Community Steps Forward for Youth House
Its amazing what can happen when an entire community steps forward. More than a dozen community organizations and clubs have stepped forward to help St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County establish its Youth House for homeless, unaccompanied teen girls. They include the Junior League of Eugene, whose members (current and future) are shown at top left in the Youth House kitchen they helped to equip. Moving clockwise, the photos down the right-hand column show the decorating talents of Stephanie Herndon, a Southtowne Rotary Club member and interior designer who donated more than six weeks of her time designing the interior of the Youth House. (Southtowne Rotary also has created a college scholarship fund for Youth House residents, and a group of its members led by Bruce Shaw plan to work this spring with residents to build a covered picnic area and raised bed gardens on the Youth House grounds.) Quilts for the residents’ room were the skilled and loving creation of three quilting groups from Emmaus Lutheran, the Unitarian Universalist Church and the Cambell Community Center. Above left is the front of the completed Youth House, which is scheduled to open to its first residents in early May. And center left, members of the Women’s Gift of Eugene president a donation, a portion of which was raised by the group’s annual Scrabble Tournament to Paul Neville, St. Vincent de Paul’s Youth House project coordinator. Many other community organizations have given generously of their time and resources to assist in the Youth House effort.