6.4.

2012 CommunicAID statement on the budget cut on the non-profit organizations

Governor of Oregon, John Kitzhaber continues to cut the budget on the non-profit organizations and the educational institutions. It impacts not only on the organizations, but also the residents of Oregon, especially the homeless, the needy and the children. We would like to emphasize the importance to face the current situation and provide better service and education to the residents in Oregon.

Budget cut forced non-profit family care service in Portland, Caregiver Services Program, to close their service. Seven people lost their job, and many families lost their reliable institution (Rojas-Burke, 2011). There are more people, who need our support than the capable number of people that the current organization can support. In addition to the negative effect of budget cut for non-profit organizations, the lack of educational support causes the social corruption. A highly educated society and workforce are necessary to maintain the society and create its future (PAGE). That the children have less chance to explore and experience their world means they could have less knowledge and ideas to create their society in the future. To avoid the social corruption, we need to face to the current issue and support those community members to make Oregon state a better place for everyone.

On the other hand, the government claims that the budget cut was necessary to create the Eugene community bigger and livelier. City Manager Jon Ruiz rolled out his summary version of Eugenes growth plan for the next 20 years at a Eugene City Council work session

March 14. The plan is to expand the residential area and to increase the population in Eugene. Ruiz stated that the job growth rate would be stable if Eugene welcomes the people from outside, make Eugene bigger city (Matthews). This plan helps the people in need of support directly by providing more job opportunities and places to live. Ruiz stated that it is very efficient to spend more money on this long-term developing plan than on community services and the educational institutions.

Although the development of the community area and the increase of the population in Eugene would support the community itself in the long term, it does not help any people who currently need a support from the community. Also, even if there will be more job opportunities as the populations gets bigger, the homeless and others who are looking for a job are not guaranteed to get a job. We have provided career center to find a job and train the people in case of interviews or working. Those, who need a job, should first be trained to be ready to find a job.

The non-profit organizations and the educational institutions need more financial support to maintain their quality of services for creating the community better. Although it is important to think about the future profits, it does not mean that we can sacrifice the homeless and the poor, who are in the severe situation. Also, if we think about the future, the children are our hope to create the better future. We urge the governor to reconsider the budget plan, and to spend more money on the non-profit organizations and the educational institutions, which directly support the community.

Bibliography Capaldi, D. Elizabeth. Budget Cuts and Educational Quality. (2011). Academic Online. Retrieved June 2, 2012, from http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/pubsres/academe/2011/ND/Feat/capa.htm Rojas-Burke, Joe. (2011, June 17). Budget cuts end a Portland service helping families care for chronically ill loved ones. Oregonlive.com. Retrieved June 2, 2012, from http://www.oregonlive.com/health/index.ssf/2011/06/budget_cuts_end_a_portlan d_ser.html Matthews, Kevin. (2012, March 29). Housing Mix is Key. Eugene Weekly. Retrieved June 2, 2012, from http://www.eugeneweekly.com/article/housing-mixkey PAGE: Professional Association of Georgia Education.Before It Is too Late: Rebuilding Public Education in Georgia. n.d. Retrieved June 2, 2012, from http://www.pageinc.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=358

Contact:

Saori Kamitani 541-232-4799 saorik@uoregon.edu