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Direction Service
541-686-5060 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 51360 Eugene, OR 97405 Physical Address: 3411-A Willamette St. Eugene, OR 97405 |
Agency News
From The Director’s Corner “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.” Human and educational services are being devastated. The magnitude of what’s occurring is unprecedented in my 32 years of working with children who have disabilities and their families. Across the board, people who are poor, disenfranchised and disabled in our community are in a terrifying struggle to survive and maintain a bare-bones quality of life. Programs that have been taken for granted are on the brink of closure, and many others must contend with sharply decreased resources.
At the same time that the service “system” fights to maintain services to existing clients, we see a daily increase in the number of folks who are, in many cases for the first time, finding themselves in need of help. Our friends, our neighbors — people who take fierce pride in their independence — are finding themselves in such dire straits that they are seeking help that they once would have considered unthinkable. Enrollment in public and private human service agency programs is skyrocketing with increases of 20%-35% common.
Sadly, the confluence of sharp reductions in funding alongside sharp increases in demand sets the stage for a perfect storm with devastating impact on elders, children, people with disabilities and others who depend on us for their well-being. These problems are likely to increase, at least for the next year or two.
Under these circumstances, it’s not surprising that I would open with a prayer, although I wrestled with the appropriateness of including it, as we are not a religious organization. I decided to proceed because I believe that the prayer’s components can offer important grounding and focus in a time that has the capacity to be debilitatingly discouraging. These are times when serenity — not to be confused with complacency — can be hard to come by. The prayer invites us to not spend large amounts of time focused on those aspects of the current fiscal crisis that are outside of our ability to meaningfully affect.
Instead, we ask for the courage to change the things we can. Sorting out what’s within our ability to change can be a demanding exercise. We’re not likely on an individual basis to alter the course of the world’s economy. We can, however, share with local, state and national officials what we believe their priorities should be. And, we can look for opportunities within our immediate reach to ratchet up our own personal commitment to helping those who struggle.
It might mean taking extra time to volunteer for an organization we value or increasing our charitable giving at a time when we experience ourselves as having less to give. It could be as simple as helping out a neighbor or friend in need. Perhaps the biggest danger we face is that the problems we confront seem so insurmountable that they breed hopelessness and paralysis. More than ever we need to build a powerful and compassionate community that embraces and lifts up those who are getting knocked down. Let’s try to change the things we can.
Marshall Peter
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