20 Years of
Empowering Girls
Ophelia’s Place 2005-2025
Twenty years ago, girls navigated many joys and challenges of growing up – friendships, relationships, puberty, body image, and so much more. Insight from the founder of Ophelia’s Place and community members who had deep resolve to support girls and women sparked a mission - to provide growth-focused education and support so girls can navigate a complex world with resilience and empowerment.
The need to have a safe, inspiring, welcoming space to call their own is as needed now as ever. Here’s the exciting part - as girls grow, OP grows with them. What they need most today might not be the same tomorrow. OP provides the kind of support that will mean the most to girls at that moment and make lasting impacts that they’ll take with them as they grow.
Ophelia’s Place is thrilled to honor the last 20 years of its community. And OP is ready to follow girls' leads into the next 20 years. Come with us.
Ways to Celebrate OP’s 20th
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![OP Trivia Night]()
OP Trivia Night
February 28 | Eugene
Test your trivia mettle while supporting girls ages 10-18.
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![OP Community Hopscotch]()
OP Community Hopscotch
All Year Long
Visit OP’s community members and partners for your chance to win prizes (and support girls too)
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![20th Girls Activities]()
Girl Activities for the 20th
All Year Long | Albany & Eugene
Girls and youth have 20 opportunities to celebrate OP’s 20th Anniversary. Fun all year long.
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![Albany Open House]()
Albany Open House
Spring | Albany
Join us for a community event in OP’s newest space in Downtown Albany.
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![Join the OP Society]()
Join the OP Society
All Year Long | Lane & Linn counties and beyond
Join the OP community to support the next 20 years of empowering girls
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![OP Gala 2025]()
OP Gala 2025
October 29, 2025 | Eugene
20 years culminating into one night of celebration, fundraising, and community.
OP Impact Stories
Meet former OP girls and youth who have grown into
today’s empowered adults.
Linde S.
OP & WACY Participant 2020-22
“Throughout high school, I volunteered at Ophelia's Place, working with the organization's Women's Advisory Council for Youth (WACY). My time spent at Ophelia's Place was peculiar because it was amidst the chaos that was COVID. Going into my volunteer position, I was a bit sceptical as to what working with a large organization entirely online would look like. However, the Ophelia's Place staff along with the other WACY volunteers could not have made my unorthodox time with the organization any more enjoyable. Volunteering with WACY online, I learned to appreciate unconventional forms of community, as it is often in unusual situations that one finds their greatest systems of support. Still today, long after my time volunteering for this wonderful organization, I take with me an attitude of embracing atypical forms of community wherever they may present themselves.”
Do you have a favorite OP memory? Share it with the Ophelia’s Place Community!
OP Memories
We’ve built so many memories the last 20 years. Do you have a favorite OP memory? Share it with us and the OP Community.
OP Youth, 2012
OP Youth, 2013
2018
2016
Painting a photo of OP Founder Rosaria Haugland 2015
Rosaria Haugland teaching a pasta-making class, 2016
1st Regenerate Retreat for community-serving professionals, 2023
Doctor Who party, 2012
Albany Girls, 2024
Rosaria & Dottie Chase at an OP Gems fundraising event
OP Board Members Fatemeh Fakhraie and Claudia Liontos, 2023
Albany Grand Opening 2022
Junction City Drop-In, 2023
GirlCon 2024
Ophelia’s Place Community Spotlight
“I’ve been a Child Welfare caseworker for the past 17 years and I work primarily with teens. For the youth I work with, it can feel like they have no control over their lives and that adults make all their decisions for them. Feeling empowered is not something youth in the Child Welfare system just innately feel.
Having at least one supportive, encouraging, affirming person in a child’s life can make a huge difference. That’s the caseworker I try to be. I want the girls I work with to know they have a voice and it will be heard. They have the right to tell the adults what they want for their own lives.
Girls in the foster care system can get lost so we need to make sure they know we see them and we are here to support them. They need to know with their voice and actions they can be part of changing a system that doesn’t make youth feel empowered or seen or listened to. Girls empowerment should be important to everyone but that’s not always the case. So I’m so glad we have Ophelia’s Place to help caseworkers like me show our girls that they matter, they have power, they are allowed to speak up for themselves, and we are here to support them. “