Oregon state university extension is charged with providing local and needs-based programming to support youth families and individuals and the oregon communities that we serve southern oregon latinx students were already facing systemic barriers on a daily basis and the pandemic complicated this and created additional stress finding and accessing mental health resources became a priority for many latinx families additionally the amida fire that took place in september of 2020 destroyed more than 2 600 homes in jackson county and suddenly almost 50 percent of the junta's families and the phoenix thailand school district became homeless and in dire need of assistance.

For the past year and a half in collaboration with southern oregon university latino programs we have conducted listening sessions and needs assessments with families in our programs and as a result of this we partnered with community agencies to offer informational nights on topics that the families requested for example the northwest storytellers and the southern oregon esd led parent workshops on managing stress and providing emotional support for youth especially those preparing for their post-high school journey additionally thanks to the latino success act from the oregon department of education sou latino programs received more than 35 thousands to distribute to students and support them with basic needs educational expenses and daca applications and attorney fees thanks to this partnership many of our junta's families and the phoenix thailand school district impacted by the fires were able to receive financial assistance over the course of the past year and a half these various projects and partnerships have positively impacted more than 200 families by providing culturally relevant local and needs-based resources information mental health support and financial assistance