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Campaign
Empower a Life, Transform a Community
Together we can create The OHRA Center where neighbors in need build better lives, and our community prospers.
Imagine if your spouse suddenly became disabled, and your income alone wasn’t enough to support your family.
Imagine if you were unhoused and wanted to rebuild your life but didn’t know where to start.
Imagine if you had to choose between paying your electricity bill and feeding your kids dinner.
Most of us find a way through tough times because of friends and family. Or we’ve learned to advocate for ourselves. For many—the working poor, the recently unemployed, those experiencing homelessness—OHRA is that place to go when life seems hopeless.
Funding the New OHRA Center
In 2021, OHRA (Options for Helping Residents of Ashland) received the first Project Turnkey grant from the State of Oregon and Oregon Community Foundation for $4.2 million. $4 million was just enough to purchase a former motel in south Ashland, and the remaining $200,000 partially funded the construction of an ADA accessible elevator.
Now, with your support, we will turn this building into The OHRA Center, empowering lives and transforming our community.
$1,500,000
will remodel the building, creating a hub of support services. At last, we will have enough space for our Resource Center, Shelter, community partners, and volunteers.
$500,000
will fund our skilled team, including resource navigators, to finally meet the increased demand for OHRA’s practical and compassionate case management.
$500,000
will ensure the stability of OHRA, creating a long-term resource for our community: keeping the Resource Center open, supporting the year-round Shelter, and running the Laundry/Shower Trailer.
Campaign Progress
Goal: 2,500,000
- Raised to Date: $1,104,384
Without OHRA, not only would I not have a living wage job, safe, affordable permanent housing, I would not be a functioning person in society. With OHRA, I am on the mend and gratefully moving in a positive, very productive direction.
Offer hope to our community’s housed and unhoused populations. With support, people without a home can transition to permanent housing and self-reliance. The OHRA Center Shelter is open every day. Once fully renovated, OHRA’s Shelter will have 52 rooms and a capacity to serve 72 people.
Improve access to critical social services. At The OHRA Center, both Shelter and Resource Center guests meet with key community partners–onsite–for referral to long-term support services, such as substance use recovery, healthcare, and financial literacy.
Help people maintain the stability they achieve.With more navigators at The OHRA Center, we will offer even better follow-up case management. Each individual’s path to stability is different and can be bumpy without support.
Diversify our outreach. With additional resources, like having bilingual and bicultural staff, we will continue to ensure that OHRA’s services reach all underserved communities.
Offer hope to our community’s housed and unhoused populations. With support, people without a home can transition to permanent housing and self-reliance. The OHRA Center Shelter is open every day. Once fully renovated, OHRA’s Shelter will have 52 rooms and a capacity to serve 72 people.
Help people maintain the stability they achieve.With more navigators at The OHRA Center, we will offer even better follow-up case management. Each individual’s path to stability is different and can be bumpy without support.
Improve access to critical social services. At The OHRA Center, both Shelter and Resource Center guests meet with key community partners–onsite–for referral to long-term support services, such as substance use recovery, healthcare, and financial literacy.
Diversify our outreach. With additional resources, like having bilingual and bicultural staff, we will continue to ensure that OHRA’s services reach all underserved communities.
More than 17% of Ashland, Talent, Phoenix, and Medford residents live in poverty (US Census Bureau, 2019).
Over 37% of Jackson County residents are rent or mortgaged burdened, meaning they pay more than 30% of their income towards housing costs (US Census Bureau, 2019).
In 2020, Jackson County Continuum of Care surveyed people experiencing homelessness. Over 97% of people surveyed called Jackson County their home. Over 70% had at least one disability.
More than 17% of Ashland, Talent, Phoenix, and Medford residents live in poverty (US Census Bureau, 2019).
In 2020, Jackson County Continuum of Care surveyed people experiencing homelessness. Over 97% of people surveyed called Jackson County their home. Over 70% had at least one disability.
Over 37% of Jackson County residents are rent or mortgaged burdened, meaning they pay more than 30% of their income towards housing costs (US Census Bureau, 2019).
With your investment, The OHRA Center will be a permanent resource for our community, providing long-term support to people who need us most.
$1,500,000 Transform a motel into a life-saving resource
Your investment will allow us to offer needed services in a safe, accessible, cost-effective building.
| Fire sprinkler system | 7 ADA-accessible bathrooms |
| 3-story elevator for ADA access | Office space for community partners |
| 52 total shelter rooms | A Resource Center with a computer room, navigator offices, and a family bathroom |
| ADA-accessible shelter rooms | Updated systems that lower operating costs and reduce our carbon footprint |
$500,000 Attract and retain a skilled team
Your investment ensures the delivery of life-changing programs by compassionate, dedicated, qualified staff.
| Bilingual, bicultural staff | 24/7/365 shelter management and staff |
| Resource navigators delivering ongoing case management | Essential management and financial staff to steward our resources |
| Outreach navigators—meeting people in the street and in their communities |
$500,000 Ensure OHRA is a vital, long-term resource
Your gift continues OHRA’s financial stability
| Ensure we are here for the long run: a reliable, effective, essential resource | Strengthen our capacity to deliver on our mission: to help people move from crisis to stability and self-reliance |
| Allow us to adapt our programs to changing circumstances, like pandemics and fires |
The OHRA Center will make a difference. By bringing all three programs under one roof, guests gain ready access to OHRA’s most essential service: our unparalleled navigation services. With space for OHRA’s skilled team, partner agencies and improved facilities, The OHRA Center becomes an indispensable community asset.
Together we can do this. Empower a life. Transform a community.
Read more about OHRA’s campaign in this Case for Support document.
Questions about the campaign or how you can help? Contact Michelle Arellano, development director MichelleA@helpingashland.org