Ruth Weinberg

“My inspiration is my parents,” says Ruth Weinberg, who grew up in London, the daughter of German-Jewish refugees who felt welcome in England. “They created a nonprofit to provide affordable housing for international grad students and their families.” After graduating from the Dorset House School of Occupational Therapy, Weinberg got her first job at an old Victorian psychiatric hospital. When it shut down, she spent a year on an organic farm in New Zealand and two years with a group home for adults with developmental disabilities in Alaska.

She arrived in Eugene in 1993 and worked for five years at the Laurel Hill Center, helping people with mental illness. “Kip Kinkel got me to shift my focus to kids,” she says, and she moved to Early Childhood CARES, a UO-affiliated agency that provides early-childhood special education in Lane County. In 2013, she took a year off in La Conceptión, Nicaragua, to learn Spanish and to volunteer with children with disabilities. “It was eye-opening to see kids who had never been to school or received services,” says Weinberg, who got permission to use a classroom in the town school. She trained a local psychologist, a teacher and a physical therapist to work with the children. She named her enterprise CIELO de Amor and registered it as a nonprofit. Now serving 35 children with a staff of six, CIELO de Amor will celebrate its first anniversary from 3 to 7 pm Sunday, Sept. 27, at Claim 52, 1030 Tyinn Street in west Eugene. Festivities will include a silent auction, carnival games, food and drink and live music by the Beat Root Band and Piel Canela. Details and photos at cielodeamor.org.

A Note From the Publisher

Dear Readers,

The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.

That’s because of you!

Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.

Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.

We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.

And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.

None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.

As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.

Thank you for standing with us!