October 12, 2025 • 29 mins
The Children's Cancer Association's JoyRX programs are helping kids smile during a difficult and scary time, and they can use your help. If you have chickens, ducks, or geese there are steps you should take this time of year to protect them from bird flu. Gambling is on the rise among college students and the Oregon Health Authority has tips for parents. It's been five years since the Labor Day wildfires and families continue to rebuild.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Local Voices. I'm brad Ford. This week how
the Children's Cancer Association is helping kids through the difficult
and scary battle against cancer. Bird flu makes a return
this time of year. We'll have advice for owners of
backyard flocks. Parents of kids in college need to be
aware of the increase in gambling among students. Plus five
(00:25):
years after the Labor Day wildfires, rebuilding continues. The Children's
Cancer Association helps kids during a very difficult struggle. Jack
Pipkin is the CEO of the Children's Cancer Association and
he joins us on Local Voices. Jack tell us about
CCA and how it started.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah, thanks, Brad, appreciate the opportunity. So this is actually
our thirtieth anniversary year. We were started in nineteen ninety
five by a local family here in Oregon. They lost
their five year old daughter Alexandra to cancer and shortly
after reflected on her experience, her journey with cancer and
felt like there was more at that time they could
(01:02):
do to support her treatment experience, and really felt like,
even though at that time it was a pretty novel idea,
that joy can still exist within a child who's fighting cancer,
and that regardless of the outcome and how long or
short their life may be. That all kids are deserving
of joy, and started this organization thirty years ago with
(01:25):
that simple idea that kids who are sick need more
than just medicine, and that joy is this resource within
all of us, and that this organization's mission can be
centered around creating joy for kids who are sick.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
And joy really is a medicine in itself, right, I mean,
it plays a role in a person healing.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Absolutely, it's such an individual experience for everyone. We all
experience joy in different ways, but it's probably needed most
at the times where it's the hardest to find. And
so that's our role as an organization is to help
those those children and their family in their hospital rooms
try and access that joy within them.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Now as CCA just in Oregon, or are you also
in other states?
Speaker 3 (02:07):
So we have a long history here in Oregon. It's
where we started.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
To where some of our longest hospital partnerships exist, our
longest base of supporters around the community. We also serve
through our hospital partners in over Oregon a lot of
families throughout Southwest Washington and.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
The surrounding region. But for many years now we actually
have been expanding.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Across the country and now we're serving over fifty pediatric
healthcare sites nationwide in over twenty states.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Actually, wow, that is terrific.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
How many kids are helped each.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Year across the country.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
We were privileged to serve over forty thousand children and
a good share of those are here in the Northwest,
so we feel very fortunate to be supporting so many
local kids and families.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
It is such a great program that helps children during
what's an incredibly difficult and scary experience battling cancer. The
joy RX programs offer support and many different way. So
let's start off first of all with joy RX Music.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
What's that.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yeah, it's a great place to start because it's actually
where our organization started was with our music program. Our
founders were passionate music lovers, and Alexandra Ellis, who died
in nineteen ninety five helping create this organization in her
death and in the spirit of her life, was also
a big lover of music, and so shortly after we
(03:24):
began our flagship program.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
That we call joy our X Music, knowing that.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Music is a universal language and it can really break
through some of those hardest moments.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
So we have a very unique program where we.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Actually have trained musicians on staff who are in the
hospitals every day bringing music, and we call it kid
prescribed Music Medicine because they enter their hospital rooms with
music carts that are filled with all sorts of instruments,
guitars and ukuleles, electronic drums, and eggshakers, and we try
and meet that child in that moment with the music
(03:56):
that they need, and that can be a sing along,
it might be a lot by if they're dealing with
a very painful or stressful moment, or sometimes it's even
lessons if we're seeing that child for an extended period
and we know that music has this really incredible power
to transcend space and time, and our goal is to
help those kids find joy through music. With our staff
(04:18):
and our volunteers.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
That is terrific. What's it like when they come in
for the children. I mean I would think that when
they start, you know, playing the music, the children, you know,
despite what they're going through, light up with being able
to take part.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Yeah's you know.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
I have also the privilege of shadowing our music team
and spending time in the hospitals myself, and I'm always
just so inspired when I see our musicians enter the
room and what can often be a very hard space
to enter, how quickly that transforms the smiles that we
see immediately on the kids' faces, on their families, faces,
(04:56):
on the.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Faces of the healthcare workers and the nurses.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Music can really change that that environment so quickly, and
it's just it's always so validating to see the way
that music can help spark that joy so quickly for
a child.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
We get a lot of.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Requests of Disney songs and songs that are familiar to
those kids, and that also just helps them feel a
little more comfortable in that space when it's music that
they are accustomed to hearing.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Sure, the Children's Cancer Association has the Joy Our X
mentorship program. Tell us about that.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Yeah, this one is also very near and dear to
our hearts.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
It's been operating for for over two decades only here
in the Northwest, and it's only the only of its
kind in the country though. It's where we pair adult
volunteers in the community with children that are primarily undergoing
cancer treatment, and so it is a it's a very
immersive volunteer experience. These these volunteers are in the hospitals
(05:50):
in the hospital rooms with the children with their families,
and incredible bonds are formed. They have the chance to play,
to create really deep and meaningful connections with them as children.
They often are giving the parents very needed break from
everything that they've been experiencing with their child, with their families,
and in those hospital rooms as well. And so it's
(06:10):
a long term volunteer commitment. It can be for a
year or longer, and it's a chance for someone else
outside of the immediate family to help be a support
to the child and to the family as they're navigating cancer.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
SECA also has the joy RX Nature program.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
What's that?
Speaker 4 (06:28):
So?
Speaker 2 (06:28):
This program began years ago from a property donated to
us on the Oregon coast in Pacific City, and we
soon after built a beautiful retreat space that can house
an extended family for.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
A week at a time.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
And it's an opportunity for those families who are also
navigating very serious illness and oftentimes cancer diagnoses to go
take a break from the hospital setting and to find
joy out in nature. It's a twenty four acre property
with a lake available and a walking path and a
chance for that family to.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
To really take a break from everything they've.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Been going through and to connect with each other and
to connect with the beauty of the outdoors, which we're
so fortunate to have here in the Northwest.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
That kind of time is so special for a family.
