August 12, 2025 • 24 mins
In this powerful episode, Oregon State Representative Annessa Hartman shares her journey from personal hardship to public service, illustrating how lived experiences can shape effective policy. As the daughter of a single working mother and a survivor of domestic violence, Rep. Hartman brings a unique perspective to the legislative process. She emphasizes the importance of centering the voices of those directly affected by policies, stating, "We must continue to center survivors in this type of policy work."
Her commitment to transparency, accessibility, and amplifying historically unheard voices guides her efforts to create compassionate and efficient systems that truly meet the needs of families, caregivers, and service providers.
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_01 (00:09):
This is The Shift Voices of Prevention, a podcast
from Prevent Child AbuseAmerica, where we explore bold
ideas, cultural change, and whatit truly means to support
children and families.
Join us to change the narrativeone conversation at a time.
Hello and welcome to the ShiftVoices of Prevention, recording
live from PCA America's 2025National Conference in Portland,
(00:32):
Oregon.
I'm Nathan Fink, and I'm LukeWaldo.
And we're excited to be joinedby State Representative Anessa
Hartman, representing District40, member of the Haudenosaunee
Cayuga Nation Snipe Clan,Oregon's third indigenous state
representative and chair ofmultiple committees, including
the Early Childhood and HumanService Committee.
Anessa, thank you for joiningthe show.
SPEAKER_02 (00:53):
Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_01 (00:54):
Before we get into your efforts to lower costs for
working families and ensuringthat your communities are safe,
I wanted to talk about yourentering politics in the first
place.
Can you share a bit about whatinspired you to become a
legislator here in Oregon?
SPEAKER_02 (01:09):
I always laugh at this question because it's not,
I don't have a stump speech.
I've tried really hard over thepast five years to create
something under than twominutes, so just bear with me
for a little bit.
But um I had no dreams ofbecoming a politician by any
means.
Um I actually went to culinaryschool, right out of high
school, and was in the food andbeverage events business dining
world for about 14 years, rightup until COVID hit.
(01:33):
And then COVID hit as theindustry sort of spiraled, um,
we lost our jobs, and we werehome with a five and
seven-year-old, uh, not reallyknowing what's what's happening.
And I think in that time, all ofthese memories of what my mom
went through, she was a singleparent, um, and being native,
uh, remembering a lot of thingsgrowing up, um sort of sparked
(01:54):
some interest in just gettinginvolved.
And then up until that point,when we moved here, it was it
was uh daycare, work, daycare,sleep, work, repeat over and
over and over again.
So getting to know myneighborhood was new to me.
Um, but I gave myself aboutthree months to relax and not do
anything, and then I got bored.
Um and so I started organizingin my neighborhood, going to the
grocery store for neighbors whowere immunocompromised, and just
(02:15):
sort of finding people.
Um and it's through thoseevents, um, and then we had
actually the um the death ofGeorge Floyd, brought our
community together of GladstoneVery.
It's a four square mile town of12,000 people strong.
Uh it's the smallest city inthis sort of metro region, about
30 minutes south of where we'reat right now.
And we um had planned some sortof gathering to sort of
(02:36):
commemorate that.
And I um had thought, okay,we'll get like 15 people to come
and like we'll make signs andwe'll just like talk about our
experiences.
And we had almost 300 peopleshow up, and it was, I've
planned lots of events in mylife, a lot of events.
And this was one of thosemoments where it was like, wow,
like I could use all thoseskills that I've learned over
the past, you know, 14 years todo something else.
(02:58):
Uh, and so from that is where Imet a city counselor um during
those moments, and like weorganized some like anti-racist
groups and sort of like bookclubs, if you will.
Uh, and he actually encouragedme to run for city council.
And my first thought was, well,why would I do that?
Like, what does a city counseloreven do?
Like potholes?
Like, you know, what do they do?
And so I did that.
(03:18):
I ran against three other men.
Um, I won.
So I was a city counselor forabout a year and a half when the
previous representative, uhrepresentative Mark Meek, now
Senator Mark Meek, said that hewas going to run for Senate and
said, maybe you should considerrunning.
Uh to myself, I thought, what'sthe worst that could happen?
You know, I could lose.
But um little did I know what aswing seat was.
So I represent a very purpledistrict.
(03:40):
Um, and as a as a Democrat in auh with no sort of name
recognition uh besides to 10,000people, um, that was one of the
hardest things I've ever had todo in my life.
