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Tribal Member Tim Holmes wins Paul G. Hearne Award
Unity, Leadership and Impact
RE
JANUARY 1, 2001
By Chris Mercier
Tim Holmes just can't seem to get
enough of Washington, D.C.
Holmes returned to the nation's
capitol recently and was awarded the
2nd Annual Paul G. HearneAAPD
Leadership Award.
"It is a tremendous honor to be se
lected," Holmes said after returning
to Grand Ronde from the invitation
only banquet. "I would have never
dreamed of it."
The Awards program was estab
lished in 1999 in honor of the founder
of the American Association of People
with Disabilities (AAPD), Paul G.
Hearne.
Hearne was a tireless advocate and
visionary leader who achieved suc
cess as a lawyer, non-profit execu
tive, foundation president, federal
agency director and mentor to count
less people with disabilities .
The program recognizes emerging
leaders with disabilities who demon
strate leadership while having a posi
tive impact on the community of
people with disabilities.
Holmes earned the award because
of his outstanding leadership in ad
vocating for disability rights for per
sons with disabilities. Holmes is cur
rently the Chair of the Oregon State
Rehabilitation Council, Chair of the
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
Tribal Housing Authority, member
and past Chair of the State Indepen
dent Living Council, and is currently
working with the Tribal Native
American Vocational Rehabilitation
program.
Holmes and his wife Nancy, who
made the trip with him, journeyed
to D.C. earlier this year for the 10th
Anniversary Rally of the Americans
with Disabilities Act.
Despite being selected from more
than 400 applicants, Holmes main
tains a low profile for the whole af
fair. "It's good to be acknowledged for
the work that I do," he said. "But
there are still hundreds of people who
do this kind of work who never get
recognized."
In that spirit, Holmes plans to keep
on keeping on, and will donate a siz
able portion of the $10,000 included
with the award to charity, notably
the Eastern Oregon Center for In
dependent Living and the American
Indian Rehabilitation Rights of War
riors (AIRROW).
The AAPD was founded on July 25,
1995 by a collection of 550 individu
als from all 50 states. After meeting
in D.C, the group created the non
profit organization in order to pro
vide a political and economic voice for
the more than 50 million Americans
who qualify as disabled. Since its in
ception, the AAPD membership has
ballooned to a robust 49 million mem
bers. The organization stands behind the
mantra "unity, leadership and im
pact" and its foremost objective is, in
its own words "to further the produc
tivity, independence, full citizenship
and total integration of people with
disabilities into all aspects of society
and the natural environment."
The AAPD offers assistance to most
of its disabled members in the form
of life insurance, automobile insur
ance, banking benefits and other
benefits as well as sharing important
information regarding disability
rights and issues.
The association estimates that 50
million Americans have disabilities,
nearly 20 percent of the population.
Half of that number consists of people
of legal working age, yet only one
third of them actually have jobs, and
a clear majority would like to work.
The association contends that more
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than $200 billion is lost annually due
to disabled employment, money that
members would rather earn as full
fledged segments of the American
workforce than as recipients of gov
ernment hand-outs. By comparison,
the annual budget deficit of the
United States is approximately $200
million.
Holmes accepted not on behalf of
himself, but on that of the numer
ous organizations and people who
have helped him, particularly the
AAPD.
"I've been involved with numer
ous organizations," he said. "And
learned a lot."
Holmes is hopeful that the atten
tion he gets will help draw regional
awareness of the AAPD.
"This is not an individual accom
plishment," he added.
Couple Gets Another Chance at Life
Continued from front page
out we weren't a match."
When it was confirmed that Bonnie
would not be a match, everyone
turned to Bob's wife Gayle. They did
this knowing that the chances of a
husband and wife matching kidneys
were rare.
"They asked me if I was healthy,"
said Gayle. "I wanted to get tested
right away. They called us that
night to tell us we were the same blood
type. We weren't just a match, we
were just the closest. It was amaz
ing I think we amazed them," said
Gayle of the doctor's reactions .
"I told the doctor, well after 38
years something should match," said
Bob, laughing.
Even in a light moment, Bob knows
the deadly seriousness of his condi
tion. He has already suffered from
one infection and he knows that in
the first two years after the transplant
the risk of total failure is extreme.
The couple kept the severity of Bob's
condition from most everyone even
their daughter Teri. They said they
didn't want to worry her or other fam
ily members and loved ones and they
would do the same thing again.
"No, if I were going to do it over
again, I would do it the same way,"
explained Bob. "I don't want people
to pity me or feel sorry for me or any
thing. It was something that if we
had not had the transplant, we
would have survived the best we
could right through to the end. But,
it worked out great."
When asked what was going
through his mind when he saw his
grandchildren for the first time after
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SEASON TO BE THANKFUL
Tribal member Bob Mercier, a past
Tribal Council member and the head of
his own trucking company, recently re
ceived the gift of life from his wife
Gayle. In May of this year, Gayle gave
a kidney to her husband of 38 years
that saved his life. The surgery was
Photo by Justin Phillips
performed at Good Samaritan Hospi
tal in Portland.
The Mercier's want people to con
sider becoming donors if and when
they are needed.
"You can make it through. It's not
as bad as people think," said Gayle.
the operation, Bob started to answer
then stopped. The interview became
emotional for everyone.
"We had our emotional times for
the first couple of months," said Gayle
finishing for Bob. "But we feel bet
ter now."
"I think it makes you appreciate
life a lot more," said Bonnie of ev
erything Bob and Gayle went
through. "But, I think usually we
get along when we are healthy and
you don't think about well maybe
this is your last day or tomorrow.
But, when you go through something
like this, I think for the whole fam
ily, it is like a miracle experience and
we all look at life differently. We
actually take time to do more things
together. Our lives are really busy,
but we make it a point to do things
that we might have put off before."
"Definitely," agreed Gayle.
"You know for me, it just gave me
another shot at life," said Bob.
"Yeah," echoed Gayle. "That is the
bottom line another shot at life."
When asked what the holidays will
mean for the family this year Bob
was strong in his answer.
"A new beginning," said Bob. "That
is the best way I can express it."
Ignore the Myths,
Build a Support Team
By Brent Merrill
When former Tribal Council member
Bob Mercier found out he had kidney
failure after 17 years of battling diabe
tes, he turned to his family for support.
He found out that his family had more
love for him than he could have imag
ined they were willing to make great
sacrifices to keep him around.
First, his sister Bonnie stepped up to
the plate and offered her kidney. Then
Bob's wife Gayle offered hers.
When it was all said and done, the
process was not as bad as they thought
it was going to be. They survived and
they want you to know that you can too.
"So many people have misconceptions
about how horrible this thing is that you
have to go through and it's really not,"
said Bob. "We need to let people know
that'
"That's what we need to let people
know," agreed Gayle.
"The benefits that you reap from it is
worth any amount of discomfort you
might have had through the surgery part
of it," said Bob.
Bob and Gayle Mercier have a mes
sage for you if you are finding yourself
in a similar situation: "Don't be afraid."
The other need for families in this situ
ation is to build a support team. Find
family members andor friends that you
know you can rely on. People that you
trust and that you know will be there
for you in your times of most need.
"Our support team is what got us
through," said Gayle of their daughter
Teri, sister Bonnie and her husband
Chips Tom and sister Carol Ann and
Denny Olson. "You need a support team.
We could have never made it without
them."