Does Cca need volunteers?
Speaker 3 (07:16):
We do more than ever.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
All of our programs have volunteer opportunities. Our mentorship program
in particular is probably seeing the greatest need right now.
We're reaching a point where we have more kids who
are looking for volunteers to support them as mentors than
we do volunteers available. We saw a lot of changes
in volunteerism coming out of the pandemic, and we're still
(07:39):
working to rebuild that community of volunteers and are looking
for for all sorts of inspired, passionate community members to
help step up and get involved with that program in particular.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
And how can listeners help the Children's Cancer Association through donations?
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Well, all of our programs we offer to both our
families and our hospital partners free of charge are entirely
privately funded, but we are seeing some of the impact
of changes within federal and state funding that are making
the you know, the pie of funding for nonprofits smaller
smaller by the day, even and so it comes down
to the support of individuals in our community. Someone listening
(08:17):
to this that might want to help a child who
is navigating cancer to find joy through any of our programs.
A simple donation of any size helps, and so they
can go to joyrx dot org and make a donation there,
or reach out to us and find other ways to
offer their support.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Jack, and anything else you'ld like to tell us about
the Children's Cancer Association, Well, I guess what.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
I'm sure some of your listeners have supported our organization
in our three decades, and I want to thank them.
We are reaching a really important time as an organization
where we see the need of our programs continuing to grow,
especially as our as the healthcare systems are being more
and more strained by different challenges in the economy, and
and so we are we are looking for the community
(09:00):
to step up and continue to help us pay the
path the next thirty years of CCA, and we just
are so thankful and invite everyone in the community.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
To be part of our organization.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Jack, thank you very much for joining us on local voices.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
Thank you, Brett.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
That's Jack Pipkins, CEO of the Children's Cancer Association. If
you'd like to make a donation, volunteer, or learn more.
Their website is joyarx dot org. If you have a
backyard flock of birds like chickens, turkeys, or ducks, this
is the time of year when it's important to be
proactive about bird flu. Doctor Ryan Shuls is the Oregon
(09:35):
State veterinarian with the Oregon Deproverty of Agriculture and joins
US on Local Voices. Doctor Schols, what's the danger with
bird flu?
Speaker 5 (09:43):
Yeah, so it's you know, it's an influenza, just like
all the other influences we deal with. It's one that
particularly affects poultry. So it's very dangerous poultry. It's it's
pretty much one hundred percent fatal in poultry, especially chickens, turkeys, quail.
One of the other real concerns we have about it though,
because it is an influenza, a virus, it is zoonotic.
(10:03):
It can cross that species barrier. We've seen it in
lots of other species, and we have seen it cross
that barrier to people, and so, you know, don't we
don't want that to happen either, you know, we don't
want people to be exposed to it. We don't want
the chickens to die. We don't want people to get
exposed to it. We don't want to give it the
chance to get into people and mutate and become better
at infecting people.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
So people with backyard flocks, why is this time of
year more of a concern.
Speaker 5 (10:29):
Yeah, So this virus is carried by wild waterfowl that's
the reservoir, especially dabbling ducks, the teals, the mallards, the
kind of the wild ducks that we typically see migrating
through this time of year. So as those those ducks
migrate through, and then the Canada geese follow them, they
start spreading it amongst themselves, and then through interactions with
(10:50):
domestic cultry, that virus stills over from those wild waterfowl
populations that can be infected with it, but really aren't
affected by this virus. They don't tend to show symptoms,
they don't to get sick. That virus spills over into poultry,
particularly backyard flocks that are raised outside that have free
range access. One of the classic scenarios we see is
(11:12):
backyard flocks where they have poultry, they have chickens, they
may have some turkeys, they may have some different species,
but off you know, they may have ducks or geese
as well. Those ducks and geese have a little pond
they swim on and irrigation pond, a stream, whatever the
situation may be. They interact with ducks, they get infected.
They bring it back to the chickens and the turkeys
and the quail and everything else in the barnyard and
(11:32):
then everything gets sick.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
So what should owners of backyard flocks do to protect
their flocks?
Speaker 5 (11:39):
Yeah, so biosecurity is really key. The biggest thing is
is keeping the domestic poultry away from wild waterfowl. If
you have domestic waterfowl and domestic chickens and other poultry,
keeping them separated goes a long way as well, so
that if those if those water fowl do happen to
(12:00):
get exposed to wild waterfowl, you can at least kind
of maintain some of that separation. But it's really about separation,
separating the birds from each other, and then to slightly
lesser accept it's still very important, you know, cleanliness and
making sure that we as the caretakers of those poultry
are not introducing something we do see from time to
time that you know, someone goes for a walk, out
(12:23):
at the park or at the wildlife refuge, walks through
the feces out there and picks the virus up and
brings it home on the bottom of their shoes, goes
out and collects their eggs and their chicken pins and
their chicken gets sick. We've had a couple of cases
where owners of poultry have gone duck or goose hunting,
brought those harvested birds back, cleaned them on their back patio,
(12:45):
and created an exposure that way. So just you know,
there's lots of different ways, but it's really all about
making sure that either directly or indirectly, our power poultry,
our domestic poultry are not being exposed to wild waterfowl.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
So say your handle it. You mentioned the shoes, and
so maybe cleaning the shoes or cleaning your hands after that.
Is is soap good enough or do you need to
use something different?
Speaker 5 (13:08):
Yeah, you know, soap is actually very good, especially if
you have like an antibacterial soap. Cleanliness is the majority
of it, getting you know, hosing off your boots, scrubbing
them a little bit, you know, use especially with shoes,
you know, because we're not washing our shoes like we
do our hands. You know, a little bit of disinfectant
spray goes the long ways. Soap and water on our
(13:29):
hands is the gold standard. If you don't have access
to that, hand alcohol based hand sanitizer does work well
as well, but yeah, good soap and water wash really
does go a long ways.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
So for backyard flock owners, what symptoms should they look
for in their birds to determine whether they might have
bird flu?
