P.ige 6
Spilyay Tymoo, Wqrm Springs, Oregon
November 25, 2004
Kids First offers help in a neighborly way
By Brian Mortcnsen
Spilyay Tymoo
If a group of people including a
local policeman or two, a nurse, a fire
man, a social worker and the tribal sani
tarian come knocking on your door on
the morning of a weekday, don't be
alarmed. They're there to help.
The group would be part of Kids
First, a group of employees of the
Warm Springs tribes that canvass ar
eas door-to-door to offer services and
provide information on tribal re
sources. While the name denotes services for
children, the group is really for anyone
who lives on the Warm Springs reser
vation. The intention is to let tribal
members and residents know what ser
vices tribal government provides when
they may not know about them or be
in position to take advantage of them.
Kids First was brought to Warm
Springs in 1999 when leaders from
Sparks, Nev., where the program origi
nated made a presentation at Kah-Nee-Ta
Resort in 1999. After the presenta
tion, representatives from Warm
Springs, Crook County, Jefferson
County, Madras and Prineville, went to
Sparks to observe the program in ac
tion. "There was a sergeant from Sparks
Police Department, on his off-duty
time, he was going around knocking on
doors and checking on children, doing
home visits," Lieut. Stoney Miller,
Warm Springs Police, said. "One
evening, he ran into a nurse that was
out on her own time after she got off
work. She was doing the same thing.
The two of them had gotten together
and started working together on it, and
they titled it 'Kids Corner."'
By the time representatives from
Warm Springs had seen it, it had grown
into an operation that was supported
by two medical centers in the Reno
Sparks area, three church organizations
and the Washoe County Library, among
others.
Elementary school
attendance great for October
The following students are recognised
for their outstanding attendance during
October at Warm Springs Elementary
School:
Cecelia Andy, Justine Clements,
Johnny Holliday, Jordan Patt, Monique
Moody, Amaya Adams, Autumn
Suppah, DeMiryce Miller, Brittony Ike,
Codi Palmer, Austin Rauschenburg,
Lana Shike, Dalton Katchia, Soraya
Mendez, Vivian Yazzie, Lyndreth
LeClaire Nicole Goudy, Roman Silva,
Eric Boise, Marlin Suppah, Voshaun
Bryant, Cirelle Frank and Jarron
Lopez.
Shelby Moody, LeiRon Picard,
Shania Tom, Jamie Warner, Margarette
Tapia, Devynn Rodriguez, Elysia
Moran, Jarrod Yahtin, Jackie Poitra
Wetchie, Emmitt Smith, Illante Smith,
Francisco Medina-Hernandez, Morgan
Frank.
Jalen Graybael, Delvina Heath,
Kirsten Holliday, Henry Adrews, Elyse
Bagley, Dominique Craig, Sage David
Miller, Nolan Pennington, Kortney
Stacona and Kari Wahnetah.
Alexander Comedown, Sierra Patt,
Delbert Goudy, Marvin Thompson,
Kaleb Smith, Amanda Henderson,
sfi&33Gstt:) grift
Credit problems!
We finance most everyone!
Hi tec Electronics available-auto lock system,
CD players, stereo, T.V.'s
"A number of different depart
ments had come on board, giving sup
port to the program," Miller said. "One
of the things they had developed was
a mobile van, 38-foot, that was a field
medical center, so it could do field as
sessments right there on the street, and
they had worked things out to where
they had a couple of doctors in the
van as well as nurses."
Later, the Reno group had built up
a van to create a field dental unit.
What immediately impressed Miller
was a visit with a woman in Sparks.
"The sergeant was introducing us from
the Kid's Corner program," he said.
"And she told all of us in the group
that she was well-acquainted with Kid's
Corner."
The woman said she had come to
Sparks with three children and a broken-down
car, he said. Thanks to Kid's
Corner, she had been offered a job
within three days, was able to get in
surance for her children and had found
someone to repair her car.
"If it hadn't been for Kid's Corner
coming along and helping her, she
wouldn't have known what she'd have
done," Miller said.
Kids First in Warm Springs, Miller
said, is the use of the concept in a ru
ral setting.
A group of between eight and 10
representatives from various tribal ser
vices, including Warm Springs Police,
Fire Prevention and Safety, Housing,
Indian Health Services Public Health,
Fire Management, Tribal Sanitation,
and Community Counseling, usually
make up the group that canvasses a
different neighborhood on the reser
vation every other Thursday.
