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Columbia Gorge News
Wednesday, April 21, 2021
The Next Door announces
Volunteers of the Year:
Tina Castañares and Paul Woolery
The Next Door has announced its 2020
Volunteers of the Year: Tina Castañares and
Paul Woolery of Odell.
Castañares’ and Woolery’s connections
with The Next Door span decades. When
Woolery was starting out as a therapist in the
early 1990s, he served as a family therapist
for the organization’s founding program, the
Klahre House, a program that’s still serving
young people today.
“I met with the staff and youth and was
immediately impressed with the level of care
and service provided,” said Woolery.
Not long after, Castañares, then a
www.columbiagorgenews.com
physician at La Clínica del Cariño, now One
Community Health, frequently collaborat-
ed with The Next Door, particularly when
La Familia Sana, now Nuestra Comunidad
Sana/Health Promotion Services, transi-
tioned from being housed at La Clínica to
The Next Door.
“It was a natural fit,” said Castañares of
the change. “Even in its early days, The Next
Door was growing to give a home to pro-
grams and services that were needed.”
While Woolery’s time as a therapist with
The Next Door was brief, his involvement
continued when the organization adopted
an intervention program that he and a part-
ner developed for domestic abuse perpetra-
tors. The program had long been offered in
English, and The Next Door adapted it for
Spanish-speaking participants.
Woolery served as a consultant for the
successful revision and implementation
of Hombres Autoresponsables para Parar
el Abuso (HAPA), which continues to be
offered virtually.
Meanwhile, Castañares began serving
on The Next Door’s Nuestra Comunidad
Sana/Health Promotion Services advisory
committee.
“There was so much interconnection
between my work and The Next Door. It
was wonderful to see what The Next Door’s
creative staff could do and the way they
were able to expand the role of Community
Health Workers beyond what the clinic could
achieve,” said Castañares.
Fast forward to March 2020, when
COVID-19 took hold in the Gorge.
Castañares, now retired, knew she wanted
to do something to help. While she didn’t
feel safe returning to direct patient care, she
found herself on The Next Door’s Migrant
and Seasonal Farmworker outreach com-
mittees. According to The Next Door, she
immediately proved to be a valuable asset
with her historical knowledge of the area
and her medical background, which ensured
The Next Door could provide accurate and
reliable information to those it served.
One of the first challenges the committee
addressed was how Community Health
Workers could distribute reliable virus in-
formation and supplies to farmworkers and
their families: PPE, preventative measures,
resources, and more. The committee quickly
determined that recording and distributing
quality videos, in Spanish, was one import-
ant educational option.
To aid in the project, Woolery volun-
teered his video and audio editing skills. “I
was grateful to be part of the process,” said
Woolery. “It’s been a really enjoyable expe-
rience seeing the creativity among staff, the
increasing quality of the videos, and helping
distribute such important information.”
One of their favorite projects is a vide-
onovela titled “Entre Amigos” (“Between
Friends”) that emphasizes the importance
of taking care of one’s mental health during
this challenging time. Recently, the team has
also been putting together and distributing
video testimonials to encourage community
members to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
For their contributions, especially in the
last year, Castañares and Woolery were
selected for Volunteers of the Year.
Both Castañares and Woolery state their
heart-felt support of The Next Door. “It’s
remarkable to see how the organization has
grown and expanded to meet the needs of
the community,” said Woolery. Castañares
agreed, saying, “The Next Door demonstrates
over and over its unique, creative role as an
umbrella social service organization, with a
strong emphasis on social justice, communi-
ty promotion, and equity.”
To learn more about The Next Door, visit
nextdoorinc.org or call 541-386-6665.
To see all the videos Castañares and
Woolery helped create, visit nextdoorinc.org/
videos.
Judy Beckman
receives
northwest honor
Judy Galloway
■ By Harmony
of the Gorge Sweet Adelines Chorus
Judy Beckman, director of the Harmony of the Gorge
Sweet Adelines Chorus, was selected as the “Heart of the
Northwest” recipient for 2021 by the members of Region
13 of Sweet Adelines International, which includes women
singers in Washington, Alaska, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.
The award was announced during the annual convention
last weekend, which had to be a virtual event this year.
