Updates from Looking Glass
The 3rd annual Socktoberfest sock drive was once again a tremendous success, generating thousands of pairs of new and gently used socks for homeless youth at New Roads. Donation locations around Lane County included Bi-Mart, Macy’s at Valley River Center, Windermere Real Estate offices, Columbia Bank branches, and PeaceHealth.
VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR !
The Wilson family has been supporting Looking Glass in a myriad of ways since their son, Scott, began working there in 2019. They kept hearing the stories Scott would share from his experiences in the various programs he has worked in during his time there including residential treatment programs and the homeless youth program and wanted to find ways to brighten the days of the youth.
“The more we learned about these kids, the more we wanted to help,” explained Wendy Wilson. “We just know that even something simple like donating ice cream or other treats to the programs can make someone’s day a little better.”
Kelly & Bryan Ranstad of Eugene (owners of Hybrid Real Estate Agency) recently purchased and renovated a house near UO campus for the purposes of renting each of the 9 units to youth clients from Looking Glass’ Transitional Housing Program which helps find housing and pay rent for formerly unhoused youth in Lane County for up to 2 years. Finding property managers and owners who are able and willing to rent to this population had proven quite challenging, so having an entire apartment complex to fill up was welcomed news to Looking Glass staff.
After 3 months of not making house calls and more than a year without access to a crisis bed for youth, the Crisis Response Team from Looking Glass is once again able to go out in-person and assist a youth in crisis and help get them transported to the Jasper Mountain Safe Center Crisis Bed for a 72-hour crisis stay. The Crisis Response Team consists of a multi-agency collaboration between Looking Glass, Jasper Mountain and the Child Center and has been in operation in Lane County for at least 15 years.
Looking Glass President & CEO Craig Opperman presented the 2021 Community Leadership Award to Representative Nancy Nathanson at a recent Looking Glass board meeting for her stellar and steadfast support for our community’s youth and families in need. Nathanson has pushed for increased financial support for Looking Glass and other social service organizations including helping Looking Glass to receive new funds to help make needed capitol improvements to Looking Glass homeless youth programs.
Since 1990, Looking Glass' Lane-Metro Youth Corps has coordinated work crews year-round, giving paid work experience each summer to Lane County youth and helping to make improvements to a variety of local natural resources and natural habitats. As this year’s crew experiences come to a close, the Army Corps of Engineers is thankful for the impact Looking Glass crew members have had on the indigenous plant life they’ve worked to restore near Fern Ridge and nearby wetland areas.
“Looking Glass has been a huge help to us!” said Adam Kotaich of the Army Corps Engineers. “Covid really short staffed us this year, so having their help has been tremendous.”
The 4th Annual Hike for Hope fundraiser event for Looking Glass held at the North Trailhead parking lot of Mt Pisgah was a huge success again this year, despite challenges including spiking local Covid cases and concerns over smoke from regional wildfires. The event, sponsored again by Hearing Associates as well as US Bank, Oregon Community Credit Union and Summit Bank, raised nearly $5,000 for at-risk youth programs and brought together roughly 40 hikers on a beautiful Saturday morning for the socially distant group hike. Guest speaker Nick Hammond shared his experiences as a former homeless youth, inspiring the hikers and reinforcing the importance of supporting programs like Looking Glass.
Looking Glass has provided housing assistance for youth since 1970 through various programs including providing rental assistance funds for security deposits, renters insurance and, in some cases, covering monthly rent for up to 2 years. We recently sat down with a current housing client, Jordan, and his case manager Jack and other Looking Glass staff to hear how these programs work and the impact they can have. (VIDEO)
This past May and June, Girl Scout Troop #24761 hosted a donation drive to collect toiletry items for Homeless Youth.
Their leader, Amy Mahady reached out to Looking Glass to learn more about the services offered so that the girls’ could learn more about how homelessness impacts youth in our community.
Looking Glass Development Coordinator, Amanda Zacharda, joined on a Zoom call during one of their meetings and was able to educate the Troop about all of the services provided at Looking Glass, especially the Homeless Youth Services.
The girls were able to come up with over 30 bags of toiletry items to donate, along with $350+ donations from multiple businesses in our community.
This past month, we asked our community to help accrue more yarn for the Pathways Girl Program, who have been crocheting as a form of therapy. We are so thrilled that many of our donors and local community members came together to help us obtain over 10+ boxes and bags full of yarn. This will allow the girls to continue to master their crochet techniques as well as helping them with their recovery during their stay at the Pathways Program.
Looking Glass has been selected as this year’s exclusive nonprofit beneficiary for the 2021 Market Fest event held September 10-12 along the streets and shops nearby 5th Street Market.
“This is quite an honor,” explained Looking Glass Director of Marketing & Development, Tyler Mack. “To be selected among so many worthy nonprofits in the area is humbling. We look forward to the great exposure our organization will receive and the funding of course as well.”
Lane Transit District’s Transportation Options Marketing Specialist Julia Woolley helped coordinate a week long series of free bike tune ups provided to Looking Glass staff members as a way to give back to social service workers affected by the pandemic.
