Leadership Bend Class of 2024 tackles big issues through impact projects

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Each year, the current cohort of Leadership Bend, a program of the Bend Chamber, works on a class capstone project as a means of providing a meaningful impact to the community. This year, the class of 2024 took on three impact projects.

The first impact project partnered with Bethlehem Inn to create a brief orientation video for families and individuals introducing them to Bethlehem Inn’s guidelines and rules for residing on site, giving a tour of the campus, and sharing other key information about living at Bethlehem Inn.

Prior to creating the video, families and individuals arriving at Bethlehem Inn would receive a seven-page document of the written rules and guidelines—packed full of important information that they were expected to read and comprehend in a short amount of time. This innovative initiative provides a more streamlined and equitable intake process for individuals with diverse learning styles and reading levels.

The Leadership Bend team—in partnership with Bethlehem Inn staff and through a generous sponsorship grant from the St. Charles Foundation—partnered with local videography company, Treeline Creative, to create the video. The result is a video that Bethlehem Inn can use both during intake and on their website to be shared with partner agencies who refer clients to Bethlehem Inn. 

Bethlehem Inn is a community-supported, high-barrier emergency shelter that provides a warm, safe place to sleep, nourishing meals, and case management services for adults and children experiencing homelessness in Central Oregon.

Working in partnership with Cassandra Kehoe, Accessibility and Equity Manager with the City of Bend and the City of Bend’s Accessibility Advisory Committee (COBAAC), the second impact team undertook an effort focusing on inclusive business practices to promote access and belonging for people with disabilities in the Bend community.

Disability is an aspect of diversity, integral to our society and to Bend. This impact project, at its heart, is deeply rooted in both belonging and diversity. Approximately 22.9% of Deschutes County adults (18+) live with some form of disability, translating into 46,945 potential individuals who can benefit from accessible services and environments (Source: OHSU, 2017).

The solution was to develop a new section on the City of Bend’s website devoted to accessibility and providing information about how businesses and our community at large can help to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for our friends, family members, neighbors and visitors who experience a disability.

A recommended design layout, along with curated information related to creating a physically accessible space, inclusive hiring practices, grant support for employees experiencing disabilities, accessible digital spaces, and local resources, was provided to the City of Bend for implementation.

The City's Accessibility Program's mission is to ensure that every program, service, benefit, activity and facility open to the public, operated or funded by the City, is fully accessible to and usable by people with disabilities.

The third impact team worked in partnership with KIDS Center, undertaking a campaign to increase business participation in child abuse prevention training. Safe for Kids is a prevention program catered specifically for businesses that educates and prepares business owners and employees to respond to situations where children and families need support and protection. One in seven children in Central Oregon experience child abuse and it takes all of us to create a safe community.

The team helped create marketing materials, refine training presentations, and created a recognition program for engaged businesses. During the month of April, National Child Abuse Prevention Month, the team went door-to-door to businesses in the downtown and Old Mill areas to sign businesses up for child safety training.

This campaign engaged with 70 businesses to share KIDS Center’s unique and important mission—25 businesses showed interest in participating in training for their staff, six businesses scheduled their training, and one has so far completed the training.

“Without the integral partnership from the Leadership Bend team, KIDS Center would not have been able to have the reach into the business sector like we’ve had with this project,” shared Rachel Visser, KIDS Center’s Prevention Education Manager. “The many hands and the additional perspectives created a program that is a true collaboration and truly tailored to set businesses up for success within prevention.”