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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (April 9, 2009)
Spilysy Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon April 9, 2 0 0 9 Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month Activities raise abuse prevention awareness A s part o f the recognition o f Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month, Warm Springs Children’s Protective Services is presenting these CPS employee profiles. W arm Springs Children’s Protective Services in April will h o st Child Abuse and N eglect Prevention Activi ties. O n April 9 CPS will host the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Walk apd Balloon Release. T he walk begins at the CPS office at 11 a.m., and travels to the administration Case worker finds job fulfilling Hello, my name is Roberta T h o m a s-H a n c h o r, “ P u h - Gah-Ko-Kwe,” Prairie Band Potawatomi for “Grey Back Bear W oman” a name given to me by my grandpa, Johnny Wahwasuck. I am an enrolled Tribal Member here in Warm Springs. M y m o th e r w as atw ai Ilio n K alam a (T ho- m as/W ahsise) an enrolled m e m b e r h e re in W arm Springs. My father was atwai E dw in T hom as Sr. an en ro lle d m e m b e r o f th e Yakima Tribe. I have an older sister, Vera Kindness (Tho mas) she has two wonderful children, Cloe (aka Shiralda) and Jade (aka Brittany) T h o mas. I have two younger broth ers, E dw in Thom as Jr. and Joseph Wahsise. My overall extended family from both parents is very large, half o f w hom I do n o t know or have n o t met. I personally don’t know m uch family history. My m other was an alco holic, it becam e h e r life. G row ing up I rem em ber all the parties, driving around w ith loud music, spending the night at peoples houses w h o m I d id n ’t know. My m om tried to go to school in Durango, Colo., but, alcohol dom inated her decision mak ing and eventually left us kids to fend for, ourselves. We became a part o f the system while we were in Colorado, being placed in several differ ent foster homes. E ventually we w ere re turned to the W arm Springs Tribe; I then lived w ith my uncle Foster K alam a for a few years then was m oved to Kansas to live with my pa ternal grandparents, Johnny and R oberta Wahwasuck. I graduated high school from Kansas, waited two years be fore deciding to go to Haskell Indian Nations University. I re ceived one college credit in English. My m other passed away due to her alcoholism. It was the hardest p art o f my life because I had to step up and take re sponsibility o f all the arrange ments. D uring that time other close m em bers o f my family were struggling with the use o f m e th /a lc o h o l, m aking deci sion-making a hard task. I feel as th o u g h th e a lc o h o lis m cheated us, my family, and our children. I w as n o t p r e p a r e d fo r som ething as big as that, at the age o f 24 it was so hard. We stuck by each o th er and got through it.'Because o f the life I rem em ber as a child, I try so hard n o t to allow m yself to my children through tat same life. Alcohol has been a large factor in my life, it n o t only affected my m om b u t the whole family, and to this day I see my family struggling w ith the everyday battles o f alcoholism and it’s hold it has over them to a point where it becom es their life. I g e t a fra id b e c a u se I w atched this happen to my m other and to think this is the path my loved ones are going toward, it scares me. I began working in the CPS Center (aka the group home) in May 2007. I really enjoyed the whole experience from a new p o in t o f view. I love working w ith kids; I wanted to know that I had a positive im pact in som e way o r an other. I m oved to the admin istrative side o f CPS, now w orking as a case specialist (caseworker). I have been a caseworker since Septem ber 2008. I feel this is where I be lo n g Everyday is a learning day for m e and I am willing to go that extra mile to work with my families. I ’ve been married for a year and a half to Kalles H ancor Jr. We have been through it all since we m et back in the fall o f 2000. We have three w on d e rfu l c h ild re n to g e th e r: T alliah Snydel, 7, b o rn on N ew Year’s Day, my older son D esm o n d E sha, 6, and my little bundle o f surprise Lenso Race, 3. W hen we are n o t working, we enjoy spending time together as a family. As a m other I am still learning new things everyday. I w ould like to give thanks to a wonderful wom an w ho encouraged me to look into employment. My family was involved with the Early Head Start Program for two years and this lady really helped m e through the terrible two’s. I feel she gave m e th at extra push that I needed to get o ut o f my life as a “stay at hom e m om ” and becom e the work ing m om I am today. Thanks T ricia B row n, y o u ’re aw e some. Privilege working with community M y n a m e is C ecelia Collins. I am