Staying Flexible at SouthSide Youth Outreach

It’s no secret that 2020 has been a year full of unexpected obstacles and surprises for the world. What started as a year full of ambitious plans and dreams has quickly become a halted and frustrating time for many of us! ​

​At the beginning of 2020, SSYO Staff met to plan out our goals and how we hoped to achieve them. With each turn of the COVID-19 Pandemic, we have remembered the old adage that, “even the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”  Due to all of this, it’s been a time of seeking the Lord on how to best serve our community and learning to be flexible to what our mission means for Corvallis. 

Even during a pandemic, you have been showing us how much you believe in building strong, young lives so our community will thrive."

A month ago, we announced our intention to become an Emergency Childcare Facility that would host essential workers’ children. We hoped that it would be a great way to fill a need in our community. We have since found that these needs were not as prevalent as we had thought. While we were disappointed- our new mantra is to be flexible! Our greatest goal is to always be providing excellent programs that meet the needs of our community and we are committed to working towards that during these confusing and changing times. 

In the midst of it all, we have felt immense support from all of you! We have truly been blown away by your generosity and support. In fact, when we realized we couldn’t host our planned fundraiser event we decided to host our first-ever virtual fundraiser and because of you, we raised 80% of our $10,000 goal! Even during a pandemic, you have been showing us how much you believe in building strong, young lives so our community will thrive. That support is a huge part of encouraging us to keep adapting and changing in this unprecedented time. ​

As we have all learned, we can’t entirely say what the future will hold but we are thankful for your support that makes it possible to keep seeking ways to serve our community. We are looking forward to finding ways to provide excellent summer programs and be reunited with our youth! Thank you for your prayers and support and stay tuned for how you can be involved in the coming months in our upcoming projects!

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Jessica Mathias-Henderson

Is the THRIVE Kids and Development Director for Southside Youth Outreach. She loves Jesus, kiddos, and taking long walks with her husband. 

To contact her, you can email her at Jessica.h@ssyocorvallis.org