Dear friends,

While post-pandemic job recovery has been swift, many families have not been able to make up the income that was lost during “stay home” periods and are still significantly behind in their expenses.  Worse yet, the number of utility customers with past due bills continues to be higher than it was Pre-pandemic. One-time assistance payments can give families the help they require to pay their bills in full and not have to face a disconnect.  This is the problem that OEF, with your support, solves for thousands of Oregonians every year.

All the time, we hear from recipients who tell us how receiving energy assistance meant they could pay the bills and buy food for their family, not having to choose one over the other. We recognize that the need for assistance continues to be high, which is why we are thrilled to have been able to expand our impact during the summer, as well as increase funding to rural counties across the state.

One of our most exciting accomplishments this year is the Nonprofit Energy Retrofit Collaboration. OEF and NW Natural have teamed up to assist Albertina Kerr, a nonprofit that serves Oregonians with developmental disabilities. Together, we are performing construction upgrades to help Kerr lower its energy costs and increase the overall health and quality of life for its residents. We are delighted to expand our programming in this way and look forward to assisting other nonprofits across the state in coming years.

Our annual benefit was held on October 29th this year at the Sentinel Hotel. With our highest turnout in recent years, we raised almost $70,000 to assist our neighbors in financial crisis with their energy bills to support household stability.

In the simplest terms, OEF has a solution that works. It matters. Your support makes a difference in the lives of your neighbors, every single day. I am inspired by the unwavering support shown by our community and am confident that we can build a brighter future together.

Sincerely,

Brian Allbritton
Executive Director

Dear friends,

Back in August, I had the opportunity to meet Nancy, a low-income senior who lives in Salem and had received energy assistance for several years. Nancy told me something I haven’t been able to stop thinking about. When she received her stimulus check in January, she wanted to use it to give back to the community. She decided to donate to Oregon Energy Fund in thanks for the help she’d received over the years.

Nancy’s story is remarkable. It’s also a beautiful example of the ways our community has supported us – and each other – through this time of crisis. As the COVID-19 pandemic raged into a second year and thousands of Oregonians struggled to afford the costs of light and heat, you helped us raise over $1.60 million and keep the power on for more than 3,800 people. We expanded our funding to help low-income students and rural Oregon communities pay their bills, and kept our program operational through the summer so our neighbors could stay cool during June’s deadly heat wave.

This would be a triumph at any time. But I’m deeply humbled to see this level of compassion and humanity from our donors in such a difficult year. When lost work, illness, and extreme weather roiled the lives of vulnerable Oregonians, your support ensured they could count on a warm, healthy, and stable home, empowering them to lead the lives everyone deserves.

Our work is far from finished; many of our neighbors still face the difficult math of keeping the lights on or putting food on the table. But as we prepare to launch a slew of new programs next year to help them recover, I’m inspired by the unwavering support you’ve shown us and our mission to power lives. On behalf of OEF and all those we serve, thank you for helping us build a brighter future. See you in 2022.

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The COVID-19 years have been hard for everyone. But few have felt the pinch as acutely as students, who have needed to take classes from home in the midst of a global crisis. To make matters worse, many college students and families with children experience major financial hardship and struggle to pay for basic expenses like food and utilities, making it difficult to focus on learning and succeed in school. No one can read or do homework in a cold, dark house!

Last year, Oregon Energy Fund launched the Year of the Student, a dedicated effort to help low-income students pay their bills. Our first program provided a monthly energy assistance stipend to the families of students at KairosPDX, a K-5 charter school. We’re delighted to announce this program has been renewed for a second year thanks to a $10,000 grant from our partner CareOregon, allowing us to create a productive home environment for even more students.

We also established two new programs to help older students pay their expenses. The first, a partnership with Portland State University, will create an on-campus energy assistance fund for PSU students facing financial hardship – the first of its kind in the nation. We’ve also partnered with Get Schooled, a digital counseling service that prepares high schoolers for college and the job world. By reaching low-income students through texts and online tools, we can connect them directly with necessary resources like energy assistance.

We’re proud to address this overlooked need and look forward to adding more programs soon. Support our work today with a donation to Oregon Energy Fund.

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