The Heart of the Northwest Award was created to honor
a member who actively serves and participates in both her
chorus and regional roles and activities, displays enthusiasm
and commitment to promoting the Harmonize the World
theme of SAI and Region 13 through her music and interper-
sonal skills, and willingly shares skills and knowledge with
singers.
Beckman has been a Sweet Adeline most of her life, begin-
ning at the age of 12, when her music teacher asked her and
some friends if they’d like to try quartetting. That was all it
took. She was hooked — and the quartet, the Tonka Tones,
sang together for six years and before they each went their
own way for college.
After relocating to the Pacific Northwest, in 2005, she
joined Harmony of the Gorge chorus where she sang bass
for several years before being asked to be the chorus’ direc-
tor. In 2012, she became a certified director in the Sweet
Adeline International organization. Beckman has become
not only the voice, but the face of Sweet Adelines in the
Gorge. She’s regularly on morning radio talk shows in the
area and she represents the chorus at the various chambers
of commerce meetings in our various communities. She
seldom misses opportunities to share her love of barbershop
harmony and the chorus wherever she goes, whether it be
the bank, coffee shop, or grocery store. Beckman has also
been active at the regional and international level, and she
has been a faculty member at Harmony College Northwest
in Tacoma.
Beckman is the “Heart of the Northwest” and doesn’t
hesitate to share her talents, knowledge, time, and energy
with everyone around her, and does so without regard for
self-recognition.
She is on a life-long quest of learning and sharing the
beauty of music with those around her.
•••
For more informaiton on Harmony of the Gorge, visit the
website www.harmonyofthegorge.com.
Clockwise, from top: Musicians Chari Harrington, Erica Roulier and Elaine Thompson, and Hank and Linda,
participants.
Photos courtesy of Columbia Gorge Orchestra Association
Age+ Circles of Care
Brings Music and Connection
to Older Adults
Erica Roulier
■ By Columbia
Gorge Orchestra Association
In spite of the pandemic, several area musicians have
found an enthusiastic new audience through Age+ Circles
of Care. Age+ Circles of Care is a program that connects
older adults to volunteers in The Dalles and Mosier to
help them with supportive services. Volunteers help with
grocery shopping, running errands, outside yard work,
learning how to use Zoom, and friendly check-ins over the
phone. Face to face services have been suspended due to
the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past several months,
Circles of Care has partnered with the Columbia Gorge
Orchestra Association (CGOA) to match volunteer CGOA
musicians with older adults who receive a musical phone
call each week.
Chari Harrington, a violinist with CGOA’s Sinfonietta
orchestra, said, “I love speaking with older people, and I
receive a blessing every time I chat with and play for Sharon
and Chris through Circles of Care. It is definitely a relation-
ship, a give and take. I am certainly not the only one giving.”
Elaine Thompson, a singer with CGOA’s Voci choir, plays
piano for her Circles of Care friend. “What a gift to me to
be able to play music for someone who is willing to listen!
It is also very meaningful to be talking to someone of my
mother’s generation. My mother passed several years ago,
and I miss the dignity of composure of what is called, ‘the
greatest generation.’ I feel like I have a new friend, and
during COVID, that is unique. I hope we get to meet in
person in the future. We talk about all sorts of things — not
really music, but life. That is the most meaningful to me. I
hope I bring some lightness and connection to her days;
she does to mine.”
Erica Roulier, who plays viola in the Sinfonietta, said, “My
Circles of Care friends, Linda and Hank, are so appreciative
and lovely to talk to. As with any great volunteer opportu-
nity, I am getting as much (or maybe more) joy from this
connection as they are. I am grateful for the motivation to
practice and perform, and I encourage others to join in the
sharing of music and friendship!”
For her part, Linda said, “Hank and I appreciate hear-
ing from Erica each week and listening to some beautiful
music. This connection through Circles of Care is especially
welcome now during COVID, since we are at home most of
the time.”
Age+ Circles of Care is looking for more musicians to call
an older adult once a week to offer them a warm hello and
some music over the phone.
If you are interested in volunteering, contact Gracen
Bookmyer at gbookmyer@ageplus.org or call 541-397-0724.
Columbia Gorge News
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