2023-2024 Annual Report
Reflecting on the Past Year
"As I write my last letter from the ED’s desk, I’m overwhelmed with deep gratitude and joy for all we’ve accomplished together at Connected Lane County. Our mission and values continue to guide us and drive meaningful impact in our community. I sincerely thank each of you for your unwavering support of me and Connected Lane County throughout the years...
I am delighted to share that we had another banner year of securing resources. Our team secured $1.4 million from Governor Brown’s Future Ready Oregon package for over three years, $50,000 from program fundraisers, and nearly $1 million from local Oregon foundations. Our income has exceeded our projected budget, and I am confident our funding will remain strong in the organization’s next phase." - Heidi Larwick, Executive Director
Accomplishments and Milestones
"Our programs have thrived this year serving over 3,000 youth and accomplishing several “firsts.” We completed our first entire cycle of Excelerators in Tech, Health, and Manufacturing Tech. We expanded support through direct cash transfers to our most vulnerable populations and launched a youth advisory board to infuse youth voices into our programs. Our fundamental Drop-In Services at Spark at Booth-Kelly ensure local youth have a safe space to access various supports. We hosted Governor Kotek, Congresswoman Hoyle, and Secretary Su, with whom our youth shared their stories." -Heidi Larwick
Programs By the Numbers
The Elevate program achieved unprecedented success, especially in Winter Job Shadows. Rather than limiting participation to 60 youth, Elevate embraced the challenge by accepting all applicants, resulting in placements for 149 youth in three-hour experiences across 35 industries throughout Lane County. Elevate participants collectively racked up 19,140 program hours and earned $246,197 through paid work experiences.
This year, Navigate expanded its staff and the number of youth served. We introduced a waitlist for interested youth and hired more Resource Navigators to address the increased demand for our services. By leveraging the organization’s diverse funding sources, we offered essential resources such as gas cards to reduce transportation barriers for school and work.
We disbursed a record $172,656 in youth wages, underscoring their hard work! These achievements reflect our participants, mentors, and the Spark team’s unwavering commitment. Since opening Spark at Booth-Kelly, we’ve hosted multiple programs and youth experiences across our two facilities simultaneously. Spark at Booth-Kelly offers Drop-In Services that provide one-on-one support in resume building, career guidance, homework help, and college preparation.
Learn About Our Amazing Youth
Izel has been involved with our Spark program since the first summer cohort of Invention Lab in 2021. We remember when she grilled our program staff about the curriculum to ensure they would NOT be teaching block coding. Izel’s drive to learn professional-level skills, with specialties in CAD and CNC machining, made her a perfect candidate for the Agency. She quickly excelled and took the lead on custom projects for EWEB and Microsoft. As the second oldest in a family of nine children, Izel was also a fantastic mentor for our middle school summer camps, teaching robotics and 3D modeling. We are so proud of Izel and eager to see where her talent and work ethic will take her.
Download the full report today to read more amazing youth stories!