Speaker 5 (13:49):
Yeah, so there's a number of different symptoms that are
described that we can see. Usually it's respiratory symptoms, so coughing, sneezing,
just looking dull depressed. Sometimes we'll see neurologic symptoms there,
especially with ducks and geese. They'll be seen like swimming
or walking in a circle one, you know, keeping their
(14:10):
heads up it's called stargazing. Their heads just kind of
stayed tipped back. But really the most common symptom we
see is rapid death, and unfortunately, it is a disease
that's largely fatal and is very rapidly fatal, especially in
chickens and turkeys. And so that's usually the first symptom
people notice is they go out in the morning and
a couple of their chickens have died, they go back
(14:33):
out the next that night, a couple more have died,
and then they start keying in on some of those
subtle symptoms that may be present for a couple of
hours right before the birds succumb to the virus. But
it's a very quick virus usually, And so you know,
anytime we see mortality of more than just one or
two chickens, we really do want to get that checked out.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
And so then what should they do if they think
that they have a bird or birds that have the virus.
Speaker 5 (14:57):
Yeah, so a couple things. First thing is we really
want them to give us a call. We maintain a
hotline we have during the day. It's answered by our
office over after hours, over the weekend. We have veterinarians
on call that we can help kind of go through
a risk assessment, figure out if we think there might
be a risk there, and if there is, we will
provide that test and we will send of that out
to them. We will collect those samples, do all the work.
(15:19):
There's no cost to any piece of that. So that's
one piece of it. The others protect yourself, you know,
if chickens have died from whatever for whatever reason, there's
always that risk of a zoonotic disease being asked to
the owners, and so things like wearing gloves, wearing a
pair of safety glasses or goggles, if you have n
(15:40):
ninety five K ninety fives left over from COVID or
from you know, when you've been sick, putting one of
those on, changing clothes, after you've been handling a dead bird,
you know, double bagging them, making sure they're being disposed
of properly, Just making sure that we're not creating an
unnecessary risk of exposing to either the owners or more
people right to that dead bird.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Doctor Schols, anything else that you'd.
Speaker 5 (16:02):
Like to add, I think the big take home at
this point is we're very early in the influenza season
when we traditionally see influenza. We're seeing quite a few
suspected cases out in central and eastern Oregon. I expect
to start seeing them here in the Wallamma Valley and
in western Oregon fairly soon as the birds start migrating through.
(16:24):
For whatever reason, it looks like this year is going
to be a higher risk year again, and so just
you know, anything people can do to create that extra biosecurity,
You take a few extra steps here for the next
couple of months really will go a long ways to
preventing transmission of this disease to our domestic poultry.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Doctor Schulz, thanks for joining us on Local Voices. That's
doctor Ryan Scholes, Oregon's state veterinarian, with tips on how
to protect backyard flocks from bird flu. The Oregon Health
Authority is advising parents to talk with their college bound
students about gambling right a cod a problem gambling program
(17:01):
manager at OAJ joins us on Local Voices. Granted, is
online gambling the big concern here?
Speaker 6 (17:07):
I think it's one of them.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Yes.
Speaker 6 (17:08):
I think it's the ability of our youth to have
and our emerging adults to have access to gambling on
the technology, which is usually their phones and computers. So
online gambling is one of our larger concerns.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
That true makes it easier.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Is the amount of gambling among college students on the rise?
Speaker 6 (17:27):
Well, we don't necessarily have that data here in Oregon
quite yet. We might have some data coming in in
a few months, but what we're seeing nationally is that
it's on the rise, and it's rising due to the
legalization of sports betting.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
What message do you have for parents to help them
talk with their kids about gambling.
Speaker 6 (17:47):
I think it's important that parents are having this conversation
with their kids. Many times parents have conversations around substance
use and other risk behaviors, but they're not having it
about gambling. So I think with the accessibility of gambling
and here in Oregon the way it is now, it's
(18:08):
super important for parents to have this conversation to you know,
set boundaries around what they will and will not pay for,
and to really monitor their child, their college age students' finances.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Are there science for when someone should get help for
gambling too much?
Speaker 6 (18:27):
Yeah, you'll usually see, uh, usually we'll see the financial
situations change for a person who's struggling with their gambling.
And you may see some different changes disruptions in the family.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
Or in their school setting.
Speaker 6 (18:43):
They may have changes in personality or within their social relationships.
So those are some of the things to just kind
of be aware of and monitor what.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Resources are available. I saw one website I think it
is called is it gamfin Yeah, So.
Speaker 6 (18:58):
We are really trying here in Oregon to provide multiple
pathways to help and to go beyond just traditional therapy.
So if the population is engaging in these behaviors and
with technology, want to provide technology to assist them. So
(19:18):
we have a couple of resources which is Gamfin. Gamfin
is a free financial counseling service for those that have
been impacted by gambling or someone else's gambling and usually
that you know averages about one or two sessions.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Uh.
Speaker 6 (19:34):
The Gamfin financial counselors will help them with budgeting and
get them back back financially on track. And we also
have another tool called evive. Evives a digital, free digital
health self help app related to problem gambling and it
offers tips on reducing and stopping your gambling that is
(19:56):
available to all or going into. Both of these resources,
Gamfin and and five are available to all Ourgonians for free,
and we find we feel they're especially useful for young
people who prefer the digital tools over maybe traditional therapy.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Any tips on how to control gambling and maybe you
touched on it earlier when you said to set boundaries.
Speaker 6 (20:18):
Well, I think for parents it's important to set boundaries.
Parents can play a crucial role by learning the different
warning signs, setting clear financial boundaries and just keeping an
open supportive communication. I think it's very important that we're
having these conversations even before our kids are off to college,
having these conversations with our middle school and high school
(20:39):
age students about the risks of gambling, what gambling is,
and just preparing them to go into their early adulthoods
being the most informed they can be.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Is there a website where parents can learn more?
