From the editor
The big event in our area this month is the imminent open house at the Wayne Morse Family Farm — Sunday May 17 from 1 to 4 pm. Celebrate the history of the Farm and the life of Sen. Morse, a tireless an courageous fighter for good.
We (Southwest Hills / CDCA) will have a side table there where you can talk to members of our board about your hopes and concerns for our area, you can volunteer to help in various ways, you can join the board if you’d like, or purchase copies of our book of interviews giving an oral history of the area a mile or so around the Farm. If you’re coming to the open house — and you should! it’s a great event — drop by and say hello.
“An Afternoon At Edgewood Farm”
2015 Historic Preservation Open House
Wayne Morse Family Farm, 595 Crest Drive
Sunday, May 17, 1-4 pm FREE
• Historic home and farm trail tours
• Exhibits featuring the Morse family and their horses, political cartoons
• Children’s Clue Hunt
• Ice Cream Social
Sponsored by the Wayne Morse Historical Park Corporation, http://www.waynemorse.org. Edgewood Farm was home to Wayne Morse – UO Law School Dean, labor arbitrator and United States Senator – and his family for 40 years. It became a Eugene City Park in 1979. Built in 1936, the family home and farm were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
In our last email newsletter we listed the dates of our meetings over the summer. Some of those dates have changed, partly due to renegotiation with music providers and partly due to your editor’s inability to remember dates correctly. Here’s the updated list:
May 21, board meeting, at 7 PM on the balcony at the 29th St. Market of Choice. Event planning, making new contacts. We are trying out a new feature. At the beginning of the meeting anybody can come and bring ideas or criticisms. Your don’t need worked-out plans, just ideas that would help the neighborhood or correct flaws. You don’t have to attend the whole meeting, just come at 7 and speak your mind.
June 21, a general gathering, the theme will be emergency preparedness. We will hear about how you can protect your area and your home from wildfires amid the trees. Also about surviving our local wildlife. Morse Family Farm House, 2-4 pm
August 9, Summer Picnic, international musicians, Drums!, a potluck, ice cream, games, chances to meet your neighbors and representatives from community organizations. Morse Family Farm, 2-5 pm
(We’ll hold several other board meetings during the summer; they will be announced in this newsletter.)
Announcements from the City:
Bring the Family to Public Works Day!
Thursday, May 21
The City of Eugene is hosting its annual Public Works Day Open House on Thursday, May 21. This fun-filled day will engage the family with child-sized activities, specialized equipment demonstrations and a behind-the-scenes look at the many ways Public Works serves the community.
The event runs from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. A record-breaking number of kids and adults are signed up to attend this year. The morning will be very busy, so families may want to drop in during the calmer afternoon hours.
Bus, van, and bike parking is available at the event site, 1820 Roosevelt Boulevard, and LTD is offering a free shuttle from the downtown Eugene station to the Public Works Yard and back every half hour. More info: http://www.eugene-or.gov/pwday 541-682-4800.
Making Great Cities:
The Dollars and Sense of Downtown Development
With Keynote Presentation by Joe Minicozzi, Principal of Urban3 in Asheville, NC
Joe Minicozzi is an expert in urban economics and principal of Urban3, an Asheville-based consulting firm whose representation of economic productivity has prompted a paradigm shift in understanding the economic value of well-designed cities. Urban3’s studies in the United States and Canada have helped to create a broader understanding of the market dynamics created by tax policy.
Thursday, May 21, 2015 @ 5:30 PM
The Downtown Athletic Club, 999 Willamette Street
Lecture at 6:00 PM / Light reception to follow
RSVP Required – dxoregon@gmail.com
New Generations Film Festival
“Love Where You Live” free viewing and awards – May 23
The New Generations Film Festival is a film-making competition for middle and high school students in Eugene that values the contribution students can make to the ongoing conversation about the communities they live in. The purpose of the festival is to get students thinking about their neighborhoods, give them a forum to have their voices heard, foster an interest in continued community involvement and have fun!
The free Viewing and Awards Ceremony is May 23, 11am at the Willamette High School Powers Auditorium. Students’ films will be shared with the community and winners will be announced and given prizes. It will be an excellent opportunity for the community to show support for student artist expression and the exchange of ideas across generations.
A social after the event from 12:30-1pm will give people a chance to celebrate, mingle and talk to filmmakers.
The competition is the idea of Monroe Middle School student Nathan Yeh, who with support from the City of Eugene’s Youth to Make it Happen program at the Petersen Barn, the Human Rights Commission and area neighborhood associations is getting students thinking about their neighborhoods, giving them a forum to have their voices heard and fostering an interest in continued community involvement.
The theme for the festival is “Love Where You Live.”The students’ 1-3 minute films will be about a neighborhood highlight, issue, project, or problem they want to solve. This might include a local role model, problem faced at school, favorite location, a group working to improve their community, a cultural celebration in their neighborhood and more.
The 2016 competition will see expanded advertising into alternative middle and high schools in Eugene as well as into Creswell.
Know your city: some facts
Homeless Point-in-time Count Results
Taken Wednesday, January 28, 2015
On Wednesday, January 28th, Lane County Human Services, the anti-poverty program for the county, along with community partners, conducted a one-night count of people who are literally homeless in our community. Count locations included the streets and under bridges, in parks and other places not meant for human habitation, food pantries, day access centers, schools, churches, emergency shelters, and transitional housing programs.
1,473 people were counted in Lane County during the 2015 Homeless Point in Time, 19% less than the 2013 Count.
“Increasing housing resources is the key to reducing homelessness in our community. The addition of 227 permanent housing beds to our inventory has made a difference, “said Pearl Wolfe, Lane County Human Services Supervisor. “These permanent housing programs help households get back on their feet by removing barriers that threaten their stability. “
Highlights of the Count:
124 staff and volunteers from 28 organizations counted unsheltered homeless people this year, with an additional 10 agencies counted sheltered people. During this year’s Count organizers made a concerted effort to reach out to the rural areas, target homeless veterans, and expand to 10 new locations (i.e. rest stops, Opportunity Village, Occupy Medical, Hope Center, Municipal Court).
Of the 1,473 people counted:
656 individuals were staying in Emergency Shelter
101 individuals were living in Transitional Housing (up to 24 months) designated for people who are homeless
716 men, women, and children were without shelter
Total 1,473 individuals
Characteristics:
223 family members in homeless households with children; 151 sheltered; 72 unsheltered
210 homeless veterans: 110 sheltered; 100 unsheltered:
697 chronically homeless people: 318 sheltered; 379 unsheltered
398 people have a mental illness
206 people have chronic alcohol/substance abuse issues
This snapshot in time only paints part of the picture of homelessness locally,” said Wolfe. “Annual figures show that 11,668 individuals who sought services from local programs were homeless at some point during the year.”
In addition, 948 unduplicated individuals were served at the Egan Warming Center during 10 nights of the winter season at 9 faith-based sites and the Lane County Wheeler Pavilion during the 2014-2015 winter seasons (St. Vincent DePaul).
2,151 homeless students attended public school in Lane County during the 2013-14 school year (Oregon Dept. of Education). This number includes those doubled up with relatives or friends.
One-night counts are required by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Oregon Housing and Community Services (State of Oregon) which provides funding for housing and services related to homelessness. The Point in Time Summary is used year round by planning boards, and policy makers on local, state and federal levels to inform their work on this issue.
SHiNA 