Siletz Tribe Supports CSC Youth Crews

A generous grant of more than $4,500 from the Siletz Tribal Contribution Fund has enabled 36 Lincoln County youth to participate in vital natural resources restoration projects. The Lincoln County Natural Resource Crew program, run by Community Services Consortium, used the funds to buy supplies for projects that also provided 9,952 combined hours of job training and educational support to participants.

Program participants executed a number of vital environmental projects, including planting in damaged riparian zones throughout Lincoln County, seed gathering, supporting Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife on projects aiding threatened species, creating community garden spaces and trail building and maintenance.
 
Many thanks to the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians for providing such a huge benefit to both the youth and environment of Lincoln County!  

You can read more in this article by the Newport News Times.

CSC Saves Low-Income Residents Money While Supporting the Local Economy

Thanks to Community Services Consortium (CSC), both low-income residents and local businesses are benefitting from green technology installations in Corvallis, Albany, and Newport. The design and installation of 282 kilowatts of solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays were made possible through CSC’s Sustainable Energy Resources for Consumers Program (SERC).



Solar PV panels at Community Outreach, Inc. in Corvallis

Between July 2011 and March 2012, solar PV panels were installed in 10 single-family residences and three multi-family buildings. The multi-family buildings include Samaritan Village, an 82-unit senior living facility located in Corvallis; Pelican Place, a 12-unit building housing domestic abuse victims and the homeless in Newport; and Albany Helping Hands, a homeless shelter in Albany.

The solar PV systems are grid-connected, non-battery systems, which is the least expensive option to install. The system is connected to the electric provider, so any excess energy can be sold back to the provider in the form of credits or sent to Oregon HEAT, a local energy assistance program.

All labor for the projects was sourced in Oregon. Five separate Oregon solar companies were employed, and twice that many in electrical and mechanical subcontractors.



Workers install solar PV panels at Albany Helping Hands

All solar modules, inverters, and balance of systems were either made in America or Oregon. Some Oregon manufacturers used include SolarWorld and Sharp for solar modules, and Advanced Energy for inverters. More than $1 million was spent on labor and materials for the projects, which has provided a great boost for Oregon businesses. 

The SERC program, an extension of the CSC’s Weatherization Department, provides renewable energy measures to reduce electricity expenses to agencies serving people who are at 200% or below the poverty threshold.

CSC’s Weatherization Assistance Program accompanies SERC by providing energy audits and applied energy saving measures to improve local energy savings. Energy conservation and efficiency measures ensure that the solar electric renewable energy measure yields maximum energy savings.

The US Department of Energy funds the SERC program. They, along with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, provided $90 million nationwide ($7 million to Oregon) for SERC projects. CSC was one of just five agencies to receive funds from Oregon Housing and Community Services based on our outstanding record of service.

Community Services Consortium Receives Grant to Train Low Income Teens

Sue McGuire-thompson, Albany CSC Operations Manager receives a grant award from South Albany High School Community 101 program for $975. The grant money will provide job/work skills and experience for teens with low income through the River JAVA Coffee Kart.

Community 101, a program of The Oregon Community Foundation, with major support from the PGE Foundation, is a classroom based program that provides students opportunities to be involved in their communities through grantmaking and volunteering.

Students work together to identify community needs, research nonprofits, conduct site visits, review grant applications and make funding decisions. Each classroom has $5,000 to award in grants to community nonprofits.
C101 represents an innovative collaboration of schools, businesses and charitable organizations. Students acquire the tools to bring about positive change in their communities.

Linn Benton Food Share receives grant from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation

(Photo Left) Steve Davey, Bank of America Market Executive and Corvallis Bank of America manager, Amy Kelsey-Johnson present a check to Mike Gibson, Director of Linn Benton Food Share. (Photo Right) Corvallis Bank of America volunters repackage dried beans at the Linn Benton Food Share warehouse.

"The Bank of America Charitable Foundation is pleased to support the important work of Linn Benton Food Share in feeding families,” said Steve Davey, Bank of America Consumer Market Executive for Greater Oregon. “We are committed to the work you do in our local communities and we are happy to participate in helping you this evening.”

Davey joined Corvallis Banking Center Manager Amy Kelsey-Johnson at the Linn Benton Food Share warehouse to present a check for $42,000 to Linn Benton Food Share on behalf of the Bank of America Charitable Foundation. The check was presented to Mike Gibson, Director of Linn Benton Food Share on Monday, February 28.

“The quality of our service depends on the support we get from the community. And that is why this $42,000 grant from Bank of America is so important to our ability to keep shelves stocked with food at our local food pantries and soup kitchens,” said Gibson.

