Our Just Future

If you're wondering how YOU can make a real difference in this world, we invite you to lean into community by regularly volunteering just a few hours each month. We have an immediate need for volunteers to cook a dish for Shelter Potluck—on Saturday, March 15th—providing a nourishing meal to homeless families. It's a small gesture that makes a huge impact in the lives of Portland's most vulnerable kids and their parents. We have many ongoing volunteer needs at Our Just Future—and not just cooking-related—to help us stretch dwindling resources and continue supporting homeless famillies in our community. For details and to sign up, visit: https://lnkd.in/gN4QNAEP P.S. All of our upcoming volunteer days are published on SignUp Genius! Sign up for one or all!

Calling all Oregon nonprofits!

📢 CALL TO ACTION! 📢 🍲✨ Help us cook up community care! ✨🍲 We’re looking for volunteers to make a difference by preparing meals for folks in need. If you can lend a hand, sign up for one (or both) of our upcoming shelter potlucks! We don’t normally share volunteer opportunities on LinkedIn, but with the chaos, fear, and disruption we’re suddenly facing amid political upheaval, we feel it’s time for a paradigm shift. Perhaps siloing community service opportunities from the professional community is *not* the best way to come together and support one another through uncertainty and worry. So, without further adieu, we'd like to extend a warm invitation to our LinkedIn community to roll up your sleeves and get cookin' with us! Every month, we host a community potluck at one of our shelters. Volunteers sign up to cook a dish for 10-20 people and deliver it to the shelter, where it is served up potluck style. Residents in our women’s and family shelters LOVE potluck nights—in part because they receive healthy, nourishing meals and because they know every dish is cooked with love. The heavy news cycle over the last week seems to have impacted our sign-ups for the next two potlucks. We need a few volunteers to sign up to cook for shelter residents. If you're able to, sign up for one of the following dates: 📅  Souper-Bowl Saturday at Chestnut Inn Shelter, February 1st A soup-themed supper for the heart of winter! 📅  Lilac Family Shelter Potluck, Saturday, February 15th Chili and all the fixin’s. Details are provided on the individual signup forms. Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/gjHhgh8M Community service is a gift of love that benefits the giver, the receiver, and everyone around. And if you can't cook, please share! #OurJustFuture #Volunteer #CommunityInAction #MakeADifference

Over the Martin Luther King Jr holiday weekend, someone painted a swastika on the outside of our office door. For most of our staff, after the initial shock wore off, we couldn't help but wonder: WHY? What was the intent behind this act? What was in the heart of the person who did this? Was it a random act of mischief? Was it intentional, spurred by hate? Was it someone emboldened by the shift in political climate? Or someone who knew the organization’s Executive Director is Jewish? We may never know the answer. But the question remains: does intent matter when harm is done? We believe intent does matter, but we also recognize that harm is done regardless of whether the act is thoughtless or deliberate. Intent ≠ impact. This incident is a stark reminder of the hateful speech and behavior that so many members of our team face every day. Their work is difficult enough without having added fear and uncertainty that comes from hate crimes like these. Our Just Future is founded on the believe that housing is a human right, one that is inclusive of differences. This act—regardless of intent—won't change our commitment, our mission, or our belief that we will overcome adversity to reach a just and equitable future for all.

Shout out to Our Just Future's very own Katie Barberis who is been featured on Mac's List this week. We feel pretty lucky to have Katie on our team. Their energy, optimism, and enthusiasm is infectious and in the words of their coworkers, "Katie is a multi-talented ROCK STAR!" Did you find your current role through Mac's Lost?

A message from our Executive Director: We are grateful in this moment for all the coalitions and associations we belong to like the National Council of Nonprofits, Nonprofit Association of Oregon, National Low Income Housing Coalition, National Homelessness Law Center, and National Alliance to End Homelessness and many others who are providing the nonprofit community with critical updates, information, training and resources to help us protect those whose safety is most at risk. These associations are also helping organizations like Our Just Future ensure we will continue to exist and to defend and protect our team and mission amidst the dizzying array of new compliance orders and mandates. We are deeply appreciative to have the help and support of those able to provide a basic map of the new minefields that help us keep up in a rapidly-changing landscape. If you are leading a nonprofit, NCN has produced a really helpful guide to navigate how the Executive Orders may be impacting your organization. The folks at NCN say this is a living document that will be updated regularly and rapidly: https://lnkd.in/gNn6g-d8

We are so excited for our next affordable housing property, located at the PCC Campus in southeast Portland in the heart of the Jade District, near Mount Tabor. We've begun site prep and will begin building in earnest soon, with the first residents moving in in 2026. This building will bring another 124 affordable housing units to Southeast Portland.

🚨 We're Hiring! 🚨 We’re excited to announce that Our Just Future is looking for a Director of Resource Development & Communications to join our team. This is a key leadership role focused on driving fundraising efforts and communications strategy to support our mission to push back against systemic causes of racial, economic, and housing inequity. If you’re passionate about social equity and have a proven track record of resource development, we’d love to hear from you! Learn more and apply here: https://lnkd.in/gBDNvHWw #Hiring #NonProfitJobs #ResourceDevelopment #Communications #Leadership #JobOpportunity

Our Just Future’s offices are closed for the winter holiday, but our shelters remain open 24/7/365. OJF shelter staff go above and beyond to provide exceptional service and care to residents and their kids, especially during the holidays. Last week, OJF organized a very special holiday treat for residents. Santa came to town, the Grinch delivered Domino's, and lots of lil helpers pitched in to bake cookies and bring joy to folks experiencing hardship this holiday season. We are so proud of the caring staff at OJF shelters; they are so much more than Santa’s helpers. As so many shelter residents tell us again and again, shelter workers are real-life heroes impacting thee lives of others, year-round. We wish everyone the warmest of winter holidays and a happy New Year!

Our leadership and board members served holiday dinner at OJF’s Gresham Women’s Shelter. The thanks we receive from shelter residents is so heartfelt and gracious—it fills the soul for all involved. If you’ve never cooked a dish for shelter residents or served a meal, you’re missing out on a simple but profound moment of “humans being human with other humans”. All three of our shelters could really use some extra help this week as regular donations drop off. Can your local food business donate a complete meal to one of our shelters? Send us a DM to coordinate!