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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (June 12, 2020)
PAGE A2, KEIZERTIMES, JUNE 12, 2020 KCL summer reading Rent, utility assistance SKEF will dissolve, program begins Monday YMCA will take over available locally some programs Imagine Your Story is the theme of Keizer Community Library’s (KCL) summer read- ing program where toddlers through teens can participate in the library’s program by reading stories every day and, in the process, earn prizes. Imagine Your Story starts Monday, June 15, and ends August 14. And while the li- brary is temporarily closed due to COVID-19 concerns, the Summer Reading Pro- gram registration will take place outside on the back pa- tio. Packets will be available on the following Mondays in June: the 15, 22 and 29 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Game boards can also be presented on those days to earn prizes. Tracking daily reading is easy and is done on a game board supplied by the library. Kids’ reading independently, listening to an adult read, or listening to audio books, all count toward daily reading. As part of the summer program, KCL is also host- ing a children’s book Club via Zoom for students in third through fi fth grader. Each participant in the club will receive three free books to keep, including titles from the 2020/2021 Oregon Battle of the Books competition. Par- ticipation is limited, to regis- ter, please call 503-363-4548. Stories in the Stacks, with Summer Reyes, has gone virtual on YouTube and pre- school kids can now enjoy listening to Reyes reading her favorite books and watching her creating crafts on the KCL YouTube Channel, which is available on the library’s web site. More information about all of the library’s summer pro- grams is available on the KCL website at www.keizerlibrary. org. All programs are free. The Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agen- cy is making more than $2 million in rental and utility as- sistance available for income-eligible residents of Marion and Polk counties. Community action is using its portion of a statewide rental assistance program, roughly $1.5 million, to help those having diffi culty paying their rent because of the COVID-19 crisis. In addition, Energy Services, Community Action’s pro- gram providing energy asistance to income-eligible indi- viduals and families is providing $540,000 for direct client energy assistance for COVID-related energy and heating bill relief. Households must have been effected by CO- VID-19. Eligible household income must be at or below 60 percent of median income. Those interested in applying for rental assistance should contact the ARCHES Project directly by calling 503-399- 9080 (extension 4003). Those needing help with energy bills should call Energy Services directly at 503-588-9016. ARCHES, another program offered by Community Action, continues to operate a motel program in Salem for medically fragile and COVID positive homeless clients. To date, this program has been in operation since mid-March, serving 95 clients per night. So far 216 unique individuals have been served from 128 households for a total of 4,200 bed nights over four partner motels. MCFD1 rescues man stuck in tree On Thursday, June 4, Marion County Fire District #1 (MCFD1) units responded to the report of a patient who was injured when he became stuck in a tree. First units arrived at the corner of Dalke St. NE and Carmelle Ct. found a male patient, trapped approximately 30 feet up in a tree. The patient had been trimming to top portion of the tree and top was secured with a rope to pull it away from a nearby house, but when cut, it fell opposite of the intended direction resulting in the rope coming across the patients shoulder and pinning him in the tree. The patient was conscious and alert but unable to get free of the rope and down the tree. Additional resources were requested to assist with the rescue, including an aerial ladder and technical rescue team from Salem Fire Department. The patient was initially accessed by a ground ladder and was secured in the tree and worked with fi re personnel to free himself from the rope pinning him. Once secured, Ladder 4 from Salem Fire was able to get in position to access the patient and safely remove him from the tree into the ladder platform. The patient was brought to the ground and was evaluated and transported by medics to Salem Hospital with minor injuries. MCFD1 responded to the incident with two engines, one medic unit and one Battalion Chief. MCFD1 was assisted by Salem Fire Department, who responded with two ladder trucks, two engines, one heavy rescue and a battalion chief. BRIAN & APRIL McVAY 503.510.6827 - Call or Text anytime As lifelong residents, we are your Keizer neighbor. We know this market and we are here to help! Enjoying real estate since 1998 3975 River Rd N • Suite 3 • Keizer Oregon Licensed Real Estate Brokers The long-running Salem- Keizer Education Founda- tion announced it will dissolve June 30 and the Salem Fam- ily YMCA will be taking over some programs. For 38 years, SKEF organized volunteers and after school program- ming supporting the stu- dents of the Salem-Keiz- er School District. The most high profi le events organized by SKEF are the Awesome 3000 and the annual Crystal Apple Awards given to the top teachers in the district. The future of those two programs is not yet known. The nonprofi t found itself in “diffi cult fi nancial circum- stances” and will no longer of- fer programs to local students and teachers. The Salem Family YMCA has been working with SKEF on integrating its Awesome Youth Sports, tuition-based childcare, and summer camps into the Y programs. "We appreciate SKEF’s con- fi dence in the YMCA,” says YMCA CEO Sam Carroll. “SKEF built some incredible programs. I want to assure the Salem community and SKEF participants that we will main- tain the same high-quality that they have come to expect. We are also hoping to work with SKEF person- nel to maintain continuity.” The Sa- lem Family YMCA location on Court Street Northeast in downtown Salem was recently demolished to make way for a new facility. The new space, es- timated to cost $20.5 million, is expected to open sometime in 2021. YMCA Board Treasurer Darin Silbernagel said, “The Y is perfectly positioned to help SKEF. We have a new, fantas- tic building coming and have developed solid plans for the future. I think this is another example of how the YMCA steps up to meet the needs of the community.”