And we campaigned for about 18months, and I won um by 181
votes.
Oh, wow.
My first race.
Yes.
And I ran really with the likeconviction that every single
(04:04):
person deserved to be at alllevels of government.
Um, that if if certain peoplecan run for higher office, why
can't someone who went toculinary school, who was raised
by a single mom, who we, youknow, had to choose between
whether or not she was going topay a bill versus putting food
on the table, like why can'tpeople with lived experience be
in these positions?
Right.
And that sort of is just whatcarried me through that
(04:26):
experience.
SPEAKER_01 (04:27):
It almost feels like that is actually the perfect
people who should be decidingpolicy.
Um I did have a quick follow-upon that because when we tell
these stories, I think it soundsdefinitive this, then this, then
this, then this, right?
But as you were in your journeyto become what you are now,
state representative, were theremoments of shake, were there
(04:50):
moments of doubt, were there Imean there must have been,
right?
SPEAKER_02 (04:53):
Oh gosh.
I mean, when I first ran forcity council and then decided to
jump into this race for staterepresentative, that what I
wasn't prepared for was this umjust sort of like opening of
wounds that I didn't rememberexisted.
And and I mean that because youyou become very public.
And when I ran for the citycouncil race, it was during the
(05:14):
pandemic.
We weren't knocking on doors, weweren't doing commercials, we
weren't, you know, it was asmall, it was, you know, I think
it was like 3,000 people voted,right?
It was so different.
And that was the only examplethat I had.
And I think the one part that Ihad forgotten to share was that
I absolutely was someone who didnot think their vote mattered.
Um I only voted for presidentand never voted for mayor, never
(05:36):
voted for state, I didn't evenknow who my state representative
was.
And so it was fascinating to me.
And I really took that to liketo heart uh that I wanted to
convince the Anessa like whythey should get involved.
And that was way morechallenging personally than
anything, because once I gotinto it, it was like, wait, what
(05:57):
do you mean?
Well, I mean, I I'm just likeyou and I want to get involved,
but you're not, you're not, I'mnot convincing you.
And so it was a lot of those upsand downs of trying to figure
out how to talk to the me, me'sof the world, um, where I found
myself becoming scripted,becoming this repetitive over
and over and over again, sayingpop political speak.
(06:17):
So that was really challengingfor me.
But what it looked like was alot of crying.
Um we had a plastic green bat inthe house that we often would
beat the couch up with.
Um, and it was just an up anddown fluctuation of all of these
feelings that I didn't reallyallow myself to feel, like as a
(06:37):
person.
So I had to really learn um thatreally taking the time to fill
your cup, like it sounds so easyto say.
So many people say that to usall the time, and I didn't know
what that meant until thisexperience of taking on and um,
you know, realizing that thereare more me's in this world uh
(06:58):
than there's not.
SPEAKER_00 (07:00):
So Anessa, you've you've talked a lot about your
own lived experience, right?
And within that livedexperience, you've talked a lot
about family, about yourexperience as a parent, you've
talked about your experience asan Indigenous representative.
How has that informed uh yourpolicy priorities?
And and more specifically, whenyou think about your lived
(07:22):
experience informing your policypriorities, why do you believe
that strengthening families andkind of prevention-focused
policy is so important in thestate of Oregon?
SPEAKER_02 (07:33):
Aaron Powell I don't think I would say, like if I
were to talk to myself fouryears ago, if I had any specific
pathway that I wanted to go.
I knew I always wanted to sortof do something around, if we're
categorizing it, human servicesworld, early childhood, right?
Um you can look at my oldwebsites and it's like the
platform is there, you know,childhood, affordability, you
know, working people.
But once you step into thisspace, it's just a flood of
(07:55):
information that comes to you,and I think that inspires
people, hopefully.
What I really wanted when Ifirst began was to make sure
that uh when we are creatingthese policies, that there's a
voice there that can advocatefor those that that policy would
then affect.
Uh there are tons of exampleswhere, you know, at the highest
of levels of government aremaking policy that I think
(08:18):
solves things, but doesn'tactually get to the root cause.
And I mean it goes down to evenlike um, you know, utilities or
to like the DMV, right?
And so I think um there's not aton of people that are in the
legislature that um come fromthe life that I come from.
There's a handful of us, and Ioften think we're we we are
often fighting for the samething, but often get sort of
(08:38):
overpowered in our our um ouradvocacy.
