Hi! We know you love UCP. We know you want to make a difference. Have you ever considered joining UCP's team of managers?

UCP Oregon is currently hiring for two different management positions: Lead Personal Agent (in our Brokerage division) and Assistant Team Leader (in our Supported Living division).

You can learn more about the positions here:

• Lead Personal Agent 
• Assistant Team Leader

As you may have heard, we will be opening our “Bill Porter Memorial Fund” for 2022 applications on February 1, 2022.
 
UCP customers, with assistance as needed from UCP staff, will be applying for funding for life improvement projects that fall outside of the typical scope of funding.
 
We thought it might be fun to share some past examples of how folks used the funds.
 
One of our favorite examples is Bonnie, one of the Fund’s first recipients!
 
Bonnie was a teen who wanted more privacy and independence; she requested an attachment for the commode. As she said, “I have to have someone help me in the bathroom. I just turned 15 and this is embarrassing to me.”
​
The equipment changed her life. As Bonnie’s mom says, once the equipment arrived, Bonnie could suddenly use the bathroom on her own. Woo hoo!

January 17th is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

If 2022 is feeling especially bleak to you, you might want to check out this list of favorite MLK quotes from Karen Wang, a mom who is raising several kids (including a son with disabilities).

We’re all interconnected. And we can all make a difference.

Thanks, Karen!
​

• “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
• “It is not possible to be in favor of justice for some people and not be in favor of justice for all people.”
• “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”
• “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.”
• “Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve… You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
• “It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one destiny, affects all indirectly.” 

​As you know, UCP Oregon believes in the power of real choice, real jobs, real homes, and real connections for all—a full life for those we serve.
 
But it’s obvious that, in many cases, experiencing a full life can be extremely challenging, given the funding and service delivery systems that currently exist for people with developmental disabilities.
 
That’s why we launched the Bill Porter Memorial Fund (BPMF) in 2018.
 
The BPMF is designed to assist our customers to experience a full life, however that might look for each customer. Customers have applied for funding for:

• Home modifications.
• Assistive technology.
• Travel to reconnect with a family member or friend.
• Funding for education.
• Job training.
• Joining a gym.

 
We’re excited to announce that we’ll be opening the 2022 BPMF application process on February 1, 2022.
 
Note: Applicants must be currently receiving services from UCP Oregon to be considered.

From the Desk of Sarah Noack, Brokerage Director, UCP Oregon

Greetings, all!

As I reflect on the past year, there were beautiful highlights and certainly many difficult lowlights.

In the spring of 2021, I could not have imagined how I would be catapulted out of my home office and into a massive undertaking—establishing a second brokerage (“UCP Mentors”) in order to take on the customers from another brokerage (“Mentor”) that was closing.
 
In some ways, taking on 600+ customers and starting a second brokerage was completely unfathomable to consider amidst a pandemic.
 
In other ways, it provided the perfect opportunity to shift focus onto something fresh and energizing.
 
I knew that I wanted to be a part of a safety net that could catch Mentor’s customers and employees. And I knew UCP had the organizational values and foundation to do right by folks.
 
What I didn’t know was how powerfully the community would come together to make that happen.
 
All of UCP’s existing (and new!) brokerage employees gave so much—their skills, gifts, and efforts—to make absolutely certain we were ready for our new customers.
 
Every single need was met with “here is what I can do.”
 
People stayed focused and positive even when we were overwhelmed. Problems were met with curiosity and tenacity.
 
And through those months, the team of former Mentor employees stepped bravely forward, responding with heart and grit and hope and determination.
 
When UCP Mentors opened on September 1, I felt like we had successfully landed the Millennium Falcon! I am so grateful for everyone, whether they served as Chewie, Yoda, Han, or members of the band that plays the funky music in the cantina.
 
Here we are four months later.
 
The dust is settling. And we see what lies ahead--more rebuilding, more growth, some healing, and lots more work.
 
But for now, I want to pause for a moment and say “three cheers” to everyone who was involved. Hooray for us all! Here is to collaboration, community, and customers! Happy New Year!
 
--Sarah Noack, Brokerage Director

From the Desk of Ann Coffey, Executive Director, UCP Oregon
 
A few days ago, I shared a New Year’s post.
 
But, today, I have more to share.
 
Sometimes someone’s words seem to grab at my heart and my head.
 
Pat A. Fleming wrote a poem called “What Life Should Be”.

It’s beautiful and simple, and it speaks to me of UCP Oregon, of our dedication, kindness, and vision.

​It speaks to me—especially—of the hearts and hands and minds of our employees—of how they managed to bring their very best, even in the midst of a pandemic.

Below are a few excerpts.

From the Desk of Ann Coffey, Executive Director, UCP Oregon
 
Wow! What a year.
 
As 2021 draws to a close, I’d like to take a moment to pause, to reflect on a year’s worth of feelings.
 
We’ve experienced celebration and joy. We have taken pleasure in tradition, togetherness, and new discoveries. But we’ve all experienced loneliness and loss. We have faced significant challenges.
 
For many, it's a heavy time.
 
So, as we enter a new year, I urge you to reach out to the people you care about. Tell people that they matter. Take care of yourself. Rest when you can.
 
Say goodbye to 2021—to the lessons learned, to the tests passed, and the obstacles that we overcame. And say hello to 2022—may it be a kinder year, with more certainty and peace for all of us.
 
Happy New Year!
 
 
Sincerely,
 
Ann