A place of belonging: Organization for Eugene youth of color is growing, filling gaps

Cadence Saldaña stood on the stage holding his poem, the paper creased and wrinkled. The 13-year-old was one of the last youths of the night to perform.

“I am from wet flatlands, mountains and ocean,” he started. “From surfing and ‘don’t step there, there’s a snake.’”

Saldaña’s mom, Destiny Wittenborn, watched from the audience at the summer showcase of an organization called Honoring Our New Ethnic Youth.

“I am from a fast childhood,” he continued. “And having to mature quickly.”

When he moved to Eugene, Saldaña wasn’t used to being the only kid of color in his friend group. 

He was accustomed to the diversity of places he lived previously: San Diego, Tampa and Portland. Wittenborn was thankful when she found H.O.N.E.Y., an organization dedicated to celebrating and empowering youth of color, and signed her son up for the summer academy to keep him focused during a difficult time as she underwent treatment for breast cancer.

“I needed him active during the summer,” she said. “I didn’t want him wandering around Eugene.”

Saldaña was one of 164 children and teens who attended H.O.N.E.Y.’s first summer enrichment academy, an endeavor that welcomed more youth than ever to the program.

H.O.N.E.Y. was founded in 1983 by biracial couple Sarah and Randy Ross and their friends. Envisioned as a place for interracial families in predominantly white Eugene, H.O.N.E.Y. now serves more than 1,000 people a year from its new headquarters at Clear Lake Community Center in the Bethel neighborhood. 

The organization’s mission is to support and empower families and individuals of color through no-school enrichment days, events, social outings, affinity groups, academic help and financial assistance during the school year. Its new summer academy aimed to boost kids’ mental and emotional health while school is out.

HONEY’s expansion has brought a new sense of community and belonging for many. With mental health an area of concern for youth of color in Oregon, however, the organization’s goal of equipping youth with tools for success is a constant challenge.

A summer of learning, culture and no phones

Niyah Ross, H.O.N.E.Y. executive director and daughter of the founders, stood in front of parents, kids and staff Aug. 22 at the enrichment academy’s end-of-summer showcase. 

She took a small mallet and hit the bronze singing bowl in her hand, a signal for quiet.

“Breathe in and out,” Ross said, repeating the phrase she had spoken in classrooms all summer.

From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., five days a week, elementary through high schoolers attended the nine-week H.O.N.E.Y. enrichment academy. Their days were structured: Mindfulness, literacy and math in the morning; and in the afternoon, physical education, art, culture and STEM — science, technology, engineering and math.

Middle and high schoolers who attended the H.O.N.E.Y. academy could receive up to $525 a week, depending on their attendance and behavior. This included the stipulation that they would give up their electronic devices every morning. The monetary incentive to attend served multiple purposes, including helping to combat phone addiction.

Instead of gaming, texting or watching TikTok, the youth learned mindfulness techniques, focused on academics, went on excursions to local parks, learned to use the bus system, opened saving accounts to manage the money they earned and learned African drumming and dancing, West African marimba and singing.

“We definitely have kids being like, ‘I’m here because I’m getting a stipend,’” Ross said. “I’m like ‘Guess what? Good, I’m glad, because the things that you’re going to learn here will help you in the future where you won’t be getting paid, but you’ll remember those things and you might implement them into your life.’”

For youth like Saldaña, it also served as an important contribution to family finances. The teen helped support his household and fund his travel soccer expenses at a time when his mom’s health was compromised.

An affinity space

In a city where 79% of the population is white, H.O.N.E.Y. youth often encounter topics they just can’t talk about with friends.

For Channah Inyang, 10, and Gabby Shitie, 9, it’s hair.

It’s hard to relate to other kids who don’t have to plan wash days or braiding sessions. As the only Black girls in their classrooms, they stand out. One of Inyang’s friends told her once that she was jealous of Inyang’s hair because she could do so many styles with it.

“I told her it’s not that easy to do my hair,” Inyang said. “It could take hours.”

For Charis Iheanyi-Igwe, 15, it’s the comments or vibes she gets from people that feel off, but she can’t place why.

“It’s like, ‘Am I going crazy or was that weird?’” Iheanyi-Igwe said.

At H.O.N.E.Y., she’s learned the name for these moments: microaggressions. And she’s met others who experience them, too. Iheanyi-Igwe said that compared to another camp she attended this past summer, she was able to relax, open up and be herself quicker at H.O.N.E.Y. 

“I haven’t really been around this many Black people, like, ever, in my entire life,” Iheanyi-Igwe said.

‘Think with your heart’ 

A month before the summer showcase, Ross sat in the courtyard of the Clear Lake Community Center next to raised garden beds that H.O.N.E.Y. youth planted.

