COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2019 | 3A
Community News
Transitional housing program receives additional
funding from Kaiser Permanente, PeaceHealth
EMILY BLY
Von Trapp Family: Gretl (Zoe Goings), Brigitta (Nicole Wilhour), Kurt (William
Blakely), Louisa (Kira Carver), Friedrich (Maia Wilhour), Liesl (Hanna Foshay),
Captain Georg von Trapp (Nathan Blakely)
‘Sound of Music’ opens at
Cottage Theatre April 5
Cottage Theatre’s spring mu-
sical this year is The Sound of
Music, the inspirational story of
Maria von Trapp. Winner of the
1959 Tony Award for Best Musi-
cal, The Sound of Music features
music by Richard Rodgers and
lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.
The book, by Howard Lindsay
and Russel Crouse, is inspired
by The Trapp Family Singers
by Maria Augusta Trapp. This
iconic musical will be onstage for
four weekends at Cottage The-
atre beginning Friday, April 5.
The story behind The Sound
of Music is well-known thanks to
the 1965 movie version starring
Julie Andrews. In 1930s Austria,
a troublesome postulant named
Maria proves too high-spirited
for the discipline of religious life,
so the Mother Abbess sends her
away to care for the children of a
widowed naval Captain. As Ma-
ria’s world turns upside down,
she rises to the challenge of be-
friending the seven youngsters,
who have driven away count-
less prior governesses. Maria’s
generosity of spirit and her love
of music gradually win the chil-
dren’s, and eventually the Cap-
tain’s, affections. When Austria is
invaded by the Nazis, the family
flees over the mountains to Swit-
zerland, providing the thrilling
finale to this inspirational story.
Cottage Theatre’s production
of The Sound of Music is di-
rected by Joel Ibáñez, with mu-
sic direction by Chris King and
choregraphy by Janet Rust. Cos-
tume design is by Rhonda Turn-
quist, set design by Tony Rust,
and lighting design by Amanda
Ferguson. The production stars
Sabrina Gross as Maria and Na-
than Blakely as Captain Georg
von Trapp. The seven von Trapp
children are played by Hanna Fo-
shay (Liesl), Maia Wilhour (Frie-
drich), Kira Carver (Louisa), Ni-
cole Wilhour (Brigitta), William
Blakely (Kurt), Audriahna Jones
(Marta), and Zoe Goings (Gretl).
Other featured actors include
Tracy Nygard (Mother Abbess),
Brittany Dreier (Elsa Schraeder),
Blake Nelson (Max Detweiler),
and Oshen Parris-Austin (Rolf).
The Sound of Music runs
for four weekends at Cottage
Theatre from April 5-28. Per-
formances are Thursday, Friday
and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m.,
and Sunday afternoons at 2:30
p.m. There is no performance on
Easter Sunday, April 21.
Tickets are available online
at www.cottagetheatre.org, by
phone at 541-942-8001, or in
person at the Cottage Theatre
Box Office, 700 Village Drive,
Cottage Grove. Tickets are $25
for adults and $15 for youth
(age 6-18). Box Office hours are
Wednesday through Friday, 10
a.m. to 2 p.m., and one hour be-
fore performances.
All seating is reserved. Ad-
vanced purchase for seating is
recommended.
The Sound of Music will be
the final production in Cottage
Theatre’s current auditorium.
The theatre will be closing tem-
porarily in May for a major re-
modeling project that will add
50 seats. A variety of technical
and safety features will also be
upgraded. Cottage Theatre will
resume its 2019 season in Octo-
ber with The Complete Works of
William Shakespeare (abridged).
-Submitted Report
ShelterCare, a private,
non-profit human ser-
vices agency, has received
$600,000 from Kaiser Per-
manente and PeaceHealth
to continue its transitional
housing program for people
with severe mental illness or
medical conditions.
The Phoenix program
provides up to six months
of shelter for individuals
experiencing homelessness
and either substance abuse
disorder, medical fragility or
behavioral health diagnoses.
The program’s goal is to con-
nect some of Lane County’s
most vulnerable residents
with permanent housing
and to improve their overall
health.
