By Melissa Wagoner
During the 74 years Silverton Area Community Aid (SACA) has been supplying food and other services to low income families, the number of individuals seeking assistance has continued to rise. The square footage of its headquarters has not. At least, not since the organization moved from the basement of the Eugene Field Elementary School to the basement of the Silverton Community Center.
“We’ve been in that basement for over 20 years,” executive director Sarah DeSantis said. She added that, while members of SACA’s board of directors have been aware of the need for a new facility for at least as long as DeSantis has been associated with the organization, making it happen has not been easy.
“[I]t was a daunting project,” DeSantis said, describing the initial steps she and the board took to create a clear vision statement, establish community partnerships and maintain a board that is representative of the community at large 17 years ago.
“Then we had to decide, are we looking for a facility just for SACA or to include other community programs,” DeSantis recalled. “Because the building at the time had WIC, the YMCA and Silverton Together.”
Ultimately the board decided to look for a building that would include a myriad of services compatible with SACA’s own.
“I think we have a prime opportunity to do something big,” DeSantis said, explaining that, because SACA’s service area is both large and rural, it is helpful to keep amenities as centralized as possible.
But finding a building large enough to house multiple providers and close enough to town to be available for those lacking transportation was a challenge.
“We started looking at buildings in 2018,” DeSantis recalled. But without confirmed funding the search wasn’t fruitful.
Then in 2019 that obstacle was removed.
“We received an incredible gift of seed money that enabled us to move forward if we found the right property,” DeSantis said. And it allowed them to hire a consultant who would conduct a feasibility study.
Then, only a few months later, the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down.
“We had to focus on feeding our community and keeping them in their homes,” DeSantis said. “And it wasn’t just COVID.”
Wildfires, an ice storm and a heat dome all brought an influx of people requiring assistance, and SACA, still operating under pandemic health protocols in a tiny space with limited ventilation, was forced to move outdoors.
“We were outside for two and a half years,” DeSantis said, recalling the frustration she and her team felt. “We were like, we have to get out of here!”
It was a sentiment that was echoed a year later when, upon the completion of the feasibility study, the consultant presented some exceptionally good news.
“The feedback was overwhelmingly positive,” DeSantis said. “People understood SACA needed to be in a better facility.” They just had to find one.
As luck would have it, that didn’t take long.
“The end of 2022… we heard perhaps the owner of Ratchet Brewery was thinking of selling,” DeSantis said.
Initially daunted by the size (the building is a whopping 5,500 square feet), the location (it’s further out of town than they had initially hoped) and their lack of funding, the board started to turn it down. Then they looked again.
“It’s kind of a blank canvas,” DeSantis pointed out. “It’s got sidewalks, it’s close to the housing of many of the people we serve, and we can create a more welcoming and accessible space, bring all these partners together and be open to different possibilities.”
In short, it felt like the answer to the problem. All they needed was financing.
“We had seed money, but we hadn’t started fundraising,” DeSantis said. “Then, over a short time, we had some donors step up and say, we want to make this happen.”
Courtesy Sarah DeSantis
And so, in March 2023, SACA bought the building outright and the real work began.
“We reached out to community members to fundraise in March and April, and we started hiring fundraising staff,” DeSantis said.
That step was necessary because while the building itself was paid for, the renovations and equipment that would need to be purchased were not.
“That was the quiet phase,” DeSantis said. She described the initial fundraising efforts as largely the work of identifying major donors and applying for grants while the architectural plans were approved and the initial infrastructure changes were made.
“Now we’re ready to move into the public phase and show it to the community.”
While 82 percent of the remodel is both funded and complete, construction has been on hold while the final $850,000 is raised.
“It’s great to bring people in now,” DeSantis said. “Now that we’re where we are, with no debt.”
And with concrete plans they can present to the community that has supported them for more than seven decades.
“We’re asking people to give above and beyond what they would normally give,” DeSantis said. “What we’re talking about is a once in a lifetime gift, a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Once in a Lifetime Opportunity is also the name of the fundraising event the organization will be holding on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 6:30 to 8 p.m.
“It’s a community-wide event, an invitation for people to learn about the project and it’s a kick-off to the campaign,” DeSantis said.
“Because a lot of people think we’re already here and a lot of people don’t know the extent of the project. We want to be able to share the timeline and the story.”
And to give the community a preview of what the future of SACA will look like, a future with more accessibility, more partnership and more opportunities than ever before.
Features of new SACA facility
• A larger parking lot offering more privacy, a covered entryway and more accessibility for walkers and cyclists
• Free community laundry
• A private client meeting room
• Parent education classes with childcare
• A larger, more accessible food pantry designed with trauma-informed care in mind
• Both a dairy and a freezer aisle
• A designated food preparation area
• A community donation area
• 1,500 square feet of mezzanine storage and space for emergency services
• Private rental space, providing monthly income
• Office space, a breakroom and a separate entrance for employees and volunteers
• Access to WIC, the Silverton Coffee Club and other community partners with a private wing and separate entrance
For more information plan to attend the “Once in a Lifetime Opportunity” event on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 6:30 to 8 p.m. RSVP or donate at www.silvertonareacommunityaid.org.
