Tag: Newsletter Summer 2024

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.

Serving Those Who Have Served Our Nation

Posted on August 6, 2024 by - Newsletters

Serving those who have served our nation

When America has gone to war, many in our region have volunteered to serve and protect our nation’s interests. Douglas County has one of Oregon’s highest percentages of veterans, and Josephine, Klamath and Lake County are not far behind. Service has sometimes come at great cost, with a number of veterans returning with physical injuries or mental health issues like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), conditions that can lead to loss of employment and critical support systems. Lacking work and networks of family or friends, some veterans end up homeless or in perilous housing situations.

Recent estimates show that about 1,500 of Oregon’s veterans are homeless. This figure does not include other household members. Many more face the imminent risk of homelessness. The VA established the Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program (SSVF) a decade ago to work toward eliminating veteran homelessness. SSVF provides case management and supportive services to prevent the imminent loss of a veteran’s home or identify a new, more suitable housing situation for veterans and his or her family. If a family is homeless, the program helps to rapidly re-house veterans and their families.

Early on, UCAN launched the SSVF Program for veteran families living in Josephine and Douglas County. UCAN obtains VA funds for this service through an agreement with ACCESS, a Jackson County non-profit. Through this program, UCAN case managers help veterans:

  • Assess their needs,
  • Develop a plan to obtain more stable housing,
  • Obtain such benefits as VA and Social Security Disability that help cover the cost of housing,
  • Obtain other needed services through referrals to other agencies,
  • Obtain temporary cash assistance to meet urgent needs.

Having successfully operated SSVF programming in Douglas and Josephine County, UCAN was recently asked to take over the program in Klamath and Lake County. Though these counties are not within our primary service area, we wanted to ensure that veterans in these two counties did not lose the supports offered through SSVF. Working with the Community Action Partnership of Oregon, the state association for community action agencies like UCAN, we took over operations in Klamath and Lake County in June.

The transfer has been a heavy lift for our existing SSVF staff. They have had to shuttle back and forth to Klamath Falls, a two-hour drive from our local offices, to transfer files, meet new clients, and begin establishing relationships with local service providers and landlords. We are happy to report that not only have they seamlessly taken over service to 53 families comprising 87 family members, they have continued to add families to the program. At the same time, we continue to serve 83 veteran families in Josephine and Douglas County, benefitting 135 family members. We are so happy to meet the needs of so many veteran families.

WIC Helps All Thrive

Posted on August 6, 2024 by - Newsletters

The United States is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program this year. UCAN has operated Douglas County’s WIC Program for several years, serving tens of thousands of pregnant and post-partum moms and children ages four and under. Learn more about how this incredible program benefits the entire community here.

Imagine you are newly pregnant and struggling to make ends meet. Maybe this is your first experience with morning sickness. Or you can eat just fine, but aren’t sure what foods will best support your pregnancy. Perhaps you have given birth, but are struggling with how to best feed your new one. Or you have a young child, and want to make sure that they are getting everything they need to flourish.

Our WIC clinic on 280 Kenneth Ford Drive offers a variety of services in a warm, caring setting to address these needs. Here, expecting and new moms obtain quality nutrition education. They meet with staff with expert knowledge on breastfeeding. They take classes that teach them about healthy pregnancies, about healthy diets, and about how to make and offer their children yummy, healthy foods so their children develop healthy eating habits. They, their children, and even the children’s dads get free dental exams and get referred to healthcare specialists as needed.

In this time of out-of-control inflation, when so many folks struggle to feed their families, perhaps the most important WIC benefit is that families get healthy food for free. Enrolled families obtain free, nutrition-packed foods at their local grocers. They learn to shop wisely, so they can purchase more with the resources they have. Families also get vouchers to obtain everything from fresh cherries to newly picked beans at farmers’ markets and farm stands.

The 3,000 WIC moms and children we serve annually benefit in countless ways, including:

  • Pregnant moms have a lower incidence of preeclampsia, a serious blood pressure condition that develops during pregnancy,
  • Moms and children more easily access healthcare, improving their overall health,
  • Families suffer less stress,
  • Our WIC program reduces infant mortality and curtails childhood anemia,
  • The health benefits children obtain by participating in WIC improves brain development, leading to long-lasting improvement in academic outcomes.

As alluded to at the beginning of this article, UCAN WIC is good for the local economy as well. Last year, families spent over two million WIC dollars at local grocers and supermarkets. Local farmers obtained almost $30,000 in WIC vouchers. UCAN WIC is a great investment in Douglas County’s vulnerable moms, young children, and local economy!

