OFF PAGE ONE
Saturday, May 26, 2018
East Oregonian
Page 13A
GAP: ‘You are needed. You are wanted. People are relying on you.’
Continued from 1A
The OCF report, titled
“Toward a thriving future:
Closing the opportunity gap
for Oregon’s kids,” sug-
gests a wide variety of solu-
tions are needed to improve
upward mobility for chil-
dren born on the wrong side
of the gap. Those suggestions
include providing programs
to encourage post-second-
ary education, strengthen-
ing families through parent
education and helping chil-
dren build “social capital”
via involvement in things like
sports, clubs and religious
organizations.
STRENGTHENING
FAMILIES
Closing the opportunity
gap is the main goal for the
aptly named Head Start. Pro-
grams it offers includes parent
education classes, home vis-
its, Court-Appointed Special
Advocates for foster children,
matching grants for housing
and preschool classes.
“Our goal is to serve chil-
dren and families to make
sure they’re getting the best
start,” Brenaman said.
There are a lot of families
out there that need help —
according to the OCF report,
47 percent of Oregon’s chil-
dren are being raised in fam-
ilies at or below 200 percent
of the federal poverty line,
which for a family of four is
$48,000 a year. The makeup
of the family unit makes a dif-
ference, too. More than one in
three single-parent families is
in poverty, for example, com-
pared to less than one in 10
married-parent families.
Head Start also offers
parenting classes and sup-
port groups open to anyone,
regardless of income. Par-
ents are taught to use their
strengths to deal with things
like discipline and bedtime
routines in a healthy, devel-
opmentally appropriate way
for their children, and can
network with other parents.
Mary Lou Gutierrez offers
cooking classes where par-
ents and children learn to
cook nutritious, low-cost
meals together.
“I’ll tell them this recipe
only takes $8 or $10 to feed
a family of six people and
they’ll say, ‘What?!’,” she
said. “Because they’re spend-
ing more than that on food
that’s not even healthy.”
Kim Ables, who super-
vises Head Start’s Family
EO file photo
Angie Treadwell, second from right, with the Oregon
State University Extension Office, helps students
measure ingredients for a pumpkin breakfast cookie
recipe in December 2016 during the Cooking Matters
for Families cooking class in Umatilla.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Student ambassadors Gema Juarez, center left, and Gina Olsen, center, have a
question and answer session with a group of Hermiston High School students
during a tour Tuesday at BMCC’s Hermiston campus.
Support & Connection pro-
gram, said stress caused by
trying to feed a family or
keep a roof over their head
can contribute to child abuse,
so the program she supervises
strives to connect families
with all the resources they
need to help out with food,
rent, etc. so they can focus on
the future instead of just day-
to-day needs.
“We have folks who have
started out homeless and are
now going to college,” Ables
said. “It’s that idea that if you
can stabilize them, we find
they fly, really.”
EDUCATIONAL
OPPORTUNITIES
While parents are meant
to be their children’s first
and most influential teachers,
schools can help fill in the
gaps for children who aren’t
born into a financially stable
home with two married, col-
lege-educated parents — the
ideal, statistically speaking,
for reaching the middle class.
Melody Bustillos, a coun-
selor at Hermiston High
School, said only about 14
percent of adults over 25 in
Hermiston have a bachelor’s
degree or above, so many stu-
dents who are looking to pur-
sue a college degree don’t
necessarily have a parent who
can give guidance from per-
sonal experience.
“We basically assume all
our kids need help,” she said.
The high school has three
clubs to help with that: Col-
lege Club, which is open to
any student interested in a
post-secondary education;
the College Savers club,
which is income-based; and
Generation College, for stu-
dents who would be the first
in their family to graduate
from college.
This week the school
brought seniors planning
to study at Blue Mountain
Community College this
fall to BMCC’s Hermiston
and Pendleton campuses,
where students were given a
tour by current BMCC stu-
dents. Those ambassadors
answered questions from the
high school students about
things like placement tests
and online classes.
Bustillos said Genera-
tion College advisors are
unique to most high school
programs because they stick
with students all the way
through their college gradua-
tion, answering questions and
offering support as needed.
“It’s not enough to just
get them accepted,” she
said. “You can’t just turn
them loose and figure every-
thing’s OK. ... We talk a lot
about high school gradua-
tion rates and about getting
kids accepted into college
but I feel like we rarely talk
about helping these kids get a
degree.”
The school also offers
programs like the Columbia
Basin Student Homebuilders
Association to provide stu-
dents who aren’t so interested
in college to build skills and
connections they can turn into
a trade job after high school.
