Imagine spending decades working hard and caring for others — only to find yourself, in your fifties, sixties, seventies, or eighties, forced to choose between paying the rent, buying groceries, or filling your prescription. This is the reality for far too many older adults in Oregon.
For seniors living on fixed incomes, a single unexpected expense — a medical bill, a rent increase — can push them to the edge of homelessness. Many want and need to keep working just to make ends meet. But finding work after 55 isn’t easy. Some haven’t updated a resume in decades. Others lack computer skills or the confidence to apply. Age discrimination is real, and it leaves our elders feeling invisible and defeated.
What We Do:
We believe that no one should have to choose between eating dinner and paying for heat — especially after a lifetime of giving so much. That’s why we help older adults reenter the workforce with the training, support, and encouragement they need.
Through job coaching, paid on-the-job training, and connections with local employers, we help seniors regain their confidence, build skills that matter today, and find meaningful work that keeps them housed, healthy, and hopeful.
Because growing older shouldn’t mean growing poorer — and no one should have to face these struggles alone.
We secure partnerships with nonprofits and government agencies that agree to host our senior participants in job-training internships. These internships offer seniors the opportunity to gain resume-building skills, references, and renewed confidence to reenter the workforce. The seniors receive urgently needed income (provided by ESO for every hour they serve as interns) as well as the professional support they need to secure unsubsidized employment and improved financial security.
