Community Outreach through Radical Empowerment and Milkweed & Honey — a program supported through CORE — are hosting Street Solstice, a summer evening fundraiser on Friday, June 27. The event invites community members to support local young people navigating housing insecurity, reproductive health care, harm reduction resources and more. CORE “is dedicated to supporting, empowering and advocating for young people in Lane County surviving the effects of poverty, homelessness or other adversities,” says Brittiny Raine, CORE’s co-founder and co-executive director of community engagement. She says the organization operates four programs: the Street Outreach Alliance Project, Zephyr House (for ages 16 to 24), Service Navigation and Harm Reduction Distribution Services serving young people 16 to 29, and Milkweed & Honey. “Milkweed & Honey is a fiscally sponsored project of CORE that focuses specifically on culturally responsive reproductive health support,” Raine says. This peer-led program provides doula services and case management for young people ages 16 to 29. “We offer trauma-informed birth, abortion and full-spectrum reproductive health support, while also providing peer case management,” she says. For young people in Eugene, this kind of support can be a lifeline. “All our programs can serve as entry points into service navigation, and we base everything on participant feedback and needs,” Raine adds. The Street Solstice event is designed to connect the public with the work CORE and Milkweed & Honey does and raise funds to help keep that work going. “It’s a community gathering where people can learn more about our work and directly support our programs. Even small donations make a significant impact on our ability to serve young people in our community,” she says.

Street Solstice Party, a joint fundraiser for CORE and Milkweed & Honey, is 5 pm to 7 pm Friday, June 27, at Zephyr House, 692 Jefferson Street. Donations will be accepted at the event, online or through Venmo at @COREEugene.