But I think, you know, it as Icontinued on, probably like, you
know, a couple months in, Irealized that when we talk
about, particularly when we talkabout the family unit, when we
talk about human services um aslike DHS or CPS or you know or
um child welfare, they often arejust looking at the child, and
(09:00):
that child has to get worsebefore they have to get bad.
Um one of the most common thingsI heard on the doors uh when we
were campaigning in both yearswas a story about basically um
that their child uh had suicidalideologies, but that they were
on the state health care plan,but they couldn't help them
(09:20):
until they actually would say toa physician, I I'm going to hurt
myself.
And so it had to happen in a badway before that child could get
help.
And it's and it the question ofthe why of that disconnect, why
do we have to get that far?
Um, that can be replicated, Ithink, in almost every pathway,
right?
Absolutely.
Every pathway.
And that that piece alone hasjust driven me to um make the
(09:47):
advocacy for people like that inevery single outlet uh that we
talk about, um, whether it isfoster care or child welfare or
the juvenile system um or youknow, SNAP benefits, or you
know, pick your category.
And I think that that that voiceis missing.
And that that part has likereally driven me to to be the
loud and sometimes annoyingvoice that I am.
SPEAKER_01 (10:09):
So when you look across the kind of the docket of
bills or budget allocations oranything that you're working on,
are there any significantimpacts that you can point to in
prevention and supportingfamilies before that crisis?
SPEAKER_02 (10:24):
Aaron Ross Powell Yeah, I I think that we have, as
a state, have been doing ourbest to help the child.
And I say that with emphasisbecause I think that there, at
least for me, becoming chair ofhuman services in early
childhood, it's been aneye-opener.
There is a lot more work that wehave to do to not just help the
(10:44):
child, but to help the entirefamily unit.
And I say that because it is ahard, it is a hard place for me
to be in because I think likewhen we talk about
representation, right?
Like if my mom had access to ahigh-paying job or a well-paying
job, if uh she had access toeducation as a single parent,
(11:05):
where would her life be rightnow?
Um, if she had a sense ofcommunity to help support her
and to support me during thosetimes of need, where would our
lives be?
Uh and that is just a tiny, tinyexample of so many cases across
the country, um, not just justhere in Oregon.
Uh, we have tons of parents whoare dealing with substance use
(11:28):
um issues, right?
We get a call to the hotlinethat there's a child running
around in the in the yard withtheir diaper on, um, and they
know that maybe the parent isum, you know, maybe uses.
They show up, they don't helpthe parent.
They, you know, whether it'staking the child or or whatnot.
The goal should be how do wehelp the unit, right?
(11:50):
Because re- if you reunificationis the goal of the state and
other states, um then we have tohelp the entire, the entire like
ecosystem of that child's life.
Um and we we don't necessarilydo that.
We don't see all theintersections of of um of those
supports, right?
Uh and and I think that that'sthe part that I really lean
into.
You know, I have substance useissues within my family, um, and
(12:11):
it it didn't just happen, no onejust chooses to be an addict.
Um we don't just do that.
Uh there is a why, right?
And access to therapy and healthcare is so important.
Uh access to like consistenthousing is so important.
But when we are like siloing allthese efforts and instead of
like seeing how they allintersect, like we can build all
(12:31):
these houses we want, but if youcan't afford them, and if you
can't manage your budget, if youcan't build intergenerational
wealth within yourself, thenthere's no reason that we should
be building houses.
SPEAKER_00 (12:39):
Aaron Ross Powell As a follow-up to that last
question, what what barriers doyou see in the legislature when
it comes to investing furtherupstream, larger investments in,
say, food assistance, housingassistance, not even housing
assistance, but greater housingdevelopment that is affordable
(13:02):
for lower income families, forexample, uh wage increases,
minimum wage increases, thingsalong those lines, right, that
really raise the floor forfamilies so that they don't find
themselves even approaching thecliff in the first place?
SPEAKER_02 (13:20):
I think put it this way, if I had my way, I would
just want to blow up the wholesystem and we could just start
over.
Uh if I'm doing if I'm beingcompletely blunt and honest.
Um because I think um if we'retalking about like child welfare
or you know these programs,right, and and the history, and
I I'm gonna speak from like anative lens, um, the history of
uh to my people very much thatuh you're not great, you're not
(13:44):
a good parent, and so we'regonna take your child away, and
we want to assimilate them intowhite culture.
