REGION
SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 2022
THE OBSERVER — A3
Hermiston’s ‘Snow White’ leads full life
helps watch over the deci-
sions of that organization,
which is a personal matter
to her because her daughter
receives assistance from it.
Four EOSSB personal
service workers supervise
Jilli Smalley on activities,
including her regular walks
and her employment.
Jilli Smalley
doesn’t let autism,
seizure disorder
slow her down
By ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Herald
HERMISTON — Jilli
Smalley is open about her
abilities. The 31-year-old
Hermiston resident smiled
broadly prior to a recent
exercise session, and she
boasted of her ability to
make friends.
“Even Grumpy likes
Snow White,” Jilli Smalley
said.
Her mother, Kristi
Smalley, explained that her
daughter, who lives with
autism and a seizure dis-
order, loves Disney and often
communicates with refer-
ences to Disney movies. She
will refer to herself as Snow
White, though she some-
times calls herself Doc or
Sleepy, depending on the
situation.
Speaking in a sopra-
no-like, melodious tone, the
younger Smalley indeed
sounds a bit like Snow White
of the Disney movie. Also
like the young princess, she
is warm and draws people
near her. At the exercise ses-
sion, a gathering of people
at The Arc Umatilla County,
she met with several other
Zumba practitioners. Before
rushing over to join the
Zumba crowd, she talked
about her life.
The fi rst thing she men-
tioned was her work at Pizza
Hut, employment that she
said she enjoys. She works
as a dishwasher four nights a
week, 3.5 hours per shift.
“I wash dishes and mess
Helping people live
regular lives
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
Jilli Smalley poses March 30, 2022, with tiny fi gurines that she fashioned herself.
around,” she said.
She added she likes the
people there, and she some-
times makes sugar cookies
for them.
Over at the pizza place,
her coworkers stated their
profound aff ection for the
woman. Manager Dave
Beaty said she is a great
asset to his team.
“The mood around here
is diff erent when she is not
here,” he said. When she is
present, the atmosphere is
bright. When she is gone,
less so.
In addition, he said, she is
a hard worker. In contrast to
some other employees, she
approaches each task with
single-minded focus.
“She’s a highly-valued
employee, because she loves
repetitive work, so she’s per-
fect,” her mother said.
A fellow employee, Kim-
berly Parker, attested to Jilli
Smalley’s drive.
“She is a bulldog in the
dishwashing pit,” Parker
said. She added that Smalley
will spray people with water
on occasion when they get in
her way.
Michele Kietzke,
Smalley’s job coach at the
Eastern Oregon Service Sup-
port Brokerage, said it is not
all fun and games. There
are times when Smalley will
lose muscle control, suc-
cumbing to her seizure dis-
order. This trouble can last
20 minutes. While tempo-
rary, Kietzke said, it does
necessitate the presence of a
trained professional.
A day in the life of
Jilli Smalley
Even aside from her dish-
washing job, Smalley leads
a busy life. She said she
wakes up at 5:20 a.m. and
eats breakfast, packs her
lunch and readies for the
day. She goes to Trendsi-
tions Inc., an organization
that teaches job skills to
people with disabilities.
Shredding documents,
she said, is among her
favorite activities there.
After Trendsitions, she
will run errands, then she
will meet with friends
for games before going to
work. On good days, she
said, she will be able to
attend Zumba classes.
“I love Zumba,” Smalley
said, adding it’s fun because
it lets her “shake the body.”
Other favorite activities
include swimming, bowling
and walking. If she has
time, she will do crafts.
After work and activities,
she returns home and gets
ready for bed. Bedtime is
8:20 p.m., she said.
Kristi Smalley said she
and her husband accompany
their daughter on many of
these activities, as the young
woman would not be able to
do these things on her own.
Also, she gets help from
the Eastern Oregon Service
Support Brokerage, which
has been helping people like
Jilli Smalley for 20 years.
At the age of 18, Jilli
Smalley was able to enter
the brokerage. Three years
later, after she gradu-
ated from high school, the
EOSSB stepped up its assis-
tance to her, helping her
lead an adult life, Kristi
Smalley said.
Kristi Smalley is on
a board that oversees the
EOSSB. As such, she
Laura Noppenberger,
executive director, and
Kristi Avery, Umatilla
County lead personal agent,
said Eastern Oregon Service
Support Brokerage exists to
help people with intellectual
disabilities who are 18 and
older. They receive assis-
tance in their own homes
and communities.
“We advocate for ser-
vices and resources for
those people we serve,”
Avery said. “We help people
live better, more positive
lives. It’s interesting, and
there’s something new every
day. And the people we help
are great.”
Noppenberger said she
has worked for the EOSSB
since it began two decades
ago. Among the many
things she had done for
others, Noppenberger said
helping a person obtain a
ramp for her home was one
of the most satisfying.
Avery said she has sup-
ported many people during
the 20 years she has been
with the organization,
including helping one Mil-
ton-Freewater resident move
out of her parent’s home and
into her own place.
People, they said, can
receive a wide range of
assistance. A helper may,
for example, go to a person’s
home to set up medication,
aid in laundry, create meal
plans or go to the store.
EOSSB helpers also may
assist with employment,
as with Jilli Smalley, they
stated.
“A lot of the people we
serve have jobs in the com-
munity, so they might need
support with getting to
work, staying on task, being
dressed appropriately for the
job, getting ready to go and
being successful,” Noppen-
berger said.
“We help them work if
they want to work,” Avery
added. “They learn how
to handle money, work on
being healthier and navigate
health matters. And if they
want to travel, see things or
do activities, we help with
all of that.”
