CSC Looking Forward to 2021

COVID RENTAL ASSISTANCE - We have served over 2,100 individuals comprising 750 households financially impacted by the pandemic, providing over $3.7 million in COVID rental assistance.

Our second round of COVID Rent Relief funding is opening this month! Those who received rental assistance last year may be eligible to apply again. Click here to learn more and check our website to see when the online application opens.

EMERGENCY SHELTER - CSC is helping shelter more people experiencing homelessness in our region. In addition to our housing programs, we have distributed over $2 million to partner organizations to help open safe shelters and increase homeless outreach in Linn, Benton and Lincoln Counties. To learn more about this effort, click here.

We have also been supporting and providing funding for the transition of the new C.H.A.N.C.E shelter in what used to be the Signs of Victory shelter in Albany, both longtime partners of CSC! Click here to read more about this exciting transition.

LIGHTS ON - Starting our new Utility Assistance season this winter, we have already served over 7,200 individuals, comprising nearly 4,000 households. This equates to over $1.6 million in assistance provided to our communities!

COVID UTILITY ASSISTANCE - Of the households above, more than 1,200 were COVID-impacted, totaling over 3,700 individuals. More than $755,000 was provided to these households to help with their utility costs.

Our Utility Assistance season is still open! Click here to learn more and find information on applying.

WEATHERIZATION - After having to pause our Weatherization program due to COVID precautions last year, we were finally able to re-open and safely resume assisting our community again. We also received new funding to re-weatherize homes we have already served in the past that need updates. Click here or the button below to learn how our Weatherization services are keeping homes in our community safer and healthier!

FIGHTING HUNGER - Our Linn Benton Food Share program provided over 5 million pounds of food to Linn and Benton Counties in 2020. This equates to more than 2 truckloads of food every week last year!

With the help of our partners and volunteers, we supplied our member agencies with enough food for 381,847 meals and delivered 38,332 emergency food boxes to food pantries in Linn and Benton Counties.

Our Commodity Supplemental Food Program supported 350 elderly participants last year. This program saves participants $500 in food costs annually, which they can use to pay for rent, medications and other essential expenses.

COMMUNITY - We make a conscious effort to conserve and make our community more sustainable. Last year, we saved over 1.5 million pounds of food through the fresh alliance grocery recovery program! We also distributed 26,000 Farmer to Family food boxes last year. We couldn't do any of this work without our generous, caring community - last year we received over 300,000 volunteer hours at our food share! Thank you to all who helped make this impact possible.

We are starting the new year strong and continuing to provide these services and more to our communities in 2021.

CONGRATS GRADS - Our employment and education programs continue to work remotely and safely in-person with their adult and youth clients for a variety of services and programs. Despite the transition to distanced learning, we are excited and proud to announce we had 15 students graduate from our youth programs with their GED's at the end of 2020 who are ready to enter the workforce and explore secondary education!

COVID RESPONSE - Our COVID Equity Program for Linn, Benton, Lincoln and Polk Counties offers financial support to minority and underserved populations affected by the pandemic. We provided wage replacement payments to over 100 individuals due to job and income loss from the pandemic, totaling nearly $300,000 in assistance!

We also provided 50 families with educational financial assistance used to purchase desks, laptops/tablets, books and other educational resources and materials to aid with the transition to remote work and school.

Our OHA COVID Wrap-Around Services program is working seven days a week to help those who have tested positive, or presumed to be positive, for COVID-19 in Linn, Benton, Lincoln and Polk Counties. Quarantine can mean paying more for essential services while also experiencing a reduction in income and facing unpredictable health effects of the coronavirus.

We've been working one-on-one with over 500 individuals, enabling them to safely quarantine to help keep the infection rate down in our region. By providing community-based wrap-around services and support, we're letting people know we recognize their sacrifice, we see their need, and we are here to help them successfully isolate.

We have been providing:

Safe shelter and space to quarantine for individuals and their families
Help with bills and household expenses
Groceries and helping with other essential tasks
And more

With over 500,000 Oregonians affected and more than 1 million acres burned, CSC is doing everything we can to help our local communities impacted by the 2020 wildfires.

We are working with victims in a variety of ways across our programs. Full time staff are stationed in the Santiam Canyon helping with local relief efforts. We have hired 15 individuals impacted by the wildfires, and continue to hire more, to help with local humanitarian efforts, staffing shelters, working in resource centers and assisting with clean up and rehabilitation for the parks, trails, camp sites and other affected public land.

Through this work and with our partners, we are providing over $2 million in disaster relief efforts and services for our region.

GIVING YOUR CHILD A HEAD START - Head Start of Lincoln county has been working closely with 115 children and families to provide comprehensive education and social services since starting remotely in September. We have been providing:

Daily virtual lessons with supplemental educational packets for parents
Loaned tablets and other resources for families that don't have access to required technology for distance learning
Daily lunches for pick up at all Head Start sites
Social services for families experiencing homelessness, job loss, hunger, loss of utility/internet services and more
Health and nutrition education, evaluations and referrals
And more!

RE-OPENING UPDATE - Plans and preparations are underway at all Head Start sites for in-person classes, which will begin as soon as it is safe for everyone. At that time, we will have a soft opening with an optional hybrid of small classes and continued on-line learning.

To help children and parents with remote learning, we have loaded our Head Start At-Home Resources page with over 50 activities and videos, as well as our online curricula.

IN THE NEWS - In the last year, we've had at least 15 different local news coverage about our work. The articles span the counties we serve, coming from news outlets in Benton, Linn, Lincoln, and Polk counties. Click here to find them and read more about what we're doing near you!

WE'RE HIRING! - Between the pandemic and the wildfires, we have been hiring for many new positions to meet the increased need in our community. If you or someone you know is interested in a career making meaningful change in people's lives and our community, click here to see our opportunities!