According to the CDC, Type 1 diabetes effects approximately 22 out of every 100,000 children ages 0-14. It is an auto-immune disease that requires a life-long dependence on insulin and has a significant impact on a person’s daily life. In Douglas County, those numbers look very similar, if not a bit higher. According to Douglas Education Service District (ESD) nurses who oversee the complex care for students with Type 1 diabetes while in the classroom, we currently have over 60 families locally whose children are living with this disease.

With such a complex condition, supporting both families and children requires extensive resources that, until now, have been missing in our community. In January 2018, Mercy Foundation, Mercy Medical Center, Cow Creek Health and Wellness Center and ESD school nurses started collaborating to find a way to provide local support and services for these families. By late 2018, the very first gathering was held at the Cow Creek Health and Wellness Center in Roseburg. By partnering with Cow Creek, Evergreen and others in the community, a support system has been pulled together to serve both the needs of parents and their children with Type 1 diabetes.  Now local families are able to meet monthly with other families facing similar challenges and learn together.