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Supplies:
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Dominguez and more
than two dozen other migrant
farmworkers
recently
arrived at New Horizons,
a nonprofit rehabilitation
organization in Hermiston.
That day, however, the facil-
ity grounds served a differ-
ent purpose — to provide
food, clothing and personal
protective equipment to the
workers.
“There’s no words to
describe this,” Jose Garcia,
chair of the Hispanic Advi-
sory Committee in Hermis-
ton, said as he looked out at
the gathering workers.
In June 2020, Garcia
recognized that because of
the pandemic, farmwork-
ers could not come get sup-
plies from the Agape House,
a local nonprofit food bank.
So, he began working with
the Agape House to reach
out to the thousands of local
Hispanic and Latino agricul-
tural workers.
The workers carried
boxes of bread, Raisin Bran,
beans, rice, vacuum-sealed
meats and fruits and vegeta-
bles to their cars. Dust from
the work day still clung to
their boots and jeans. Some
brought their children, who
played with belts, shirts and
pants spilling out of stacked
cardboard boxes, while par-
ents checked sizes, laughed
and chatted together. Nearly
all came from Guatemala or
Mexico.
Every two weeks, Agape
House gives Garcia enough
food and clothing for 120
families. In all, Agape
House Executive Director
Mark Gomolski estimates
ing March 22, speeding up
the state’s timeline as more
groups of essential workers
become eligible in the com-
ing weeks. The move comes
in response to the disparate
affect the pandemic has had
on essential workers in mar-
ginalized communities.
Officials at the Umatilla
County health department
have started contacting agri-
cultural and food processing
facilities to make plans for
bringing the vaccine to these
communities, according to
Joe Fiumara, the county’s
public health director.
And although infection
rates have declined overall
in the county, the pandemic
has yet to fully abate from
some agricultural areas.
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Valentin Alonzo, who
Jose Garcia, left, and Rafael Romero, center, gather masks and hand sanitizer for a group of
came to Hermiston from
farmworkers at New Horizons in Hermiston on Friday, March 19, 2021.
Guatemala nearly five years
ago with his wife and three
Horizons every two weeks.
kids, said that five of his
Workers are also provided
co-workers contracted the
with personal protective
virus less than a month ago.
equipment supplied by the
Although Alonzo recognizes
county health department.
the severity of the virus,
It’s an effort
and the impact
to help a commu-
it’s had on local
nity that has been
farmworkers,
d i s p r o p o r t i o n-
he said he is not
ately impacted
worried.
“There is a
by the COVID-
Jose Garcia, chairman of the Hispanic Advisory
passage in the
19
pandemic,
Committee in Hermiston
Bible that says,
Garcia says. In
if you come to
2020, residents
me, don’t fear,
reporting
His-
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald panic ethnicity accounted contributed to the pandem- because I will protect you
Jose Garcia hands out kits with hand sanitizer and masks for 41% of Umatilla Coun- ic’s disproportionate impact from anything,” he said
to farmworkers at New Horizons, a nonprofit rehabilitation ty’s total COVID-19 cases. on Hispanic and Latino through a translator.
organization in Hermiston, on Friday, March 12, 2021.
Garcia watched some of
The population also con- communities.
tracted the virus at a rate
Gov.
Kate
Brown the last boxes of supplies
they have provided sup- tee. “People are very, very over three times higher than announced in a Friday, be carried away, counting
plies to approximately 4,800 grateful.”
non-Hispanics, according to March 22, press conference how many were once sitting
people.
Garcia, an addiction data from the county health that migrant and seasonal on the tables. He uttered a
“It’s pretty amazing,” counselor at New Horizons, department
farmworkers and food pro- phrase that would summa-
said Gomolski, who also estimates between 20 to 30
And Hermiston was cessing employees would be rize the day.
“Fifteen
boxes,
15
serves as vice chair of the families come by when sup- hit hardest. The ZIP code eligible to start receiving the
Hispanic Advisory Commit- plies are offered at New encompassing the town COVID-19 vaccine start- families.”
reported more COVID-19
cases than any other in the
county in 2020. Most of
those cases came in the sum-
mer, when the area reported
one of the highest testing
positivity rates in Oregon.
Residents reporting His-
panic ethnicity had the
greatest number of Uma-
tilla County’s cases in every
month from April through
August 2020. In July, the
population tested positive
at a rate nearly four-and-
a-half times higher than
non-Hispanics.
Health officials have said
that the bulk of the cases
during the summer months
were being traced back to
agricultural workplaces and
food processing facilities,
where infection has been
known to spread rapidly
and Oregon Health Author-
ity frequently reported large
outbreaks.
Researchers
nation-
ally have pointed to socio-
economic status and work-
place exposures as having
“FIFTEEN BOXES,
15 FAMILIES.”
Altrusa members
clean up park
Recovery:
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connecting people to a net-
work of supportive people
and to community resources
for after they leave the cen-
ter is crucial. They work
with human services, Life-
ways and other organiza-
tions to help “set people
up for success” beyond the
inpatient treatment phase.
