OFF PAGE ONE
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2022
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7
Warming:
at one station at night and
another one during the day.
“It’s a blessing,” she
said of the services that
have kept her from having
to sleep on the street. She
expressed gratitude to the
community for the space
to live while she waits “for
rescue.” Soon, she said, she
will reach out to her daugh-
ters to help her, and she
believes one will end her
homelessness.
She said she is worried,
though, about her medi-
cal condition. According to
Gonzalez, she has diabetes,
which can make her faint.
She needs insulin, and she
is staving off her disease
with fruit and granola bars.
Continued from Page A1
She began wanting pas-
sionately to live, she said,
and she knew that her life,
as it was, would lead to a
quick death.
With the help of others,
she was able to give up her
addictions, and she now
reports “feeling amazing.”
Also, she has a job, as she
works for Amazon, and she
is studying business man-
agement online at Brigham
Young University-Idaho.
Volunteering to the
warming station is part of
her eff ort to give back to
the community, she said. In
addition, as she rebuilds her
own life, she has sought to
make amends for the dam-
age she has done to other
people.
One example of this res-
titution, she said, came
when she recently visited
Walgreens in Kennewick.
There, she spoke with the
store’s manager and apolo-
gized for stealing, she said.
The experience of ask-
ing forgiveness and hav-
ing her apologies accepted
is “freeing,” she said. Now
unburdened by the guilt of
past wrongdoing, she said
she feels better able to con-
tinue forward with a better
life in which she commu-
nicates her past struggles
with others.
Speaking with others in
person, as well as on her
Facebook page, she tells
people about the joy she
feels in sobriety.
“I have not had a bad
day since getting sober,”
she said.
Helping at the station
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Marie Gonzalez, right, talks with volunteer Brodie Messenger, on Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022, while settling into the Hermiston
Warming Station for the night.
prospective employers.
Life is not like one sees
on the news, he said. Often,
he sees reports of labor
shortages and employ-
ers who are desperate to
hire new workers. Still, he
remains underemployed,
and he expressed disap-
pointment that he cannot
fi nd better work.
These days, he bounces
back and forth between this
warming station and a sec-
ond station, in the old Sears
building in Hermiston,
which is open during the
day. He continues to apply
for work, he said, while
hoping for a better future.
Becoming homeless
Waiting for rescue
As Seth Hall, 51 of
Hermiston, discussed his
experiences he mentioned
the causes for his home-
lessness. He was at the
warming station on Jan.
8. A part-time janitor, he
works 20 hours a week, but
he said he does not have
enough money to pay rent
and child support.
He was able to aff ord
his own home, when he
was employed as a fork-
lift driver. He said he lost
recent jobs, however, when
Marie Gonzalez, 57 of
Hermiston, is in a similar
situation as Hall. She, too,
travels from the two Herm-
iston stations each day.
Family troubles forced
her out of her Hermiston
home originally, and she
moved to Lexington with
her daughter. She said she
had to leave Lexington,
though, to be closer to med-
ical services. The problem
now, she said, is she does
not have a home in Hermis-
ton, which is why she stays
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Hermiston Warming Station volunteer Sierra Gilman answers the door to the warming station
Saturday, Jan. 8, 2021, during check-in.
one company closed. He
was released from another
job, he said, after too many
missed days of being ill.
Hall said he is trying to
get a better job to pay for
a home, but this process is
not as easy as many people
think. He applies for jobs,
he said, but he does not
receive interviews; he does
not even get calls back from
Brodie
Messenger,
Hermiston Warming Sta-
tion board chair, supervised
the arrival of guests the
night of Jan. 8. He off ered
water and help, where he
could, and he engaged peo-
ple in light conversation.
He said he has seen
many people during his ten-
ure. He started volunteer-
ing in 2015. He feels happy
about the part he has played
in helping people, he said,
and he has had very few
negative experiences.
He told of one day when
a guest stole a phone. The
guest, according to Mes-
senger, became angry when
he was confronted with the
theft, and he threatened
Messenger.
Other guests, however,
stood up for Messenger and
prevented a possible attack,
he said.