Bustillos said it’s obvious
to anyone who works in edu-
cation that students’ home life
has a big impact on their edu-
cation. She said school coun-
selors try to teach students
how to “leave their baggage
at the door” while at school.
Students living in poverty
and other less-than-ideal cir-
cumstances are capable of
creating a better life for them-
selves as adults, she said, but
it takes curiosity, hard work
and a “coachable” attitude.
COMMUNITY
SUPPORTS
The Oregon Community
Foundation found that chil-
dren in some communities
find it easier to escape pov-
erty than others. Children in
Eastern Oregon counties tend
to fare better than those on the
west side of the state in mov-
ing up the income ladder, but
Umatilla County and Mor-
row County are the excep-
tions to that rule. The report
notes that “Communities
with higher upward mobility
tend to be more racially and
economically integrated and
have less income inequal-
ity, more social capital, more
two-parent families and high-
er-quality schools.”
The report suggests that
most Eastern Oregon chil-
dren may have more upward
mobility in part because of
the social capital piece. A
2006 study cited in the report
called “The production of
social capital in US coun-
ties” — which ranked social
capital based on per-capita
membership of civic organi-
zations, fitness centers, reli-
gious institutions and more
— showed Wallowa County
ranked the highest in the state
on the social capital index,
followed by Baker and Grant
counties. Umatilla and Mor-
row counties ranked on the
lower end of the scale for the
state.
One organization in
Hermiston created since then
is Made to Thrive, a nonprofit
that provides at-risk children
with the money, transpor-
tation, equipment and sup-
port needed to participate in
sports and other extracurricu-
“That’s the great thing about this community, is we’re all
collaborating to give these kids so many avenues to success.”
— Kriss Dammeyer,
director of Made to Thrive, a nonprofit that provides at-risk children with money, transportation,
equipment and support needed to participate in sports and other extracurricular activities
lar activities.
“It’s really something spe-
cial to see a child who has
never gotten to participate in
anything light up when you
tell them they get to partic-
ipate and whatever barrier
has been keeping them away,
we’re going to knock down,”
said Kriss Dammeyer, the
nonprofit’s director.
She said she has seen
many at-risk children who
gained valuable, life-long
social skills from participat-
ing in sports, dance, or music
lessons. They start skipping
school less often, have fewer
angry outbursts and learn
about commitment.
“Their team is depending
on them,” she said. “That’s
what we explain to them. You
are needed. You are wanted.
People are relying on you.”
Participation in extracur-
ricular activities also helps
youths build their social
network.
“They surround them-
selves with a more diverse
group of friends,” Dammeyer
said.
The OCF report also
noted participation in reli-
gious organizations and clubs
can have similar effects, and
many churches also have
programs for youth and for
strengthening families.
Dammeyer, Bustillos, Bre-
naman and the Oregon Com-
munity Foundation report all
agreed that community mem-
bers can play an important
role in disadvantaged chil-
dren’s’ lives by setting a good
example and helping them
overcome barriers.
“That’s the great thing
about this community, is
we’re all collaborating to give
these kids so many avenues
to success,” Dammeyer said.
TEST: ‘We want our first responders to be protected’
Continued from 1A
Roberts said the juve-
nile became agitated, tried to
get away and suffered inju-
ries to his face in the scuffle
with police. Officers called
for Pendleton paramedics, and
when they arrived the juvenile
spat in their faces.
The ambulance crew took
the juvenile to St. Anthony
Hospital, Pendleton, where he
refused to cooperate or allow
medical staff to draw his
blood for an HIV test.
Roberts explained Oregon
law allows the attending phy-
sician to determine the risk
level of exposure to a blood-
borne pathogen. A finding of
“substantial exposure,” Rob-
erts said, allows the doctor to
administer preventative treat-
ment to the paramedics.
That didn’t happen here.
Roberts said doctors are cau-
tious about prescribing the
HIV preventative, because a
patient can take it only once
every six months.
Exposure to saliva or blood
is not uncommon for first
responders, Roberts said, but
the city’s pursuit of the HIV
test was. Kerns explained the
refusal opened the door for the
city to seek the test under rel-
atively new Oregon law.
Oregon Revised Stat-
ute 433.080 “allows for an
employee that is exposed to
a blood-borne pathogen to
request that the source con-
sent to testing for the purpose
of letting the exposed person
know if it was a serious expo-
sure,” Kerns said of the law,
passed in 2017.