That to me and many other uhcultures is is how we see child
buffer.
Uh they're not there for thefamily by any means.
They're not there to help.
That very much is still alivetoday.
Um, you are not gonna get a CPSworker going to someone's door
thinking, you're gonna help mewith my kid.
(14:07):
So when I say that, like blowingup the system and recreating
something from the ground up, Iwould love to do that because um
that trust is not gonna bethere, especially within like
lower income and likecommunities of color, uh,
because that is the history thatall just our parents grew up
with.
You know, we had the the 60scoop, you know, for for Native
uh families where they just comeand take children and these
(14:28):
Native kids don't even knowwhere they came from.
And so they're still searchingfor their lineage, right?
And so that is like sort of atthe core, at least for me, um,
and how we fix things, right?
It's like, oh, it's so greatthat we want to change the way
our programs are structured,doesn't mean someone's gonna
trust you, and especially inthis state.
Um and so that that part ishard, I think, for people to
(14:49):
grasp that, like, well, what doyou mean I'm trying to help?
But I think one common story Ioften hear from people is that
we keep people poor so that theycan stay on these services.
You know, when it comes to SNAPbenefits, when it comes to
housing assistance, when itcomes to like affordability, or
we have great programs here inthe state of Oregon with down
payment assistance or theseindividual uh development
(15:11):
accounts, which are matchsavings accounts that's funded
by the state.
Really great, teaches youintergenerational wealth
building.
But it stops at 80% AMI,sometimes 30% AI, sometimes 120%
AMI.
And so time and time again, Ioften hear from it, particularly
parents, I didn't take that jobbecause it would have put me
just over the amount to qualify,and I could not afford, you
(15:35):
know, you know, 1% over.
So I went from 80% AMI to 82%AMI.
Um, I can't afford to live that,so they just stay in their very
minimum wage job so that theycan still qualify for all this
government assistance.
I like I see the world like Iwant to build people's
intergenerational wealth.
Like that's the goal.
I want people to get SNAPbenefits and housing assistance,
(15:58):
and then how do we grow theirown so that they can move on and
we can help the next person andjust sort of having this sort of
revolving, uh not a door, but anescalator where people are just
moving up.
Um and we don't do that.
And so for me, that's a barrier.
Um, if we want to get people offgovernment assistance, because
people need it, like they needit, um, we have to learn how to
invest in that part there to getthem off so that we can
(16:22):
continue.
Otherwise, what we're doing iswe're just widening that gap,
continuing to wide the gap.
Um, and we are a part of thatproblem.
Um, and so I think like for me,that is one of the barriers in a
across the board in alldifferent types of agencies, and
how do we address um gettingpeople off of that cliff and
still helping sort of the quoteunquote middle lower class, like
(16:42):
in terms of income?
And I think the the last thelast barrier that I'll talk
about is that I just don't thinkwe have enough lived experience
in city, county, and state,right?
So it's like we can do whateverwe want in the state, right?
We can pass all these budgetsand whatnot, but you still have
cities and counties that have alot of power.
Right.
Counties run their programs,these health and services
(17:03):
programs.
And so um we need people whounderstand what it's like to
live paycheck to paycheck.
We need people who know whatit's like to have a substance
use issue or that in yourfamily, uh, and not just sort of
like throw like caution to thewind and be like, we're just
gonna give you money.
We but no, we want to like helppeople like build that on their
own.
SPEAKER_01 (17:22):
Aaron Ross Powell Based on what you said, the
conundrum is that those peoplewho may be mistrustful of the
systems that they rely on haveto be part of the solution,
right?
Their voice but also showing upto use it.
Right?
Which is goes back to your earlyfrustrations where you're how do
I convince me who has aintergenerational distrust of a
(17:45):
system?
SPEAKER_02 (17:47):
Very heavy.
SPEAKER_01 (17:48):
To be part then of the system with their voice.
Because the systems areperfectly designed to continue
in their current shape.
So speaking to those families,those community members, those
everyday folks, what can they dothen to be part of that
solution?
SPEAKER_02 (18:04):
Aaron Ross Powell That is the question, right?
I could give you the age-oldanswer of show up, provide
testimony, bug your bug yourrepresentatives, you know, bug
your counselors, um, you know,protest, all the things, right?
But I think in the end, um, andI like just to rewind a tiny
bit, as as someone who was theAnessa who didn't vote, what I
(18:27):
also want to just highlight isthat like I have to represent my
constituency.
