Almost 11 years ago
Cowfish Dance Club & Cafe opened its doors in downtown Eugene, and Shawn Di Fiore laughs at the suggestion that it’s his child. “It’s my primary focus,” Di Fiore admits, but he’s quick to point out that “so many people have contributed to this place.” This includes the employees who have organized a GoFundMe account called COVID vs. 2020, COVID-19 Relief Fund for Cowfish Dance Club & Cafe. The GoFundMe page reads in part: “The Cowfish staff decided we needed to come together and do something to help Shawn and Cowfish stay afloat during this very tough time for small businesses.” Di Fiore is humbled by it all. “I was definitely taken back by that,” he says. “I’m definitely grateful to them.” Cowfish has been an influence in the community the past 11 years, and not just for its DJ-driven dances and ping-pong tournaments. It has organized fundraisers for Beyond Toxics, Egan Warming Center, Occupy Medical, Womenspace, the Civil Liberties
Essential workers clock long hours in COVID-19 pandemic, confront virus skeptics
Updated Dec 24, 2020;
Posted Dec 24, 2020
Occupy Medical team leader MacKenzie Ni Flainn walks down the hall way of the clinic in Springfield. Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard
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By Jordyn Brown and Tatiana Parafiniuk-Talesnick, The Register-Guard
Oregon newsrooms have partnered to share content to highlight the human toll of the 2020 pandemic. Our hope is this collaboration captures this historic nature of the COVID-19 crisis. This article was contributed by in Eugene.
If there ever were an image of what it means to be a “front-line worker” this year, those at Occupy Medical a free clinic in Lane County serving the uninsured and unhoused would be it.
Essential workers reflect on struggles and triumphs of 2020 December 23 2020
Editor s note:
Oregon newsrooms have partnered to share content to highlight the human toll of the pandemic. Our hope is this collaboration captures this historic nature of the COVID-19 crisis.
If there ever were an image of what it means to be a front-line worker this year, those at Occupy Medical a free clinic in Lane County serving the uninsured and unhoused would be it.
They ve operated for months at full-speed, clocking 16-hour shifts to provide care to those with the least access. Some even have been known to clock out, only to turn around and volunteer more time supporting the organization in other ways. Sue Sierralupe, clinic director of Occupy Medical said the conditions have exposed a depth of passion and human spirit.
Essential workers reflect on struggles and triumphs of 2020 bendbulletin.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bendbulletin.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Ruhi Sophia Motzkin Rubenstein
How should we react when we learn of the city clearing an encampment where unhoused people live, handing them out-of-date information about other shelter options in town and throwing away whatever possessions they are unable to bring with them?
If you read the cover article of Sunday’s Register-Guard and felt despair, you are not alone. Given the vast and growing scope of the challenge, of course it is tempting to feel despair.
And it is tempting to mistake despair for virtue. Despair is so exhausting that sometimes it feels like we have done something productive by feeling it. If I feel outraged, it makes me better than those who are not paying attention, or who don’t care, right?