Smoke signals., July 15, 2015, Image 9

S moke S ignals
JULY 15, 2015
9
477 Program helps Freeman retune his life
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Tribal member Daniel Freeman
credits two entities with helping
turn his life around after spending
almost seven years in prison – God
and the Tribe’s 477/Vocational Re-
habilitation Program.
After requiring sur-
geries on his back and
experiencing a hernia,
Freeman became a dis-
placed mill worker in
the late 1990s and early
2000s. After prescrip-
tions for pain medica-
tions ran out, he started
using alcohol as a sub-
stitute, which contribut-
ed to a driving accident
that landed him in the
Oregon State Penitentiary in Sa-
lem.
Before the start of serving his
sentence, however, Freeman said
that God changed his heart.
“Before I went to prison, my life
was really out of control,” he says,
“but I can remember really being
tired of that lifestyle and crying
out to God and asking him to come
into my heart and help me change.
It wasn’t too long after that that I
felt a desire to go to treatment and
get sober.”
He has been sober and tobacco-
and drug-free since October 2006.
While serving his sentence between
April 2007 and January 2014, Free-
man worked to improve himself.
“I had turned my life over to God
so I was seeking a way to utilize
that time in the best, most produc-
tive way that I could,” he says.
He worked in the metal stop, be-
coming a certified welder. He then
started working in the automotive
repair shop and earned a two-year
associate degree through Chemeke-
ta Community College in automo-
tive technology. He also received
another two years of on-the-job
training in the prison auto shop.
Upon his release, the second
significant influence – the Tribe’s
477/Vocational Rehabil-
itation Program – came
into his life.
“One of the things
that I learned was that
I needed to seek out sup-
port people in my life
and utilize the resources
that are available to me
to try and change and
better my life,” he says.
Freeman started
working with 477 Pro-
gram/Vocational Reha-
bilitation staff member Barbara
Gibbons, who helped him realize
that his lifelong love of working on
automobiles was an avocation that
could become a vocation.
“When we were discussing what
it was I wanted to do, ultimately I
really wanted to start my own busi-
ness,” Freeman says. “I had worked
on cars pretty much my whole life.
Since going to 477, Barbara real-
ly helped me a lot in seeking out
different options and being really
supportive.”
Freeman also started working
with then-Vocational Rehabilita-
tion Case Worker Michael Herrin.
“They helped me focus on my
dream of doing that and work,”
Freeman says. “They were support-
ive in that they helped me figure
out how I could continue working at
my house, doing automotive work,
and seek employment related to
something that I wanted to do.”
Freeman went through Cheme-
keta’s MERIT Program, which
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Daniel Freeman works on the intake manifold on a Dodge Dakota at his
home in Grand Ronde on Monday, July 13. After spending almost seven
years in prison, Freeman started working with 477 Program/Vocational
Rehabilitation staff member Barbara Gibbons, who helped him realize that
his lifelong love of working on automobiles could become a vocation.
counsels people who want to start
a small business, and continued his
automotive repair education.
He also started performing auto
repairs at his son’s home on Salmon
River Highway across from Jim’s
Trading Post and is currently work-
ing toward opening his own three-
bay auto repair shop – Grand Ronde
Auto Repair – sometime in 2016.
“We set up a ‘modified teepee’ on a
concrete slab so I could work on one
vehicle at a time,” Freeman says of
his son, Andrew.
Freeman is currently National
Institute for Automotive Service
Excellence-certified in five areas
and will become a master techni-
cian after earning three more ASE
certifications.
“I’ve received unbelievable sup-
port from the community,” Free-
man says. “I’m really striving to
be honest and try to overcome the
stigma of what auto technicians al-
ready have … somebody who is go-
ing to stick it to you or something.”
The 477 Program has helped
Freeman pay for the ASE tests,
as well as acquire equipment. But
more importantly, he says, the
program and its staff have helped
him navigate his way through the
technical aspects of starting his
own business.
“They make me do all of the
work,” Freeman says, “and show
consistency, being responsible and
there’s a lot of accountability.”
Although he has some trepidation
about telling his story of redemp-
tion, Freeman says that he hopes
it will help other Tribal members
realize there are many opportuni-
ties available through the Tribe.
“We have a lot of opportunities
available through our Tribe,” Free-
man says, “for people who are in
any kind of position. We have a lot
of support and a lot of resources
available that I think a lot of people
don’t have any idea about. Even if
they do, they aren’t real sure how
to take advantage of them. But if
someone is willing to invest and be
determined to succeed, that pro-
gram has a lot of support for them.”
Freeman says his gratitude
knows no bounds and includes his
family, who supported him upon his
release. “They have been a blessing,
helping me transition through ev-
erything,” he says.
He also is thankful for his month-
ly team meetings with everyone
who has been involved in helping
him at the Tribe, including staff
members who have assisted him
in regaining his relationships with
his children.
“Everyone coming together each
month was very good in helping me
stay focused on life as a whole and
not just the work aspect,” he says.
But it is the 477/Vocational Reha-
bilitation Program that kept him on
his current course toward business
ownership and a successful future.
“Because of the program, I was
able to stay focused on my goal
and my dream” Freeman says. “At
my age (49), usually it would be
hard to start anywhere but at the
bottom. … I feel grateful to have
the opportunity to be responsible
for my own success or failure. They
pull back enough and stay involved
enough that it has given me the
opportunity to find out my areas of
weakness and strength.
“They are very serious about
there being a fine line between
enabling somebody and helping
them. I think they tread really well
on that and make sure that we’re
accountable for our own work. I
think that is really positive about
that program.” n
St. Michael’s offers brunch
St. Michael’s Catholic Church offers an open house brunch every
Sunday following Mass. The brunch is free to the community.
Brunch begins at about 11:30 a.m. following the 10:30 a.m. Mass.
Mass attendance is not required for brunch attendance. For more
information, contact Janelle Justen at 503-550-0923. n
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