FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Community Counseling offers COVID stress help
Puts out list of symptoms and stress management
By David Sykes
Community Coun-
seling Solutions, CCS, a
four-county mental health
organization based in Hep-
pner is offering help with
COVID-related mental
health and stress issues,
director Kimberly Lindsay
and Crisis Outreach Team
Leader Sarah Brown told
the Morrow County com-
missioners last week. At
that meeting Commissioner
Don Russell became the
2021 chairman, taking over
from Melissa Lindsay who
held the position for 2020.
In her report to the com-
mission Lindsay and Brown
said CCS wanted to make
more people more aware of
what Brown called disaster
related stress. COVID is a
disaster putting stress into
their lives, Brown said, and
people need to be aware of
what that stress could be
doing to their mental health.
And most of all Brown said
she wants the public to
know that CCS is there to
help through education and
connections to counseling
professionals.
Brown says pandemics
do not have a clear ending
or beginning and as a result
the impact on a person’s life
can be hard to recognize.
She says some of those
symptoms may be starting
to show up in people’s lives.
Symptoms could include:
-Higher or lower ener-
gy levels
-Trouble communicat-
ing
-Blaming others for
everything
-Wanting to be alone
-Excessive worry
-Being easily startled
-Headaches and stom-
achaches
-Hopelessness
-Sweating or having
chills
-Angry outbursts
-Difficulty making de-
cisions
-Trouble concentrating
-Trouble sleeping
If people are feeling
these symptoms CCS says
The local counseling service
is reaching out to people feel-
ing the effects of life under
COVID.
there are things a person can
do on their own to manage
the stress such as:
-Connect with friends
safely
-Have a flexible routine
-Eat healthy food and
drink water
-Get plenty of rest
-Exercise and spend
time outdoors
-Laugh
-Write in a stress jour-
nal
-Ask for help when you
need it
-Meditate
-Spend quality time
with family
For those who want to
know more or want assis-
tance the local phone num-
ber for the Heppner office
of CCS is 541-676-9161.
They also want people to
help others who may be
struggling by encouraging
them to get help and under-
stand that children are also
struggling and may need
extra love and attention.
“We hope people will
be made more aware of
symptoms of disaster re-
lated stress,” Brown told
the commissioners. “We
want them to understand
what is happening and be
more proactive with a rising
mental health issue.” She
said CCS is also trying to
help people make the most
of their time if they are
at home during COVID.
“Since a lot of people are
at home and not employed,
we want to connect them
with programs that focus on
self-improvement and make
these resources known to
a population that hasn’t
needed them in the past,”
she said.
Brown said her orga-
nization is doing more out-
reach to the communities
in their four-county area
through networking, an art
project in the elementary
school, brochures, radio
interviews and adds, Face-
book and in person contact
when possible. She said her
program is funded through
August but if COVID keeps
going she hopes for more
funding for the program to
come. She said they plan
on doing more on the long-
term effects of COVID
stress and pointed out that
some communities are hit
harder than others.
Vaccination rates
‘low’ with first responders
In other COVID related
news at the Jan. 6 meeting,
Commissioner Don Russell
said he heard that out of
the eligible people in the
county who get the vac-
cine, the number actually
taking it was “low.” “The
governor came out with
a list of people who are
going to get the vaccine
first. The first responder’s
participation level is low,”
Russell said. Lindsay said
she didn’t know about Mor-
row County but in Grant
County where her agency is
involved with the vaccines
there is “not a high partic-
ipation rate. We are vacci-
nating people, but it is less
than 50 percent for Grant
County,” she told the com-
missioners. “Our partici-
pation rate is 43 percent,”
she said. “Your results are
what we are seeing in Mor-
row County,” Russell said.
“Some agencies are higher;
some are quite a bit lower.
Surprisingly low,” he add-
ed. Russell did not name
which of the county agen-
cies has a high participation
or which are not getting the
vaccine. On why people
who are eligible are not
getting vaccinated Russell
said, “I have my opinion
and I’m sure it doesn’t
agree with other people’s.
Otherwise, we would all
be vaccinated.” Lindsay
concluded the conversation
saying, “It’s an interesting
subject to follow.”
