Oregon Communities
Learning with incredibly resilient villagers in Uganda (since 2008) and indigenous Mapuche communities in Chile, (since 2013) has prepared us to better assist persons in our own neighborhoods here at home in Oregon.
Oregon Communities
Eugene - Everyone Village
Everyone Village (E1V) is a transitional shelter site for unhoused persons in Eugene, Oregon. The village provides more than shelter, however, and that’s why we work with them. Staff and residents, every day, do the much harder, transformational work of building a community.
E1V is now poised to become the first-ever transitional housing village in Oregon to build an on-site neighborhood of permanent houses that many current residents can truly afford to live in and call home.
What we do
Maple’s role is to strengthen residents, financially, to help make this happen. To do that, we have co-designed and implemented a matched-savings and financial planning program serving residents on fixed incomes or employed by E1V microenterprises. Additional program components that will enable residents to transition into this new microvillage—”The Neighborhood”—are currently being designed with community members and supporting organizations.
Portland - P:ear Mentor
P:ear mentor in Portland, Oregon, creatively mentors youth from ages 18-25 who have experienced homelessness or who live in unstable housing circumstances. While they work with housing navigators, they do not provide housing themselves. Similar to Everyone Village in Eugene, however, they provide a safe place for gathering and sharing food, and they do the harder and more transformational work of developing a sense of community through engaging youth in the creative arts and in microbusinesses that fit their lived experiences, talents, and aspirations.
What we do
Maple’s role is to strengthen the youth financially, so they can enjoy more choices in life without needing to struggle every day for more stable housing.
To do that, we have co-designed a program with p:ear youth and staff members consisting of four components:
Get out of debt (if they have debt) with Maple serving as guarantor at Trailhead Credit Union to make this happen.
Save regularly with a 1:1 match provided by Maple and our community supporters.
Build credit through receiving and repaying microloans through our partnership with Trailhead Credit Union.
Build financial planning skills within the context of their own lives and aspirations.
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