THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2026
Where Community Connects Us All.
One hour. Three families. A room full of neighbors who showed up before work.
The hour, start to finish
One hour. Three families. A room full of neighbors who showed up before work.
Sixty minutes. One community.
The room went dark, and a song called Good Neighbor played — three minutes that seemed to have been written for this organization by accident.
But there it is. Good neighbor.
That's it in a nutshell, isn't it? That's what living in Lane County, Oregon is all about.
Community connects us all.
Jennifer Richardson
Many in the room knew Jennifer from her years at KEZI; for the last six she has run Richardson Media, still telling the stories this community keeps producing. She said what everyone already suspected: that showing up at eight o'clock on a Thursday, before work and before the second cup of coffee, says something about a person before they have done anything else. "I love seeing nonprofits in action," she told the room, "and it is an honor to be here this morning."
We start where we always start.
Auxiliary Bishop Peter Smith
"In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path."
Proverbs 3:6
The need doesn't wait for us.
Catholic Community Services of Lane County has answered the same call since 1952. Everything returned to the community at no cost.
Our mission
We live out Christ's call to “Love thy neighbor as thyself” by offering hope to all those seeking food and basic needs, housing stability, and immigration services.
Full-time work that still does not cover groceries, rent, and the power bill.
Children who do not know where they will sleep tonight.
Neighbors who did everything right and still cannot predict tomorrow.
Proof that showing up works.
Fiscal year 2025–2026. Every figure below belongs to somebody.
Housing funding fell 22.5% — and we served 58% more households.
Eleven neighbors became permanent residents. Two became United States citizens.
Three neighbors. Three open doors.
This is the part of the morning the room went quiet for.
Marlee and Kingston, in the early days.
She first walked through the doors in November 2017, twenty-one years old and holding her one-month-old son. Over the next eight years she used nearly every service CCS offers — food boxes, the Clothing Closet, a Christmas basket, rent assistance, a case manager, and in her hardest year, one of the old Conestoga huts.
In between those visits she spent six years at Lane Community College, served as treasurer of the Black Student Union, and earned her nursing license while raising her son alone. Her son is eight now and started third grade this year. She volunteers with the early learning program that once got him ready for school, and gives free nursing care to her community.
"Thank you for believing I was worth it before I could prove it."
Marlee
A lifelong Lane County resident, she wrote to CCS in a moment of desperation — an email she says she barely remembers sending. She had been through programs before. She had never trusted any of them.
OASIS was different. For her first two weeks she did not speak to anyone. When she finally did, the team was still there. Within six weeks her daughter — once the fearless outdoor kid, who had gone quiet — was herself again. Within four months, despite one setback after another, they were housed.
She still has the emergency after-hours number saved in her phone. Just in case.
Told in the film shown that morning
He worked for the Afghan government for more than ten years. When the Taliban took control in 2021 he lost his job and his safety in the same week. The family reached Pakistan and waited four years for humanitarian visas, with no income and children out of school.
After fifteen hours of travel they landed at Eugene Airport — and two people from CCS were waiting at the gate. Today he works for a large delivery company in Eugene, his children are in school, and the family is six: a daughter was born here.
"You helped us find safety. You helped us find a home. You helped us find work. And most importantly, you helped us find hope."
Mohammad Jamil Jahani
The work belongs to volunteers.
Walk into the CCS food pantry or the Springfield Clothing Closet and nearly everyone you meet is a volunteer. One supervisor. Everyone else giving their time.
One of them spoke that morning from right where she was sitting — Gwynn, one of our top contributors, who gave more than 300 hours across three areas: the food pantry, our Refugee & Immigrant Services Program, and the 75th Anniversary Planning Team.
Our Board of Directors
Seventy-five years, starting in January.
Catholic Community Services opened its doors in 1952. In January we begin our 75th anniversary year — seventy-five years of this community deciding, over and over, that its neighbors are worth showing up for.
Both are open now.
April 23–25, 2027
Marathon, half marathon, or the Eugene 5K. One amount per distance — fundraise it or pay it, either way you are on the team.
Marathon26.2 mi$525Half13.1 mi$375Eugene 5K3.1 mi$175
Join the teamThursday, May 13, 2027 · 6–9 PM
The Venue, 252 Lawrence St. A VIP reception, a multimedia look back across seventy-five years, hors d'oeuvres and desserts — and keynote speaker Fr. Greg Boyle of Homeboy Industries.
Purchase tickets
You made this morning possible.
To every sponsor, table host, volunteer, and guest who gave us an hour of a Thursday: thank you. And to Marlee, to Emily and her daughter, and to Jamil and his family, for trusting this community with the hardest parts of their lives.
The hour is over. The work is not. If this morning stayed with you, there is still a place for you in it.
Our 2026 sponsors
Love in Action. Where Community Connects Us All.
Go be a good neighbor.
Have a wonderful day.