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A Fond Farewell

Kelly has been a key member of UCAN’s leadership for most of her time with us. She has been the leader of our Josephine County office. Click here to learn more about Kelly’s contribution to UCAN and our communities.

UCAN originally brought Kelly on to oversee our RSVP program. She soon added oversight of UCAN’s AmeriCorps and VISTA programs to her responsibilities. Upon taking over as COO, Kelly also began administering UCAN’s homeless program, as well as our energy assistance and weatherization programs.

Kelly has played a pivotal role in growing UCAN’s presence in Josephine County. When UCAN began operating in the County, we superseded an agency that had been part of County governance. As Kelly says, it was important that UCAN “rebuild local relationships and restore trust for those who depended on the agency for services.” Kelly worked hard to make that happen, fostering many collaborations, and hosting such partnerships as the Josephine County Homeless Task Force.

Kelly has been a major proponent for ensuring local folks coming to us obtain everything we can offer so they can succeed. Not only has she continually promoted “wrapping services” within UCAN, she has promoted integrating services between UCAN and its many partner agencies. She’s also focused on finding ways to embed new technologies to streamline processes and provide better service delivery.

While at UCAN, Kelly’s programs have distributed record amounts of assistance to local folks. Her programs have received national awards, including one for an innovative veteran service program. But most important to Kelly are the people she has met along the way. As she says, she has learned from all of them.

As just one example, she and her staff worked with an individual who had been homeless for ten years, who had slept in the snow, who had trouble communicating when he first connected with UCAN. At first, he wasn’t allowed to pay his own rental bill, and was instead assigned a payee to do so. We were able to get benefits for him, to get him rent assistance. As his life stabilized, he took over paying his bills. Nobody who met him when he first left the streets would have thought he could live independently, but he was able to do so. As Kelly says, he was one of many people who taught her that people are amazingly resilient when given the chance to succeed.

Newsletters

Letter from the Executive Director - Spring 2023
Newsletters

Letter from the Executive Director – Spring 2023

The first act that Governor Kotek took upon taking office this year was to declare a homeless state of emergency for much of Oregon. Though neither Douglas nor Josephine County were included in this declaration, those of us working to address homelessness locally know that we have our own crisis here. UCAN has stepped up to play a major role in addressing this crisis, while continuing to operate countless other programs. Learn more about exciting new developments at UCAN.

UCAN Starts Operating Roseburg’s First Navigation Center
Newsletters

UCAN Starts Operating Roseburg’s First Navigation Center

The City of Roseburg (City) recently received an award of funds from the State to create and operate a navigation center to meet the needs of unsheltered homeless folks. Needing an operator for the navigation center, they reached out to UCAN, and we began operations July 1, 2022. Read more here to learn what a navigation center is and how UCAN is operating it.

UCAN Offers Array of Services for Homeless Folks in Grants Pass
Newsletters

UCAN Offers Array of Services for Homeless Folks in Grants Pass

Beginning this Fall, UCAN began offering a variety of services to help shelter homeless folks living in the Grants Pass area. We are now the operator of a congregate shelter, a tiny home community and have opened an emergency warming center to prevent hypothermia and frostbite on very cold days. Find out more about these services here.