Since 1974, Labor's Community Service Agency, Inc., a partnership program of Labor & United Way of the Columbia-Willamette, has reached out to support working families and their communities through a mix of health and human services, community events, advocacy, education, referral, grant programs, and collaborative efforts.

Supportive Service Programs

HELPING HANDS TEMPORARY HARDSHIP ASSISTANCE

Helping Hands is our signature safety net program for working families unable to make ends meet due to temporary loss of income or hardship. Hundreds of qualified families receive help in paying rent or utilities during a layoff or company closure, medical emergency or other short-term hardship.

BOLI-ODOT APPRENTICE EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE

Since 2016, LCSA has facilitated emergency assistance to Oregon’s heavy highway apprentices. This retention program, funded by the Bureau of Oregon Labor & Industry and Oregon Department of Transportation, helps apprentices maintain stability during a hardship that threatens their ability to work or maintain their schooling. The BOLI-ODOT program serves heavy highway apprentices in the following trades: Painters, Cement Masons, Carpenters, Laborers, Operating Engineers, Electricians, and Ironworkers.

Rate payer Trades apprentice Retention Housing assistance

In partnership with Worksystems, Inc. and Prosper Portland, LCSA provides substantial rent assistance to early-term (0-2 years) apprentices from underrepresented backgrounds to help them remain in their apprenticeship and successfully enter the building trades workforce. This rent assistance program serves apprentices in the City of Portland pursuing entry into the following trades: Laborers, Operating Engineers, Carpenters, Cement Masons, Electricians, Plumbers, Flaggers, and Truck Drivers.