Speaker 3 (20:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (20:54):
So here in ore again, we have our or what
we call our organ Problem Gambling Helpline. That's a helpline
number that operates twenty four to seven. You can call
it and talk to a specialist. The number is one
eight seven seven my limit or one eight seven seven
six nine five four six four eight. And you can
also get to our helpline website, which is called the
(21:15):
Organ Problem Gambling Resource at opgr dot org. On that
web page you will find how to get to the
vibe app and also to the gamfit as a resource,
and then you can also look into different options for
traditional therapy.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Also, got anything else you'd like, Dave that I didn't
ask you about.
Speaker 6 (21:35):
I just want everyone to know that the sooner one
can seek help, the easier it is to get gambling
under control and avoid the long term consequences. And just
remember that help is available and you don't have to
face this alone.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Greta thanks for joining us on Local Voices that it's
Greta co the Problem Gambling Program manager at the Oregon
Health Authority with advice for parents on how they can
talk with their college bound student about the risks of gambling.
It's been five years since the Labor Day wildfires that
destroyed over four thousand homes and claimed eleven lives. The
(22:11):
process to rebuild continues. Shannon Marhin with Oregon Housing and
Community Services joins us on Local Voices. Shannon tell us
about the process that's underway to build homes and rentals
following the fires.
Speaker 4 (22:22):
Sure at OHDS, our goal our mission is disaster recovery.
So our processes meet the long term disaster recovery housing needs.
So stable housing for those who want it, especially those
households who are low to moderate incomes.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Are they being built in certain areas?
Speaker 4 (22:42):
They are? Brad. We focus on the disaster impacted areas
and for the twenty twenty disaster events that is Klacamus, Douglas, Jackson, Klamath, Lane,
Marion and Lynn and Lincoln.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
How is the construction funded?
Speaker 4 (23:01):
The construction has been funded in two portions as part
of this disaster recovery. The first piece of it was
the one hundred and fifty million dollars that the state
provided to OHCS in August of twenty twenty one that
was used to build I think it's about eight hundred
and sixty seven homes that included some manufactured home parks
(23:24):
that have eighty seven homes in Jackson, and I think
two hundred households that received rental assistance. Additionally, there is
about oh gosh, twenty six hundred homes that are in
process being rebuilt or being I've already been rebuilt.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
So how was the construction funded.
Speaker 4 (23:49):
Well, part of it's from the one hundred and fifty
million from the state in August of twenty twenty one.
The second part is from a four hundred and twenty
two million dollar grant from the US tom of Housing
and Urban Development HUD. That grant was received by the
State of Oregon in February of twenty twenty three, and
so we're roughly just over two years into that grant.
(24:11):
There are several programs that are added on to that
grant that I can talk to. Just depending on how
much you want to know.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
Yeah, tell us about those programs.
Speaker 4 (24:19):
Sure, I'd love to. So one of those programs is
the HEART program, and that is the ownership replacement program,
and that gives us an opportunity to find those survivors
who either didn't recover through private insurance, they didn't recover
through local community efforts, which a lot of that was
(24:40):
done in disaster recovery. But these are the folks that
need that funding of last resort. They have something they
need to become fully recovered. It could be something like
a porch, it could be ada railing, those kind of things.
And so that program has been opened since June of
twenty twenty four, and we are roughly sixty homes have
(25:02):
been purchased from that process, and we have another one
hundred and ninety four applications or survivors that are in
the process of getting their awards and completing those projects.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
So how many homes or units I guess if we're
talking apartments in rentals have been built and what's the goal?
Speaker 4 (25:22):
So overall, gosh, I think we are right about twenty
six hundred to date that have either been built or
that are in process of being built. And the goal
is not only to finish those, but any additional that
we can get. So one of the efforts we have
been doing for the last gosh, the last twelve months
(25:45):
is making sure that folks know about this funding of
last resort, understanding that a good portion of the CDBGDR grant,
which I can describe if you want, it's the Community
Development Block Grant for disastery recovery. That's that hud A
piece that I talked about earlier. That grant not only
(26:05):
funds the houses that we're talking about for long term recovery,
but it also funds infrastructure projects, community development, economic revitalization.
So I'll give you a scenario that may be a
little bit easier to digest. We have a house that
needs to be rebuilt or rehabbed or something to make
it livable for our survivor. We may also need to
(26:26):
take care of that road to get to the house,
so that's another piece. Putting in infrastructure. We may need
a new sewer system for a community that was devastated
by disaster. That is also what these programs can can serve.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Now, is there an estimated time for when the work
either needs to be complete or when you expected to
be complete?
Speaker 4 (26:47):
Yes, there's an absolute time. So the CDBGDR grant Fund
that we signed in February twenty twenty three is a
six year grant, so that needs to be completed by
February of twenty twenty nine. We estimate that a good
majority of the projects will be finished. The households that
are sponsored or rather that are funded through that piece,
(27:07):
the c d B G d R grant Fund, those
are expected to be fully either awarded or in process
of building by June of next year.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
Terrific Shannon. Anything else would like to add?
Speaker 4 (27:21):
Oh, gosh, I would. I would like to add that
for anybody who is aware or maybe just hearing about
the funding of Last Resort, if you're a survivor of
the twenty twenty wildfire event, we have a website I
will shamelessly plug it. It's ore dot O R e
g O N dot gov, reorgon dot gov. That website
(27:42):
provides all kinds of information on what resources are available
to survivors, and I think it's it's a pretty good
place to get a little bit more educated on on
things that we have for resources for our long term recovery.
The other piece I would add, Brad in learning this,
this world of long term recovery for disasters, it can
(28:02):
take years for communities to recover. So I think as
we learn about these programs, and we build these homes
and we work on these infrastructure projects, we can't say
enough about the community involvement and the overlap of state, local,
federal partnerships. It's been amazing to see.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
Why don't you give us that website one more time?
Speaker 4 (28:24):
Sure it's reeorgon dot govre, DOTR, e g O N
dot gov.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
That's Shannon Marhein with Oregon Housing and Community Services with
details on the work being done to build homes and
rentals following the Labor Day wildfires in twenty twenty that
destroyed over four thousand homes. Thanks for listening to Local Voices.
