SOAP (Street Outreach Alliance Program) is a multifaceted, collaborative street outreach program. CORE partners with different agencies in the community to provide consistent and effective outreach to our neighbors living on the streets and in camps in the Eugene/Springfield area
Zephyr House is a safe space created for young people ages 16-24 located between the Whiteaker neighborhood and downtown Eugene. We offer a rotating schedule of life-skills and recreation workshops centered around education, harm reduction, and radical empowerment
Harm Reduction Distribution (HRD) is a low barrier program that creates access to harm reduction supplies as well as providing education around safer use and resource navigation in our community. HRD operates from a harm-reduction, empowerment, and strengths based model
We also offer comprehensive case management services for people between the ages of 16 and 29
All of our programs are created based on ideas and feedback from young people living on the streets in Eugene, Oregon. Our work remains centered around the practice of meeting people where they are at because we believe that YOUNG PEOPLE ARE THE EXPERTS IN THEIR OWN LIVES
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The essential services CORE provide are made possible by individual donations and support from ourgenerous community
We are humbled to work in our community alongside these incredible partners
Trauma Informed Care is defined as practices that promote a culture of safety, empowerment, and healing. TIC also recognizes that trauma can happen to people in a variety of ways; domestic violence, being in the life, trafficking, exploitation, abuse, neglect, gang violence, police, murder/violence, racism, homophobia, sexism, agism, poverty, transphobia, systematic oppression and racism, etc.
In addition to this, TIC recognizes that service providers, social workers, and non-profit organizations can cause trauma and retraumatize people who access services. At CORE, trauma informed care looks like asking the question “what happened” rather than “what’s wrong” with a person, and creating programs and spaces that are not retraumatizing young people. We acknowledge that CORE exists due to failures of the system, not the individual.
Low-barrier services are programs that have minimal conditions-to-entry, while maintaining clear and simple behavioral expectations that apply to anyone accessing the program. At CORE we focus on trying to meet-people-where-they-are-at as opposed to creating rigid program structure for people to try and fit into. Our programs have age restrictions to maintain safe and developmentally-appropriate environments, and we strive to make each program as accepting, welcoming, and inclusive as possible without jeopardizing the safety or autonomy of others.
Harm-reduction is a set of practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing negative consequences associated with drug use and other stigmatized behaviors. Harm Reduction is also a movement for social justice built on a belief in, and respect for, the rights of people who use drugs or participate in stigmatized behaviors (sex work, etc.). Harm Reduction looks like meeting people where they are at and providing resources to reduce harm without stigma. We believe young people are the experts in their own lives and should have access to the tools they need to keep themselves safe or free from harm.