an enrolled m em ber o f the C onfeder ated Tribes o f Warm Springs. My grandparents are the late Cecelia McKinley-Frank and D elbert Frank Sr. My par ents are Lillian Frank and Javier Gonzalez Sr. My hus band is Michael Collins o f Coeur D ’Alene, Idaho and m y c h ild re n are M iguel Prank, Malia Collins, Yesenia Collins, and Ava Collins. I also have two step daughters, K irs tie M o rris o n and Mikayla Collins. I was b orn and raised, for the m ost part, here in Warm Springs. I spent four years o f my childhood in Mexico with my paternal side o f my family, where I learned how to speak, write and translate fluendy in Spanish. I attended school both in W arm Springs and Madras. I graduated Class o f 1995. I took two weeks off, and then applied for a job as the Tribal Council receptionist. Two years later, I was p ro m oted as the Tribal Council ac countant. Soon thereafter, I was again prom oted to retain the tide o f Tribal Council accountant, as well as a newly developed posi tion o f travel desk coordinator, which entailed making all travel arrangements for all o f the tribal employees. A fter seven years o f doing accounting w ork for the tribes, I applied for the family intake c o o r d in a to r p o s itio n at C hild ren ’s P rotective Ser vices' (CPS). I had spent two summers as a youth worker working in the CPS center w ith the children there, and my husband and I were al ready foster care providers with CPS, so it just seemed a natural fit for me. I have been the family in take coordinator for six years, and I would n ot change any th in g a b o u t m ak in g th e sw itch fro m being an ac countant to working at CPS. I n te r a c tin g w ith th e people o f my community is a privilege and honor. My m ain job duties include re ceiving all child a b u se /n e glect referrals and going out w ith our local law enforce m ent to investigate all allega tions o f abuse a n d /o r ne glect. I also work closely with o u r T ribal C o u rt and o ur tribal attorney in all cases re lated to the Indian Child Wel fare Act. building and Early Childhood E d u ca tio n , th e n ends at the Com m unity Center. Afterward, CPS will host a lunch at the Com munity Cen ter. A n April 15, CPS hosts the Com m unity Scrapbook at the Community Center. Bring your own pictures to create a family scrapbook. Materials and snacks will be provided. T h e C om m unity S crapbook p ro jec t will be from 1 to 5 p.m. O n A p ril 22, CPS will conduct foster care recruit m ent at the Community Cen ter. Snacks provided. I f you have any q u e s tions, o r w ant to volunteer to help, please call CPS at 553-3209. C PS hosting foster care recruitment gathering W ant to be a foster par ent? U nsure w hat that en tails? N ow is your chance to find the answers to these questions. Children’s Protective Ser vices will host a foster care recruitm ent gathering from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Com munity C enter social hall. O n hand will be foster care certifier Berni J. Spino, and intake coordinator Cedla Collins. Breakfast and lunch will be served. I f you have any questions, please call CPS at 553-3209. T he following is the agenda for the gathering: 8—8:15 a.m .: C o n tin e n ta l breakfast. 8:30-8:45: W elcome and in troductions. 8:45—9:15: Overview o f fos ter care program and how it re lates to the Indian Child Welfare Act. 9:15—10: W arm Springs fos ter care program today and Title IVE. 1 0 - 10:15: Break. 10:15—11: F o s te r care panel. 11— 11:30: W hat is the fos ter care process? Foster Care Responsibilities? Training, re quirements, and CPS assis tance. 11:30—12 n o o n : Q u es tions and foster care sign-up opportunities. N o o n to 1 p.m.: Lunch. A CCB 86976 A REMODEL YOUR HOME ADD A ROOM FIX THAT BATHROOM or KITCHEN ■ New Home Construction ■ Carpet ■ Tile ■ Wood Floors ■ Cabinets ■ Countertops ■ Window Coverings FREE ESTIMATES & CONSULTATION 541-546-9008; cell 503-806-4830 Maurice Langsev V_____ »____________ 8_______ ’______ ,_________ i ,_______________ J HEALING FEATHERS o f Portland State University & Native American Rehabilitation Association Preseadis Guest Speaker: Clayton Small Ph.D, April 16th and 17th, 2009 Day and half workshop Native H.O.P.E (Helping Our People Endure) Prevention/Intervention/youth and adult Native American Student and Community Center 710 SW Jackson Street, Portland, OR Contact Dean Azule: (503) 725-5348 A Warm Springs Library open Monday-Friday The Warm Springs Com munity Library is located in the Family Resource Center. The library is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. l_ Page 9 to 6 p.m. Library staff invites all community members to stop by and browse through the grow ing book collection. There are computers available OPEN to all students and community members for Internet access, as well as daily newspapers. For more information, call 553-3462 or send an e-mail to lsmith@wstribes.org J.