I'm brad Ford. You can hear past episodes on the
iHeartRadio app under the podcast tab. Local Voices is a
(28:54):
public affairs presentation from iHeartRadio.
Welcome to Local Voices. I'm brad Ford. This week how
the Children's Cancer Association is helping kids through the difficult
and scary battle against cancer. Bird flu makes a return
this time of year. We'll have advice for owners of
backyard flocks. Parents of kids in college need to be
aware of the increase in gambling among students. Plus five
(00:25):
years after the Labor Day wildfires, rebuilding continues. The Children's
Cancer Association helps kids during a very difficult struggle. Jack
Pipkin is the CEO of the Children's Cancer Association and
he joins us on Local Voices. Jack tell us about
CCA and how it started.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah, thanks, Brad, appreciate the opportunity. So this is actually
our thirtieth anniversary year. We were started in nineteen ninety
five by a local family here in Oregon. They lost
their five year old daughter Alexandra to cancer and shortly
after reflected on her experience, her journey with cancer and
felt like there was more at that time they could
(01:02):
do to support her treatment experience, and really felt like,
even though at that time it was a pretty novel idea,
that joy can still exist within a child who's fighting cancer,
and that regardless of the outcome and how long or
short their life may be. That all kids are deserving
of joy, and started this organization thirty years ago with
(01:25):
that simple idea that kids who are sick need more
than just medicine, and that joy is this resource within
all of us, and that this organization's mission can be
centered around creating joy for kids who are sick.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
And joy really is a medicine in itself, right, I mean,
it plays a role in a person healing.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Absolutely, it's such an individual experience for everyone. We all
experience joy in different ways, but it's probably needed most
at the times where it's the hardest to find. And
so that's our role as an organization is to help
those those children and their family in their hospital rooms
try and access that joy within them.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Now as CCA just in Oregon, or are you also
in other states?
Speaker 3 (02:07):
So we have a long history here in Oregon. It's
where we started.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
To where some of our longest hospital partnerships exist, our
longest base of supporters around the community. We also serve
through our hospital partners in over Oregon a lot of
families throughout Southwest Washington and.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
The surrounding region. But for many years now we actually
have been expanding.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Across the country and now we're serving over fifty pediatric
healthcare sites nationwide in over twenty states.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Actually, wow, that is terrific.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
How many kids are helped each.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Year across the country.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
We were privileged to serve over forty thousand children and
a good share of those are here in the Northwest,
so we feel very fortunate to be supporting so many
local kids and families.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
It is such a great program that helps children during
what's an incredibly difficult and scary experience battling cancer. The
joy RX programs offer support and many different way. So
let's start off first of all with joy RX Music.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
What's that.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yeah, it's a great place to start because it's actually
where our organization started was with our music program. Our
founders were passionate music lovers, and Alexandra Ellis, who died
in nineteen ninety five helping create this organization in her
death and in the spirit of her life, was also
a big lover of music, and so shortly after we
(03:24):
began our flagship program.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
That we call joy our X Music, knowing that.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Music is a universal language and it can really break
through some of those hardest moments.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
So we have a very unique program where we.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Actually have trained musicians on staff who are in the
hospitals every day bringing music, and we call it kid
prescribed Music Medicine because they enter their hospital rooms with
music carts that are filled with all sorts of instruments,
guitars and ukuleles, electronic drums, and eggshakers, and we try
and meet that child in that moment with the music
(03:56):
that they need, and that can be a sing along,
it might be a lot by if they're dealing with
a very painful or stressful moment, or sometimes it's even
lessons if we're seeing that child for an extended period
and we know that music has this really incredible power
to transcend space and time, and our goal is to
help those kids find joy through music. With our staff
(04:18):
and our volunteers.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
That is terrific. What's it like when they come in
for the children. I mean I would think that when
they start, you know, playing the music, the children, you know,
despite what they're going through, light up with being able
to take part.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Yeah's you know.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
I have also the privilege of shadowing our music team
and spending time in the hospitals myself, and I'm always
just so inspired when I see our musicians enter the
room and what can often be a very hard space
to enter, how quickly that transforms the smiles that we
see immediately on the kids' faces, on their families, faces,
(04:56):
on the.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Faces of the healthcare workers and the nurses.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Music can really change that that environment so quickly, and
it's just it's always so validating to see the way
that music can help spark that joy so quickly for
a child.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
We get a lot of.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Requests of Disney songs and songs that are familiar to
those kids, and that also just helps them feel a
little more comfortable in that space when it's music that
they are accustomed to hearing.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Sure, the Children's Cancer Association has the Joy Our X
mentorship program. Tell us about that.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Yeah, this one is also very near and dear to
our hearts.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
It's been operating for for over two decades only here
in the Northwest, and it's only the only of its
kind in the country though. It's where we pair adult
volunteers in the community with children that are primarily undergoing
cancer treatment, and so it is a it's a very
immersive volunteer experience. These these volunteers are in the hospitals
(05:50):
in the hospital rooms with the children with their families,
and incredible bonds are formed. They have the chance to play,
to create really deep and meaningful connections with them as children.
They often are giving the parents very needed break from
everything that they've been experiencing with their child, with their families,
and in those hospital rooms as well. And so it's
(06:10):
a long term volunteer commitment. It can be for a
year or longer, and it's a chance for someone else
outside of the immediate family to help be a support
to the child and to the family as they're navigating cancer.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
SECA also has the joy RX Nature program.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
What's that?
Speaker 4 (06:28):
So?
Speaker 2 (06:28):
This program began years ago from a property donated to
us on the Oregon coast in Pacific City, and we
soon after built a beautiful retreat space that can house
an extended family for.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
A week at a time.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
And it's an opportunity for those families who are also
navigating very serious illness and oftentimes cancer diagnoses to go
take a break from the hospital setting and to find
joy out in nature. It's a twenty four acre property
with a lake available and a walking path and a
chance for that family to.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
To really take a break from everything they've.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Been going through and to connect with each other and
to connect with the beauty of the outdoors, which we're
so fortunate to have here in the Northwest.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
That kind of time is so special for a family.
