CSC Spring Update

As of May 28, Pegge McGuire was appointed as CSC's new Executive Director, replacing long time Executive Director, Martha Lyon, due to ongoing health concerns and treatments.

Serving as Deputy Director since 2017 and Acting Executive Director since 2019, Pegge's strong leadership, navigating CSC and the communities we serve through the pandemic, wildfires, and more these last couple years, has given the agency’s boards, staff and partners the utmost respect and confidence in her for this transition.

She is deeply dedicated to the mission and vision of Community Action: helping people, changing lives. Her skills, dedication and decades of experience will be well-served in the community in her new role.

“I am very excited to continue working with our great team at CSC in this new capacity. The staff are passionate and innovative in their approach to achieving the agency’s mission. My predecessor and dear friend, Martha Lyon, is a visionary leader and a master at planting the seeds of creativity for problem solving, and a holistic approach to service delivery. I am looking forward to carrying on Martha’s vision and expanding on it to continue to serve our community.” - Pegge McGuire

While CSC is known for our wide variety of direct services, we also do a lot of work behind the scenes with the community as a whole to further our mission of Helping People. Changing Lives.

We recently published the graphic above, illustrating how we invest in our neighbors and our community.

Providing more than $50 million in services, as well as supportive funding to our invaluable partners and community-wide initiatives, we invest as much of our time, funding, and energy as possible to innovatively meet the needs in our community.

Learn more about our impact and other agency updates, click the button below.

Since the start of the pandemic, CSC has served over 1,100 COVID-impacted households with rental relief, providing more than $6 million in assistance.

For our 2021 program alone, which closed last month, we've able to serve over 375 households with the new funding we received, totaling more than $2.3 million in assistance, with more applications still being processed every day.

We are anticipating another round of COVID-related rental assistance funding this month! If you are still waiting to receive COVID rent relief, or already received assistance and are still in need of services, check our website for updates for the new program.

For households that are not COVID-impacted but need rent or other housing assistance, we have other Housing programs and services that may be able to help. To learn more and connect with us, click the button below.

Oregon has administered over 3.9 million vaccines so far, with over 2.2 million Oregonians fully vaccinated. In Benton, Lincoln and Linn Counties, we have over 140,000 community members vaccinated, over 50% of our total regional population.

Per the Oregon Health Authority, safe and effective vaccines play a huge role part in slowing the spread of COVID-19 and making the return normalcy possible.

We all want to contribute to our communities being able to reopen and resume normal life, and vaccines are currently available to all Oregon residents over 12. To learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine and find available vaccines near you, click the buttons below.

On April 23, CSC Technology Teacher in our CSC Polk County STREAM Lab makerspace, Josh Hjelmberg, was recognized with the 2021 Monmouth-Independence Chamber of Commerce award.

With this prestigious recognition, Hjelmberg joins a venerable list of individuals working towards the future of Polk County, including Polk County Commissioner Mike Ainsworth (2006) and Economic Development Director for Independence Shawn Irvine (2020).

Since joining CSC in 2018, Hjelmberg has innovatively created a workforce space that trains and inspires youth all over Polk County to learn about STEM curriculum by using technology including 3D printers, laser cutters, embroidery machines, screen-printing, etc.

This well-deserved award highlights the legacy of impact that Hjelmberg has and continues to make throughout his career, inspiring and motivating hundreds of youth and young adults across Polk County.

CSC is deeply proud of his accomplishments and contributions to the community and his dedication to our mission of helping people access tools and resources to build brighter and more stable futures.

IN THE NEWS - We've had more than 10 different local news articles published about our work since the start of 2021! 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 - 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.