Building Blocks - working for the good of Sisters

Eryn Ross of Sisters Depot welcomed 21 Community Builders to her restaurant for their November meeting.

Ross purchased Sisters Depot in 2020, opening for business in December of that year. She admitted the first two years were “really hard” coming on the heels of COVID. But she has built a menu she is passionate about, honoring her dad by preparing some of his recipes. She has learned to run all aspects of the business and has come to realize that events are an integral part of her business success.

Ross has made several improvements to the space, with a full bar and small stage upstairs in Frankie’s where they do shows, private events, cooking classes, and meetings. Anyone looking for space for a gathering can reach Ross at 541-904-4660. Improvements were also made to the outdoor stage.

By next summer, she would like to extend a second-floor rear deck off Frankie’s over a portion of the patio for more covered seating down below, and then ultimately have the deck offer more seating on it, too, for events like Sisters Folk Festival (SFF).

Several community leaders at the meeting shared their own recent experiences with Sisters Depot. STARS had their volunteer appreciation event there in October and “Eryn was great to work with as a host.” And now she’s a STARS driver. Living Well With Dementia Sisters hired Sisters Depot to cater an event and it “came off without a hitch.”

Ross shared several ideas and requests with the gathering. She used to run the Sherwood Wine Festival in the valley and would like to do something similar in Sisters. She is also considering using their ticket/order system to offer free prizes for patrons like SFF tickets and wondered if folks would like that. She also wants to offer specialty dinners to introduce the most loyal customers to new menu items every quarter.

Several challenges for the restaurant include seasonality and unpredictability of business. Sisters locals have asked about discounts but, after all their expenses, it’s just impossible to offer that consistently.

Ross, who is also the treasurer of Sisters Business Association (SBA), said “SBA has been a great way to network with business owners in the community.”

Citizens4Community (C4C) — Kellen Klein

Following the “Are the Kids Alright?” forum, a youth wellbeing packet and forum recording are available on the C4C website. Central Oregon Gives website is now open for donations to Sisters nonprofits C4C, STARS, and YouthBuild on http://www.centraloregongives.com. Over $1 million dollars have been raised the past two years. Since launching in 2018, nearly $4 million have been raised, directly benefiting over 100 local nonprofits. The top performing nonprofits will earn extra cash at the end of the campaign if they are the top fundraiser overall, the top fundraiser in their category, or receive the most donations of $25 or less.

Land of 1,000 Picnics still has money available for neighborhood gatherings. The Holiday Singalong is happening again this year on Thursday, December 19. Singers will start at Sisters Senior Living and then move onto The Barn. Everyone is welcome to join in. The C4C board leadership is in transition with President Sarah McDougall joining Sisters City Council in January. They are looking for several new board members. Contact executive director Kellen Klein with questions.

Better Together Central Oregon — Jessica Sánchez-Millar

Better Together Central Oregon is a nonprofit under the umbrella of High Desert Education Service District that supports youth and families in every school district in Central Oregon. Sánchez-Millar leads youth and family partnerships and supports location-based Latino and Youth Family Councils. On a monthly basis, they create space for marginalized and underserved families to build community and share their needs and desires for the community. Better Together helps support the peoples’ initiatives, turning needs and ideas into programs.

Here in Sisters, the Latino Family Council started in 2020 (right before COVID). They paused the last 5 months but are restarting in January. One of the biggest challenges has been finding a monthly space to meet. They have an average of 6 to 12 parents who meet for 2 to 2.5 hours. If you know of any spaces that are available, especially during the winter, please let Sánchez-Millar know at 541-693-5678.

Circle of Friends — Nicole Woodson

A mentoring organization in town for at-risk youth, Circle currently has 48 kids they’re serving, plus another 20+ for group mentoring during the school day. They hosted Friendsgiving at the clubhouse prior to Thanksgiving. They anticipated having 50–60 kids plus their mentors. Sisters Smokehouse provided the meat, mentors provided side dishes, and the kids prepared the desserts.

Their need is always for mentors. They’re hoping to get another eight mentors before the end of the school year. They only ask for an hour a week with a minimum one-year commitment. A mentor works with a child for an average of 6-plus years. At their Halloween scavenger hunt, they had 75 people, making up 22 teams, and everyone had a great time.

Roundhouse Foundation — Dawn Cooper

They are currently wrapping up their grant season. They received 190 applications and were able to support about 77%. The new grant cycle will open in January. Klein gave a shout-out to Roundhouse for supporting the 2025 Sisters Civic Leadership Academy.

Family Access Network (FAN) — Jaclyn Kordell

Kordell has three roles within the Sisters School District. She serves as a FAN advocate, supporting families to access financial assistance, clothing, medical benefits, housing, and navigating various support services. FAN is housed in the school district administration office and Kordell can be reached at [email protected]. As a Latino Family Liaison, she helps support students learning English and their families. She is the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act liaison, helping support houseless students in Sisters School District.

Kordell had several requests; asking people to refer families to FAN who might not be aware of available benefits and support services; more student/family—led opportunities, especially from the Latino community, so she might put out requests to the group in the future in that regard.

