Celebrate disability pride at the Strength in Neurodiversity Summer Festival & Pool Party this Friday from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Amazon Pool.

Come enjoy free swim time, thanks to Eugene Adaptive Rec, and lots of other fun activities at this amazing festival that celebrates the wonderful gifts and strengths that neurodiverse people add to our community.

It's going to be a fabulous evening of summer fun. Don't miss it!

The Arc Lane County started its Summer Work Program this month with 12 teens and young adults enrolled in the eight week program.

The Summer Work Program uses a combination of classroom instruction and hands-on, paid internships to teach youth workforce readiness skills. During the program, youth will tour different workplaces, build their resumes and earn their food handlers card.

Students started their summer internships this week at comunity sites that include the FOOD for Lane County warehouse, Lane Forest Products, Grassroots Garden and the FOOD for Lane County Summer Food Program at Lane Community College.

The Oregon Legislature has allocated funds to provide air conditioning (AC) units to Medicaid recipients and Medicaid eligible individuals at high risk for heat related illness, including people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The Office of Developmental Disabilities Services is partnering with the Oregon Heath Authority to coordinate requests for AC units; however, applications for the program are now on pause to ensure all the people who applied are qualified to receive a unit.

While the OHA program is on pause, Oregon Health Plan members can reach out to their Coordinated Care Organization (CCO) and ask about flexible services for ACs. To find your local CCO, call Oregon Health Plan (OHP) at 1-800-273-0557 or email Ask OHP.

The Womens Service Circle at Hope Lutheran Church is hosting a three-day garage sale at the end of this week to benefit the Arc Park.

Stop by and shop this Thursday through Saturday (July 18-20). The sale will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day inside the five garages on the church premises located at 1369 B Street in Springfield.

All proceeds from the three-day sale will be donated to the Arc Park, an accessible and welcoming play space under construction now in Springfield. 

Lane Transit District (LTD) understands that dependable transportation is essential for independent living. LTD wants to hear from people who use RideSource and those people who help others to do so in order to improve its services.

Please take a few minutes to share your RideSource experience. This review of RideSource operations will help identify current challenges and opportunities to improve specialized transportation for older adults, veterans and people with disabilities. 

Take the Lane Transit District RideSource System Review Survey here.

The Families Connected and Familias en Conexión Family Networks will host the Sensory Zone at the following community events:



• Bridge Lane on July 17 in Oakridge;
• Noche Cultural on July 20 in Springfield; and the
• Blackberry Jam Festival on July 27 and July 28 in Lowell

The Sensory Zone is a tool designed to help people of all ages in the community. One area has mini trampolines, fidgets and other tools for people who may be sensory seeking. Another area has ear phones and calming tools for people who may be sensory adverse and who may need a safe space to self-regulate.

Having the Sensory Zone available at local events helps make the community more accessible for everyone.

The City of Eugene wants to hear about accessibility barriers and opportunities when walking, biking, or rolling as part of its Americans with Disabilities Act Transition Plan Self-Evaluation.

Take the Accessible Mobility Community Survey by August 2 to help move the City of Eugene forward in this work.

The City of Eugene especially wants to know how you experience accessibility transportation features like sidewalks, curb ramps, pedestrian signals and crossings and transit stops.

Oregon has launched a "You Belong" campaign and a non-emergency bias response hotline to fight against hate crimes and bias incidents in Oregon.

If you experience hate or bias, you can call, chat or report the incident online.

The non-emergency bias response hotline is 1-844-924-2427. Interpretation is available in more than 240 languages.