08/29/2026
RISP 2025-26 Fiscal Year in Review
From July 2025-June 2026, our 6-person RISP Social and Employment Services Team supported over 137 community members from 81 households. As we look back over the year, we share some of the stories and services that stand out. We're posting a series of updates highlighting this work.
❤ ACADEMIC SUPPORT & COMMUNITY BUILDING FOR REFUGEE YOUTH ❤
Our Oregon Refugee Children Assistance Services (ORCAS) programming, which we launched in April 2025, has really come into its own this year, with 30 children from 17 families assisted. A special focus area included one-on-one academic tutoring in math and English, tailored to target children’s individual gaps in skills and conceptual knowledge. Needs identified during tutoring, combined with feedback during parent-tutor conferences at the end of the school year, encouraged us to bump up tutoring from once to twice a week during the summertime. Case Manager Veronica Araneda, who has a background in education, took a lead role in expanding the tutoring program, promoting parent connections, and integrating additional learning opportunities including a workshop from Ophelia’s Place on internet safety.
Our summer tutoring program runs in parallel with our field trip series, providing free weekly trips for ORCAS-enrolled children whose access to summer activities might otherwise be limited by language, cost, and transportation barriers. Lunch and transportation are included with the trips, and destinations have ranged from Dorris Ranch living history farm, and bowling, to the Oregon Zoo. ORCAS trips are about more than fun—they are opportunities for community building between children who share in both the challenges and the strengths of arriving in a new culture and home after experiencing stress and displacement. With support from First Congregational Church, RISP was also able to provide 1Passes to children participating in the ORCAS program, giving them free access to activities across Eugene/Springfield during the summer months, and complementing RISP-led programming.
To volunteer with RISP contact Volunteer Coordinator Elene Gleason at [email protected] or 541-953-0930.