Fifteen Bank of America employees from the Corvallis branch and family members joined the check presentation ceremony and stayed to volunteer to repack food after the event.

The grant funds will support general operating expenses to distribute food to individuals and families in need in Corvallis and surrounding rural areas. They will also help pay for purchasing staple goods for member agencies serving low income people and paying for fuel costs for picking and transporting food to the agencies such as soup kitchens and shelters.

“Thank you Bank of America for providing funding to help Linn Benton Food Share in its mission of reaching out to all sections of our community,” said Corvallis Mayor, Julie Manning. Mayor Manning was joined by Benton County Commissioner, Annabelle Jaramillo and CSC Executive Director, Martha Lyon in thanking Bank of America and volunteers at the warehouse.

CSC Receives $5,000 Grant for Foreclosure Counseling and Education

Community Housing Services (CHS) a program of Community Services Consortium (CSC) received a $5,000 grant from Wells Fargo Foundation on behalf of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage to provide foreclosure counseling and education to residents of Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties.

The grant will allow CHS staff to offer free one-on-one foreclosure intervention counseling and education for residents at risk of foreclosure or in the process of being foreclosed.

“It is expensive to offer a foreclosure intervention program which is both local and serves a three county area,” said Jon Polansky, CHS Housing Resources Coordinator. “This grant helps Community Housing Services to provide housing counseling that is approved by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) at no cost to homeowners experiencing financial problems.”

In addition to foreclosure counseling, Community Housing Services offers weatherization, home rehabilitation loans and home buying and financial fitness classes to low and moderate income persons and families.

Community Services Consortium (CSC) is the state-designated Community Action Agency serving Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties. CSC provides a wide range of services to low and moderate income individuals and families. CSC helps with housing, employment, job training skills, food, weatherization, housing rehabilitation, education and volunteer opportunities. For more information, or to support CSC and its many programs, please contact the CSC administrative office at (541) 752-1010 or visit www.communityservices.us.

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.

Four Community Services Consortium Programs receive Grants

Community Services Consortium (CSC) recently received $38,500 from Trust Management Services, of Waldport, Oregon for four CSC programs.

“We are delighted to receive funding from Trust Management Services,” said Martha Lyon, Executive Director of Community Services Consortium. “It allows us to strengthen our programs and helps us provide uninterrupted services, especially when we are seeing more requests for help.”

CSC’s Linn Benton Food Share received $10,000 to help support the fuel costs for trucking in the Fresh Alliance/Food Rescue program. Six thousand dollars of the money will be used to supply local gleaning programs with gas vouchers. There are forty-eight hundred low-income people in 14 gleaning groups in Linn and Benton counties. Gleaners collect donated food while sharing half with elderly and disabled people as well as community food pantries. The gas vouchers help them with the costs to collect and transport the food.

CSC’s Community Housing Services program received $10,000. “We are receiving a rising number of calls about foreclosure and this grant will stabilize our foreclosure counseling program,” said Tom Hatley, Director of Community Housing Services program. “We can help local residents understand the choices they may have in terms of their mortgage issues.”

Retired Senior Volunteer Program received $8,500 to assist with Senior Peer Counseling, a program that helps people aged 55 and older who are experiencing a difficult time in their lives, whether from a grievous loss, health problem, or a transition from a home they may have lived in for many years.

The Workforce & Education Program is the final program to receive funding in the amount of $10,000 from Trust Management Services. The money will be used by their nonprofit program, Housing Employment and Learning Programs for Self Sufficiency (HELPS) for the Youth Garden Project to purchase supplies and to help pay stipends for youth summer jobs.

Tom Cope, CSC’s Resource Development Officer, said “We appreciate these grants from Trust Management Services to CSC. It helps us provide better services to the people we serve.”

Community Services Consortium (CSC) is the state-designated Community Action Agency serving Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties. CSC provides a wide range of services to low and moderate income individuals and families. CSC helps with employment, job training skills, food, housing, weatherization, housing rehabilitation, education and volunteer opportunities. For more information, or to support CSC and its many programs, please contact the administrative office at (541) 752-1010 or visit www.communityservices.us.

Funding awards for Four Programs

Four of CSC’s five 501(c)(3)s received the support they requested from Trust Management Services:

*HELPS received $10,000 for the youth stipends/garden
*Housing and Community Services received $10,000 for foreclosure counseling
*Linn Benton Food Share received $10,000 for gleaner fuel vouchers and truck fuel
*RSVP received $8,500 for senior peer counseling

Congratulations to all!