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The drive to help homeless families in Douglas County got a needed shot of stability recently.
The Oregon Economic and Community Development Department wisely recognized the good work Casa de Belen has accomplished in its first four years of existence and granted the nonprofit organization $800,000. The city of Roseburg helped make the grant possible by applying for it on behalf of Casa de Belen.
The generous grant will allow Casa de Belen to purchase its Grandview Drive building in Roseburg. With such a large down payment to put toward the expansive building, Casa de Belen will now be able to swap $5,000 a month rent payments for a lower-priced monthly mortgage.
The cost savings will mean it can put more of the funds received through donations and other grants toward helping teens and families transition from homelessness to self-sufficiency. That's been the goal of Casa de Belen since it opened its doors in 2005 with the help of many community members who painted, landscaped and decorated individual rooms in the former nursing home.
The idea was to give families and teens who had fallen on hard times a nice place to call home, a place so nice and comfortable that they could overcome the struggles — drugs, alcoholism, abuse, generational poverty among them — and realize they could have a better life and learn to live independently and responsibly.
That realization doesn't happen overnight, however. That's why the average resident stays at Casa de Belen for five months. During that time, there's an emphasis on education for teens who haven't yet finished high school.
The Rev. Juniper Schneider, a priest retired from Roseburg's St. Joseph Catholic Church and executive director of Casa de Belen, rightfully insists teens need an education to increase their job opportunities and lead them out of the poverty so many of them have known.
A recent article by News-Review reporter Kathy Korengel showed many of the teens are also growing in the knowledge that others care about them. They can now envision futures that are more successful just because they know they have warm beds in which to sleep, hot meals to eat and many new friends.
Some of the friends are fellow residents; others are the staff members and volunteers who believe Casa de Belen can make a difference in people's lives. One of the big believers is Gary Galbick, who owned the Grandview Drive building and offered it to a fledgling Casa de Belen five years ago with no guarantee he'd ever recover the cost of the building.
We appreciate Galbick's generosity and all the other benefactors of Casa de Belen who believe that in helping the homeless families and teens in Douglas County, we make this community a better place to live.
Staffing a facility that has 30-some residents at a time — nearly 200 parents, teens and children have been helped by Casa de Belen since March 2005 — requires a large number of volunteers and donations. We encourage those who are looking for a volunteer opportunity to contact the facility at 677-0073. You might be surprised how rewarding it can be to help someone get a fresh start on life.
The Oregon Economic and Community Development Department wisely recognized the good work Casa de Belen has accomplished in its first four years of existence and granted the nonprofit organization $800,000. The city of Roseburg helped make the grant possible by applying for it on behalf of Casa de Belen.
The generous grant will allow Casa de Belen to purchase its Grandview Drive building in Roseburg. With such a large down payment to put toward the expansive building, Casa de Belen will now be able to swap $5,000 a month rent payments for a lower-priced monthly mortgage.
The cost savings will mean it can put more of the funds received through donations and other grants toward helping teens and families transition from homelessness to self-sufficiency. That's been the goal of Casa de Belen since it opened its doors in 2005 with the help of many community members who painted, landscaped and decorated individual rooms in the former nursing home.
The idea was to give families and teens who had fallen on hard times a nice place to call home, a place so nice and comfortable that they could overcome the struggles — drugs, alcoholism, abuse, generational poverty among them — and realize they could have a better life and learn to live independently and responsibly.
That realization doesn't happen overnight, however. That's why the average resident stays at Casa de Belen for five months. During that time, there's an emphasis on education for teens who haven't yet finished high school.
The Rev. Juniper Schneider, a priest retired from Roseburg's St. Joseph Catholic Church and executive director of Casa de Belen, rightfully insists teens need an education to increase their job opportunities and lead them out of the poverty so many of them have known.
A recent article by News-Review reporter Kathy Korengel showed many of the teens are also growing in the knowledge that others care about them. They can now envision futures that are more successful just because they know they have warm beds in which to sleep, hot meals to eat and many new friends.
Some of the friends are fellow residents; others are the staff members and volunteers who believe Casa de Belen can make a difference in people's lives. One of the big believers is Gary Galbick, who owned the Grandview Drive building and offered it to a fledgling Casa de Belen five years ago with no guarantee he'd ever recover the cost of the building.
We appreciate Galbick's generosity and all the other benefactors of Casa de Belen who believe that in helping the homeless families and teens in Douglas County, we make this community a better place to live.
Staffing a facility that has 30-some residents at a time — nearly 200 parents, teens and children have been helped by Casa de Belen since March 2005 — requires a large number of volunteers and donations. We encourage those who are looking for a volunteer opportunity to contact the facility at 677-0073. You might be surprised how rewarding it can be to help someone get a fresh start on life.
