INSIDE THE SPRING 2024 ISSUE:

·  Second Home Relaunches in Lincoln County

·  "Leap of Faith: My Experience as a Volunteer Home Provider," by Abigail Barash

·  Savina Zuniga: Empowering Oregon's Youth

·  College Tuition Waiver for Houseless Youth

·  Meet Our Team

We are proud to introduce two dynamic new staff members to the Second Home team! Please welcome Claire Johnson, Regional Coordinator (photo above left), and Jeffrey Fleming, Home Provider Coordinator (photo above right)—both based in Lincoln County.

With the addition of Claire and Jeffrey to the Second Home team, we are once again able to focus on providing stable housing and ongoing support for unaccompanied students in Lincoln City, Newport and the surrounding areas. Both Jeffrey and Claire bring strong skill sets and backgrounds, with varied experience to strengthen our team.

Claire moved to Oregon eight years ago from southern Utah, where she grew up. Taking a break from pursuing her degree at Oregon State University, she lived in Mexico for a bit and fell in love with surfing. After spending a few years in central Oregon, she decided to move to Newport to be closer to the ocean and live in a smaller community. Claire loves the variety of landscapes that Oregon has to offer and plans to stay here for the foreseeable future.

“When applying for the Regional Coordinator position at Second Home, I was immediately drawn to their mission to cultivate connections, empower personal growth and provide housing for unaccompanied youth,” said Claire. “What truly stood out to me though, was meeting each team member and feeling the genuine heart they put into their work, especially noticing how Jenny [Hale] and Rick [Stoller] foster an environment where each person's unique approach is valued.”

Jeffrey moved to Newport in 2019 and considers Lincoln County a wonderful community to live in. He enjoys kayaking on Beaver Creek, hiking the numerous trails in the Wilder neighborhood, visiting lighthouses and observing sea lions on the Bay Front or the aquarium in South Beach. His wife Jennifer is a math professor at Oregon Coast Community College (OCCC), and his daughter Kami is graduating this June from both Newport High School and the early college credit program at OCCC.

With a background in both marketing and education and a passion to serve the youth of Lincoln County, Jeffrey is very excited for his new role as Home Provider Coordinator with Second Home. “Working for Second Home has been such a wonderful experience. The staff have been extremely helpful and welcoming,” said Jeffrey. “To be able to work for an organization whose goal is to end teen homelessness in Oregon is such a privilege. I'm really looking forward to not only re-establishing Second Home in Lincoln County, but also supporting teens experiencing homelessness to find safe and secure housing.”

Jeffrey and Claire are poised and prepared to make a positive difference for students in Lincoln County. The entire Second Home team is committed to supporting students in need in the Lincoln County area, and we are thrilled to be able to do so in 2024.

It has been almost a year since my husband and I became host home providers to our student, Katya [name changed for privacy], through the Second Home program. I was previously familiar with the program and understood the impact and importance it has had on the lives of unaccompanied homeless youth, yet I never thought I would become a volunteer host myself.

So, when my husband approached me about the opportunity in the winter of 2022, I was hesitant. I felt skeptical that we would be able to successfully host a youth who needed support to get by in life. I had some preconceived notions that in order to make a “good” host, I needed to have lots of wealth to spare, more experience dealing with potential trauma sensitivities, and the emotional capacity to “deal” with a teenager and all the baggage I thought they might bring with them. Even with these doubts at the forefront of my mind, I decided to move forward with the process and took a leap of faith. And now I’m so glad I did!

Continue reading Abbie's story

Second Home staff member Savina Zuniga was recently honored by the Oregon Alliance and Oregon Child & Family Center for Excellence as a recipient of the 2024 Children’s Champion Award. This accolade is dedicated to honoring individuals who have displayed outstanding commitment and contributions to advocacy initiatives focused on improving the lives of children, youth and families in Oregon.

Savina is dedicated to advocating on behalf of Oregon Department of Human Service’s Youth Experiencing Homelessness Program (YEHP). She has been a key contributor in efforts to advocate for greater state support. Savina has worked tirelessly to develop meaningful and professional relationships with legislators and has written multiple state bills—including recent House Bill 4013 that provides tuition and fee waivers to eligible current and former houseless youth (learn more about HB 4013 in the section below). Savina contributes on three state and national Youth Advisory Boards to improve resources for young people. Her most recent endeavors include producing a training program to empower more young people to get involved with youth advocacy issues. 

We are so proud to have Savina on our Second Home team, and Oregon youth are fortunate to benefit from the impact she has made in the Oregon Legislature on their behalf. Please join us in acknowledging and celebrating Savina's extraordinary contributions to improving the lives of children, youth and families in Oregon!

A new Oregon state law (HB 4013) extends tuition and fee waivers to current and former houseless youth with a new opportunity, the Youth Experiencing Homelessness Tuition and Fee Waiver. This waiver will allow certain Oregon undergraduate colleges and universities to waive tuition and fees for eligible students who apply. Our own Second Home team member, Savina Zuniga, wrote and proposed this new legislation to Oregon law. Now that this has been adopted into Oregon law, Second Home strongly encourages all our supporters and partners to help us spread the word about this opportunity.  

To be eligible, a student must fit the following criteria:

·  Be under age 25 and apply/enroll to attend an eligible school*

·  Experienced homelessness and received services from an organization contracted by the Department of Human Services (i.e., Second Home) **

·  Received services from one of these organizations at age 16 years or older and utilized the resource for at least six months.

Students can apply by completing the eligibility form available on the Youth Experiencing Homeless website: www.oregon.gov/odhs

Additionally, students should complete a FAFSA application and apply to an eligible Oregon college or university. Students can contact the financial aid office at their college of choice for more information about this opportunity. To learn more about how Second Home can support a high school student experiencing homelessness and possibly assist with eligibility for a Tuition and Fee Waiver (HB4013), please email Savina Zuniga, szuniga@emoregon.org.

*Eligible Schools: Oregon public universities and community colleges, Oregon Health Sciences University.

**Contracted services include but are not limited to shelters and host home programs. A full list of eligible service providers can be found at the Youth Experiencing Homeless Program website.

Second Home is a recipient of the Fred Meyer Community Rewards program! Designating Second Home as your chosen program costs nothing for you and allows us to receive a portion of Fred Meyer Community Rewards funds each time you shop at Fred Meyer with your Rewards card! Please note that within the Fred Meyer Rewards site, our organization is listed as “Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon – Second Home.”

Second Home is a program of Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon (EMO)

503-221-1054 | emo@emoregon.org | emoregon.org

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