Smoke Signals 7
MAY 15, 2012
Tribe to receive $500,000 grant for new food bank
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
The Grand Ronde Tribe's efforts
to continue improving the local
community received a $500,000
boost on May 1 from the U.S. De
partment of Housing and Urban
Development.
The Tribe has been selected to
receive a federal grant that will
help it build a new, more accessible
3,000-square-foot food bank capable
of handling and meeting U.S. De
partment of Agriculture commodi
ties program requirements for the
local community.
The Grand Ronde Tribal Coun
cil authorized applying for the
Indian Community Development
Block Grant on Dec. 21, 2011, af
ter reviewing project suggestions
received in community meetings.
The Tribe will work with the
Grand Ronde Community Resource
Center, which will operate the food
bank in the new facility. The Tribe
will match the grant with $166,667
less any potential assistance that
the Grand Ronde Tribal Housing
Authority may be able to provide.
The annual operation and main
tenance costs of the food bank build-
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Photo by Michelle Alaimo
The Curl property, located across from the Grand Rondo Tribal Housing
Authority's office on Grand Ronde Road, is the loading contender for the new
Grand Ronde Food Bank facility.
ing are estimated to be $30,000.
According to the grant application,
the new food bank building will be
constructed closer to the Tribal
campus because the current loca
tion near Uyxat Powwow Grounds
is too far away and unsafe for local
residents to access on foot.
The current location, in a surplus
house the Tribe is letting the food
bank use, is less than 2,000 square
feet and not designed as a food bank
or a community service building.
The Tribe has identified the Curl
property across Grand Ronde Road
from the Grand Ronde Tribal Hous
ing Authority's office as the leading
contender for locating the new food
bank because it is a block from El
der housing and from Chxi Musam
Illihi low-income family housing.
According to the grant applica
tion, the number of households and
people served by the Grand Ronde
Community Recourse Center has
increased substantially during the
recent recession.
The number of households served
has jumped from 397 in 2008 to 471
in 2010 and the number of people
served has increased from 1,381 in
2008 to 1,639 in 2010 both 18.6
percent increases. The pounds of food
provided increased from 173,645 to
182,587 in the same time span.
The grant application states that
the new food bank will have a walk
in freezer and cooler, which will
make it easier to provide healthier
fresh produce to area residents
who cannot afford to travel to
supermarkets. There also will be
room for cooking demonstrations
on preserving food.
The Tribe plans to construct the
new food bank during the summer
of 2013.
In recent years, the Tribe has
been instrumental in making Grand
Ronde a more full-service, safer
community. The Tribe led the effort
to widen and improve the safety of
Grand Ronde Road and build a fire
station in the local community to
cut down on response times from
West Valley Fire District. B
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
SALEM Tribal Council mem
ber Kathleen Tom was among 36
people who testified before the
state Board of Education at the
state Capitol on Friday, April 27,
regarding a proposed ban on Native
American mascots in Oregon.
Tom said the Grand Ronde Tribe,
one of Oregon's nine federally
recognized Tribes, opposes "try
ing to implement a one size fits
all solution to the nine individual
sovereign Tribal governments in
Oregon."
"As a Tribe, we have made a
commitment to dedicate ourselves
to building positive government-to-government
relationships across all
levels of government," Tom said.
"We are proud of the strides that
we have made over the years, and
are equally proud of the state of Or
egon and their efforts to build and
maintain these relationships.
"... We believe strongly that this
is an issue that is best resolved
with our own local school districts
to make sure they accurately and
respectfully portray Native culture.
We have been able to deal with
these situations at the local level,
with respect and sensitivity to
our Tribal students, all students,
our Tribal citizens and all citizens
within our shared communities.
"The key to our relationships
with all levels of government in
the future is through educational
outreach. We would suggest to the
board that we move past this issue
and on to something that truly could
make a difference for the benefit of
Tribes and Oregonians alike.
"Let's take a strong look at teach
ing all of Oregon's students about
the history and culture of Oregon's
nine unique, sovereign govern
ments. The fact is that if more people
Kathleen Tom
were edu
cated about
Tribal his
tory, society
and culture,
it would do
much more
to solve the
problems of
Indian mas
cots than sim
ply outlawing the practice."
At the May 1 Legislative Action
Committee meeting, Tribal Vice
Chair Reyn Leno complimented
Tom on her testimony.
"I think Kathy did a good job
delivering her testimony," Leno
said.
Both Tom and Leno reiterated the
Grand Ronde Tribe's long-standing
request that Oregon Tribal history
be incorporated into statewide cur
riculum requirements.
Leno said they put state Superin
tendent of Public Instruction Susan
Castillo on the spot regarding that
request.
"One of the highlights of her
testimony was when it arose that
Castillo tried to say they were do
ing something," Leno said. "Kathy
reminded her that she's been here
years and I was sitting in the audi
ence and she actually said, 'Well,
our vice chair has been here 14
years,' and we haven't seen any
thing." "I think I did put Susan Cas
tillo on the spot," Tom said. "We've
heard this talk and we've heard
this talk, and I've been on here for
nine years and our vice chair for 14,
and we're still talking about this.
Something needs to get done."
Castillo reportedly said that in
cluding Native history in statewide
curriculum requirements is still
being examined.
Tribal Council Chairwoman Cher-
yle A. Kennedy said that she thinks
high school mascots are meant to
inspire teams and not insult Na
tive Tribes.
"We still believe that if you truly
want to honor the Tribes of Oregon
then put us in your history books,"
Kennedy said. "That's what we
need is that sincere education; that
gesture of recognizing who we are
and honoring who we are. That
will say monuments about Native
American Tribes.
"We don't support eliminating
mascots because we don't believe
that these schools are disparaging
us. They wouldn't name their school
'We're Losers' or 'We're Slugs.' You
are trying to inspire your team and
your school."
The Lebanon Express reported
that Leno told state Rep. Sherrie
Sprenger (R-Scio) that he does not
object to Native mascots, such as
the Lebanon Warriors.
"That's the position of the Tribe
and my own personal position
both," Leno said. "We have a lot of
concern about why our Tribal kids
are telling our histories in schools
and why our teachers are not teach
ing our histories in schools."
The state Board of Education
is still accepting citizen input at
ODE.NativeAmericanMascots
state.or.us.
The board also will hear public
comments until noon at the next
meeting at 9 a.m. Thursday, May
17, at the Oregon Department of
Education, 255 Capitol St. N.E., in
Salem. B
Grand Ronde Health and
Wellness Center institutes
Broken Appointment Policy
In an effort to make medical services more efficient, the Grand Ronde
Health and Wellness Center (H&WC) has approved and instituted a
broken appointment policy for medically-related appointments at the
H&WC. To qualify as a broken appointment a patient must either not
show up for their appointment, show up more than 10 minutes late
or give less than 24 hours notice of cancellation. When any of these
events occur, the patient is notified in writing. After the third broken
appointment in a six-month time frame, the patient will not be allowed
to schedule routine appointments. However, they will be offered a "sit
and wait appointment" the chance to sit and wait for an opening
with a provider. This probationary period will last for six (6) months.
The H&WC has a process for reminding patients of appointments and
strives to notify patients of appointments the day before.
The broken appointment policy is very important as broken or
missed appointments create unused time in a provider's schedule,
which is inefficient financially and leads to barriers to accessing care.
Ultimately, a broken appointment policy exists to improve access to
care for all patients and is critical to providing responsive, cost-effective
health services. B