Does Cca need volunteers?
Speaker 3 (07:16):
We do more than ever.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
All of our programs have volunteer opportunities. Our mentorship program
in particular is probably seeing the greatest need right now.
We're reaching a point where we have more kids who
are looking for volunteers to support them as mentors than
we do volunteers available. We saw a lot of changes
in volunteerism coming out of the pandemic, and we're still
(07:39):
working to rebuild that community of volunteers and are looking
for for all sorts of inspired, passionate community members to
help step up and get involved with that program in particular.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
And how can listeners help the Children's Cancer Association through donations?
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Well, all of our programs we offer to both our
families and our hospital partners free of charge are entirely
privately funded, but we are seeing some of the impact
of changes within federal and state funding that are making
the you know, the pie of funding for nonprofits smaller
smaller by the day, even and so it comes down
to the support of individuals in our community. Someone listening
(08:17):
to this that might want to help a child who
is navigating cancer to find joy through any of our programs.
A simple donation of any size helps, and so they
can go to joyrx dot org and make a donation there,
or reach out to us and find other ways to
offer their support.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Jack, and anything else you'ld like to tell us about
the Children's Cancer Association, Well, I guess what.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
I'm sure some of your listeners have supported our organization
in our three decades, and I want to thank them.
We are reaching a really important time as an organization
where we see the need of our programs continuing to grow,
especially as our as the healthcare systems are being more
and more strained by different challenges in the economy, and
and so we are we are looking for the community
(09:00):
to step up and continue to help us pay the
path the next thirty years of CCA, and we just
are so thankful and invite everyone in the community.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
To be part of our organization.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Jack, thank you very much for joining us on local voices.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
Thank you, Brett.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
That's Jack Pipkins, CEO of the Children's Cancer Association. If
you'd like to make a donation, volunteer, or learn more.
Their website is joyarx dot org. If you have a
backyard flock of birds like chickens, turkeys, or ducks, this
is the time of year when it's important to be
proactive about bird flu. Doctor Ryan Shuls is the Oregon
(09:35):
State veterinarian with the Oregon Deproverty of Agriculture and joins
US on Local Voices. Doctor Schols, what's the danger with
bird flu?
Speaker 5 (09:43):
Yeah, so it's you know, it's an influenza, just like
all the other influences we deal with. It's one that
particularly affects poultry. So it's very dangerous poultry. It's it's
pretty much one hundred percent fatal in poultry, especially chickens, turkeys, quail.
One of the other real concerns we have about it though,
because it is an influenza, a virus, it is zoonotic.
(10:03):
It can cross that species barrier. We've seen it in
lots of other species, and we have seen it cross
that barrier to people, and so, you know, don't we
don't want that to happen either, you know, we don't
want people to be exposed to it. We don't want
the chickens to die. We don't want people to get
exposed to it. We don't want to give it the
chance to get into people and mutate and become better
at infecting people.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
So people with backyard flocks, why is this time of
year more of a concern.
Speaker 5 (10:29):
Yeah, So this virus is carried by wild waterfowl that's
the reservoir, especially dabbling ducks, the teals, the mallards, the
kind of the wild ducks that we typically see migrating
through this time of year. So as those those ducks
migrate through, and then the Canada geese follow them, they
start spreading it amongst themselves, and then through interactions with
(10:50):
domestic cultry, that virus stills over from those wild waterfowl
populations that can be infected with it, but really aren't
affected by this virus. They don't tend to show symptoms,
they don't to get sick. That virus spills over into poultry,
particularly backyard flocks that are raised outside that have free
range access. One of the classic scenarios we see is
(11:12):
backyard flocks where they have poultry, they have chickens, they
may have some turkeys, they may have some different species,
but off you know, they may have ducks or geese
as well. Those ducks and geese have a little pond
they swim on and irrigation pond, a stream, whatever the
situation may be. They interact with ducks, they get infected.
They bring it back to the chickens and the turkeys
and the quail and everything else in the barnyard and
(11:32):
then everything gets sick.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
So what should owners of backyard flocks do to protect
their flocks?
Speaker 5 (11:39):
Yeah, so biosecurity is really key. The biggest thing is
is keeping the domestic poultry away from wild waterfowl. If
you have domestic waterfowl and domestic chickens and other poultry,
keeping them separated goes a long way as well, so
that if those if those water fowl do happen to
(12:00):
get exposed to wild waterfowl, you can at least kind
of maintain some of that separation. But it's really about separation,
separating the birds from each other, and then to slightly
lesser accept it's still very important, you know, cleanliness and
making sure that we as the caretakers of those poultry
are not introducing something we do see from time to
time that you know, someone goes for a walk, out
(12:23):
at the park or at the wildlife refuge, walks through
the feces out there and picks the virus up and
brings it home on the bottom of their shoes, goes
out and collects their eggs and their chicken pins and
their chicken gets sick. We've had a couple of cases
where owners of poultry have gone duck or goose hunting,
brought those harvested birds back, cleaned them on their back patio,
(12:45):
and created an exposure that way. So just you know,
there's lots of different ways, but it's really all about
making sure that either directly or indirectly, our power poultry,
our domestic poultry are not being exposed to wild waterfowl.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
So say your handle it. You mentioned the shoes, and
so maybe cleaning the shoes or cleaning your hands after that.
Is is soap good enough or do you need to
use something different?
Speaker 5 (13:08):
Yeah, you know, soap is actually very good, especially if
you have like an antibacterial soap. Cleanliness is the majority
of it, getting you know, hosing off your boots, scrubbing
them a little bit, you know, use especially with shoes,
you know, because we're not washing our shoes like we
do our hands. You know, a little bit of disinfectant
spray goes the long ways. Soap and water on our
(13:29):
hands is the gold standard. If you don't have access
to that, hand alcohol based hand sanitizer does work well
as well, but yeah, good soap and water wash really
does go a long ways.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
So for backyard flock owners, what symptoms should they look
for in their birds to determine whether they might have
bird flu?