Oregon’s law, she added, is
a version of the federal law that
allows emergency respond-
ers to find out whether they
were exposed to life-threaten-
ing diseases in the line of duty.
Kerns filed a petition May
16 in Umatilla County Cir-
cuit Court on behalf of the two
paramedics to have a judge
order the juvenile to submit
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to an HIV test. The law also
required Kerns obtain a state-
ment from the public health
administrator declaring the
facts in the request are true.
Jim Setzer filled that role.
He is the administrator of
the Umatilla County Public
Health Department and pro-
vided an affidavit in the case.
“This was all new to all of
us,” he said.
Speaking Friday, Setzer
said he found the two city
employees had a risk of occu-
pational exposure and that is
what he told the court.
Setzer in the affidavit
stated that he reviewed police
and accident reports that stated
the juvenile’s saliva landed in
the eyes of one paramedic and
in the mouth of another. The
juvenile also was bleeding
from his face at the time.
Neither city employee
knew of previous exposure to
HIV, according to the affida-
vit, both provided blood sam-
ples, and the window closed
for the preventative treatment
for HIV exposure. Know-
ing the juvenile’s HIV sta-
tus, Setzer continued, would
allow the paramedics to know
if they needed to begin medi-
cal treatment.
Setzer said he made no
recommendation to the court
but laid out the situation as he
understood it.
“We want our first respond-
ers to be protected,” he said,
and hoped the need for the
law was “infrequent going
forward.”
Circuit Judge Eva Tem-
ple heard the matter May 18
in Hermiston with all par-
ties calling in. Temple asked
the juvenile if he would con-
sent to the test, according to
court records, and he said he
would. Temple ordered him
to appear for that test May 21,
at the Umatilla County Pub-
lic Health Department, Pend-
leton. Kerns said the city is
awaiting the results.
“The city is just interested
in doing everything we can
to ensure the safety of our
employees,” she said.
Roberts echoed that and
said the main reason for test
was so the two paramed-
ics could have some peace of
mind.
THE PARENTS OF THE SENIOR CLASS OF 2018 WOULD LIKE TO THANK EVERYONE
FOR THEIR SUPPORT OF THE 2018 SENIOR CLASS GRADUATION FESTIVITIES!
The generosity and support given to our youth make celebrations possible. Thank you to the donations committee,
individuals, businesses, and groups that contributed money, time and items to make this year extra special!
The seniors will be going to Wahooz in Boise for a true all-night, safe, and sober event!
SAFE AND SOBER SPONSOR $1500+ : ABBY’S LEGENDARY PIZZA
Buckaroo Pride Sponsor $500-$1499
• Dr. Andrew & Susan Bower • Tum a Lum • WP Farms
• Pendleton City Club • Buck Boosters • St. Anthony Hospital
Senior Class Sponsor $150-$499
James & Janelle Gau
Pioneer Title
Stratton Insurance Agency
Tim & Susan O/Rourke
Corey, Byler & Rew
Dickey & Tremper
Holton Secret Lab
Gordon’s Electric
Westgate Mini Storage
Bob, Roalynn & Shawn Pace
Kruse Construction
Round Up City Plumbing
Dirk Irwin, DMD
G&R Auto Truck Repair
Farm Equipment Headquarters
Hodgen
Frazier Offi ce Supply
TK & Jen Kennedy
Rotary Club of Pendleton
Celebration Sponsor up to $150
Hallman Law Offi ce
Katherine Jackson
Chris Fritsch
Glenn Scott
Wheatland Insurance
Greg & Brenda Bonner
Vegetation Solutions
Tom & Patricia Winn
Joseph Bostwick
Jack and Kathy Shaw
George & Donna Murdock
Jim & Penny Whitney
Grable, Hantke Law Group, LLC
Zeigler Transmission & Auto
Repair
Pendleton Veterinary Clinic
Dan Cengia State Farm Insurance
Elite Taxis
Louie & Alice Coelho
Amerititle
Lorry & Helen Case
Deserae Hall
First Community Credit Union
CLASS
OF
2018
In-Kind Donations (total value $4000!)
Oregon Grain Growers-The Distillery
Prodigal Son
Joes’ Mexican Fiesta
Keystone
Big John’s Pizza
Dickey’s BBQ
Pendleton Athletics
Wal-Mart
Dickey & Tremper
Eastern Oregon Business Source
Pendleton Country Club
Quicky Lube
The Tire Factory
Hamley’s Steakhouse
The Furniture Lady
Becky Dunlap, JAFRA Beauty Products
Western States/Caterpilar