Though we serve thousands in this program, thousands more are likely eligible. Pregnant and post-natal moms and families with children under five years old who are already receiving OHP (Medicaid), SNAP, or TANF benefits automatically qualify. If you think you know someone who might qualify, have them give us a call at (541) 440-3516 or e-mail us at wicinfo@ucancap.org, and we’ll be happy to meet with them.

Gaining Support to Build a New Life

Posted on August 6, 2024 by - Newsletters

Gaining support to build a new life

Stephanie had made some poor choices in her early years, and ended up in prison in California. After her release, she decided to start life over by relocating to live near her mom in Roseburg. Not long after moving, she met the man she would end up marrying, and soon after became pregnant. With a new partner and a baby on the way, she wanted to do everything in her power to change her life.

When Stephanie first came to UCAN, she and her partner were living in a tiny studio apartment. Her partner was looking for a new job. Stephanie was starting to rebuild her relationship with her mom.

Hearing about our WIC program, Stephanie came to us to learn everything she could to get ready to care for her new baby. Stephanie received free WIC foods, obtained counseling on maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle, was referred to Douglas Public Health Network to receive smoking cessation support, and obtained a referral to have a mental health issue addressed.

Given the challenges Stephanie faced, we were able to offer home visits. During these visits, our staff provided additional emotional support, ensured Stephanie (and her partner) were ready to best support their new baby, and connected them to our utility assistance program so their family could reduce their utility bills. After she gave birth to baby Gail, she enrolled the baby in our Early Head Start program.

While she continued to obtain WIC services, Stephanie and her partner joined a local church. Her fellow worshipers soon came to embrace her, seeing how committed she was to nurturing her young family. She continued to grow closer to her mother, who provided critical support to help with baby Gail.

It has been several years since we first got to know Stephanie. Her family now has three children, Gail (age 7), Christian (age 5) and Holly (age 4). The youngest is in our Head Start program. Our WIC Program Manager says the children are “absolutely adorable.” Dad has a much better job than when we first met the family. And they now rent a three bedroom house with a large backyard where the children play tag and hide and seek.

We are not surprised to see Stephanie and her family doing so well. From the beginning, she had her mind set on success. With some support from UCAN, Stephanie has been able to foster a new family, create stronger bonds with her existing family, and find a home in her faith community.

Happy to be Home

Posted on August 6, 2024 by - Newsletters

Happy to be Home

Valerie grew up in the Illinois Valley, and enlisted in the Army after graduating from Illinois Valley High School. Not only did she want to serve her country, she also hoped her service would prepare her for better employment once she finished her service. She initially served at Fort Bragg, and then reenlisted and served overseas in Korea. As a communication specialist, she expected she would have little problem finding employment when she returned in early 2021.

Unfortunately, just a month after returning, the US shut down as the Pandemic raced through the Country. Valerie, along with her partner, and their two children, Colin (age 5) and Jasmine (age 3), lived through the worst of the Pandemic in a ramshackle travel trailer in Merlin. They struggled to get propane so they could stay warm in the winter.

UCAN maintained operations throughout the Pandemic, pivoting to remote service delivery. One day Valerie was talking to a friend she had served with who now lives in Klamath Falls, and learned that the SSVF program might help her family improve their housing situation. She called our UCAN office in Grants Pass, and received help applying for the program.

Once we determined Valerie and her family qualified for the program, one of our case managers reached out to her to help her develop a plan to obtain stable housing. Given that she and her partner faced significant barriers to obtaining housing-a recent eviction from other housing, very low credit scores and a combined income of $500 per month-we started with the basics. We provided essential personal hygiene supplies and moved the family into an emergency motel shelter.

Given the opportunity to “reset” their lives, Valerie spent the next two months locating potential housing options, and submitting rental applications. We covered the cost of the applications. She found housing that would meet her family’s needs, but needed to convince the landlord to rent to her despite the barriers her family presented. We were able to overcome the landlord’s concerns by offering the landlord a $2,400 incentive, and paying a $3,600 security deposit.

Prior to move-in, we made arrangements to obtain a wide variety of household items for the family, from bedding to dishes. Move-in was a joyous occasion for all. We even surprised Colin and Jasmine with an assortment of new games. We enrolled the family in a rent assistance program, so they have more money to cover other basic needs. We are now working with both Valerie and her partner to help them obtain new employment. Whenever our case manager visits, Colin and Jasmine come racing over to ask her to play with them!