A6
News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Sleep in Heavenly Peace
Volunteers build
beds for children in
need
New physician assistant
enjoys country life
April Bieber is
new PA at
Strawberry clinic
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Volunteers with the nonprofit or-
ganization Sleep in Heavenly Peace
have a soft spot for kids, helping
provide comfortable beds for chil-
dren in need.
Susie Brown, who started a
local SHP chapter, called it “an
amazing movement” in which vol-
unteers with the nonprofit work
with other organizations and indi-
viduals to build and deliver beds
to families in Eastern Oregon, who
have children sleeping on a couch
or the floor.
She said that since the John
Day chapter became official on
May 22, volunteers have been gath-
ering monetary donations as well as
supplies and tools to build beds and
provide bedding.
Brown and her husband, Mark,
and their daughter Natosha McLeod
first learned of SHP in March while
watching an episode of “Returning
the Favor,” hosted by Mike Rowe,
also known for his TV show “Dirty
Jobs.”
“We all had tears in our eyes,”
Susie said, adding it weighed on
their minds for several days.
Susie filled out paperwork to
start a local chapter, and the family
has attended “build days” in Twin
Falls, Idaho, where they’ve seen the
process.
SHP had nine chapters when
the program featuring the non-
profit aired, and now there are 88
chapters in 32 states, and it’s still
growing.
The Browns work with a core set
of volunteers. They will gather for
an inaugural build day Aug. 11 in
Dayville, in honor of the late Jake
Streeter, who was a longtime resi-
dent and volunteer firefighter.
“Once Mark and I saw this, we
knew we could help our communi-
ties,” she said, adding that no matter
what a family’s situation is “we are
there to help the children.”
“Children do better emotionally,
mentally and physically when they
have a space of their own and are
Wednesday, August 1, 2018
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Contributed photos
The Brown family started a local chapter for the nonprofit
organization Sleep in Heavenly Peace. From left, chapter vice
president Natosha McLeod and her parents, build manager Mark
Brown and chapter president Susie Brown. The Browns along with
volunteers are scheduled to build five bunk beds on Aug. 11 for
their inaugural build.
Susie Brown is chapter president
of the Oregon Sleep in Heavenly
Peace nonprofit, which helps
provide beds and bedding for
kids in need.
The Sleep in Heavenly Peace
logo.
able to get a good night of sleep,”
she said. “This carries over to their
studies and education.”
She said she enjoyed building
and delivering beds with the Twin
Falls chapter.
“This is such a great experi-
ence, and you get to see how it
affects the families firsthand,”
she said. “There are usually many
tears of gratitude from the parents,
which makes me pretty emotional
also, and the kids are so excited
and happy — this is the reward for
all our efforts.”
She said the local nonprofit will
serve children ages 3-17 who live
in Grant, Harney, Baker and Mal-
heur counties with builds happen-
ing in various places. The beds and
bedding are given to the families
free of charge.
“We have a core team of vol-
unteers who are taking on assign-
ments, but we are always looking
for more volunteers to help with
this,” she said. “This is a commu-
nity project and something that we
want the community involved in.”
For more information, email
Susie Brown at susie.brown@
shpbeds.org or visit the Facebook
page shpjohnday or the main web-
site shpbeds.org.
New physician assistant April
Bieber said she’s enjoying rural life
since joining the crew at Strawber-
ry Mountain Community Clinic in
May.
“I love the area, the landscape of
this area and the people,” she said.
She said she’s happy to have the
opportunity to live and work in a
small town.
“I have always
enjoyed living in the
country,” she said.
“Living in the city
for three years made
me more sure of
that. I would rather
commute behind a
April
herd of cattle than
Bieber
a line of red tail-
lights.”
This is a return trip to Grant
County for Bieber, who makes her
home in Mt. Vernon.
Most of her clinical rotations
were spent in Atlanta, Georgia, but
she also spent a month at Strawber-
ry Clinic in the spring of last year.
Her parents, Rodney and Judy
Bieber, lived in the area in the early
2000s for more than eight years and
now live in Colorado.
April Bieber said that between
the end of her rotation in John Day
and graduation she called the clinic
frequently inquiring about a posi-
tion.
“This is a great clinic,” she said.
“This is a team I really enjoyed
working with in rotation and could
see myself coming back to work
permanently.”
Bieber graduated from Emory
University School of Medicine in
Atlanta, Georgia, in December of
2017.
Before joining the PA program
there, she attended Walla Walla
Community College in Walla Walla,
Washington, and lived in Portland.
Her background includes work-
What’s a PA?
A physician assistant, or PA,
is a mid-level provider that is li-
censed by the state to see patients
and to diagnose and treat them.
A PA is different than a doctor
or physician, but they function
so similarly that most patients
won’t notice a difference be-
tween them. PAs go through a
shorter program and, therefore,
always work with a physician
who oversees their work.
ing in a wide range of medical
settings, including pediatric units,
wildfires and a stint at the Oregon
Medical Examiner’s Office. She
was also an autopsy technician at
Oregon Health & Science Univer-
sity.
When she’s not working, Bieber
said she enjoys spending time with
her boyfriend, the Grant County
trapper, and she’s been rediscover-
ing talents such as hiking, camping
and baking. She also enjoys travel-
ing.
Bieber said she’s looking for-
ward to the Grant County Fair, Aug.
15-18, and attending the Lonestar
concert there on Aug. 17.
For now, she’s keeping busy at
the clinic.
She said she likes the diversity
that family practice medicine of-
fers, especially in a rural setting.
“We get to see and do a lot — a
broad spectrum,” she said.
She added that she also enjoys
emergency medicine and plans to
cover that role more in the future.
“I was attracted to family med-
icine because of how you get to
know your patients in a small com-
munity atmosphere,” she said. “I’m
accepting new patients with sched-
ule availability and look forward to
meeting the people of Grant Coun-
ty.”
To set up an appointment with
Bieber, call the clinic at 541-575-
0404. Clinic hours are 8 a.m. to 5
p.m. Mondays through Fridays,
with availability at 7 a.m. on varied
days.