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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2017)
S moke S ignals JULY 1, 2017 Aaron retires Photo by Michelle Alaimo Tribal Council Chairman Reyn Leno, left, and Tribal Health Services Executive Director Kelly Rowe, right, gift Tribal Elder Darlene Aaron with a Tribal logo Pendleton blanket during an honoring for her retirement held at the Grand Ronde Health & Wellness Center on Thursday, June 15. Aaron worked for the Tribe for 28 years and she retired as a Tribal health promotion specialist with the Community Health Program. Her first job with the Tribe was as a secretary with the Health Program. In her 28 years working for the Tribe, she also started the Education Committee. 9 ANNOUNCEMENT The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde recently implemented a process that will allow all Tribal members who reside in the state of Oregon the option of requesting Oregon income tax withholdings from their per capita and Elders benefit payments. Information regarding this option was mailed to all Oregon resident Tribal members in March. While recognizing we have Tribal members who currently reside throughout the 50 states, we will not be offering the state income tax withholding option to Tribal members who reside outside of Oregon at this time. The administrative time, costs and reporting require- ments to implement the option in all states would be expensive. This is the main contributing factor in our decision not to offer the option outside of Oregon. There are a couple of options for Tribal members who wish to set aside money to cover any potential year-end state tax liability: Tribal members aged 18 and older can defer a portion of their per capita payments to their adult savings plan. That money would be available to withdraw from your savings plan as needed. Please note – this option is not available for Elders payments. Money cannot be deferred to the adult savings plan from Elders payments. Open a regular savings account at a bank or credit union and set aside money throughout the year for your use as needed. Check with your state’s taxing authority to determine if you are able to pay “estimated” taxes throughout the year, which could reduce the amount you are required to pay at year-end. We encourage you to seek advice from your tax accountant or CPA should you have any questions about your specific state tax liability. Community Fund distributed 33 grants COMMUNITY FUND continued from front page nance Center Atrium since taking over the fund in February. “You are here because your stead- fast work in communities fulfills our mission,” Cherry said about the Tribal tradition of potlatch, or sharing the bounty. “We thank you very much for the work that you are doing.” The Community Fund distributed seven small grants and 26 large grants to nonprofit organizations in 11 northwest Oregon counties. Tribal Council Chairman Reyn Leno and council members Tonya Gleason-Shepek, Kathleen George, Jack Giffen Jr. and Denise Harvey attended the event. Leno, Giffen and Harvey also serve on the Com- munity Fund Board of Trustees, as does Spirit Mountain Casino Facili- ties Services Director Ron Reibach, who also attended. After a video was shown that recounted the Tribe’s history and Board of Trustees Chairman Sho Dozono quizzed attendees on its contents, Leno made a special presentation to Julia Willis, Com- munity Fund grants coordinator, who was a one-person show after Kathleen George was elected to Tribal Council in September 2016 and another staff member resigned before Cherry was hired. Willis re- ceived a Tribal Pendleton blanket. “We always want to recognize our employees. The ones who do the day-to-day work and really show their commitment to their jobs,” Leno said. “This lady here was the Community Fund. It needs to keep going and obviously we have a staff of three, but at one time this was the Community Fund. I think that it really showed that it is not just a job for her, it’s more of a com- mitment and a job. … She sets the example here for the employees at the Tribe.” In a new wrinkle, a grant recip- ient representative spoke about their program. McMinnville School District teacher David Larson talked about the district’s Robotics League, which received a $25,000 grant. “Currently, we have a program where every single third-grader, as they go through their classes, they are learning how to pro- gram,” Larson said. “They are learning about basic mechanical engineering, a little bit about electrical engineering and from there there’s opportunities to join robotics teams as part of our after-school program. It’s really grown in the last few years, which I’m really proud of.” Tribal Lands Manager Jan Look- ing Wolf Reibach opened the event by performing a welcoming song solo on drum. Cherry also introduced Angela Sears, the Community Fund’s new program coordinator, who came over from working at the casino. “It’s been an amazing experience so far. I feel blessed to be a part of the Community Fund and be a team member of an organization that funds such important projects like yours,” Sears said. Recipients were: Small grants • Clara’s Closet of Lincoln City, $5,000, to fund Safe Sleep for Lincoln County Newborns; • Friends of the Straub Environ- mental Center of Salem, $7,500, for its 2016-17 youth environmen- tal educational programs; • McMinnville Area Habitat for Humanity, $6,154, for its Women Build program; • McMinnville Free Clinic, $5,000, to help fund 2017 operations; • Sheridan School District, $6,900, to fund classroom collaboration and student achievement; • Triangle Productions of Portland, $6,300, for its Brown Paper Bag series; • Yamhill Fire Protection District of Yamhill, $3,146, for its Digital Information project. Large grants • Adelante Mujeres of Forest Grove, $30,000, for its School of Forgiveness and Reconciliation; • August Wilson Red Door Project of Portland, $15,000, to fund its monologue competition; • Boys & Girls Clubs of Emerald Valley of Eugene, $15,000, for its Think Beginning in Grade School program; • Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland Metropolitan Area, $35,000, for its Catalyst Campaign in the Rockwood area; • Caldera of Portland, $15,000, for its Portland Youth Mentoring Program; • Cascade Aids Project Inc. of Port- land, $19,000, for its Sexually Transmitted Infections Preven- tion and Testing for All program; • Children’s Institute of Portland, $35,000, for Early Works, which provides building blocks for third- grade success; • Coalition of Communities of Color of Portland, $35,000, for “Bridg- es,” a leadership development institute; • Halprin Landscape Conservan- cy of Portland, $10,000, for its “Elements” program designed to rediscover Portland’s open space sequence; • Japanese Ancestral Society of Portland, $35,000, for its Minoru Yasui Film Project; • Latino Network of Portland, $20,000, for its culturally specific Latino ninth-grade counts Sum- mer Bridge program; • Marion-Polk Food Share of Sa- lem, $25,000, to replace a truck and sustain and expand its emer- gency food service capacity; • Metropolitan Contractors Improve- ment Partnership of Portland, $35,000, for its Regional Minority Contractor Equity Initiative; • Morrison Child & Family Ser- vices of Portland, $15,000, for its planned and crisis respite care outreach effort; • Native American Youth Associ- ation of Portland, $25,000, for its Portland Equitable Energy Transition program; • Open School Inc. of Portland, $25,000, to foster culturally re- sponsive practices to advance equity for students of color; • Our United Villages – The Re- building Center of Portland, $25,000, for its ReFind Education program aimed at Portland’s low-income youth; • Pearl Buck Center of Eugene, $20,000, for its Vocational Acad- emy that offers employment-fo- cused education for all abilities; • Planned Parenthood of the Colum- bia Willamette Inc. of Portland, $35,000, for expanding accessible health care for vulnerable popula- tions west of Portland; • Special Olympics Oregon Inc. of Portland, $25,000, for its Unified Champions schools; • Store to Door of Portland, $15,000, for nourishment and social con- nections for homebound Elders; • Tillamook Forest Heritage Trust of Tillamook, $60,000, for its For- est Center education pavilion; • University of Oregon Foundation of Eugene, $7,500, for its Native Language Community Storybook project; • Willamette Falls Heritage Area Coalition of West Linn, $15,000, for its master planning document for a state-of-the-art museum exhibit; • Youth Rights & Justice of Port- land, $15,000, for breaking the school-to-prison pipeline through interdisciplinary advocacy for at- risk youth.