I say that because of wherewe're sitting right now in the
city of Portland is completelydifferent demographic than my
district.
Completely different.
And so if people want to getinvolved, I want people to get
involved for who they are.
So whether you're anindependent, a green party,
(18:47):
unicorn party, apparentlythere's one.
Uh non-affiliated, we have wehave the most uh non-affiliated
uh registered voters.
Uh that's the that's ourmajority here in the state.
It's not Democrats orRepublican.
Um they don't get to vote in ourprimaries.
So I would love to see openprimaries where they get to vote
and who that is.
So they just get to vote for aDemocrat or Republican
(19:09):
regardless.
Um I think that, you know, Idon't want to give you some
like, you know, kind of lameanswer, but like continue to
show up and all those things.
Those are important.
A lot of the bills that I'vepassed are from constituents,
not all not just in my district,but from across the state, that
have brought a problem to me andthen they help organize that.
So I think when it comes topolicy, that's really powerful.
SPEAKER_00 (19:29):
What what what sort of vision would you have for
kind of the future of childrenand families in Oregon?
And in your best world, howmight Oregon serve as a leader
for the rest of the country whenit comes to issues facing
(19:49):
children and families and morespecifically how you are
responding to those issues?
SPEAKER_02 (19:55):
Yeah, I just say the first thing that came to my mind
when you were saying that.
Um, again, personal standpoint,uh, you know, very rooted in my,
you know, values as a as anative woman.
I think like this country andthe state, you know, as a whole,
we've lost that sense ofcommunity, right?
Like we, you know, uh, Nativepeople very much lived, you
know, like my people, noteveryone lives away, but my
(20:16):
people, we lived in longhouses.
Like we we are a community andwe help each other.
Uh I don't, I don't, I can'tthink of a time that I or like
my neighbor ever said, like,hey, can I borrow some butter or
whatever that may be?
Or like the amount of effort ittook for me to even like get to
know my neighbor was COVID.
We lived in that place for solong and we never really
(20:38):
conversed with one.
So, you know, the hand wave,right?
And so I think, and for me, Iwas a military kid, so we moved
around a lot, and so it was alittle different, right?
You're growing up on base,there's community there.
Um, and then when we left,you're like, oh, I don't know my
neighbors.
Or you kind of like develop thislike fear of like, can I go talk
to them?
And it could just be, you know,my upbringing, but I think that
(20:59):
sense, that sense alone of umcommunity and how we help each
other, not that um I need topick up the phone and call
because your child's running inthe yard.
What can I go do to help you?
To me, from like a personalstandpoint, I don't I don't know
how, I mean, I know how we gothere, but how did we get here,
right?
And it doesn't help, like wewe're s we we are continuing to
be more divided than ever.
(21:20):
But that that alone I thinkwould do a lot of good.
If someone could just learn tolike help their neighbor instead
of just immediately judgment andlike learn it, like lean in with
curiosity rather than immediatejudgment, like what could that
do for people?
Um and I think that the the samething could be said in an agency
lens, right?
Like um, if someone is dealingwith substance use, not your bad
(21:44):
parent, but why?
Like, and what can we do to helpyou instead of judging you in
that way?
Uh and the same thing with ouryouth.
Like, we have, what are we?
I think we're the third highestpopulation of juveniles in in
the prison system or in theincarceration system.
Like, why, like why is that?
What are we not doing?
And are we even talking to thosethose young kids about what
(22:07):
they're like where how they gotthere?
Um we have this really amazingum program, it's Parrot Creek is
the organization.
And sort of they have a uh acampus, if you will, um in sort
of the middle of nowhere.
Uh and they're instead of goinginto um into Juvi, like they get
to go there, and it's sort ofkind of an open, I would say an
open, like parents can stillcome or their caregivers can
(22:29):
still come.
But I visited there a coupleyears ago, and uh I would say
90% of them were all had beenhomeless and they were under the
age of 17.
Or they were couch surfing.
Why?
Some gang violence, somesubstance use, some had already
been using.
And to me, like why?
Like just the question of thewhy.
(22:51):
Like why what are we not doing?
And I would just love to sitaround a table with one people
who have experienced the fostercare system, uh, people who have
gone to Juvie, uh, who've beenhomeless and they're all under
the age of 18.
