COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL April 8, 2015
PeaceHealth
adds CG
foot clinic
Looking Glass battles
youth homelessness
BY MATT HOLLANDER
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
F
C
ottage Grove residents are often understand-
ably appreciative of the convenience of access-
ing goods and services in this community rather than
making the drive northward. Such thinking was be-
hind the recent establishment of a foot care clinic at
PeaceHealth Community Medical Center in Cottage
Grove, according to Patient Care Executive Marsha
Crosswhite.
“Many of our patients would have previously ac-
cessed these services at the Barger Medical Building
in Eugene,” Crosswhite said. “We’re thrilled to offer
them here one day a week.”
The hospital held an open house to introduce the
public to the new foot clinic on Tuesday, March 31,
with last Thursday as the clinic’s fi rst day of opera-
tions. Visitors toured a room that had previously been
used to develop X-ray fi lm but will now be used to
provide basic foot care, with a dremel tool and vacu-
um on hand to help reduce the thickness of nails and
calluses.
“These are things that you and I might be able to
do ourselves,” Crosswhite said. “But for people with
diabetes, atherosclerosis or fungal nails it can be very
photo by Jon Stinnett
diffi cult, especially if there’s pain involved. There are
Heather
Lyda
and
Rick
Settelmeyer
demonstrate
the use of
a lot of people who need foot care that are not quite as
the foot clinic's new dremel tool.
mobile and fi nd it diffi cult.”
Habitat ReStore taking off, expanding hours
BY JON STINNETT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
C
ottage Grove Area
Habitat for Humanity
has branched out into a line
of business that’s common
among the organization’s
larger affi liates, and to hear
Habitat’s executive direc-
tor tell it, business has been
booming.
“A lot of larger Habitat
affi liates have a retail store-
front,” Director Linda Oxley
said. “They feature donations
of gently used items with a
focus on building supplies
photo by Jon Stinnett
and household items.”
The Habitat ReStore has Habitat Executive Director Linda Oxley shows off the
been open for about a year merchandise available at Habitat's ReStore.
and a half and has been grow-
“We were told that, once crazy. We had to essentially
ing ever since. It currently oc- you start a ReStore, you take everything out to sort and
cupies space in the Cottage quickly outgrow it, and that’s price it and put it right back
Grove Industrial Park, space exactly what happened,” Ox- in.”
that also doubles as Habitat’s ley said. “At fi rst, we were
Business hours two days a
local offi ce.
open once a month, but it was week followed, though now
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the ReStore has made another
leap and is open fi ve days a
week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Volunteers staff the store, and
the proceeds benefi t Habitat’s
mission of providing stable
housing for those who might
not afford it otherwise.
“The ReStores help sustain
the business of the affi liate
so that more money can go
directly into programming,”
Oxley said. “Our prices are
comparable with other Re-
Stores; we price things at
about 40 cents on the dollar.”
Oxley said the biggest chal-
lenge with the ReStore so far
has been getting the word out
to the community that the
store is tucked away in the
back of the Industrial Park.
Habitat will have a presence
at this weekend’s Home Show
and will host a sale from 9
a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday with
that goal in mind.
or the past 45 years, Looking
Glass Youth and Family Ser-
vices has sought to provide sanctuary
for distressed youth in Lane County.
Presently, organization offi cials are
very concerned about the increasing
prevalence of methamphetamines,
heroin and sex traffi cking in rural
communities, and they are seeking
more volunteers for its rural host
program to shelter more youth from
these ills.
“It is diffi cult to collect data on
these issues, but we know that they
are trending upward,” said Services
Director Kirstin London. “They
represent the hidden facet of a com-
munity, and an alarming number of
these situations that involve youth
start in the home or on the Internet.”
The Looking Glass Rural Pro-
gram assists youth, ages 11-18, who
are homeless, have run away or are
at risk for homelessness and are in-
terested in long-term situations to
improve the quality of their lives. Its
services include 24-hour crisis inter-
vention, case management, tempo-
rary shelter, education and counsel-
ing.
The program was brought to Cot-
tage Grove in 2008. Last year, the or-
ganization served 80 youth in South
Lane County, including 47 who re-
quired intensive case management.
London said that most cases be-
gin with confl ict in the home over
substance abuse, mental health or
fi nances. She said that there are no
laws in Oregon that restrict a parent
or guardian from kicking their chil-
dren out of a home, so long as they
provide them with some sort of shel-
ter; a car, shed or even a tent could
meet this provision.
“We want to be the place where
youth can turn to in an emergency,”
said London, who has worked with
the organization for over 10 years.
There are currently just two beds in
Cottage Grove’s rural host network,
which are homes that provide shelter
and basic needs to youth in crisis for
1-21 nights. London said she would
like to have fi ve beds available every
night, and that some of the obstacles
to growing the program lay in mis-
conceptions.
“Many people believe that to be
a host you need to be available 365
days a year, and that’s not the case.
If a host is going on vacation or just
isn’t available, we’ll take them out
of the rotation. Many people also
believe that hosts are case managers,
and that’s not the case either. Hosts
provide the basic needs, and they
work with the staff in Cottage Grove
to coordinate the other services,”
London explained.
London said that the South Lane
Rural subcommittee, which she
chairs, has picked up on signifi cant
anecdotal evidence that suggests in-
creasing methamphetamines, heroin
and sex traffi cking are fi nding foot-
holds in rural communities.
In September, Looking Glass held
an informational session at the Cot-
tage Grove Community Center on
sex traffi cking. London said 40 peo-
ple – including community members
and services providers — attended
this event, and that she received pos-
itive feedback from those guests.
“It can be challenging to start that
conversation because these are is-
sues that carry a stigma and are often
labeled as urban problems,” she said.
“But there is a great need for educa-
tion in rural communities, not only
about the available programs, but
on why youth run away from home,
and what to do when you suspect a
young person is in trouble.”
Tree planting scheduled
Cottage Grove's Urban Forestry
Committee has announced that it
will host a tree-planting starting at
Bohemia Park this Saturday, April
11 beginning at 10 a.m. After trees
are planted at Bohemia Park, the
Committee plans to move to nearby
Trailhead Park to continue plant-
ing there. The Committee's Wayne
Kleckner said six trees and about 50
smaller ones are due to be planted,
with many set to replace trees lost
to recent vandalism.
Volunteers who wish to help plant
trees are asked to bring shovels and
gloves if possible. Those seeking
more information can reach Kleck-
ner at 541-942-7337.
When serious illness or injury occur, our complete Emergency
Department is ready. Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week,
the Cottage Grove Community Hospital Emergency
Department offers exceptional emergency care close to
home. With state-of-the-art monitoring, imaging and digital
technology, specially trained physicians, RNs and EMTs, and
unmatched commitment to our community, we care for every
body. Every day. In every way. peacehealth.org/cottage-grove
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