She was processing a loss — her friend’s 19-year-old son had just died by suicide in Eugene. He was mixed race and had grown up with Ross’ children. His death had given her a renewed urgency in her goal of preventing suicide in youth of color.

“The amount of youth who are (at H.O.N.E.Y.) who are talking about suicidal ideation is scary,” Ross said. “I’m scared. I had people come pray over our space. It’s a real thing.”

Based on 2023 data, Oregon ranked 11th-highest in the nation for its rate of youth suicide. Despite white youth suicide rates dropping since 2018, rates of Oregon youth of color dying by suicide have been level or rising. 

The Oregon Health Authority, in its 2024 report on youth suicide rates, wrote that nationally, “Black, African, and African American youth suicide rates are increasing faster than any other race or ethnicity.”

It’s a different time from when Ross was growing up in Eugene as a biracial kid.

She remembers eating fruit from her dad’s garden, going to Red Barn Natural Grocery, hearing her mom’s chants and mantras and giving thanks to the sun and moon. And the Ross family’s door was always open.

Even though her parents barely made enough money to support their family, they were always feeding the homeless and taking care of children with absent parents.

“I learned at a young age to give people second chances and to just kind of think with your heart and not your head,” Ross said. “That was what my parents instilled in me — and the community activism that they did.”

H.O.N.E.Y. now serves kids of all kinds of cultural backgrounds, not just Ross’ parents’ initial target population of mixed-race or adopted Black youth. Youth of color in Eugene today are more ethnically diverse, Ross said, with many families in H.O.N.E.Y. having origins in Africa, the Caribbean and South and Central America.

While H.O.N.E.Y. has multicultural programming, the organization has a focus on the African American experience in order to bring awareness to the otherness and marginalization of African Americans. 

The organization receives money from state and local sources including the Oregon Department of Education’s African American/Black Student Success Grant, part of a plan the state established in 2015 to improve academic and life outcomes for Black students in the state. H.O.N.E.Y. is one of 21 organizations that were grantees for 2024-28. 

H.O.N.E.Y.’s other supporters include Lane Community Health Council, United Way, Oregon Community Foundation, individual donors and business sponsors.

Since Ross took the helm of H.O.N.E.Y. in 2022, the organization has expanded its offerings. Previously, the group had only a monthly Culture Club for youth of color and celebrations for Martin Luther King Day and Loving Day. Now it holds a bimonthly homework club, one-on-one tutoring, enrichment days when school isn’t in session, weekly wellness groups for Black girls and boys, financial and food assistance for families in need, parenting classes and outings to movies and restaurants.

While it’s sometimes comical to see the reactions of others when she brings a large group of people of color into restaurants and climbing gyms — spaces that tend to be dominated by white people in Eugene — it’s also needed, Ross said.

“We’re going to go take up space,” Ross said, smiling.

Growing pains, big needs

As H.O.N.E.Y. has expanded, Ross and her staff have come face-to-face with the effects of trauma on the youth they serve.

Summer academy facilitator August Hussein, 25, said some of his youth had never been in a space where they could fully feel their emotions, even in their own homes.

“I think some kids of color can’t express those emotions in certain environments, like public schools, to a degree, because there’s more eyes on them, right?” Hussein said. “They look like the angry Black person or the angry colored person, not just a person that’s upset, that’s dysregulated.”

Once kids felt safe to express emotions at H.O.N.E.Y., they often had big emotions, Hussein said, and helping them learn how to regulate themselves was a large part of the summer experience. Hussein’s aim was to get youth to a place where they could keep their calm even when they went home to unstable environments. 

H.O.N.E.Y.’s summer academy was more popular than expected. Kids who were signed up for only a couple of weeks ended up wanting to stay longer. Ross didn’t want to turn anyone away.

But the stipends for middle and high schoolers added up to more grant money than H.O.N.E.Y. had. A behavioral health grant funded stipends for 10 middle and 10 high school-aged kids. Ross ended up having about 20 middle schoolers and 15 high schoolers who attended consistently, putting the program over budget. She will have to fundraise to make up the difference.

The feedback from youth and their families, however, make it all worth it to Ross.

Ten-year-old Channah Inyange said she will carry the confidence and positive self-talk she learned at the summer academy into the new school year. The experience of being around other kids and adults of color, however, is what will stick with her most.

In Inyange’s words: “This place feels like a boost of gas.”

And while Saldaña has a great relationship with his mom, he found a new mentor at H.O.N.E.Y.: Hussein.

“If I had to talk about emotions to anybody here, it would be him,” Saldaña said. “It’s easier to talk to him.”