Speaker 5 (13:49):
Yeah, so there's a number of different symptoms that are
described that we can see. Usually it's respiratory symptoms, so coughing, sneezing,
just looking dull depressed. Sometimes we'll see neurologic symptoms there,
especially with ducks and geese. They'll be seen like swimming
or walking in a circle one, you know, keeping their
(14:10):
heads up it's called stargazing. Their heads just kind of
stayed tipped back. But really the most common symptom we
see is rapid death, and unfortunately, it is a disease
that's largely fatal and is very rapidly fatal, especially in
chickens and turkeys. And so that's usually the first symptom
people notice is they go out in the morning and
a couple of their chickens have died, they go back
(14:33):
out the next that night, a couple more have died,
and then they start keying in on some of those
subtle symptoms that may be present for a couple of
hours right before the birds succumb to the virus. But
it's a very quick virus usually, And so you know,
anytime we see mortality of more than just one or
two chickens, we really do want to get that checked out.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
And so then what should they do if they think
that they have a bird or birds that have the virus.
Speaker 5 (14:57):
Yeah, so a couple things. First thing is we really
want them to give us a call. We maintain a
hotline we have during the day. It's answered by our
office over after hours, over the weekend. We have veterinarians
on call that we can help kind of go through
a risk assessment, figure out if we think there might
be a risk there, and if there is, we will
provide that test and we will send of that out
to them. We will collect those samples, do all the work.
(15:19):
There's no cost to any piece of that. So that's
one piece of it. The others protect yourself, you know,
if chickens have died from whatever for whatever reason, there's
always that risk of a zoonotic disease being asked to
the owners, and so things like wearing gloves, wearing a
pair of safety glasses or goggles, if you have n
(15:40):
ninety five K ninety fives left over from COVID or
from you know, when you've been sick, putting one of
those on, changing clothes, after you've been handling a dead bird,
you know, double bagging them, making sure they're being disposed
of properly, Just making sure that we're not creating an
unnecessary risk of exposing to either the owners or more
people right to that dead bird.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Doctor Schols, anything else that you'd.
Speaker 5 (16:02):
Like to add, I think the big take home at
this point is we're very early in the influenza season
when we traditionally see influenza. We're seeing quite a few
suspected cases out in central and eastern Oregon. I expect
to start seeing them here in the Wallamma Valley and
in western Oregon fairly soon as the birds start migrating through.
(16:24):
For whatever reason, it looks like this year is going
to be a higher risk year again, and so just
you know, anything people can do to create that extra biosecurity,
You take a few extra steps here for the next
couple of months really will go a long ways to
preventing transmission of this disease to our domestic poultry.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Doctor Schulz, thanks for joining us on Local Voices. That's
doctor Ryan Scholes, Oregon's state veterinarian, with tips on how
to protect backyard flocks from bird flu. The Oregon Health
Authority is advising parents to talk with their college bound
students about gambling right a cod a problem gambling program
(17:01):
manager at OAJ joins us on Local Voices. Granted, is
online gambling the big concern here?
Speaker 6 (17:07):
I think it's one of them.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Yes.
Speaker 6 (17:08):
I think it's the ability of our youth to have
and our emerging adults to have access to gambling on
the technology, which is usually their phones and computers. So
online gambling is one of our larger concerns.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
That true makes it easier.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Is the amount of gambling among college students on the rise?
Speaker 6 (17:27):
Well, we don't necessarily have that data here in Oregon
quite yet. We might have some data coming in in
a few months, but what we're seeing nationally is that
it's on the rise, and it's rising due to the
legalization of sports betting.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
What message do you have for parents to help them
talk with their kids about gambling.
Speaker 6 (17:47):
I think it's important that parents are having this conversation
with their kids. Many times parents have conversations around substance
use and other risk behaviors, but they're not having it
about gambling. So I think with the accessibility of gambling
and here in Oregon the way it is now, it's
(18:08):
super important for parents to have this conversation to you know,
set boundaries around what they will and will not pay for,
and to really monitor their child, their college age students' finances.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Are there science for when someone should get help for
gambling too much?
Speaker 6 (18:27):
Yeah, you'll usually see, uh, usually we'll see the financial
situations change for a person who's struggling with their gambling.
And you may see some different changes disruptions in the family.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
Or in their school setting.
Speaker 6 (18:43):
They may have changes in personality or within their social relationships.
So those are some of the things to just kind
of be aware of and monitor what.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Resources are available. I saw one website I think it
is called is it gamfin Yeah, So.
Speaker 6 (18:58):
We are really trying here in Oregon to provide multiple
pathways to help and to go beyond just traditional therapy.
So if the population is engaging in these behaviors and
with technology, want to provide technology to assist them. So
(19:18):
we have a couple of resources which is Gamfin. Gamfin
is a free financial counseling service for those that have
been impacted by gambling or someone else's gambling and usually
that you know averages about one or two sessions.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Uh.
Speaker 6 (19:34):
The Gamfin financial counselors will help them with budgeting and
get them back back financially on track. And we also
have another tool called evive. Evives a digital, free digital
health self help app related to problem gambling and it
offers tips on reducing and stopping your gambling that is
(19:56):
available to all or going into. Both of these resources,
Gamfin and and five are available to all Ourgonians for free,
and we find we feel they're especially useful for young
people who prefer the digital tools over maybe traditional therapy.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Any tips on how to control gambling and maybe you
touched on it earlier when you said to set boundaries.
Speaker 6 (20:18):
Well, I think for parents it's important to set boundaries.
Parents can play a crucial role by learning the different
warning signs, setting clear financial boundaries and just keeping an
open supportive communication. I think it's very important that we're
having these conversations even before our kids are off to college,
having these conversations with our middle school and high school
(20:39):
age students about the risks of gambling, what gambling is,
and just preparing them to go into their early adulthoods
being the most informed they can be.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Is there a website where parents can learn more?