Age Friendly Sisters Country (AFSC) — Judy Smith

AFSC is a fiscal sponsor nonprofit that lends their 501(c)(3) status to residents who have good ideas to improve livability in Sisters. They recently “graduated” the STARS program to become an independent 501(c)(3). Their “Romeo’s Joy” program recently concluded because its leader is joining City Council. They are constantly “on the prowl” for new community ideas.

They’re also anticipating some changes in their own Board of Directors and would like to speak to anyone interested in the administrative and secretary roles.

Sisters Transportation And Ride Share (STARS) — Christy Corzine

STARS recently became their own independent nonprofit. Their requests for rides have increased 40% in the last year, so they’re really in need of more support and volunteers.

They’ll be launching a “sponsor a ride” campaign to help create financial support for their services to supplement their grants support.

School of Ranch — Mark Gross

School of Ranch hires skilled community members to teach newcomers and locals “how to live here” through skill building. A new program called School of Ranch “Extend” matches seniors with skills and knowledge who want to teach what they know to volunteers in exchange for their help with chores.

They now have four high school interns who do all their marketing, forms, website maintenance, and other tasks. They are looking for six more interns. The work requires no set commitment, they work when they can, and are paid $15-20/hour for doing specific tasks.

In conjunction with Deschutes County Library and Oregon Humanities, School of Ranch is running a four-part series on civic issues. Gross offers free Facebook ads for other organizations on his website. Reach out to him at [email protected] about free ad space. Gross said they have so many workshops that they’re running out of spaces. They need facilities that could host between eight and 30 people per meeting.

Seed to Table — Hannah Joseph

Veggie pickups are done for the year. Joseph offered a huge thank you to everyone who has supported them in different ways this year. They will be hiring soon for an Associate Director position which will focus on operations, management, and communications. Cody Reault made a professional promo video for Seed to Table.

Council on Aging (COA) — Jane Ann Pighin

The Sisters Meals on Wheels program has no waitlist now. COA had a table at the Living Well With Dementia Sisters event. They will host the February 19, 2025, Community Builders meeting at Sisters Community Church, where the Senior Lunches are served.

Heart of Oregon / YouthBuild — Madi Cunningham

The YouthBuild program supports youth ages 16-24 who are disengaged from education. They can earn their GED/diploma while learning construction skills by participating in a pre-apprenticeship construction program. They are currently working on Sisters Habitat projects. The next cohort applications are due January 17, 2025. Applications are available on their website heartoforegon.org. They also have a similar program in conjunction with SPRD to learn how to provide childcare.

After receiving a grant to restart their mentor/volunteer program, Cunningham is looking for volunteers to do one-on-one mentoring, but also provide support in the classrooms and one day a month on community service days. If you wish to volunteer or have a project for their community service days, reach out to Cunningham at 541-633-7834.

Cunningham, an instructor in youth mental health first aid, wants to bring that training to Sisters Country. She can provide certification for adults who want to get guidance on how to respond to youth mental health crises. Heart of Oregon also has an employer advisory council — businesses and nonprofits who want to help hire youth after they’ve completed the Heart of Oregon GED program. Learn more at http://www.heartoforegon.org.

Three Sisters Historical Society (TSHS) — Ronni Duff/Diane Prescott

The Historical Society will be open through the holidays but closed for the month of January to install a new exhibit focused on the history of local farms and ranches. If you have related contacts or materials, please refer them to the museum.

They are looking for new board members who can bring special skills, especially social media experience. They are always open to welcoming more volunteers. A recording of the Wilson Wewa Fireside talk focused on Indigenous oral history of the region is now available on their TSHS YouTube page. At the March 2025 Fireside Evening, Dr. Larry Peterson will discuss Western artist Charles Russell.

Living Well With Dementia Sisters (LWWDS) — Bill Kelly

LWWDS had a Care and Connect Resource Fair on November 14 with 20 local organizations offering support to those experiencing cognitive decline and their care partners. Over 50 people showed up for the event. C4C will be incorporating all the participating organizations into their database and resource guide. LWWDS will have an event on Thursday, January 9, 2025 — “Stay Safe — Protecting Yourself from Scams and Fraud.”

Rotary Club of Sisters — Bill Kelly

Members recently completed a bed build in Bend with the Sleep in Heavenly Peace program, making beds for kids who don’t have them. They had 80–90 volunteers who made 100 beds in 2.5 hours. Their mega-raffle is coming up in January; last year they had about $10,000 in prizes.

City of Sisters — Bill Kelly

The City had a volunteer appreciation lunch recently for volunteer board/commission members.

The Grant Lab — Susan Taylor

The Grant Lab is a local consulting firm supporting fundraising/grant-writing needs for local and national nonprofits, educational institutions, and other organizations. Susan Taylor recently helped coordinate two cohorts from the American Leadership Forum of Oregon coming to Sisters Country over a past weekend. She was just appointed to the Oregon Service Commission, which will help make policy for AmeriCorps programs around the state. Taylor would like to bring more AmeriCorps members to rural Oregon.

Rural Development Initiatives (RDI) — Hannah Lewis

RDI works primarily with rural communities across the Pacific Northwest. They focus on empowering community leaders to solve their own problems, build leadership skills, support collaboration, and business trainings. “Wealth building and skill building” is their focus.