Growing Lives - The Newsletter of Partnership to End Poverty

MYTHS ABOUT POVERTY - AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT THEM:

The old myths about poverty that have driven public policy simply don't apply in today's wildly vacillating economy. Those myths include such beliefs as:

1) Personal initiative always gets you in the door
2) Hard work always pays off
3) You can always pull yourself up by the bootstraps

As central to the American dream as these myths seem to be, these generalizations significantly oversimplify what it takes to move from poverty to economic self-sufficiency. 

In truth, there is no one way out of poverty. There are instead, multiple factors and systems that need to come together for someone to move out of low-wage status. Included in these multiple factors are education, workforce development and public policy. While many of our local and regional institutions play a significant role in impacting upward economic mobility, too often they operate in silos. Thus one of our primary goals here at the Partnership is to build ties between the participating organizations and institutions that will, in turn, benefit our workers and, by extension, our communities.

The Work/Life Academy - a partnership between ourselves, COIC and COCC - is a perfect example of poverty reduction through education. It is also a perfect example of a common thread that brings major participants in poverty-reduction together.

Note: We've recently added a "Navigator" aspect to the focused-on-education Work/Life Academy program, with the purpose of making it more holistic.
  
                Visit us at our website: www.partnershiptoendpoverty.org

VOLUNTEERS GALORE? WELL, MAYBE!       

The second annual 2008 High Desert Men's Summit will be held on Saturday, Sept. 13 at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds EXPO Center in Redmond. This year's Summit is the second such annual gathering of Christian men. The two-day event is, according to the organization's website: "partly inspired by Promise Keepers, partly inspired by the Central Oregon Festival and completely driven by the desire to encourage greater unity in the Christian community".

The keynote speaker for this year's event will be none other than former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. Mr. Huckabee, readers may recall, was a bona fide presidential candidate on the Republican ticket earlier this year. Other speakers include Ed McGlasson, James Ryle, Ryan Dobson and Dr. Ken Hutcherson.  Mr. Huckabee will also be playing a mean bass guitar with a local band at the Friday night concert.

Among the opportunities available during the course of the Summit will be the chance for the estimated 3,000 attendees to connect with, and/or volunteer for, various regional or community projects or non-profit organizations. Project Homeless Connect (PHC) has been designated as the lead non-profit partner of this year's Summit and will host a volunteer sign-up-booth during the event, providing the opportunity for PHC organizers to meet with the attendees.

The event's organizers are looking for additional non-profits to host volunteer tables.  This represents a great opportunity to attend a free family concert and an easy way for men to become involved in the community. For further information, please visit www.hdmsummit.org.

        SPEAKING OF PROJECT HOMELESS CONNECT...

Saturday, October 11, will mark the second annual Project Homeless Connect (PHC) event to be held at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds. PHC is a poster child for the concept of partnerships and volunteerism, and a record number of Central Oregon organizations, agencies, businesses and community volunteers will participate again this year. The Partnership To End Poverty is one of PHC's two lead sponsors, plus our Cindy Pasko is, for the second year in a row, one of its lead organizers.

Last year's PHC event included more than 500 volunteers and over 100 agencies and organizations offering their services to the region's homeless and low-income people. This year's version promises to be even larger, and $10,000 has been raised already to cover expenses related to the event.

If any interested organization, either for-profit or non-profit, have a related service to offer, please call 504-1389 and ask for Cindy.   Additionally, she  is seeking volunteers to help plan  and organize the event. For more information on PHC,  check out  www.centraloregonconnect.org.  

 

 EXPLORING POTENTIAL: A GREEN COLLAR WORKFORCE...

On July 24, The Partnership convened a meeting with representatives of businesses, economic development, higher education, and trade unions to discuss the potential for "skilling up" GED and ELL graduates into green collar jobs in Central Oregon. Thanks to Crook County becoming a renewable energy zone, the greening of the construction sector, the availability of woody biomass, biofuels, and geothermal wells, as well as the Governor's commitment to fund work in renewable energy, it has been predicted that more green collar jobs will become available over the next 3-5 years.

