Updates from Looking Glass
The Eugene River Road Grocery Outlet staff and patrons once again helped raise crucial funds for Looking Glass youth and programs through their annual Independence From Hunger campaign in July. Including a donation from the corporate group, the donation this year was just under $11,000!
The 3rd annual Hike for Hope fundraiser event was a huge success, bringing in almost $5,000 for at-risk youth and Looking Glass programs. The Saturday, August 8th event was sponsored by Hearing Associates as well as Summit Bank, Oregon Community Credit Union and US Bank. Roughly 50 hikers joined together in socially distant fashion, with masks and hikers went up the Mt Pisgah trail in small groups.
For many families in our community, there is a need for help and care when a child is experiencing a mental or behavior health crisis. To support those families, Looking Glass, The Child Center, and Jasper Mountain came together to create the Crisis Response Team. Unfortunately, in-person services had to be temporarily suspended in April due to concerns around COVID-19. We are happy to announce, however, that with careful planning, we were able to resume in-person services on July 6th.
On Saturday, June 27th, the day before the 51st anniversary of the Stonewall riots, Looking Glass Station 7 hosted a Pride celebration with Trans*Ponder and HIV Alliance. Youth and staff enjoyed a barbecue in the backyard while getting the chance to learn about these valuable LGBTQ+ resources in our community.
Our Looking Glass Riverfront School 2020 class graduation event was certainly unique and extremely special. Social distancing forced us to hold this annual event in a drive through manner, with all staff wearing masks and parents and students mostly remaining in their cars while the grads hopped out for photos and to pick up their diplomas (VIDEO).
In light of recent tragedies and our community response, Looking Glass Community Services affirms the pain communities of color, especially African Americans endure. We will never truly understand or feel this pain but we will stand in solidarity against injustice, racism, and discrimination. Looking Glass always will, and even more in the future, fight to change the institutional racism in our systems of justice and power.
For the past five years, Marielle Hart has taught at Riverfront School and Career Center, and currently serves as their education supervisor.
Marielle says that it is rewarding to support the kids when they are struggling and help them get the quality education and services that they deserve. When asked what her hopes are for her students, Marielle says, “The kids that we work with are so resilient. They are amazing. They deserve the world.” She wants them to know that they have the love and support of the Riverfront community.
In the midst of this unprecedented crisis, it can be hard to imagine what education will look like in the future. Many schools are currently utilizing technology to continue teaching students. We spoke with Cheryl Zwillinger, Director of Riverfront School and Career Center, to learn about how she and her team are addressing these challenges.
For New Roads runaway and homeless youth program outreach workers, challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic have been wide reaching but the team perseveres working hard to find at-risk youth and engage them about New Roads resources. On Friday, May 15th we joined two members of the outreach team on an outing and asked them questions about their process as well as how the pandemic has changed their approach in the field.