Like we have our wonderful, likeum, we have our high schools
that have addiction serviceswithin them, and like just
off-the-record conversationabout what in your life had got
(23:12):
you to this point.
And I wish we could make policythat way, and that we listen to
the people who are actuallybeing impacted by this.
And so I think in my time inthis in this world, I I sit and
I talk to people over and overand they bear their souls and
their stories.
And I wish that we just madepolicy off of that, you know,
and I think that there's a lotof families out there to be
(23:34):
like, I just really needed this,or I really needed that.
SPEAKER_01 (23:38):
Well, Representative Harbin, thank you so, so much.
And thank you for yourcommitment to Oregon children
and families.
SPEAKER_02 (23:45):
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_01 (23:46):
Can you run for federal office?
And you can invite upstreamsolutions into your feed by
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Join us to create an ecosystemwhere children and families live
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This is The Shift Voices of Prevention, a podcast
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ideas, cultural change, and whatit truly means to support
children and families.
Join us to change the narrativeone conversation at a time.
Hello and welcome to the ShiftVoices of Prevention, recording
live from PCA America's 2025National Conference in Portland,
(00:32):
Oregon.
I'm Nathan Fink, and I'm LukeWaldo.
And we're excited to be joinedby State Representative Anessa
Hartman, representing District40, member of the Haudenosaunee
Cayuga Nation Snipe Clan,Oregon's third indigenous state
representative and chair ofmultiple committees, including
the Early Childhood and HumanService Committee.
Anessa, thank you for joiningthe show.
SPEAKER_02 (00:53):
Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_01 (00:54):
Before we get into your efforts to lower costs for
working families and ensuringthat your communities are safe,
I wanted to talk about yourentering politics in the first
place.
Can you share a bit about whatinspired you to become a
legislator here in Oregon?
SPEAKER_02 (01:09):
I always laugh at this question because it's not,
I don't have a stump speech.
I've tried really hard over thepast five years to create
something under than twominutes, so just bear with me
for a little bit.
But um I had no dreams ofbecoming a politician by any
means.
Um I actually went to culinaryschool, right out of high
school, and was in the food andbeverage events business dining
world for about 14 years, rightup until COVID hit.
(01:33):
And then COVID hit as theindustry sort of spiraled, um,
we lost our jobs, and we werehome with a five and
seven-year-old, uh, not reallyknowing what's what's happening.
And I think in that time, all ofthese memories of what my mom
went through, she was a singleparent, um, and being native,
uh, remembering a lot of thingsgrowing up, um sort of sparked
(01:54):
some interest in just gettinginvolved.
And then up until that point,when we moved here, it was it
was uh daycare, work, daycare,sleep, work, repeat over and
over and over again.
So getting to know myneighborhood was new to me.
Um, but I gave myself aboutthree months to relax and not do
anything, and then I got bored.
Um and so I started organizingin my neighborhood, going to the
grocery store for neighbors whowere immunocompromised, and just
(02:15):
sort of finding people.
Um and it's through thoseevents, um, and then we had
actually the um the death ofGeorge Floyd, brought our
community together of GladstoneVery.
It's a four square mile town of12,000 people strong.
Uh it's the smallest city inthis sort of metro region, about
30 minutes south of where we'reat right now.
And we um had planned some sortof gathering to sort of
(02:36):
commemorate that.
And I um had thought, okay,we'll get like 15 people to come
and like we'll make signs andwe'll just like talk about our
experiences.
And we had almost 300 peopleshow up, and it was, I've
planned lots of events in mylife, a lot of events.
And this was one of thosemoments where it was like, wow,
like I could use all thoseskills that I've learned over
the past, you know, 14 years todo something else.
(02:58):
Uh, and so from that is where Imet a city counselor um during
those moments, and like weorganized some like anti-racist
groups and sort of like bookclubs, if you will.
Uh, and he actually encouragedme to run for city council.
And my first thought was, well,why would I do that?
Like, what does a city counseloreven do?
Like potholes?
Like, you know, what do they do?
And so I did that.
(03:18):
I ran against three other men.
Um, I won.
So I was a city counselor forabout a year and a half when the
previous representative, uhrepresentative Mark Meek, now
Senator Mark Meek, said that hewas going to run for Senate and
said, maybe you should considerrunning.
Uh to myself, I thought, what'sthe worst that could happen?
You know, I could lose.
But um little did I know what aswing seat was.
So I represent a very purpledistrict.