The meeting was facilitated by our Wendy Schechter and was informative and helpful to all concerned, although the conclusion was that large scale job creation in the area of green manufacturing, or green construction, may take a while. It was also concluded that people recently completing their GED test and workforce English will need to "skill up" to obtain family wage jobs, whether they be in Green Collar jobs or not. The Action Item that came from the meeting? To explore training the Work/Life Academy's Navigator Program participants to be energy auditors, and to become proficient at retrofitting existing low-income housing for greater energy efficiency.

WHEN IN DOUBT - COMMUNICATE...                            

On July 23, the Partnership's Wendy Schechter also convened a meeting with representatives of Volunteers in Medicine, Mosaic Medical (formerly Ochoco Health System), the La Pine Community Clinic, Cascade Healthcare Community, Cascades East Area Health Education Center and the Office of Rural Health, OHSU. The meeting was the second in a series that began several months ago, a series whose mission has been to 1) share best practices of low-income health providers and 2) solve generic problems.

This particular meeting focused on the need in Central Oregon to attract Family Practice physicians with an obstetrics specialty (FP/OBs) to work for Mosaic Medical and La Pine Community Clinic and to volunteer for VIM (Volunteers in Medicine).

As background, the pool from which to recruit FP/OBs is limited, and the interest of those qualified to practice in small rural communities without veteran FP/OB's nearby is also limited. To make matters worse, the cost of recruiting candidates and their families from out-of-state is also quite expensive, especially if the candidate changes his/her minds at the last minute. Finally, licensing, especially for out-of-state physicians is complex, laborious, and extremely lengthy. (Such issues also affect our ability to recruit other interested physicians from out of the area.)

Five Action Items resulted, including an agreement that attendees would work together on physician recruitment efforts. The group will meet again in September to report on actions taken and to discuss updated topics.

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS...

The good news is that Oregon ranks #2 in the nation as far as households who have bank accounts and #7 in the percentage of small business ownership. The bad news, however, is that our households rank #34 in asset poverty - a measure of the percentage of households with enough savings to subsist above the poverty level for three months if income came to a screeching halt. Evidence shows that through asset-development training and incentives, even for the lowest income Americans, they are able to break this asset poverty cycle and begin saving and planning for a better future.

The Partnership has one staff member, Sarah Holtzclaw, whose primary goal is to increase the value of assets for our region's low-income residents. And just what is "asset development" you ask? Click on the link to find out. 

TRAINING. (CAN YOU EVER GET ENOUGH?)   

The Partnership's Director of Asset Development, Sarah Holtzclaw, has been invited to attend a two-day Tax Credit Outreach training seminar in Washington D.C. this September, sponsored by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). She'll be one of 20 trainees from around the country to participate in an intensive two-day seminar, designed to prepare her to organize and conduct outreach training sessions in Central Oregon's communities. The seminar will cover basic Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) eligibility and filing rules, how to link workers with free tax filing assistance and how to launch effective outreach campaign activities.

The CBPP will provide a $1,500 honorarium per training session, as well as pick up travel expenses. (How could we pass up a deal like that?) According to CBPP, typical tax credit outreach training brings together  representatives from 25 to 40 local organizations, government agencies, businesses and others with connections to families and individuals likely to qualify for the credits. The goal is to enlist new partners in becoming actively involved in tax credit outreach activities. 

WHO WE ARE, WHAT WE DO AND HOW WE DO IT.

A friend asked our Executive Director, Jim Schell, what The Partnership's role was in the overall picture of the Central Oregon non-profit community. Unhappy with his response to the question, Jim gathered our staff together for an off-site meeting to discuss that very subject. The result was our "Position Statement" which can be read by clicking on  Mission.

The best line of all however, came from an ED friend of Jim's who was asked what, in her perception, was the difference between The Partnership and the rest of the region's non-profit, poverty-related organizations. "That's easy," the ED quickly responded. "We treat the symptoms, you treat the causes."

 INTERESTED IN WORKFORCE ISSUES? FOLLOW THIS LINK...