“We do what we can to
make sure their needs are
met,” she said.
She and other staff said
the pandemic has made
some of that network-build-
ing more difficult. Family
and friends have to video
chat instead of visit in per-
son to protect patients from
COVID-19 exposure, for
example, which doesn’t
always have the same effect
as in-person interactions.
Eryn Griffin, nursing
superintendent at the detox-
ification center, said she
saw people come through
her doors last year who said
a significant factor in their
relapse was that NA and AA
meetings and other support
groups had stopped sud-
denly in the spring, and took
a while to get going again
virtually or in small groups
outdoors.
“The isolation definitely
played a huge role in a lot of
peoples’ relapse,” she said.
Jokinen agreed, and said
she was also concerned that
the latest stimulus checks the
federal government is pay-
ing out will prove too much
of a temptation for some
people to use the money to
feed their addictions.
Darren Cole, execu-
tive director, said he can’t
emphasize enough that
if people want to over-
come addiction, or want
their loved ones to over-
come addiction, they have
to understand that having a
support system during and
after treatment is critical.
The road to recovery isn’t
easy, but Jokinen pointed
out that’s something EORC
staff know well — many of
them are in recovery them-
selves, and know exactly
what it takes.
Rollins hopes to be one of
those people someday. Once
he reaches two years of
sobriety, he hopes to work in
addiction recovery in some
way, perhaps as a motiva-
tional speaker.
For now, he’s focused on
his newfound outlook on
life.
“I got my self respect
back, and my life back and
my health back,” he said.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2021
Cathy Lloyd/Contributed Photo
Members of Altrusa International of Hermiston, left and above, help clean
up and landscape Belt Park for a club service project on Saturday, March
20, 2021.
COVID-19 vaccine eligibility moves up for many Oregonians
By GARY A. WARNER
OREGON CAPITAL BUREAU
More than 1 mil-
lion new people are being
added early to the eligibil-
ity list for COVID-19 vac-
cinations, Gov. Kate Brown
announced Friday, March
19.
The change means sea-
sonal farm workers, food
processing workers, adults
over age 45 with qualify-
ing underlying health con-
ditions, pregnant women,
homeless
individuals,
wildland firefighters and
seniors in low-income or
group housing in Uma-
tilla and Morrow counties
became eligible Monday,
March 22.
President Joe Biden
announced March 11 that
he was directing states to
lift all eligibility require-
ments for those 16 and
older by May 1. Oregon
had not planned on lifting
all eligibility restrictions
until July 1.
On Wednesday, March
17, the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services
sent a directive to all states
that the May 1 date for lift-
ing restrictions was not
optional. OHA Director Pat
Allen told state lawmakers
that day that the directive
was “binding” and “regula-
tory,” with noncompliance
possibly affecting the ship-
ment of future doses of vac-
cine to the state.
Brown on March 19
ordered many of the 530,000
people covered in the next
eligibility group moved up
from Monday, March 29,
to March 22. OHA Director
Pat Allen told state lawmak-
ers on March 17 that Brown
was considering moving up
the date as a way to get the
groups at least a short head
start before opening the eli-
gibility to all.
Under Brown’s new
timeline, vaccinations can
begin for migrant and sea-
sonal farmworkers and
food processing workers
in counties where they are
currently working.
People age 45-64 with
underlying health condi-
tions can get vaccinated
in counties that can attest
they have “largely” vac-
cinated those age 65 and
older — something Uma-
tilla and Morrow counties
have both done.
Another 550,000 peo-
ple who were to be eli-
gible on May 1 have had
their start date moved to
April 19. Those categories
include frontline work-
ers as defined by the Cen-
ters for Disease Control
and Prevention, families in
multigenerational house-
holds, and individuals age
16-44 with underlying
conditions.
Vaccine providers have
been told to use an honor
system for determining
who should get the shots.
OHA has published a list
of medical conditions that
meet the standard. Those
seeking the vaccination
will not be asked to provide
medical records or a doc-
tor’s note, but will be asked
to attest that they meet the
guidelines.
Morrow County Health
Department reacted quickly
to the updated timeline,
announcing new vaccine
clinics for farmworkers and
food processing workers in
the county. Those will take
place at the Sage Center in
Boardman on Wednesday,
March 24, from 1-8 p.m.;
Thursday, March 25 from
noon to 7 p.m.; Friday,
March 26 from 7 a.m. to
2 p.m., and Saturday, March
27 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Call 541-481-4200 to make
an appointment.
In Umatilla County,
vaccines continue to be
available through Uma-
tilla County Public Health,
Good Shepherd Medi-
cal Center, Mirasol Fam-
ily Health Center, Family
Health Associates, Safe-
way, Walmart, BiMart,
Yellowhawk Tribal Cen-
ter, and other locations.
Family Health Associates
is advertising a walk-in
clinic at Umatilla High
School on Friday, April 2,
from 3-7 p.m. for eligible
individuals.
News
Editor
Jade
McDowell contributed to
this report.