Speaker 3 (20:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (20:54):
So here in ore again, we have our or what
we call our organ Problem Gambling Helpline. That's a helpline
number that operates twenty four to seven. You can call
it and talk to a specialist. The number is one
eight seven seven my limit or one eight seven seven
six nine five four six four eight. And you can
also get to our helpline website, which is called the
(21:15):
Organ Problem Gambling Resource at opgr dot org. On that
web page you will find how to get to the
vibe app and also to the gamfit as a resource,
and then you can also look into different options for
traditional therapy.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Also, got anything else you'd like, Dave that I didn't
ask you about.
Speaker 6 (21:35):
I just want everyone to know that the sooner one
can seek help, the easier it is to get gambling
under control and avoid the long term consequences. And just
remember that help is available and you don't have to
face this alone.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Greta thanks for joining us on Local Voices that it's
Greta co the Problem Gambling Program manager at the Oregon
Health Authority with advice for parents on how they can
talk with their college bound student about the risks of gambling.
It's been five years since the Labor Day wildfires that
destroyed over four thousand homes and claimed eleven lives. The
(22:11):
process to rebuild continues. Shannon Marhin with Oregon Housing and
Community Services joins us on Local Voices. Shannon tell us
about the process that's underway to build homes and rentals
following the fires.
Speaker 4 (22:22):
Sure at OHDS, our goal our mission is disaster recovery.
So our processes meet the long term disaster recovery housing needs.
So stable housing for those who want it, especially those
households who are low to moderate incomes.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Are they being built in certain areas?
Speaker 4 (22:42):
They are? Brad. We focus on the disaster impacted areas
and for the twenty twenty disaster events that is Klacamus, Douglas, Jackson, Klamath, Lane,
Marion and Lynn and Lincoln.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
How is the construction funded?
Speaker 4 (23:01):
The construction has been funded in two portions as part
of this disaster recovery. The first piece of it was
the one hundred and fifty million dollars that the state
provided to OHCS in August of twenty twenty one that
was used to build I think it's about eight hundred
and sixty seven homes that included some manufactured home parks
(23:24):
that have eighty seven homes in Jackson, and I think
two hundred households that received rental assistance. Additionally, there is
about oh gosh, twenty six hundred homes that are in
process being rebuilt or being I've already been rebuilt.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
So how was the construction funded.
Speaker 4 (23:49):
Well, part of it's from the one hundred and fifty
million from the state in August of twenty twenty one.
The second part is from a four hundred and twenty
two million dollar grant from the US tom of Housing
and Urban Development HUD. That grant was received by the
State of Oregon in February of twenty twenty three, and
so we're roughly just over two years into that grant.
(24:11):
There are several programs that are added on to that
grant that I can talk to. Just depending on how
much you want to know.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
Yeah, tell us about those programs.
Speaker 4 (24:19):
Sure, I'd love to. So one of those programs is
the HEART program, and that is the ownership replacement program,
and that gives us an opportunity to find those survivors
who either didn't recover through private insurance, they didn't recover
through local community efforts, which a lot of that was
(24:40):
done in disaster recovery. But these are the folks that
need that funding of last resort. They have something they
need to become fully recovered. It could be something like
a porch, it could be ada railing, those kind of things.
And so that program has been opened since June of
twenty twenty four, and we are roughly sixty homes have
(25:02):
been purchased from that process, and we have another one
hundred and ninety four applications or survivors that are in
the process of getting their awards and completing those projects.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
So how many homes or units I guess if we're
talking apartments in rentals have been built and what's the goal?
Speaker 4 (25:22):
So overall, gosh, I think we are right about twenty
six hundred to date that have either been built or
that are in process of being built. And the goal
is not only to finish those, but any additional that
we can get. So one of the efforts we have
been doing for the last gosh, the last twelve months
(25:45):
is making sure that folks know about this funding of
last resort, understanding that a good portion of the CDBGDR grant,
which I can describe if you want, it's the Community
Development Block Grant for disastery recovery. That's that hud A
piece that I talked about earlier. That grant not only
(26:05):
funds the houses that we're talking about for long term recovery,
but it also funds infrastructure projects, community development, economic revitalization.
So I'll give you a scenario that may be a
little bit easier to digest. We have a house that
needs to be rebuilt or rehabbed or something to make
it livable for our survivor. We may also need to
(26:26):
take care of that road to get to the house,
so that's another piece. Putting in infrastructure. We may need
a new sewer system for a community that was devastated
by disaster. That is also what these programs can can serve.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Now, is there an estimated time for when the work
either needs to be complete or when you expected to
be complete?
Speaker 4 (26:47):
Yes, there's an absolute time. So the CDBGDR grant Fund
that we signed in February twenty twenty three is a
six year grant, so that needs to be completed by
February of twenty twenty nine. We estimate that a good
majority of the projects will be finished. The households that
are sponsored or rather that are funded through that piece,
(27:07):
the c d B G d R grant Fund, those
are expected to be fully either awarded or in process
of building by June of next year.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
Terrific Shannon. Anything else would like to add?
Speaker 4 (27:21):
Oh, gosh, I would. I would like to add that
for anybody who is aware or maybe just hearing about
the funding of Last Resort, if you're a survivor of
the twenty twenty wildfire event, we have a website I
will shamelessly plug it. It's ore dot O R e
g O N dot gov, reorgon dot gov. That website
(27:42):
provides all kinds of information on what resources are available
to survivors, and I think it's it's a pretty good
place to get a little bit more educated on on
things that we have for resources for our long term recovery.
The other piece I would add, Brad in learning this,
this world of long term recovery for disasters, it can
(28:02):
take years for communities to recover. So I think as
we learn about these programs, and we build these homes
and we work on these infrastructure projects, we can't say
enough about the community involvement and the overlap of state, local,
federal partnerships. It's been amazing to see.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
Why don't you give us that website one more time?
Speaker 4 (28:24):
Sure it's reeorgon dot govre, DOTR, e g O N
dot gov.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
That's Shannon Marhein with Oregon Housing and Community Services with
details on the work being done to build homes and
rentals following the Labor Day wildfires in twenty twenty that
destroyed over four thousand homes. Thanks for listening to Local Voices.
I'm brad Ford. You can hear past episodes on the
iHeartRadio app under the podcast tab. Local Voices is a
(28:54):
public affairs presentation from iHeartRadio.
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