Soaring dropout rates among high school students and diminished literacy skills among adults are contributing to an increasingly ill-prepared U.S. labor force and pose a serious threat to the nation's economic future, a new report reveals. This fact incidentally, is the number one reason behind our Work/Life Academy partnership with COCC and COIC.

For access to the above mentioned report, follow this link: www.nationalcommissiononadultliteracy.org. 

AN INVENTORY OF OUR INITIATIVES AND PROGRAMS:

Here's the updated roster of the programs we're working on, with a brief explanation of what each project/program does, as well as the person accountable for making it happen. Feel free to give our staff member a call if you'd like more information or would care to get involved: 

  • Opportunity Cars for Work: Affordable cars and loans for low  income      people in     Prineville. To date? 14 cars placed, 12 cars repaired. (Wendy) 
  • Earned Income Tax Credits: Tax refunds for low income families. (Sarah) 
  • Individual Development Accounts: Matched savings program for low-income adults (IDAs) and youth. (Sarah) 
  • Project Homeless Connect: One-on-one matching of low income people with regional social services. Oct. 11 event. (Cindy) 
  • Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness: A long range, systemic-change plan to reduce homelessness in Central Oregon. (Cindy) 
  • CDFI - Warm Springs: Banking services for low income people, 
    including revolving loans. Waiting for federal approval (Karen) 
  • Work/Life Academy: GED and ESL classes, including a Navigator 
    for mentoring & coaching. (Wendy) 
  • Rural Business Services: Entrepreneurial training for rural small business owners. (Wendy) 
  • Mosaic Medical: Health care for low-income families. Used to be 
    Ochoco Clinic, PEP facilitated rebranding. (Wendy) 
  • Health Matters: Regional and affordable health initiatives. (Wendy)
  • 2-1-1: 1) Quick and easy access to regional social services and 2) disaster management. Startup scheduled for Jan. 1, 2009 (Jim)
  • Manufactured Home Project: Helping residents form a cooperative and purchase the land on which their home rests. Change of ownership scheduled for Jan. 2009 (Jim) 
  • YMCA/Boys & Girls Club: A child-care solution designed to partner with an affordable housing project. Working with Housing Works (Jim) 
  • Regional Transportation: A partnership with COIC and ODOT: Designed to provide inter-community transport, with our focus being on low-income riders. (Wendy)    

OUR LATEST (AND GREATEST) NEW PARTNERS: 

    Partner /Program 

    • CASA of Oregon: Manufactured Home Conversion
    • N.W. Cooperative Development Corp.:  Manufactured Home Conversion
    • Housing Works:  Manufactured Home Conversion, Asset Building Coalition
    • COIC:  Navigator for Work/Life Academy
    • Neighbor Impact: Asset Building Coalition
    • Education Service District: Work/Life Academy
    • EDCO: Work/Life Academy

 

...Stay tuned. We'll be back again, two months from now.


Jim, Karen, Wendy, Cindy, Sarah, Bev, and Dana


 


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The Reason We Exist:
Central Oregon may be the fastest growing region in the state, but that growth comes at a price and that price doesn't always benefit everyone involved. Here is benchmark proof that growth isn't necessarily good for everyone:

  • All three C.O. counties are below the state's average payroll.
  • All three C.O. counties are above the state's average for unemployment
  • All three C.O. counties are below the state's average in per capita income

The percentage of our county's citizens who live under Federal poverty level include:

Deschutes: 10%
Crook: 12%
Jefferson: 14%

Just exactly what is poverty, you ask? In our mind, poverty is the lack of resources to adequately provide for your - or your family's - security, health and well being.

In the federal government's mind however, poverty is a number, somewhere in the neighborhood of $21,000 for a family of four. A number incidentally, that has long since needed updating and that, we believe, is far, far too low, especially given today's soaring food and gasoline prices.

Imagine, as the figures cited above indicate, more than one out of every ten Central Oregonians live within the federal government's understated definition of poverty! It doesn't have to be that way and it's our job to see that those percentages take a dive.

