Community Alliance Of Lane County

Union de activistas provides life affirming opportunities that inspire and build capacity for teens at a crucial moment in their lives. Using curriculum built on the values of community, cultural pride and college and career readiness, union de activistas fosters self-esteem, leadership, civic and community engagement amoung latine youth. Major accomplishments in 2024: union de activistas unified its cohort of students and welcomed new students. The youth and program organizers renovated the office space, making it welcoming and representative of the group's values. Youth activities included: a recruitment celbration, youth radio/radio juventud production, culturally-rooted health and wellness retreat, decolonizing cooking classes, film screenings and discussions, storytelling and creative expression workshops. In the summer, union de activistas offered a yourth leadership workshop focused on cultural heritage, self-esteem and community building. Union de activistas youth participated in community events, professional development opportunities, and civic engagement opportunities including speaking at school board meetings. The union de activistas program organized a workshop on equity and implicit and explicit bias for calc staff, board, and community members.

The education justic program advocates for equity in the policies and practices of public schools. Major accomplishments in 2024: the education justice action team (ejat) maintained monthly meetings to discuss concerns and next steps in partnership with the teacher's union and community allies. Ejat continued monitoring and participation in school board meetings, relationship building, and meetings with dei personnel. Education justice organizing created new avenues for community members to voice concerns about educational equity. Ej mobilized for mental health supports for students and staff and a relational approach to education. The ej organizer coordinated and sponsored the "another world is possible" educator award, which engaged community members to nominate and select two 4j school district educators to receive the award. Education justice also hosted two book clubs for educators and community members who wanted to learn more about education justice concepts and applied practices. Education justice hosted a "cultivating community" zine workshop with students from the education justice youth action team. The ej organizer gave leadership presentations at schools' student groups and participated in a coalition of educators and community advocates focused on futhering equity initiatives in the 4j school district.

Other major accomplishments: calc maintained its one of a kind resource center in springfield, casa de la unidad/house of unity. The center allows calc to offer a welcoming, safe space for people that are vulnerable and in need. Along with housing calc programs, calc shares casa de unidad with escudo latino. Escudo latino, based in springfield's immigrant community, provides bilingual information and adcovates for equitable access to services for the spanish speaking community. This unique partnership expands the services, outreach and awareness in the communities we serve. Casa de la unidad/house of unity allows calc to host community meetings and events, like our spanish-language parent organizing meetings, union de activists meetings, and planning meetings with willamalance parks and recreation district and springfield school board members. Calc's reimagining national security (rns) initiative, a project grounded in the organization's antimilitarist legacy, coordinated and sponosored research on military industrial complex and extractive industries in lane county. Rns published facts in calc's weekly community calendar, sharing information about us military spending and its effects on communities and the environment. Rns cosponosored the 36th annual hiroshima-nagasaki commemoration. At community events, the rns committee shared information about the intersections of militarism, racism and environmental degradation. Rns hosted a community film screening focused on latin american indigenous rights movements. Rns collaborated with university of oregon students and faculty on a research project focused on the military industrial complex and extractive industries in lane county, oregon.