4 Smoke Signals Interested in Serving on the Tribal Housing Authority Board? Two positions open to Tribal or non-Tribal applicants. The Grand Ronde Tribal Housing Authority has two Board Commis sioners whose three-year terms ex pire in March 2001. Anyone who is interested in serving in one of these positions, and who has housing re lated experience to qualify for the po sition, is encouraged to attend the January Board meeting. The meet ing is tentatively scheduled for Tues day, January 16, 2001, at 6:00 p.m. at the Housing Authority office in Grand Ronde. This is an opportunity to: 1) Observe how the Board func tions, 2) Become acquainted with the types of issues that are regularly discussed, and 3) Determine if you are seriously interested in such a position now or in the future. Help Us Find Our MISSING MOCCASINS The Member Services department is in need of your assistance. If you have any information that could help locate these Tribal members please call Valorie Sheker, Margo Mercier or Sharon Grout at 1-800-422-0232 or 1-800-442-0346. Terry Becker John Brown Jr. Robert Brown Lavina Bueno Rudolph Bueno Joyce Craig Robert Craig Dorothy Dowd Theodore Dowd Charles Gillman Frank Hamilton George Hamilton Catherine Hudson Michael Hudson Diana Hutchins Harry Jeffries Vera Jones Clisse Knighton Franklin Langley CarlLandon Orville Michelle Jacqueline Michelle Nora Michelle John Olney Mary Seward Lawrence Smith Jr. Jennifer Smith Ronald Smith Clyde Sorenson Beatrice Taylor Thomas Taylor Gerald Taylor Henry Tipton Sandra White Goldie Williams The three-year terms are on a ro tating basis, and several expire each March. Both Tribal members and non-Tribal people are eligible to serve on the Board, and incumbents are eligible to reapply. Interested persons should have a demonstrated interest in housing and experience in the housing field in some capacity, such as: 0 affordable housing development 0 property management 0 residential building construction 0 housing financing 0 housing planning 0 other related areas The Board oversees all housing development, management, and op erations for the Tribe, and is respon sible for policy-making decisions. The Board currently meets at 6:00 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month at the Housing Authority office in Grand Ronde. Interested persons should send a letter outlining their interest and qualifications to: Linda Layden, Director Grand Ronde Tribal Housing Authority 9615 Grand Ronde Road Grand Ronde, Oregon 97347 All letters need to be received by February 15, 2001 to be con sidered. For more information re garding qualifications, or to confirm the Board meeting date, contact the Authority at 503-879-2401 or toll free at 1-800-422-0232, ext. 2401. Emergency Assistance Notice Tribal members needing emergency assistance during the month of December will need to utilize their Casino Revenue Distribution money first. The Social Services department will freeze funds from their Emergency Assistance program, the Benevolence Fund and the General Assistance program from December 1-31. The Tribal Council has passed a resolution allocating the distribution of 25 of the Casino revenue to Tribal members through the Member Services Division. Members who will be 18 years of age as of December 13, 2000 will be automatically generated a check. Those under the age requirement of 18 years will have their monies directly distributed into their Trust accounts. The date of distribution will be December 13, 2000. B The Member Services Division will need all members who have had information changes within the last year to provide conformation of name, address and Social Security number. Please note we will only accept information changes for members 18 years and over by the member only. D Only members enrolled on or before July 31, 2000 will be eligible for this distribution, as stated in the Tribe's Gaming Revenue Allocation Plan. D Tribal members will be able to pick their checks up in person on De cember 13 from 8 a.m. through 4:30 p.m. O All checks not picked up on this date will be mailed out at 4:30 p.m. on December 13. D Payment instructions have been mailed to all Tribal members. If you need further assistance contact Member Services at one of the numbers listed below. D Per capita payments from casino revenues are subject to federal, and where applicable, state income taxes. Each Tribal member k responsible for any tax due as a result of this payment. -ae mBas3$ Dear Editor, The Tribal Wellness program started the first "After School pro gram" approximately six years ago. It was and continues to be an ex tension of the children's educa tional day. The children are taught life skills, basic health education, tobacco, alcohol and drug abuse education, cultural education, help with homework, etc. The Wellness staff that work in this program work with children from the ages of three through eleven. The staff receives preven tion education from the State Of fice of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Pro gram and their studies indicate that "one-time" prevention education is not effective. The Wellness pro gram is a small part of a preven tion team that ideally includes par ents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, school personnel and friends. All children are important as they are all the future of this country, however, the Wellness program does not have the resources to pro vide services throughout the Six County Services Area. There are Federal programs in the schools for Native American children to pro vide additional services such as tu toring, culture, special trips, pre vention education, counseling, etc. The prevention education for youth ages 12 through 17 services are available in the Grand Ronde, Willamina and Sheridan area. If you have any questions or would like to request service, please call Robert Schmid at 503-879-2104. This response does not adequately cover the Wellness program activi ties. We welcome Tribal members to come and visit with staff and share ideas. Please call 503-879-2078 to schedule a visit. Thank you, Bonnie Tom Wellness Component Director 9615 Grand Ronde Road Grand Ronde, OR 97347 1-800-422-0232 Fax: (503)879-2173 www.grandronde.org BRENT MERRILL, EDITOR (503) 879-2321 brent.merrillgrandronde.org KIM MUELLER, DESIGN (503) 879-2264 klm.muellergrandronde.org JUSTIN PHILLIPS, ASSISTANT (503) 879-2190 Iustin.phlllipsgrandronde.org SMOKE SIGNALS, a publication of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, is published twice a month. We have an Editorial Policy to encourage input from readers about stories printed in SMOKE SIGNALS and other Tribal issues. However, all letters must be received at the newspaper office with author's signature, address, and phone number in order to be considered for publication. SMOKE SIGNALS reserves the right to edit any letter for clarity and length, and to refuse publication of anv letter or any part of a letter that may contain libelous statements or personal attacks. Not all letters are guaranteed publication ucon submission. Published letters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SMOKE SIGNALS, Tribal employees or TOai Council. DEADLINE DATE Tues., Dec. 5... Wed., Dec. 20. ISSUiDAIi DECEMBER 15 . JANUARY 1