Poverty is a region-wide problem and not one that only those of us in the non-profit world should be concerned with. Poverty impacts everyone and we ask our friends from the private, public and faith-based sectors to join in and help us do something about it. We'll define ways that you can actively get involved in later Newsletters, but for now give us a call if you see an initiative that we're working on, one that you believe you could help us achieve.
Visit us at our website: www.partnershiptoendpoverty.org

CO 2-1-1 Team Takes Shape:

(Alert Growing Lives readers will recall from April's newsletter a discussion of CO 2-1-1.)

2-1-1 is a nationally recognized, easy-to-remember, three-digit dialing code for accessing community information and referral. (Think 9-1-1 for crisis response.) CO 2-1-1 will be Central Oregon's version of the nationwide program. (75% of Americans have access to 2-1-1, Central Oregon is among the 25% that doesn't.)

Towards that end, the CO 2-1-1 team and the timeline for startup have crystallized and the project's three core partners have been announced. Those three core partners are: United Way, Family Resource Center and the Partnership to End Poverty.

The CO 2-1-1 start-up team features a "Steering Committee", whose role is to guide the startup of the fledgling organization. The Steering Committee includes a wide range of regional organizations and agencies in addition to the three core partners listed above. These additional partners include; Neighbor Impact, the three Commissions on Children and Families, the Warm Springs Tribe, the Department of Human Services, the Council on Aging, the Deschutes County Library and retiree Kent Franklin, our designated CFO.

Once up and running, CO 2-1-1 will offer Central Oregonians two distinct services:

1) An available-to-the-public telephone link to the health and human service providers of Central Oregon through a 2-1-1 call center. (2-1-1 not only serves as a mechanism for "getting help", it also provides a medium for citizens for "giving help", in the form of donations or volunteerism.)

2) Connectivity for region-wide emergency/disaster management services and homeland security response systems. (2-1-1 was the communication vehicle of choice for both New Orlean's Katrina hurricane and the San Diego wildfires.)

Current plans call for a January 1, 2009 rollout of CO 2-1-1. Stay tuned, there's a lot more exciting news on this topic to come!

Warm Springs - Digital Inclusion

Earlier this year several of our staff members met with a representative of One Economy Corporation (a non-profit technology provider), to discuss potential projects our two organizations could partner on. We quickly settled on a pilot project for Warm Springs, a community that had, in years previous, talked to One Economy but to no avail.

As a result of that meeting - and thanks to Clint Jacks and Lonnie James of the Warm Springs Community Action Team - a number of subsequent meetings and/or teleconferences took place. Finally, on the 30th day of May, an agreement was reached between Warm Springs and One Economy. That agreement is, in part:

"One Economy will establish a technology pilot project in Warm Springs to include hot zones allowing free public access to the internet, a youth technology leadership program and online resources to improve the economic opportunities for tribal members. Warm Springs meanwhile, will provide matched resources to coordinate the Digital Connector's program and pay the youth a stipend/incentive, provide a wireless hot zone with free internet access, manage and maintain the network, facilitate the meetings with community leaders, and assist with general pilot supervision."

One Economy Corporation is a global nonprofit organization with a mission to help low-income people maximize the power and potential of technology to improve their lives and join the economic mainstream. One Economy uses technology to augment and enhance existing systems and community development activities in order to better support the needs and potential of low-income people. They believe that by using the Internet innovatively and by partnering with local nonprofit organizations who are already serving low-income people, they can break down the barriers caused by the social and economic isolation of poverty.

The Partnership was the "convener" in this digital inclusion project; i.e. we assumed the initial leadership role in order to assemble the partners and craft an agreement. Such a transaction typifies our strategy of utilizing the leverage of partnerships in order to get the job done.

We welcome our friends from One Economy as a first time partner.

Matching Students to Jobs

The fastest growing field for jobs in our region is Health Occupations - and the gaps in supply are not getting filled. Toward that end, schools in our region have been implementing Health Occupations classes in the various high schools to stimulate interest by students in taking math and science and preparing for health occupation's training programs after graduation.

