Members from the Eastern Oregon Training Center came to the Capitol to keep their facility open,
lobbying members and finding legislative champions. Above, members from the EOTC presented
Representative Jenson with letters and petitions that were collected from his district. He was a
champion for keeping the Center open.
Eastern Oregon Training Center Remains Open
The Eastern Oregon Training Center is a residential facility in Pendleton that cares
for 40 adults with severe developmental disabilities. This is challenging work.
Local 503 members are proud of the impact they make on their patients' lives
and the benefit they deliver to their community.
When the Center was slated to be closed, members got active. They wrote
letters, circulated petitions, called the Governor. On February 14, a busload
of them left Pendleton at 4 a.m. to come to Salem and tell their story.
The result was a bipartisan agreement to keep the Center open.
As a result of the work of many members, including Carol Kitchen, Bill Morris, Dot
McBean, June Mazzei, George Harwood, Debbie Peterson, Sharyle Burtch, and Rene
Lopez, organizers Bruce Nobles, Lianne Dyche and Mike Geoghegan, and Eastern
Oregon Legislators Rep. Bob Jenson and Sen. David Nelson, the Center will continue
to serve the regions' most vulnerable citizens.
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