On a recent Thursday, the group
visited residents in the Upper Dry
Creek neighborhood. The Kids First
group, due to illness and other com
mitments, was pared down to four:
Miller, Warm Springs Police officer
Bob Medina, Tribal Sanitarian Nancy
Collins, and Michelle Kuntz, a social
Cyril Frank, Dylan Miller, Bryson
Spino, Darrin Sam, T r e y v o n
Black, StannLee Meanus, Jonathan
Tanewasha, Raphael Caldera and Ve
nus Garate.
Raylene Jones, John
Katchia, Kapri Moody, Stephen Pratt,
James Red Fox, Nikki Reynoso, Victoria
Spino, Joseph Tewee, Haley Wahnetah,
Amelio Thomas-Yahtin, Julia Yahtin,
Tyreal Centre and Tirus Centre.
Daily attendance statistics:
Oct. 25, 89 percent; Oct. 26, 95
percent; Oct. 27, 91 percent; Oct. 28,
92 percent; Oct. 29, 92 percent. Nov.
1,91 percent; Nov. 2, 90 percent; Nov.
3, 94 percent; Nov. 4, 93 percent; Nov.
5, 86 percent.
Parents idea of the week:
"Maybe the child could pick out a
book at the end of the month if they've
had perfect attendance. Maybe after
three months of perfect attendance, an
ice cream parry!"
Good news for this parent - Warm
Springs Elementary monthly perfect at
tendance students already receive a "Book
Buck, " good for one free book at the
school book store!)
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worker in public health.
Others who usually come along in
clude I.H.S. Nurse Liz Sachse, Rudy
Clements from Tribal Housing, Suzi
Macy from Fire Prevention Manage
ment, and Scott Spalding from Fire
Prevention and Safety.
The group had a plastic bag full
mostly of brochures for the folks on
Upper Dry Creek, including a brochure
on disaster planning for the family, a
schedule of when and for what chil
dren should be immunized, a list of
telephone numbers from emergency
services to health care programs to
assistance programs to Jefferson
County schools, and a brochure detail
ing Warm Springs community health
plans. And, if kids were in the house,
the group had "sheriff badge" stickers
for them.
No one answered the door at the
first three houses, all mobile homes,
that the group approached. The front
yard of the second appeared to be the
site of a yard sale, with toys, a futon,
kitchen table, a wheel barrow. More
likely, it was the apparently abandoned
contents of another mobile home that
had apparently burned in a fire.
"We'll see if we can get this cleaned
up," Collins said.
By the fourth house, someone an
swered the door. A young woman,
Juanita, answered the door. The affable
Medina, in his police uniform, greeted
her, "Hi, Juanita, we're from Kids First,"
and introduced Miller, Collins and
Kuntz.
"How's your smoke detector?"
Collins asked. She had new batteries if
the old ones had expired.
"How's your dog?" she asked, add
ing she could give her a certificate to
have her puppy inoculated if needed,
as well as certificates for spaying and
neutering. Miller brought an oral treat
ment for mange that also de-wormed
dogs.
Medina asked her if she had any
concerns tribal law enforcement could
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Serious about
address.
Kuntz told her about services of
Indian Health Service Public Health
Nursing, including immunization and
in-home visits.
The next visit was to a small red
house, with toys and a bicycle in front.
An elderly man answered the door.
Miller and Medina knew him. Medina
said later the man had been a police
man before his health worsened.
Collins heard the man's smoke alarm
'chirping,' so she worked at replacing
the battery. While Miller and the man
talked, a younger man emerged from
SMS
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next to Light Technics)
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541-475-7900
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Dog Food $10.95
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a bedroom, appearing to have just
woken up. He said he and his wife and
their three children also lived there. He
said the house had at least one broken
window. Collins said the tribes' Social
Services offers the Low Income Home
Energy Assistance Program to provide
wcatherization for homeowners on the
reservation.
The group started its effort at 9 a.m.
Miller said it tries to catch people in
the morning, he said with a smile, "to
wake them up."
See KIDS FIRST on page 7
Mon-Frl 9-5:30
Sat 9-3
Closed Sundays
-Pet Food
-Salt & Minerals
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Town