NEST NEWS

Rendering of Bridge Meadows innovative housing community.

Based in Portland, Oregon, Bridge Meadows is an intergenerational community that provides housing and alternatives to foster care. The newly opened Redmond location is its third such development in Oregon, after the two established in the Portland area.

The new development responds to Central Oregon’s critical need for safe, affordable housing and permanency focused alternatives to foster care.

Included in the development is an intergenerational community building open to the broader neighborhood and 36 total residential units, including 10 family townhomes and 26 elder apartments. Adoptive families and elders will begin to move into their new homes in November.

Bridge Meadows, known for its innovation in the realm of aging, foster care and housing design, was recently featured in The New York Times.

In support of the project, Bridge Meadows has secured resources from Oregon Housing and Community Services, The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, The Collins Foundation and the Quest Foundation, as well as the local Tennant Family Foundation, resulting in nearly $1.25 million raised to date. For more information: bridgemeadows.org.

A$242,700 federal grant recently awarded to Central Oregon Community College will provide funding over four years to alleviate child care costs for low-income students. The funds will also help launch the Bend-based Little Kits Early Learning & Child Care Center at Oregon State University-Cascades, a yearround program with an integrated teacher-training component.

“Child care has been a need in Central Oregon for quite some time, and COVID-19 has only exacerbated the demand for high-quality, supportive, nurturing spaces for children,” said Amy Howell, director of COCC’s early childhood education program and a principal in securing the federal grant. “When our students know that their children are in safe, supportive, nurturing spaces, they are able to focus on their other commitments, including their academic and professional goals.”

The grant arrangement will support the development of the Little Kits Early Learning & Child Care Center, envisioned as a child care option for families of both COCC and OSU-Cascades students and employees, opening new space in a region facing a scarcity of child care facilities.

The Source Weekly and Central Oregon Gives are campaigning to raise $1 million for 90 area non-profits by the end of the year. This ambitious goal builds on the successes of recent years, with $500,000 raised in 2019 and $700,000 raised in 2020.

“With Central Oregon Gives we want to be the link between open-hearted community members and non-profits doing the deeply meaningful work of providing affordable housing, serving at-risk youth or supporting the elderly,” said Aaron Switzer, publisher of the Source and founder of the Central Oregon Gives campaign.

Each donor who uses the Central Oregon Gives website to make an end-of-year donation receives a perk such as a free pint of beer, cup of coffee or loaf of bread from a local business.

The non-profit that raises the most money will receive a $15,000 additional gift from an anonymous donor, while the organization that earns the most donations under $25 will receive $5,000. Prizes will also be awarded to non-profits earning the most in each of five categories: Education, Family & Children, Basic Needs, Arts & Culture, Animal Welfare and Health & Wellness.

Visit centraloregongives.org to learn more about the campaign.