JANUARY 1, 2006
Smoke Signals 9
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Flooded OnWednesday, December 28, torrential rains caused some minor
flooding throughout the local Grand Ronde area. Here, Sgt. Nathan Goldberg of the
Polk County Sheriffs Office drives through the high water on Grand Ronde Road.
w m -m.
nurturing Parent
Families Together
Wednesday Evenings
January 4 March 15, 2006
5:30-8:30 p.m.
This is a program for the
whole family to attend
together to promote healthy
family attitudes, beliefs and
practices. If you are interested in participating, please contact
Lisa Leno at 503-879-1471. This program is sponsored by
Social Services, Education, Health and Wellness, and Housing.
Preschoolers Visit Clinic
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Little Ones Have Big Holiday Tribal Preschoolers pose for a
photo with Clinic InformationTech Kandee Little at the clinic on Tuesday, De
cember 20. Although their purpose was to vote on their favorite decorated
window, they found the time to say Merry Christmas to everyone in the building.
Tribal Members Requested To
Participate In Online Survey
Beginning January 23, 2006
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde strives to continue pro
viding quality health care for Tribal members, with a focus on ac
cess of care, quality of care, and cost of providing care.
Your participation is requested to collect information for the Tribal
Member Health Plan as currently administered by United Medical Re
sources (UMR). The purpose of the survey is to gather information about
Tribal members, and their access to other health insurance coverage
through alternative carriers (via your employer, Medicare, etc).
Tribal members eligible for primary coverage through other carri
ers are required to provide information about the alternative carri
ers. Providing this information will not change health benefits to
Tribal members, but will assist the Tribe in continuing to provide
access to quality health care for all Tribal members while helping to
manage cost of care.
Responses to this survey will be strictly confidential and will be
available only for the above mentioned purpose. The survey will be
available online from January 23, 2006 through March 10, 2006.
Members will also receive the paper survey via first class-mail the
week of January 16, 2006, however, online participation is encour
aged to (1) enter you promptly into the drawing, (2) reduce the chance
that your responses may be lost in the mail, and (3) save on the cost
and time of mailing. Although no action is requested at this time,
the direct web address for the survey will be posted in January 15,
2006 edition of the Smoke Signals. Members will also have access
the survey through the Tribe's website at www.grandronde.org.
Information to be posted at the Tribe's website is also forthcoming.
Your input is crucial and so is a successful return rate; therefore,
we are organizing a drawing with great prizes in return for your
participation. In addition, there will be an extra incentive for those
who 1.) Complete the online survey by March 10 or 2.) Who return
the paper survey by March 6.
If you have any questions regarding this survey, please contact
Debby Larsen, Financial Risk Manager for the Confederated Tribes
of Grand Ronde, at 503-879-2332. Thank you!
Grand Ronde Low-Income
Home Energy Assistance Program
The Grand Ronde Tribe is anticipating
a new federal award for the Low
Income Home Energy Assistance
Program (LI HEAP) to assist
income eligible Grand Ronde
Tribal members with energy
payments (utility bills, firewood,
etc.), energy emergencies and
weatherization (e.g. furnace
repairs). Under the current
program households with an adult
Grand Ronde Tribal member are
eligible to apply within Polk, Yamhill,
Marion, Washington, Multnomah, Tillamook, and Clackamas counties.
CTGR members in these counties need to contact Grand Ronde to
receive assistance instead of from the community action agency in their
area. Grand Ronde's program enables more CTGR members to be
served than would otherwise have been possible.
If you are interested in obtaining services contact Social Services at
1-800-242-8196 for energy assistance and the Grand Ronde Tribal
Housing Authority at 503-879-2405 for weatherization. The Tribe's
LIHEAP program also serves all income eligible Indians on Grand
Ronde Reservation or trust land.
CORRECTION NOTE - In the December 15, 2005 issue of Smoke
Signals a block ad was shown on page 8 for the Mid-Willamette
Community Action Agency. This public service ad was faxed to Smoke
Signals but it fails to note that Grand Ronde Tribal members are not
eligible to obtain services from MWCAA because the Tribe receives
direct federal funding to operate its own LIHEAP program. Indians
from other Tribes, that do not have an adult CTGR member in their
household, can apply to MWVCAA for services if the reside in
PolkMarion County. Another exception to this may be Siletz Tribal
members since the Siletz Tribe also applied for funding to serve their
own members. They should contact the Siletz Tribe to see if they are
eligible for services with their Tribe.