In other business Lind-
say told the commission
about a new mental health
service CCS is offering
for young people six to 11
years old. Her organization
is in the process of purchas-
ing a piece of property in
Boardman for a 14-bed sub-
acute short term residential
program for the kids with
severe mental health condi-
tions that require residential
treatment. It’s a program
Lindsay has been working
on for five years she says
because there is nothing for
those children on the east
side of the state. “If they
do need that care they go
over to the west side or are
shipped out of state for long
periods of time. It’s really
not okay,” she emphasized.
they say. Roach takes the
position formerly held by
previous Chamber of Com-
merce Executive Director
Sheryll Bates.
In other discussion the
commission heard from
Katie Imes, Transportation
Coordinator of The Loop,
the county’s transporta-
tion department. Imes said
The Loop is working with
Umatilla County and the
Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reserva-
tion (CTUIR) on establish-
ing two new public trans-
portation routes that would
transport workers from
Hermiston and Umatilla
through Irrigon and then to
Boardman and the Port of
Morrow to go to work at
jobs there. The fixed routes
would be called the “Port of
Morrow-Boardman Circu-
The Confederated Tribes currently operate bus systems and are looking to expand more into
Morrow County, Boardman and the Port of Morrow.
Lindsay says CCS re-
ceived $900,000 from the
state to fund the program
and with a verbal agreement
on the Boardman property
she hopes to break ground
on the new youth facility
this summer. “We are hap-
py to have it in Morrow
County and it will be a great
resource,” she said. The
property is located across
from the Umatilla Electric
building in Boardman.
In other reports the
Spiritually Speaking
Encountering Christ every day in our lives
By Fr. Thankachan Joseph
After Christmas, the Church is gradually moving on to
the Ordinary Sunday celebrations. In the second Sunday
of the liturgical year, the theme can be the encounter with
the Lord and its consequences. The readings bring this
idea forward: “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening,”
and the Lord tells the disciples who asked him, “Where
are you staying?” to “Come, and you will see.” These
phrases remind us that we are here to listen to God. And
the disciples accepted His invitation and had a wonderful
encounter with Him after which their lives were never
the same again. So much of our daily lives entail doing
ordinary things that need to get done, living can easily
become a series of just doing same things unless we see
it differently. Can a daily task open the way to encounter
God? The Lord is inviting all of us.
The book of First Samuel (3: 3-10) describes the
call of boy Samuel by the Lord. I was really struck by
the starting verses of that chapter: “In those days it was
rare for Yahweh to speak; and visions were uncommon”
(3:1). The time is very apt for us, to witness the situation
of the time of the call to Samuel - unfamiliarity with God
and God’s Word. Let it not happen to our generation.
The encounter of God with Samuel is a reflection of a
god-with-man-relationship at its best. God calls boy
Samuel when he sleeps in the temple. God prepares with
care the future judge and prophet. He is remembered for
being Israel’s kingmaker and king breaker; he came as a
result of God’s answer to Hannah’s fervent prayer for a
child. Samuel showed that those whom God finds faithful
in small things will be trusted with greater things. He
grew up assisting the high priest (Eli) in the tabernacle
until God directed him to other responsibilities. God was
able to use Samuel because he was genuinely dedicated
to God. Samuel moved ahead because he was listening
to God’s directions.
We are going through a difficult time at the moment
with this pandemic and its menace, a time closing down of
our places of worship. Even in some places the churches
are still closed. That reminded me to question: Did this
pandemic situation bring us little closer to God, as the
baby Samuel was always at the service of God? I was
reminded of another scripture: “If I send pestilences and
epidemics among my people, if my people who bear my
name humble themselves, and pray and seek my presence
and turn from their wicked ways, then I will listen from
heaven and forgive their sins and restore their country”
(2 Chron. 7:14). The pandemic and its lockdowns should
commissioners heard from
Fair Secretary Ann Jones
who said the fairgrounds
was able to open for a cou-
ple of events in October and
November including a se-
ries of barrel races that she
thought would continue.
There was also a wedding
reception inside.
With money from the
Oregon Cultural Trust
Grant the fair was able to
do upgrades including new
LED lights in the Wilkin-
son Arena, sheep barn and
annex. Two outdated wa-
ter heaters were replaced,
and electrical upgrades
were done to both kitchens.