As part of our Work/School initiative, we partnered with Culver High School - whose students are largely children of agricultural workers (70% on free and reduced lunch program) in presenting Health Occupation classes in their school. This email from Sal Cassaro of ESD explains the importance of such a program:

"We had four separate agencies working together to help create opportunities for kids. This exemplifies true partnership with community. Thank you St Charles/Cascades East AHEC (Jennifer Valentine and Shannon Ryan) and Partnership to End Poverty (Wendy Schechter) for providing the financial support necessary to get the Culver Health Occupations Program started. Health Occupation programs are currently operating in other schools around our region however I think we would all agree this program will have special meaning for the students of Culver High School. It will bring to light high skill, high wage, and high demand career opportunities to students that would have had limited exposure to without this class."

Way To Go, Wendy!

The Aspen Institute National Sector Skills Academy has selected Wendy Schechter, our Director of Workforce and Healthcare, as one of their class of 20 fellows for 2008. Wendy's participation will be not only the first rural participant in their history but only the second Oregon participant in its four year history. How cool is that! The Partnership applied for this grant because of our work with Central Oregon Community College, Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council, a number of businesses and several other participants in the Central Oregon Work/Life Academy. The Sector Skills Academy, a nationwide project of the Aspen Institute, will draw upon the experiences of leading "sectoral practitioners", i.e. professionals who have direct knowledge of a wide range of approaches to effect change that will benefit low-income workers.

Projects using the "sectoral employment approach" attempt to prepare workers by developing a deep understanding of important industries in their region and then working with area employers to create training and other services that both support the industries' competitiveness and connect workers to good-paying jobs. These sector projects can focus on jobs in a variety of industries, including health care, information technology, construction and manufacturing.

The Sector Skills Academy began in 2005 with support from the National Network of Sector Partners and with funding from Charles Stewart Mott. The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit created to foster enlightened leadership and the appreciation of timeless ideas.

A Meeting of the Minds

In June, Wendy Schechter facilitated a meeting of Health Matters, Volunteers in Medicine and Ochoco Health Systems. The purpose was to identify, and begin generating, resolutions to the problems that were endemic to the three organizations.
From the meeting came a list of health-related issues that affect low income families (our clients) the most;

The highest priority: The need for more primary care physicians in the region, especially for VIM and Ochoco Health System.
The need for a community-wide approach for referral to specialists, and back to the Primary Care provider (i.e. the need for a brokerage service)
The need for more mental health services for those in poverty
The need for more acute care dental services
The need for Pharmacy coverage (Patient Assistance Program)

Wendy will facilitate a follow-up meeting, which will include the two Health Clinics and the Physician Recruiter from St Charles, and representatives from the Cascades East Area Health Education Center, The Office of Rural Health, and the Oregon Medical Board. Also Karen Pringle, our Director of Development, will do the research necessary to determine if there are grants available to support low income/free clinics in recruiting physicians for rural areas.

Welcome Bruce Petersen:

We're proud to announce that Bruce Petersen is our first Work/Life Academy Navigator. For those recently-arrived readers of this newsletter, the Work/Life Academy is a joint project between ourselves, COIC and COCC and is designed to help Central Oregon's low income citizens 1) earn their GED degree and 2) have an opportunity to take ELL (English Language Learning) classes. As is consistent with the title of the Navigator position, Bruce's role will be to help "navigate" Work/Life Academy attendees from graduation on through the next stage of their life.

Following Bruce's orientation with COIC, we will be orienting him about The Partnership, our Initiatives, and how his role integrates with our mission. Bruce and his family live in Bend, he is a native of Monmouth, Oregon, and has a BS in Business and Computer Science from Oregon State and an MBA from the University of Vermont. He most recently was the Affiliate Tithe Director for Habitat for Humanity International for 10 years. Before that, he was the Services Controller for Microsoft. Like so many of us, Bruce is attracted to this work because he is drawn to our mission and to the opportunity to serve our community. We look forward to reporting his results to you soon.

Piling It On: Recognition for Cindy Pasko

The word is out that our Cindy Pasko is making a humongous difference within our region, especially working with homeless-related issues. Consider the following highlights:

  • Cindy was recently named as the Central Oregon representative to the Governor's Ending Homelessness Advisory Council.
  • Cindy received the Network of Entrepreneurial Women's 2008 Leadership in Action Award for her leadership in service projects that support community resources to stop poverty.
  • Cindy is co-chair of the Homeless Leadership Council, and has made a number of guest radio and TV appearances in the Council's behalf in the past six months.

