CSC Offers Foreclosure Counseling

Are you or someone you know facing FORECLOSURE? We offer Free HUD Certified Mortgage Intervention Counseling at Community Housing Services, a member of the Community Services Consortium.

Call us: (541) 758-2786
Toll Free: 1-866-245-1780

Happenings in Housing and Community Resources

As reported in the latest Management Team meeting minutes, Tom Hatley's crew continues to be busy on all fronts:

• Pelican Place permanent supportive housing in Newport started construction. The open house is scheduled for September 29.

• The Weatherization Program continues its multi-family projects, with 31 units completed in June as well as counting substantial progress on four to five other multi-family units.

• Housing Rehabilitation is busy fixing up owner-occupied houses, which includes housing purchased by the program utilizing the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funds. NSP funds are part of the federal stimulus program and is related to the purchase of foreclosed properties in counties with high foreclosure rates. The homes, once rehabbed, will be turned over to already-identified organizations to be used as transitional housing to assist people out of homelessness.

•Community Development met with Sunshine Industry in Sweet Home and Sweet Home City Manager Craig Martin to talk about how the department might assist Sunshine Industry with acquiring a new facility.

Please check out the website for more information on the Housing and Community Resources department.

CSC Head Start of Lincoln County Now Enrolling

CSC Head Start, a no-cost preschool serving Lincoln County, is now enrolling for the 2010-2011 program year at their sites in Lincoln City, Toledo, and Newport. Children must be 3 or 4 years old by September 1, 2010. Applications with enrollment information are available at each site or by calling 541-996-3028.

Head Start sites:
• Lincoln City: 2130 SE Lee Street Lincoln City, OR
• Newport: 253 NE 1st Street Newport, OR
• Toledo 845 NW A Street, Toledo, OR

Summer Status No Slow-Down for CSC Head Start

CSC Head Start (CSCHS) continues to be busy, even though the Program is on summer status.

Donations
We are pleased to have received donations from:
$4,800 from Spirit Mountain for classroom related expenses
$700.00 unrestricted funds from the Eagles of Newport

With the budget cuts that CSCHS is experiencing from the state, the generosity of the community becomes more and more important. WE are very grateful to our supporters!

Public Outreach
Head Start Director Suzanne Miller has been on two local radio interviews and will be invited back to Newport KCUP radio in September and possibly before for further interviews and specialized focus on Head Start. We are looking into public presentations as well as possible public television for continued public relations.

Our “Friends of Head Start” group has met regularly and although small in size are committed. To celebrate the National Week of the Young Child in April, our Friends helped set up a children’s art show titled “Head Start Art” throughout Lincoln County which was covered by newspapers in Newport and Lincoln city. We currently have good media relationships and will continue to maintain these relationships.

Graduation
Graduation occurred at each Site on Wednesday, May 12. Over 400 family and community members attended programwide to participate in the festivities as 92 children moved on to Kindergarten and 67 children commenced into their second year of Head Start.
For the upcoming Program year, Lincoln City is expecting 33 returning children; Newport is expecting 27 returning children; and Toledo has 7 children who will return.

Enrollment
We are actively enrolling families throughout the County. We have had a major reduction in state grants this year and will have to reduce the number of children served by six. This is very sad news particularly in light of the underserved population throughout Lincoln County. Nonetheless, we are nearing our capacity numbers and will, of course, waitlist families.

In order to remain fiscally responsible, CSCHS’s Director, Suzanne Miller, announced that the current transportation system provided by CSCHS would have to be cancelled, which resulted in employee reductions.

It is important to remember that Head Start is the cornerstone of early education in our nation. So many people do not know all the services that Head Start offers that serve the child and families beyond school education and include health, nutrition, emotional well being, family involvement, as well as a host of other services offered through CSCHS by monthly family visits and continual outreach. Many families have utilized our services for job training, new home purchasing and other vital services.

Please check out the website for more information on CSC's Lincoln County Head Start Program.

Community Services Consortium Creates Summer Jobs

Community Services Consortium (CSC) is pleased to announce its Workforce & Education Department has received 11 grants of $32,000 each in funding for summer Youth Employment Crews from the Oregon Youth Conservation Corps (OYCC) and the Oregon Youth Employment Initiative (OYEI) for a total of $352,000.

At risk youths in Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties will have an opportunity to earn up to $2,000, gain work experience, team building and leadership skills as well as an opportunity to recover school credits.