Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2020 and Land Acknowledgement by Our Community Birth Center
Our Community Birth Center's Board of Directors would like to share our official land acknowledgement statement. October 12, 2020 was Indigenous Peoples' Day and we will continue to reflect on the on-going negative impacts of colonialism, share accurate history, and take actions toward justice. "We meet on the unceded land stolen from the Kalapuya, Siuslaw, Cow Creek Umpqua and Yoncalla peoples. I ask you to join me in acknowledging these communities, their elders both past and present, as well as future generations. I ask that we also acknowledge that our culture was founded upon exclusions and erasures of many indigenous
More Volunteers Needed for Wildfire Response & Support
MORE VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED! We are so proud of our Lane County Community Members showing up to help their neighbors in this local wildfire crisis exacerbated by the pandemic and economic recession. Thank you! There is a huge amount of work to do now and on-going to support our community members who have lost their homes, possessions, jobs, and more because of the wildfire. Please sign up to volunteer using these current opportunities and if you know of other volunteer needs please share in the comments. Sign up to volunteer for Lane County Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD) Help
Pregnancy & Baby Gear Network for Wildfire & COVID Relief
Update: We plan to continue Baby Gear Network through December 31, 2020. Our Community Birth Center is helping coordinate between local community members donating and local community members seeking pregnancy and baby gear and clothing. These items are often quite expensive and can be an immensely helpful gift to other parents. We have set up a system to help match people offering items with people seeking items. Thank you for participating to help lend a hand to another family during this exceptionally challenging year! TO REQUEST ITEMS: You are invited and encouraged to fill out our form (link below) to
Keeping Wildfire Smoke Out of Your Living Space
Figuring out how to keep the smoke out of your living space takes time and energy (which can be extra hard to find when you're busy keeping your children safe and busy indoors all day!) Here are some tips and resources to help, including DIY options! Turn off and tape plastic garbage bags over the fan vents in your bathroom and kitchen (do not leave them running to clear the smoke, this creates negative pressure which sucks more smoke into the house through all the tiny cracks in doors and windows). If you have AC, only use it if it
SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITY – WILDFIRE RESPONSE
Thank you to all of the firefighters, volunteers, and community members showing up to respond and provide relief as Lane County is suffering from lost homes and lives and severe smoke conditions. If you are safe at home, here are ways you can help your community! GIVE OR RECEIVE ASSISTANCE: https://lane.recovers.org/ DONATE FUNDS: CORE, Black Thistle Street Aid, Occupy Medical and Lane County Mutual Aid: Community Wildfire Refuge Support Fund: https://fundly.com/community-wildfire-refuge-support United Way of Lane County Wildfire Response Fund: https://egiving.unitedwaylane.org/wildfires Lane County Mutual Aid in partnership with NAACP: https://lanemutualaid.org/ Carry It Forward Supporting the Unhoused in Eugene/Springfield: https://www.carryitforward.net/ Food for
In Memory of Dennis Carr (2/17/1952 – 8/8/2020)
In Memory of Dennis Carr 2/17/1952 - 8/8/2020 In fall of 2019, we asked Dennis Carr to join the Board of Directors of Our Community Birth Center. Dennis shared that he was starting treatment for cancer, and despite that, he committed to the Board because he said "The birth center is very important for our community." Not only was Dennis a recent supporter of Our Community Birth Center, Dennis and his wife Michele Peters-Carr CNM have been dedicated birth center advocates for many years, which many of our supporters know, since they had Michele as their midwife. Dennis worked as Chief Human
Press Release: August 12, 2020
FREESTANDING BIRTH CENTER LOOKING FOR NEW SPACE IN LANE COUNTY Our Community Birth Center makes strides toward opening Lane County, OR – August 12, 2020 – Pregnant people in Lane County are looking for care and finding their birth options limited. Currently, there are no birth centers in our area. Fortunately, Our Community Birth Center, a new local 501(c)(3) organization, is making progress toward opening a new birth center to restore access to this crucial service. The United States and our local community are currently facing two crises which highlight the importance of access to birth center care: People are
First 500 Donors!
We surpassed 500 donors to our fundraising campaign on July 31, 2020. We are so honored and inspired to have such widespread support for reinstating birth center services in Lane County. Thank you to all of our donors. Your support is making the message loud and clear: Every pregnant person deserves the option of supportive, empowering, and client-centered midwifery birth center care! Lane County needs a birth center! People in Lane County support the birth center! Want to get more involved and learn how you can make an even bigger impact? Contact us at OurCommunityBirthCenter@gmail.com. All donations are going toward
Lane County Friends of the Birth Center Update
Lane County Friends of the Birth Center and local birth center families created these beautiful stepping stones at the farewell open house for the Nurse Midwifery Birth Center last year. We can't wait to display these in the new birth center! Check out the latest blog post from the Friends of the Birth Center about Our Community Birth Center and how you can help get the new birth center open in Lane County! Stepping Into the Future with Our Community Birth Center
Can & Bottle Drive for the Birth Center
The pandemic has made returning cans and bottles a little challenging so we're helping with that problem by hosting an on-going can and bottle drive for the Birth Center! Send us an email at OurCommunityBirthCenter@gmail.com or contact us via Facebook messenger if you would like to do a one-time or on-going donation of cans and bottles. This fundraiser for the birth center accepts all aluminum, glass and plastic cans and bottles that say "OR 10 cents" deposit. It's super easy to participate, just send us a message and we'll share all the details you need to know. Anyone living in
Focus Groups: How can we best support your pregnancy, birth, and postpartum journey?
How can we best support your pregnancy, birth, and postpartum journey? You are invited to help determine the future of midwifery birth center services in Lane County, Oregon by participating in a focus group! We are seeking participants who have given birth within the past 5 years or who would like to become pregnant within the next 5 years. To express interest, please complete this survey: https://forms.gle/hV6zFrxArvRzxfGM6 If you are selected to join a focus group, you will receive a $20 gift card. Our goal is to learn about what people want and need from pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care.
Black Lives Matter
People are outraged and sad, as they should be, and we have seen many white people say they want to help but don't know how. Read on for ways you can take action. Our Community Birth Center is committed to a forever-long journey of diversity, equity and inclusion work. It started when we were founded last fall and it won't stop ever because #BlackLivesMatter and #BlackMamasMatter and we need #RacialJustice! Black people are killed by police at twice the rate of the general population and black women die around the time of childbirth at four times the rate of white