Happy December!

During this month, the UCP community will be celebrating in different ways, including cultural, family, secular, and spiritual traditions.
​
Hanukkah started on Sunday. Winter Solstice occurred this week. Christmas and Kwanza are right around the corner, too. Some folks may not celebrate spiritual or secular occasions in December, and some folks may be grieving or having a tough time.

We are holding you--all of you!--in our hearts. We're thankful for each and every one of you. We couldn't do it without you.

1. UCP’s Family Support celebrated with an awesome Cinnamon Bear Cruise, and also hosted the annual Holiday Toy Giveaway on December 21st and 22nd.
2. UCP’s Brokerage Department celebrated the season by delivering holiday food boxes and toys to its customers.

Thanks to everyone at UCP who has helped make this season bright!

​See you next year.

As you may know, UCP’s second brokerage, UCP Mentors, just celebrated its first birthday.

To celebrate, Sasha Vidales, the UCP Mentors Brokerage Director coordinated an event called “UCP Day at Camp.”

Employees from both brokerages attended. They explored the trails, practiced archery, navigated the aerial course, did some arts and crafts, and more!

PS: a giant shout out to Sasha for coordinating the event. It was so much fun!

What a busy week! Happy Juneteenth! Happy Father’s Day! Happy Pride!

This week (the week of Father’s Day in America), UCP Oregon is giving a shout-out to the parents of our customers.

Our Director of Brokerage Services, Sarah Noack, attended a picnic Blue Lake this week. The event was held by “Off the Couch” events, and several of UCP's customers attended.​

As Sarah says, “One of the things I walked away with was appreciation for the parents who show up for their kids their whole lives through.”
 
As Sarah adds, “We spend a lot of time in ‘adult services’ talking about self-determination… about and muddling our way through the conflicts that can arise between adult children and their parents. I want to take a moment to acknowledge the love and commitment many parents give to their adult children (our customers). As I caught up with a few parents yesterday, I was struck with the love, the impact, the hours, the grief, the heart, the strength, the grit, and the hope of so many parents, who are giving so much to their adult children over their entire lives. It is beautiful.”
 
Thank you to all the parents of our customers.

Mabuhay, UCP fans!
 
(That’s a Filipino greeting, if you didn’t know).
 
As you may have heard, May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AAPI).
 
UCP’s Yvonne Miller (a Personal Agent) taught us that greeting, and also started a conversation with the UCP Mentors team about ways to acknowledge and celebrate all things AAPI.
 
Below is an excerpt from Yvonne’s email and some resources they provided.

PS: Thanks to the other UCP Mentors team members shared about their identity and more ways to connect with the AAPI culture! 
 

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

​We have big news!
 
At the beginning of June, we learned that one of our peer agencies (The Mentor Network) was closing their services in Oregon, including their brokerage services.
 
UCP Oregon—in partnership with Oregon’s Department of Human Services Office of IDD Services—made the decision to support 600 of Mentor Oregon’s former brokerage customers.
 
We’re keeping our existing brokerage ("UCP Connections"), and adding a second brokerage ("UCP Mentors") to serve the new customers.
 
We’re hiring additional brokerage staff, and also adding a “solid gold” team of former Mentor employees, who bring a wealth of experience, heart, and commitment to their customers. These new customers and staff joined us, effective September 1st.   
 
UCP’s two brokerages will function as two united yet distinct entities.
 
We understand this change came as a surprise, and that everyone will have different feelings and thoughts. We are offering information sessions for customers affected by this change, ensuring they have the chance to ask questions and share their voices.  
 
As time goes on, we’ll be sharing more information about this big change. But, in the meantime, we hope you’ll join us in welcoming our new customers and employees.