with increased outreach we can overcome barriers to services.

As you’ll read in this newsletter, WIC plays a profound role in improving the health outcomes of women and children. WIC also brings local grocers millions in revenues each year, and thousands of dollars to local farmers. We are working to increase outreach efforts to enroll hundreds more into our WIC Program. I invite you to support this effort by donating to UCAN. You can go to our web-site at https://www.ucancap.org/donate/ and make a contribution there.

As always, I’m very grateful for the generous donations so many of you make to UCAN. With your support, we can help thousands more of our neighbors improve their quality of life.