In the first year of the
Phoenix program, Shelter-
Care has assisted 36 people
in transitioning from home-
lessness into safe temporary
shelter. Eighteen of them
have moved into permanent
housing; more participants
are nearing a similar move.
All of the participants report
that:
• They have been connect-
ed to a primary care pro-
fessional and/or behavioral
health care.
• All of them have seen an
improvement in their cur-
rent health.
• All of them have main-
tained or improved their liv-
ing skills.
Kaiser Permanente and
PeaceHealth jointly con-
tributed a total of $595,000
in 2017 to help launch the
Phoenix program. With the
program’s first-year suc-
cess, the two organizations
have contributed another
$300,000 each to support an-
other 18 months of services.
“ShelterCare is part of
Lane County’s planning
groups for the systems of
care addressing homeless-
ness,” explained Susan Ban,
executive director of Shel-
terCare. “We provide the
Phoenix program as a bridge
between vulnerability and
stability. It provides flexible
resources that fund creative,
innovative and individually
relevant solutions. Phoenix
allows people who have fall-
en through the social net-
work’s cracks to find a safe
landing and enough time to
rebuild their individual as-
sets to be successful for the
long-term. We are so grate-
ful to Kaiser Permanente
and PeaceHealth for recog-
nizing that ‘cookie cutter’
programs are frequently not
adequate to meet the unique
needs of individuals and that
stable housing is essential
to improving health. Being
able to directly put funds
and staff resources where
they are most impactful is
life changing for our clients
who have not been able to
address these needs on their
own or in more traditional
programs. The Phoenix pro-
gram is an amazing model of
services with successful out-
comes.”
“There’s a critical need in
this community for afford-
able, safe, stable housing,”
said Mary Kingston, chief
executive, PeaceHealth Or-
egon.
“Good health starts where
we live,” said Ruth Wil-
liams-Brinkley, president,
Kaiser Foundation Health
Plan and Hospitals of the
Northwest. “We know that
someone without stable
housing is more likely to
suffer from disease, chronic
health conditions and even
reduced life expectancy.”
Kingston added, “An in-
vestment in housing for our
most vulnerable citizens is
an investment in community
health and wellness. Our col-
laboration with ShelterCare
and Kaiser Permanente has
helped people either secure
stable housing or move clos-
er to that goal. The Phoenix
program has also connected
each person with essential
primary care or behavioral
health care services. It is an
honor to extend our funding
for this very important and
successful program to serve
our community.”
Williams-Brinkley agreed,
saying “We’re proud to con-
tinue this unique partner-
ship with ShelterCare and
PeaceHealth, which supports
both mental and physical
health for people during crit-
ical times of transition.”
Founded in 1970, Shelter-
Care is a private, nonprofit
human-services agency di-
rected by a board of commu-
nity volunteers. ShelterCare
offers a range of housing
solutions combined with
support services for vulner-
able community members
who are homeless or on the
verge of homelessness. The
organization strives to en-
sure everyone has access to
stable, affordable housing
and the support to live as ful-
ly and independently as pos-
sible. Prevention, outreach
and housing services are
complemented by behavior-
al health services and social
service case management
support to promote hous-
ing stability and personal
well-being.
-Submitted Report
Cottage Theatre presents
The inspirational story of Maria von Trapp
Meet
APRIL 5 – 28
ALEC
MAY
Alec has worked for Brad’s since
2012 as the Lube Tech. Alec is a
graduate of Cottage Grove High
School and enjoys riding dirt
bikes and spending time with his
family during his off time.
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SPECIAL
Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse
Suggested by The Trapp Family Singers
by Maria Augusta Trapp
Directed by Joel Ibáñez
Music Direction by Chris King
Choreography by Janet Rust
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541-942-4415
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Tickets available online, by phone, or at the door one hour before performance
Thursday – Saturday 8:00 pm; Sunday 2:30 pm. $25 Adult, $15 Youth (6 – 18)
541-942-8001 • 700 Village Drive • Cottage Grove
www.cottagetheatre.org
www.bradschevy.com