Updates from Looking Glass
After constructing a first tiny house for SquareOne in the summer/fall of 2023, the students enrolled in the Skilled Trades program at Looking Glass Riverfront School & Career Center were eager to work on a 2nd project. SquareOne was thrilled with the quality craftsmanship done on the first project and have expressed interest in a longer term partnership. The students did not disappoint with their 2nd effort, completing their next tiny house project in early September of 2024.
The Looking Glass Counseling Program continues to evolve and adapt to meet the needs of our clients. We continue to hire more therapists and although we are not quite fully staffed still, we have made great progress in recent months and are doing our best to meet the growing need for therapy in our community, for clients of all ages. Here is a new video about the counseling program, highlighting the various ways our program meets our clients where they are, providing trauma-informed care from a diverse group of caring professionals.
About a dozen students and a roomful of family and friends gathered to celebrate the 2024 Riverfront School & Career Center graduation at the Unitarian Universalist Church next to Riverfront on Thursday, June 13th. This year’s keynote speaker was Eve Gray, Director of Lane County Health and Human Services.
The 2023 Riverfront High School graduation was held Thursday, June 15th at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Eugene (next door to Riverfront). Graduates shared their experiences and a UO pep band helped the attendees rock out and celebrate! This year’s keynote speaker was Rick Hamilton, recently elected to the Eugene 4J school board.
The 2022 Riverfront High School graduation ceremony was held in-person on June 16th at the Unitarian Universalist Church next door to Riverfront for the first time in 2 years. Senator James Manning was the keynote speaker at the event. “Where you are now is part of a transition in life,” Senator Manning said to the graduates. “Never let anyone tell you that you cannot achieve a higher level. I believe in you!”
Looking Glass has provided housing assistance for youth since 1970 through various programs including providing rental assistance funds for security deposits, renters insurance and, in some cases, covering monthly rent for up to 2 years. We recently sat down with a current housing client, Jordan, and his case manager Jack and other Looking Glass staff to hear how these programs work and the impact they can have. (VIDEO)
The Youth Action Committee (YAC) is a group of homeless youth ages 16-21, who access services from New Roads, Station 7, or New Roads School. The group consists of 6 youth and are hoping to expand to 8-12 youth in the future. They meet once a month at New Roads School and are served dinner as part of the meeting.
One of the goals of the group is to provide feedback in how we serve homeless youth in our Homeless Youth Services at Looking Glass. They will provide input on how the program is running, what changes they would want, and what ideas they have for the community.
The annual Looking Forward, Giving Back auction gala fundraiser was held virtually this year, due to the pandemic, of course, but was a huge success despite the fact that we could not gather physically with supporters. On Saturday, April 10th, Looking Glass fundraising staff members turned the large conference room at administrative offices into a production studio and interacted with over 100 supporters via Zoom and an online auction platform that made for some very competitive and last minute bidding. In the end, donors helped to raise more than $130,000 for Looking Glass youth & family programs (and post-event cleanup was much easier).
See videos shared at the event in this post!
Our Looking Glass Riverfront School 2020 class graduation event was certainly unique and extremely special. Social distancing forced us to hold this annual event in a drive through manner, with all staff wearing masks and parents and students mostly remaining in their cars while the grads hopped out for photos and to pick up their diplomas (VIDEO).
This year we had some amazing high school graduates from our three alternative schools. Riverfront, Center Point, and New Roads School provide high school degrees and GEDs to youth needing a specialized school environment. Our students have overcome much to reach graduation. From mental illness, learning disabilities, poverty, trauma, and other barriers to reach their education goals, we are so proud of all our students have accomplished.