Some plumbing work in the
outside bathrooms includ-
ing adding three new toilets
and four sinks in the wom-
en’s and two sinks and two
toilets in the men’s rooms.
have been time for us to
come closer to God. Every
home should have become
an altar for Christ.
The Gospel of John
(1:35-42) describes an en-
counter of Christ by dis-
ciples of John and their
response to the encounter.
In every encounter the Lord
expects something from us,
“Come and you will see.”
As He invited the disciples Fr. Thankachan Joseph
of John, He invites every
one of us every day. How do we respond to his invitation?
John the Baptist revealed the Messiah to the world, “Be-
hold, the lamb of God.” The two disciples follow Christ
as the fruit of John’s witnessing.
Following can be understood in two ways: a) go
behind a person, just following wherever he or she goes,
or b) imitate the person’s life. Jesus invited the first two
disciples for this second way. Here we see that the Lord
is inviting them to be with Him. In the Gospel of Mark,
we see it very well when He called His disciples to be
with Him and to learn from Him, to assimilate the spirit
of the Master and to be sent out as healers and exorcists.
The discipleship has its fullness when the trained
disciples bring somebody else to the Master; then we can
say he/she is a fully trained disciple. We see that Andrew
goes to his brother Simon Peter and describes to him the
Messiah and convinces him about Christ and brings him
to Christ. Discipleship urges everyone to talk to someone
else and convince them about the Messiah and lead them
to Christ, as Andrew has done with this brother Simon.
In Christ, everyone gets a new name, nature and individ-
uality. Are you ready for it? To be called to Christ and be
reformed by Him?
Pope Francis says, “The encounter with Jesus Christ
takes place in our daily lives, in the direct contact of
prayer, in the wise discernment of the signs of the times
and in our brothers and sisters.” Let us examine how often
we listen to the Messiah in our life. Are we in any way
attracted by Him as the first disciples were attracted? The
Lord who called the first disciples still continues to call
all of us every day. It is amazing what happens when we
seek God and encounter Him in the everyday tasks of
life. It changes our attitude…it changes us. We do things
differently.
Also upgraded with mon-
ey was the main kitchen
which now has a commer-
cial grade kitchen installed.
In other business the
commissioners voted to
appoint Lori Roach the
Heppner Chamber of Com-
merce Executive Direc-
tor to the Eastern Oregon
Workforce Board (EOWB).
In a letter to the commis-
sion Roach said she comes
from a “long line of entre-
preneurs. My grandfather,
father, brother and I are all
passionate entrepreneurs
that really enjoy helping
people solve problems,”
she wrote. She has a his-
tory of publishing several
business news publications
in Oregon. “My passion
for small businesses makes
me a great candidate for the
board position,” she said.
According to the work
force website, the role
of EOWB “is to develop
a strategic plan and set
funding priorities for the
eight-county eastern Ore-
gon area of Baker, Grant,
Harney, Malheur, Morrow,
Umatilla, Union and Wal-
lowa counties. We are your
link to the public workforce
system. As one of its many
functions, the EOWB fa-
cilitates partnerships be-
tween local businesses with
similar workforce needs,”
lar” route and the “Hermis-
ton-Boardman Connector”.
The three partners in
the project plan on estab-
lishing the public bus lines
for the workers in these
communities but needed a
company to develop plans
on how to set up and imple-
ment the new bus system.
Imes reported they have
signed an agreement with
Kittleson and Associates
to begin “analyzing the
two potential fixed routes.”
Also, under the plan, CTU-
IR would do four things
including buy two buses,
handle operations, provide
bus drivers and provide
a backup bus. “Umatilla
County and CTUIR have
proposed that Morrow
County contribute to this
project by paying half of the
total cost. Morrow County’s
cost would total $317,000,”
Imes told the commission-
ers.
Commissioner Russell
said he liked that Kittleson
was involved in planning
the new fixed bus routes
as he has seen them work
before. “They have done
quite a bit of transportation
planning in the region,” he
said. The transportation
planning company has 26
offices across the United
States including Bend and
Portland in Oregon.
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