Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Siuslaw Vision celebrates diversity and inclusion. We value all people without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, marital/family status, or veteran status.

Our Vision Team, staff, and community have ongoing work to do with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). If you’re interested in getting involved, we’d love to hear from you! Email us.

Equity in Vision projects

Equity is at the forefront of many Siuslaw Vision projects. A few examples include:

• Transportation – LinkLane’s Florence to Eugene and Florence to Yachats connector bus services offer a new option for traveling outside of the Siuslaw region to access services, resources, and entertainment.
  
• Local Foods – The Florence Farmers Market brings fresh organic produce to the region, providing an opportunity for local farmers to sell their products and to increase access to healthy foods for our community. FFM participates in the SNAP and Double Up programs to ensure greater access to all. The Cooking Skills Education program provides healthy cooking demonstrations and cooking information throughout the community. You can find them regularly at the Florence Farmers Market, Florence Food Share, and working with health care providers to spread the joy of healthy cooking and eating. Nutrition education programs offered by the Oregon State University Extension Service have also been available in the region.
  
• Affordable Housing – Advocates continue to work on alleviating the shortage of places to live in our region. First Step and Safe Shelter for Siuslaw Students are two nonprofits addressing the housing issues. Siuslaw Outreach Services offers some rental assistance and education programs, and DevNW (formerly NedCo) has partnered with the City of Florence to bring additional cottage housing options to the area.
  
• Fiber Internet – Several Siuslaw region partners are addressing the digital divide by planning expansion of fiber internet connections throughout the region. Rural internet access continues to be a challenge throughout the state.
  
• Health Care – Access to health care in the Siuslaw region has increased the last several years with the development of the Mobile Integrated Healthcare program, which provides home-based follow-up service to patients recently released from the hospital; the Western Lane Health Network’s school resource centers at the Siuslaw and Mapleton school districts offer behavioral health care and referrals to students and their families; and the Community Support Team working with Western Lane Fire and Ambulance District works alongside first responders to provide mental health services to those in crisis.
  
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Training – In early 2020 we partnered with the Nonprofit Association of Oregon to offer an Unpacking Diversity workshop, which looked at common definitions, systems, and frameworks that can de-center dominant culture and create an inclusive environment for marginalized identities.
  Read more about the training in The Siuslaw News.

DEI Resources

Learning Resources – What to Read, Listen To, & Watch

We’ve put together a list of books, articles, and websites that will help you learn more about diversity, equity, and inclusion. View the list here.

Equity Tools and Lenses for Planning

An equity lens is a tool to help organizations and businesses look at their policies, planning, decision-making, and resource allocation leading to more equitable policies and programs. Equity lenses can help an organization reflect on its core values and look at diversity, equity, and inclusion from individual, institutional, and systemic perspectives. Here are a few that might be helpful.

• Nonprofit Association of Oregon
• Live Healthy Lane Equity Decision-Making Toolkit
• Lane Community College Toolkit
• State of Oregon
• Multnomah County Equity and Empowerment
• Equity Alliance of the North Coast
• United Way Worldwide Equity Framework and Toolkit

Lane County & Oregon Organizations

• Asian American Council of Oregon
• Basic Rights Oregon
• Centro Latino Americano
• Community Alliance of Lane County (CALC)
• Eugene Springfield NAACP
• Florence PFLAG (Parents & Friends of Lesbians And Gays)
• Live Healthy Lane Equity Resources
• Lane Equity Coalition
• Oregon Safe Schools and Communities Coalition (LGBTQIA+)

Report

Siuslaw Vision’s Impact of Education in the Siuslaw Region – Though not designed as an equity project, our evaluation showed us where there are inequities in the way people in our community learn and gives some ideas for welcoming and including more people in events and educational opportunities.

Community Building Approach to Inclusivity

Siuslaw Vision is a grassroots, community-led effort focused on building a better community together and we strive to include all voices in our community. We often use a Community Building Approach, developed by the Ford Family Foundation’s Rural Community Building Department, which puts rural residents and local groups at the center of the process as they build their community’s future in an inclusive and comprehensive way.

It is centered on four Community Building Principles:

1. Go to where the people are
2. Start with what you know and build on what you have
3. Be profoundly inclusive
4. Keep the community at the center of the work

Along with this, we use the six Community Building Practices:

1. Listen to Learn
2. Engage to Mobilize
3. Skill Up, Branch Out
4. Plan Together
5. Create Change
6. Celebrate and Reflect