Community Services Consortium

Serving Linn, Benton, and Lincoln counties in Oregon. Helping people. Changing lives.

Monday, September 12, 2016

Second Chance Renter's Classes Coming in October

“Second Chance” is for those who are having difficulty finding stable housing because of bad credit or a poor rental history. Even if things are better now, it can be hard to get away from a past eviction or because of property damage that you couldn’t fix.

Consisting of six classes taught by qualified instructors from the community, Second Chance gives you the opportunity to learn about landlord-tenant issues, conflict resolution, energy education, money management, goal setting, and the characteristics of a good tenant.

This education program prepares you for the responsibilities of renting and gives you the skills necessary to be the kind of tenant your landlord will hate to lose!

Second Chance prepares you to approach landlords with confidence and encourages landlords to view prospective tenants with a more open mind.

Topics covered include How to be a Good Tenant, Landlord/Tenant Issues, Energy Education, Conflict Resolution, Goal Setting, and Basic Budgeting. Those who successfully complete all six sessions of the class will receive a Certificate of Completion and a Letter of Recommendation to attach to future rental applications.

Pre-registration is required. To register, or for more information about Second Chance, visit CSC’s website at www.communityservices.us or contact Cindy Pratt-DeMarzo at 541-758-2632 for Linn and Benton counties, and Kacy Jensen at 541-574-2281 in Lincoln County.

UPCOMING SECOND CHANCE CLASSES: CORVALLIS

Mondays and Wednesdays from 1:00pm -3:00pm at 545 SW 2nd St. (upstairs) in Corvallis. Registration deadline is October 14, 2016.

Monday, October 24th
Wednesday, October 26th
Monday, October 31th
Wednesday, November 2nd
Monday, November 7th
Wednesday, November 9th

Event to Assist Homeless Veterans in Linn and Benton County

Save the date for the second Stand Down for Homeless Veterans on Thursday, November 3, 2016 at The River Center, 3000 South Santiam Highway, Lebanon, from 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m!

The event will focus on helping homeless veterans in the Linn and Benton County area connect with necessary services that are available here. Health screenings, Social Security benefits counseling, and dental services will be provided. Veterans can also receive referrals to health care providers, health insurance, housing solutions, employment, substance abuse treatment and mental health counseling.
Transportation details are being worked out and will be announced soon.

Stand downs are collaborative events that provide basic necessities and services to veterans. Stand downs are coordinated among local veteran support organizations, other government agencies and community-based homeless service providers, including our local community action agency, Community Services Consortium.

For more information or if you're interested in helping with the event, contact Connie Barkdull at cbarkdull@communityservices.us or call 541-758-2761.

Community Services Consortium (CSC) is a state-designated Community Action Agency serving Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties with housing, nutrition, economic stability, and educational assistance programs since 1980.

Go Shopping and Help Community Services Consortium!

Did you know you can help CSC just by shopping with your Fred Meyer rewards card? By signing up with the Community Rewards program, every time you shop and use your Rewards Card, you can help CSC earn a donation! You still earn your Rewards Points, Fuel Points, and Rebates, just as you do today.

Here’s how the program works:
  1. Go to http://www.fredmeyer.com/communityrewards to link Community Rewards to your Fred Meyer rewards card.
  2. You can search for Community Services Consortium, Linn Benton Food Share, or Head Start of Lincoln County by name or by their non-profit numbers:
  • Community Services Consortium: 87210
  • Head Start: 89698
  • Linn Benton Food Share: 80781
If you do not have a Fred Meyer rewards card, they are available at the Customer Service desk of any Fred Meyer store. For more information, please visit www.fredmeyer.com/communityrewards.

To donate to CSC, visit our donation page here. To donate by mail, please send your donation to CSC, 250 Broadalbin Street, #2A, Albany, OR, 97321.

Welcome to CSC's blog and e-newsletter!

These communications tools can be used to make announcements, acknowledge donors and volunteers, post videos and slideshows–whatever we want to share with our online community.

There are 3 ways to deliver info to stakeholders:

  1. The blog itself, which can be linked to our current website
  2. Email news blasts (blog articles sent via email as eNewsletters)
  3. RSS Feed (subscribers read in Google Reader or other feed reader, can also send posts to Facebook and Twitter)
We're excited about these communication tools and look forward to both your input and feedback for continuing improvement and positive information-sharing.

If you have agency/program information you'd like posted on this blog, please send full text and/or photos and videos, ideas, or suggestions to Janet Hessel and she will take the next steps.

Enjoy!