MARCH 11, 2022, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE B3
KP teams up with local agency to help Marion County homeless
Kaiser Permanente and Mid-Willamette
Valley Community Action Agency
(MWVCAA) have teamed up to further
address the housing epidemic with Project
HOME—a holistic, wrap-around housing
project designed to assist the chronically
homeless population in Marion and Polk
counties.
Project HOME is supported by a $1.5
million grant to MWVCAA from Kaiser
Permanente's National Community Benefit
Fund at the East Bay Foundation. The ini-
tiative will be led by the ARCHES Project,
MWVCAA’s homeless outreach and shel-
tering division.
Project HOME was created with the goal
of helping unhoused individuals and fami-
lies secure permanent housing, improve
their mental and physical health, and help
reduce their dependency on services such
as emergency care and law enforcement to
address their chronic conditions and daily
needs.
“Our rates of chronic homelessness in
Salem are considerably higher than other
communities in Oregon. Recent figures
show about 64% of our homeless popula-
tion is experiencing chronic homeless-
ness, which is almost double the national
average. This program in particular will
be one of the largest housing programs
for our homeless in Salem’s history,” said
Jimmy Jones, Executive Director of Mid-
Willamette Valley Community Action
Agency.
The Marion-Polk region is one of three
communities across the nation receiving
Kaiser Permanente funding for the Project
HOME initiative. Kaiser Permanente
selected MWVCAA and the greater-Salem
area based on the rise in chronically home-
less individuals and limited affordable
housing, and MWVCAA’s expertise and
readiness to implement this work.
A homeless camp near Keizer last November.
FILE PHOTO, Keizertimes
Small
Business
Help
By JOANNE SCHAFER
Business is about relationships; relation-
ships with customers, vendors, employees,
other businesses, and your community.
While there are a variety of ways to create
and foster relationships, networking groups
are one of the best. They also allow you to
learn new things, to connect, to build busi-
ness, and to give back. While some enjoy net-
working groups more than others, everyone
can benefit from them as long as you are clear
“We know that housing is a key driver
of health and that’s why we are working
with partners like Mid-Willamette Valley
Community Action Agency to improve the
health and well-being of the communities
we serve, including our members,” said Jeff
Collins, president of Kaiser Permanente
Northwest. “As a health care organization,
Kaiser Permanente recognizes that indi-
viduals who are homeless have a higher
rate of hospital readmissions and emer-
gency room visits while also suffering from
poorer health outcomes and higher mortal-
ity rates.”
Project HOME will include efforts to
support Kaiser Permanente members
and the community in Marion and Polk
counties who are experiencing home-
lessness or at risk of becoming homeless.
The ARCHES team will work with Kaiser
Permanente’s local medical teams to iden-
tify high-risk individuals and bring them
into the program. As the program evolves,
focus will expand to other populations with
the goal of connecting over a 100 individu-
als with long-term stable housing and sup-
port services by the end of 2023.
Ashley Hamilton, Director of the
ARCHES Project at Community Action,
said, “We know that many in our unshel-
tered population experience worsening
health conditions as a result of limited
access to medical services while also lack-
ing safe housing needed for recovery or
health management. Programs like Project
HOME that connect health systems and
housing are all the more critical when cre-
ating solutions to end homelessness.”
Project HOME is the newest project
to come from the partnership with Kaiser
Permanente and Mid-Willamette Valley.
Other collaborations to address hous-
ing and homelessness include Redwood
Crossing supportive housing develop-
ment; Connect Oregon, a close-loop social
services referral network; and Built for Zero,
a data-driven initiative to help evolve how
local homeless response systems work.
“We’re proud to partner once again
with Kaiser Permanente, to help identify
the medically fragile among our homeless
neighbors and help them connect to hous-
ing,” said Jones. “We have lost far too many
of our unsheltered to needless deaths the
past two years. This project helps to con-
nect our unhoused neighbors to a warm,
safe place to call home, where they’ll be
able to live with dignity and access the sup-
port they need to regain their health.”
Kaiser Permanente’s mission is to pro-
vide high-quality, affordable health care
services and to improve the health of our
members and the communities we serve.
We currently serve 12.4 million members in
8 states and the District of Columbia.
Mid-Willamette Valley Community
Action Agency is Marion-Polk’s anti-pov-
erty agency and the area’s leading non-
profit social services provider. Our
programs provide services in housing and
homelessness, childcare and youth devel-
opment, and incarceration reentry.
Networking Groups for Connecting and Community
about your intentions, have a goal of what
you hope to gain from your participation, and
you know yourself well enough to know what
type of group would be the best fit for your
personality.
If you’ve wanted to join a networking
group and you just aren’t sure where to start,
or you aren’t sure if a networking group is
the best way to spend your time and energy,
consider the following reasons for further
exploration.
Being a business owner can be lonely,
especially if you are a solo entrepreneur
or you work from home. You can find
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community with other business owners and
leaders. Attending a networking group sim-
ply to be around other people can be healthy
and encouraging. The group can offer a safe
place to share your ideas, thoughts or con-
cerns with other business owners who can
relate.
Attending and participating in network-
ing groups introduces you to people from
different paths and a variety of industries.
You can use the group to learn about oth-
ers’ experiences and how they approach
business. Making connections with people
outside of your normal environment can pro-
vide important insights and beneficial learn-
ing that you might not have experienced
otherwise.
Networking groups offer an opportunity
death
notice
Mariella W. Dibble
In remembrance of Mariella W Dibble
The family will be holding a memorial
service for her on
March 28 at 11:00 am.
The Service will be at Keizer Clear
Lake United Methodist - 7920 Wheatland
Rd N, Keizer, OR 97303. Please join us as
we celebrate this extraordinary woman.
Masks and social distancing required.
to share leads and make referrals that can
help you build your business. While this is
an important consideration, keep in mind
that the quality of those leads or referrals is
dependent upon the source. In other words,
make sure the other members of the group
have access to your customer base are work-
ing directly with your customers, or are your
customers. You want those leads and referrals
to convert to sales or other key relationships
to get the most from the time and energy you
spend participating in the group. This goes
both ways, so make sure you contribute to the
group by providing quality leads and refer-
rals to others.
Possibly the best reason to join a network-
ing group is to contribute to your community
by participating in a group that focuses on
helping others. These groups sponsor events,
fundraisers, or programs that allow you to
give back all while you build relationships.
Yes, participating may allow you to make
connections with people who can bolster
your business, but those connections are an
added bonus.
Whatever your reasons for joining a net-
working group or giving one (or several) a
try, get clear about your interests and needs
so you find the group that is a fit. Also, make
sure you are committed to the process: to
learning, to connecting, and to giving. That
commitment will help you get the best return
on your investment.
Joanne Scharer is a Business Adviser at
the Chemeketa Small Business Development
Center. The Small Business Adviser column
is produced by the Center. Questions can be
submitted to SBDC@chemeketa.edu or call
(503) 399-5088.