Impact Areas

We all win when students are successful and prepared for life.

Big Idea Next came out of the successful Big Idea 100% High School Completion for the Class of 2020. We learned many things – students who were on track to graduate did; students who were borderline graduated too! And students who were not on track, didn’t complete high school on time despite a great deal of effort from schools, community partners and more.

Big Idea Next is focused on students enrolled in alternative programs or schools to promote high school completion. We know we all win when students are successful and prepared for life. Every district in Jackson County is partnering with us on Big Idea Next!

We’ve got some cool things lined up. We’re doing an urban reforestation project with 25 students with curriculum and a tree planting. We’re launching Alternative Times, a student led electronic and print magazine to inspire, cajole, share learnings with all the students. We’re launching a shadow mentoring program where students will have the opportunity to spend time with an adult in a job the student finds appealing.

INCOME

Our HOPE Chest initiative means people can receive the emergency help they need to keep moving forward.

Our income goal is to stabilize families and we do this through our Hope Chest emergency relief fund. All assistance is handled with referrals from case managers & social workers plus vendors are paid directly.

We also partner on VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) preparing tax returns for free for those earning less than $55,000. These folks then receive the income tax credits they earned! Our VITA site brings back hundreds of thousands of dollars helping to build our economy.

Our efforts to increase compassion and connect people to services is working!

Our health goal is to maximize wellness, knowing that can be different for many people. We invest in suicide prevention and mental wellness, child abuse prevention, healthy living and more.

For more info, contact Bethany Raya, Lead Community Impact Director.

TRANSPORTATION

Our transportation goal is to remove barriers to transportation for people with disabilities, aging people, and those with low income.

Getting around is expensive. We work to make bus stops accessible to those with mobility devices. We work hard to resolve transportation issues that keep people from easy access to groceries. We’re exploring more on community gardens, mobile food pantries and ways to get folks to the grocery store. We also work on multi-modal transportation – walking and biking. Thanks to All Ages, All Abilities for that work! We do all this barrier reduction work thanks in large measure to RVTD! Special thanks to the transit district for knowing this work matters.

For more info, contact Dalia Silva-Moore, Community Impact Director.

NEW for 2024 – Wheelchair Charging Stations. United Way of Jackson County is proud to announce wheelchair charging stations! This is free to your business or organization, outside of pennies on the dollar of your power bill. This very innovative project could have happened for years and yet, its time is now! George Adams, a disability advocate, asked why there weren’t wheelchair charging stations because of so many car charging stations! And United Way is answering the call. This is, simply put, a “You’re welcome here” project. We have received grants from Pacific Power’s e-mobility project, Siskiyou Outback Runners and a sponsorship from US Bank to help fund the first 100 stations in our county. We’ll provide a bag with a charger, a sign, some information and you’ll be all set! Sign up now, log your station on the website map and let’s get to 100 this year! To get started, visit https://wheelchairchargingoregon.com or contact Dee Anne Everson.

To provide some detail, the US has an aging population with almost 1 in 5 people now over 65 years old. In the United States, we have 3.3 million wheelchair users (1% of the population). Of these, 1.5 million wheelchair users are under 65.  Electric wheelchairs have significantly improved and reduced in cost over the past 5 years. This has made them an option for a broader section of our community. Battery powered chairs and scooter users can develop range anxiety, reducing their geography out of concern for their battery life. Request your station today!