As we enter the final month of 2022, The Arc Lane County would like to extend its appreciation to the many people who helped make this another memorable year.

We are incredibly grateful to our clients, staff, board of directors, community partners, volunteers and donors, all of whom impact the work we do within the community throughout the year.

As we gather with loved ones to celebrate the holidays, we wish you a joyous holiday. May the holidays be filled with warmth, laughter and fun, and may the happiness continue into the New Year.

Congress is now negotiating its end-of-year package, and our legislators have an opportunity to improve the lives of people who experience with disabilities by increasing the Social Security Income (SSI) asset limits.

Right now, people with disabilities are being forced to live in poverty because they cannot save any money without losing their SSI benefits. The SSI asset limits have not been changed since 1989!

With two simple clicks, you can email members of Congress and ask them to prioritize people with disabilities in the year-end bill.

Please take action now to help uplift people with disabilities!

Thanks to the generosity of the community and the help of several community partners, The Arc will deliver holiday joy to local families experiencing financial hardship.

We are grateful to the following organizations for their help with The Arc's holiday giving program this year:

• International Paper
• Hagan Hamilton Insurance Solutions
• Lane Community Health Council
• United Way of Lane County
• El Angel Authentic Mexican Restaurant
• Juvenal’s Bakery
• First Baptist Church of Eugene
• Erica’s Meat Market
• Salvation Nutrition
• Heartless and Hopeless Tattoo/Genuine Space Piercing
• The Pour House
• The Driftwood Bar and Grill
• The Stereo Store
• El Torito Meat Market
• Tattoo Nouvelle

Please join The Arc in thanking these organizations for their help in spreading holiday cheer to people in need this year!

Thanks to a grant from the Oregon Community Foundation (OCF), The Arc's Families Connected is expanding its outreach to families living in more rural areas of Lane County.

Families Connected provides peer support to parents raising children with disabilities and is one of 30 nonprofits awarded grants from OCF to help close the opportunity gap for children from low-income families, communities of color, and rural areas.

To learn more about the targeted outreach Families Connected is doing in Florence, Oakridge and Cottage Grove, read OCF's 'Go Kids' initiative surpasses $2M in funding for Oregon's underserved children and families.

Also, watch this KGW news story, Oregon-based nonprofits awarded $2M in grants.

As part of its annual harvest collection to help local nonprofits, Northwood Christian Church delivered a check to The Arc Lane County on Tuesday, December 13, to contribute to the Arc Park.

The church donated more than $10K that will be used to help build the second phase of the park, which will include an accessible sandbox and water play area, the picnic pavilion and a toddler play area. Watch this video to see members of Northwood Christian Church present their generous gift to the Arc Park.

Our sincere appreciation to the entire Northwood Christian Church community for blessing the Arc Park with this beautiful and touching gift.

The Oregon Department of Human Services has compiled a list of Winter Holiday Resources to help individuals and families living in all areas of Lane County.

The resource list is available in both English and Spanish, and includes information about food boxes, holiday meal sites and gift giving programs.

Shopping on Amazon this holiday season?

Sign up for AmazonSmile and help The Arc Lane County without incurring any extra costs or fees.

After signing up, simply select The Arc Lane County as your designated charity. Then shop at smile.amazon.com. AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of eligible purchases to The Arc Lane County.