About Lorraine

Lorraine Kerwood
Founder and Executive Director of NextStep Recycling

Lorraine Kerwood, now 46, grew up in a family of 11 children. Money was always scarce, and so Lorraine started working at age 10 to help stretch things along. Because of this, as well as the fact that she was diagnosed as autistic and a labeled a special education child very early on, Lorraine never believed she could ever "be" anything important - or even that she could compete on an equal footing with other people.

To her surprise, when a friend prodded her into getting a college education she graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Oregon, with a bachelor's degree in Family and Community Services. With this she went to work as a Social Service Specialist in the Oregon Department of Child Welfare in 2000, out of a desire to help kids who were in situations similar to her own experiences.

Because of her own struggles, Lorraine has always been determined to do whatever she could to make life easier for other children than it was for her growing up. It was out of this desire NextStep (originally called MacRenewal) was born. Lorraine found she had a knack at fixing computers, and so she set about finding old ones, refurbishing them, and then gifting them to children and families who couldn't afford to buy them - many of them the people with whom she was working with at Child Welfare.

She quickly discovered that demand, and need, was very high. She moved her "hobby" from her own single car garage into her mother-in-law's double car garage - but quickly outgrew that space as well. She found some other folks in her community who were refurbishing computers but didn't have a way to place them out into the community. She bought the hobbyists and those who needed computers together. In 2004 she took a giant leap: she quit her job and moved her little enterprise into a real warehouse. One thing led to another, and today NextStep is a thriving community service organization with 20 employees, 21 volunteer staff, guidance of 14 Lane County Master Recyclers, and hundreds of volunteers.

As of the end of January 2007, NextStep Recycling had, with the help of hundreds of volunteers and community support, responsibly recycled more than 800 tons of electronic waste, and refurbished over 10,000 computers and other electronic devices - placing them with people who would not otherwise have access to this technology. NextStep volunteers and staff are truly making strides towards bridging the digital divide that keeps so many people under/unemployed, and others so isolated. NextStep Recycling is the only non-profit in Lane County providing this service. NextStep volunteers and staff have also repaired, rebuilt, and sold over 23,000 other electronics in the Reuse Store, providing even more people with low-cost technology and hobbyists with lots of gadgets.