Mostly, he said, his
experience at the station
has been happy. He spoke
of the many friends he has
made there and the positive
memories he has had.
Only three guests arrived
that night, which left much
of the warming station
empty. He said he usually
welcomes more people
than that, and he expressed
hope that the ones who did
not arrive were well.
As it is only mid-Janu-
ary, there are many more
nights in which people
could use the Hermiston
Warming Station to fi ght
off the cold, he said.
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING
OUR LOCAL BUSINESSES
with the East Oregonian and Hermiston Herald’s
2 CHALLENGE
$
SHOP LOCAL
By trading in $100 at Columbia Bank or US Bank for $2 bills
and spending those bills locally, you showed your support!
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Construction crews work on the exterior of the city of Hermiston’s new city hall Wednesday,
Jan. 5, 2022, in downtown Hermiston.
City Hall:
Continued from Page A1
Finding value
“The biggest thing that
folks always are curious
about is the cost,” Morgan
said.
To many people, Mor-
gan said, the $9 million
price of the project is high,
especially when consider-
ing it will be a building “for
a bunch of bureaucrats sit-
ting there and pushing paper
around.”
He stated, though, it is
important to remember this
project combines multiple
city departments under one
roof, which will be cost effi -
cient in terms of staffi ng. It
also will, he said, free up
space for the police depart-
ment at the public safety
center.
Morgan provided an
example of effi ciency with
the new building. The city
council chambers in the old
building was used for coun-
cil meetings and otherwise
went unused for 99% of the
time, he said. Meanwhile, in
the police building, a munic-
ipal courtroom sits vacant
nearly all the time.
“What this project is
doing is bringing the court
function into city hall, so we
will be able to combine the
city council chambers func-
tion along with the court-
room function,” he said.
“Now, we won’t have two
big spaces that go unused all
the time.”
The police department
will be able to expand once
the court relocates, which
Morgan called a bene-
fi t “from an operational
standpoint.”
Also, the move of the
court, as well as the Herm-
iston Building Department,
to the new city hall will
be a “long-term cost-sav-
ings,” he said. This will
reduce the number of front
desks, thereby cutting back
the need for additional staff
when added employees
might otherwise be needed.
“This will allow us to
absorb more community
growth and absorb more
demand for walk-up ser-
vices,” he said.
Morgan said he could not
put an exact dollar amount
on the savings, though he
expressed confi dence this
was the right move, fi scally.
Likewise, he said he found it
diffi cult to quantify another
of the city hall’s likely val-
ues — the message the new
building sends.
“This is a big signal to
everyone in the commu-
nity and future development
interests that (the city is)
committed to being down-
town, and we’re committing
to investing in the down-
town a signifi cant amount of
resources,” he said. Down-
town businesses, current
and prospective, should be
encouraged that this proj-
ect brings more people to
the shops and restaurants
around it.
All this goes to say,
Morgan is feeling optimis-
tic about this project and
the value it will have to the
community.
He added that once peo-
ple see the new building with
its planned red brick facade,
they will be as excited as he
is about it.
“It’s all coming together,”
he said, “and I think it will
work really well.”
CONGRATULATIONS TO TERRY D! Terry is the winner of
a $100 gift certificate to a local business of his choice!
Terry D. used $100 in $2 bills from Columbia Bank in
stores around the area in December, including:
Pendleton Art Center, Buckin’ Bean, Bi-Mart
and El Charrito Mexican Restaurant
Thank you to Erika M and Angel A,
who also participated in the $2 Challenge
E rika M . wrote:
“I spent $50 at Cecilia's Art and Crafts, $30 at Rae's Dayz
Diner and $20 at Java Junkies.
We love our local businesses!”
A ngel A . wrote:
"Participating in this challenge was a great experience all
together. I spent my money on gifts at local businesses
and meals at restaurants, as well as a haircut. I had the
pleasure of going to multiple businesses including Ranch
& Home, Hales Restaurant and Zila’s Salon.”
Thanks for your support
of the $2 Challenge!
We’re proud
of our
community.