Noppenberger said that
the EOSSB is one of 14 bro-
kerages in Oregon, paid for
with state tax dollars and
federal funds. It currently
serves more than 450 people
in the counties of Hood
River, Wasco, Sherman Gil-
liam, Wheeler, Morrow,
Umatilla, Grant, Harney,
Union, Baker, Wallowa and
Malheur.
The organization has
30 staff members, who
are mostly based in their
homes, near the people they
serve. The EOSSB’s one
offi ce is in Hood River. As
EOSSB employees live near
the people they serve, they
said, they are better able to
assess their needs and sup-
port them.
Each client’s plan, Nop-
penberger and Avery said,
is tailored to meet their spe-
cifi c needs.
“Essentially, we’re nav-
igators, cheerleaders,”
Noipenberger said, “helping
to connect people with the
resources in their commu-
nity to be successful.”
BMCC plans deep cuts to faculty in new budget
Program, position cuts aimed to help
shore up $2M shortfall in 2022-23 budget
tain Faculty Association, the
union that represents the col-
lege’s instructors.
PENDLETON — After
Union President Pete Her-
warning about impending
nberg described the list of
budget cuts for months, the
proposed cuts as “extraor-
other shoe has dropped at
dinary and shocking” and
Blue Mountain Community
raises questions about the
College.
college’s commitment to the
At an April 25 budget
community.
committee meeting, BMCC
“These cuts are
administration will propose
shocking,” he said. “They
shuttering three programs
are arbitrary. And they are
and eliminating 10
unnecessary.”
full-time faculty
Hernberg ques-
positions in addition
tioned why BMCC
to several part-time
administration wanted
positions. Should
to cut the college’s
the BMCC Board of
criminal justice pro-
Education approve
gram at a time when
the move, the col-
law enforcement was
Browning
lege would lose its
trying to recruit skilled
criminal justice, college prep personnel. He added that
and industrial systems tech-
eliminating the industrial
nology programs while also
systems technology depart-
dropping instructors from its ment represented a “broken
business, English, human-
promise” to Boardman,
ities/fi ne arts, math/computer which would still have its
science, science and social
Workforce Training Center
science departments.
but not one of the signature
Blue Mountain Presi-
programs the center houses.
dent Mark Browning said
Browning was prepared
the budget cuts need to be
to defend his administra-
made to help close a $2 mil-
tion’s choices.
lion shortfall in the 2022-23
He said a degree from
budget.
the college’s criminal justice
“We have to start living
program isn’t a requirement
within our means,” he said.
to enter the law enforcement
“That’s the bottom line.”
fi eld, and while he admitted
The news was not well
the industrial systems tech-
received by the Blue Moun-
nology had been a “good
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Thank You
Our family has been blessed
and humbled by the many acts
of kindness shown us since the
loss of our husband, dad and
grandpa. We extend our sincere
thanks to those who offered
love, sympathy and support in
so many ways. A special thanks
to Teresa, Terry, Trena and the
Chief Joseph Days Rodeo Board
of Directors. Thanks also to the
Joseph Quick Responders,
the EMTs, Bollman Funeral
Home and Loveland
Funeral Home.
The Holbrook
Family
idea” when it was started, the
program’s low enrollment
meant it can be replaced in
Boardman by the higher-de-
mand diesel tech program.
Browning turned his
focus to the English pro-
gram, which would lose one
of its instructors under the
administration’s proposal.
He said the department’s
four-person staff is the same
size as it was a decade ago,
even though enrollment has
shrunk 65% over the past 11
years.
BMCC, and other com-
munity colleges across the
state, have seen signifi cant
enrollment declines in recent
years, and Blue Mountain
staff are starting to see the
eff ects of that trend.
Since 2019, the college
has reduced its workforce by
39 positions, albeit under dif-
ferent presidents. Those fi g-
ures don’t include additional
staffi ng cuts made when
Blue Mountain was forced
to renegotiate its prison edu-
cation contract with the
Oregon Department of Cor-
rections during that time
period.
This round of proposed
cuts diff ers from previous
years because it mostly
focuses on making cuts
to faculty. With previous
staff reductions focused on
administration or classifi ed
staff , Browning said there
was little room to cut in
those areas.
But Hernberg argued
that BMCC was using
its budget to deprioritize
instruction and program-
ming in favor of contracts
with consultants and tech
companies.
“What our community
needs is jobs and training for
those jobs,” he said. “What
our community needs are
degrees and classes toward
those degrees. That’s the
promise that our taxpayers
expect us to keep. They don’t
expect us to hire some con-
sulting fi rm. They don’t
expect us to send a giant
chunk of cash to some tech
company.”
Browning contested Her-
nberg’s interpretation of the
proposed budget, saying they
were one-time investments
in improving the college’s
website and conducting a
review of Blue Mountain’s
programs, moves that will
better position the college for
the future.
At a time when BMCC
is facing increasing com-
petition from nearby com-
munity colleges in Wash-
ington and trade schools,
Browning said the staffi ng
cuts could actually help
with recruitment.
“We’re not actually
off ering fewer classes,” he
said. “We’re having fewer
people off er the classes that
we do currently have, and
we’ll be off ering new and
diff erent approaches to some
of the outcomes so that (stu-
dents are) better employable
upon completion. The asser-
tion that we’re off ering fewer
classes is simply not borne
out in the data.”
While BMCC is holding
fi rm on its cuts, the faculty
union is not treating them
as a settled issue. Hern-
berg said the union plans to
explore its legal options and
is also planning a “vigorous”
public campaign to convince
the college to reconsider its
plans.
“We believe that there is
a sacred trust between this
community, these educators
and our students, and we’re
going to do everything we
can to protect that,” he said.