Not that we're surprised by all of this recognition, mind you. We've known all along, despite the fact that Cindy has only been with us for eight months, that girl rocks!

The Reason Homelessness Is Important:

Did you know that we have one full-time person on our staff dedicated entirely to homelessness? Her name (see above) is Cindy Pasko and if you're wondering why we choose to place such a heavy emphasis on this problem, try the following paragraph on for size:

"The Central Oregon 2008 Homeless Count was conducted on January 31, 2008, in 15 inches of snow and freezing temperatures. Many roads were impassible because of the deep snow and ice. In spite of that, The Homeless Leadership Council and over 100 volunteers counted 1736 people who were homeless. Of that number, 749 were children. That is a 29% increase in homelessness since 2006. We believe that the actual homeless count is two to three times this total number."

Can you believe that? 749 children who do not have their own bed to go to sleep in at night. Try and imagine your own kids huddling, shivering, trying to stay warm while their stomachs are growling because they didn't have enough to eat.

Which then, is the reason why our organization cares so deeply about making an impact on the degree of homelessness. Which is also why we will continue to care until homelessness is no longer a thorn in our region's collective sides.

Another Big Win for Warm Springs


Just as this newsletter was about to go to press, we received word that Warm Springs received from the U.S Treasury a grant of $122,561 to provide technical assistance for their CDFI. A CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution) is a community lending organization and the U.S. Treasury grant supports those proposing to start such an organization. The grant was applied for by Lonnie James, Executive Director of the Warm Springs Community Action Team.

We are a frequent partner of Lonnie's and his Warm Springs Community Action Team. We assisted in developing the grant and will be playing a subsequent role in funding the CDFI's Revolving Loan program.

More on this subject as details become available.

Saving the Neighborhood: A Manufactured-Home Park Is About To Be Purchased by Its Residents.

In the first such venture in Central Oregon, four non-profit organizations are partnering to save a Redmond mobile home from having its land sold out from underneath its residents. The process of making this happen includes a transaction whereby the residents form a "cooperative" and purchase the land themselves. Such a venture, when concluded, will be a first for an Oregon community east of the Cascades.

Six months ago The Partnership learned that the two Humane Societies (Bend and Redmond) owned a Redmond-based manufactured home park and was interested in divesting itself of that ownership. After several meetings with representatives of the boards of the two organizations, we were challenged to find an alternative to selling the park to someone who might not have the long-term, good fortune of the residents in mind.

Fast forward to today. We are now partnering with CASA of Oregon (the Newberg, Oregon folks who make manufacturing home park financing happen), the Northwest Cooperative Assn., (the Olympia, Washington folks who organize the park's residents) and Housing Works (the Redmond, Oregon folks who are providing technical real estate advice.)

Following several meetings with the four partners and the park's homeowners, the residents have now elected a Board of Directors and are speeding things along on the road to resolving the legal issues involved in the transfer of ownership from the two Humane Societies to the newly-formed cooperative. (In case you're wondering, there are 51 units in the park, and its CCRs limit its resident-members to people over age 55.)

Once this transaction has been successfully completed, our goal is to host an Exit Strategy seminar for Central Oregon's 72 mobile home park owners. The seminar would point out the benefits of selling their properties to current residents and outline a path for such a transaction to take place,

We'll keep you posted as this transaction moves forward to fruition.

...Our Latest (and Greatest) New Partners:

            Partner/Program
Bank of the Cascades: IDAs
Community First Bank: IDAs
United Way: 2-1-1
Family Resource Center: 2-1-1
St. Charles/Cascades East AHEC: Culver Health Occupation
One Economy: Warm Springs digital inclusion.

...Stay tuned. We'll be back again, two months from now.
In the meantime, if any of our projects touch a chord with you, feel free to give us a call. We'll share what we have in common and look for ways to work together to reduce poverty in Central Oregon.

Jim, Karen, Wendy, Cindy, Sarah, Bev, and Dana

 
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