(03:40):
Um, and as a as a Democrat in auh with no sort of name
recognition uh besides to 10,000people, um, that was one of the
hardest things I've ever had todo in my life.
And we campaigned for about 18months, and I won um by 181
votes.
Oh, wow.
My first race.
Yes.
And I ran really with the likeconviction that every single
(04:04):
person deserved to be at alllevels of government.
Um, that if if certain peoplecan run for higher office, why
can't someone who went toculinary school, who was raised
by a single mom, who we, youknow, had to choose between
whether or not she was going topay a bill versus putting food
on the table, like why can'tpeople with lived experience be
in these positions?
Right.
And that sort of is just whatcarried me through that
(04:26):
experience.
SPEAKER_01 (04:27):
It almost feels like that is actually the perfect
people who should be decidingpolicy.
Um I did have a quick follow-upon that because when we tell
these stories, I think it soundsdefinitive this, then this, then
this, then this, right?
But as you were in your journeyto become what you are now,
state representative, were theremoments of shake, were there
(04:50):
moments of doubt, were there Imean there must have been,
right?
SPEAKER_02 (04:53):
Oh gosh.
I mean, when I first ran forcity council and then decided to
jump into this race for staterepresentative, that what I
wasn't prepared for was this umjust sort of like opening of
wounds that I didn't rememberexisted.
And and I mean that because youyou become very public.
And when I ran for the citycouncil race, it was during the
(05:14):
pandemic.
We weren't knocking on doors, weweren't doing commercials, we
weren't, you know, it was asmall, it was, you know, I think
it was like 3,000 people voted,right?
It was so different.
And that was the only examplethat I had.
And I think the one part that Ihad forgotten to share was that
I absolutely was someone who didnot think their vote mattered.
Um I only voted for presidentand never voted for mayor, never
(05:36):
voted for state, I didn't evenknow who my state representative
was.
And so it was fascinating to me.
And I really took that to liketo heart uh that I wanted to
convince the Anessa like whythey should get involved.
And that was way morechallenging personally than
anything, because once I gotinto it, it was like, wait, what
(05:57):
do you mean?
Well, I mean, I I'm just likeyou and I want to get involved,
but you're not, you're not, I'mnot convincing you.
And so it was a lot of those upsand downs of trying to figure
out how to talk to the me, me'sof the world, um, where I found
myself becoming scripted,becoming this repetitive over
and over and over again, sayingpop political speak.
(06:17):
So that was really challengingfor me.
But what it looked like was alot of crying.
Um we had a plastic green bat inthe house that we often would
beat the couch up with.
Um, and it was just an up anddown fluctuation of all of these
feelings that I didn't reallyallow myself to feel, like as a
(06:37):
person.
So I had to really learn um thatreally taking the time to fill
your cup, like it sounds so easyto say.
So many people say that to usall the time, and I didn't know
what that meant until thisexperience of taking on and um,
you know, realizing that thereare more me's in this world uh
(06:58):
than there's not.
SPEAKER_00 (07:00):
So Anessa, you've you've talked a lot about your
own lived experience, right?
And within that livedexperience, you've talked a lot
about family, about yourexperience as a parent, you've
talked about your experience asan Indigenous representative.
How has that informed uh yourpolicy priorities?
And and more specifically, whenyou think about your lived
(07:22):
experience informing your policypriorities, why do you believe
that strengthening families andkind of prevention-focused
policy is so important in thestate of Oregon?
SPEAKER_02 (07:33):
Aaron Powell I don't think I would say, like if I
were to talk to myself fouryears ago, if I had any specific
pathway that I wanted to go.
I knew I always wanted to sortof do something around, if we're
categorizing it, human servicesworld, early childhood, right?
Um you can look at my oldwebsites and it's like the
platform is there, you know,childhood, affordability, you
know, working people.
But once you step into thisspace, it's just a flood of
(07:55):
information that comes to you,and I think that inspires
people, hopefully.
What I really wanted when Ifirst began was to make sure
that uh when we are creatingthese policies, that there's a
voice there that can advocatefor those that that policy would
then affect.
Uh there are tons of exampleswhere, you know, at the highest
of levels of government aremaking policy that I think
(08:18):
solves things, but doesn'tactually get to the root cause.
And I mean it goes down to evenlike um, you know, utilities or
to like the DMV, right?
And so I think um there's not aton of people that are in the
legislature that um come fromthe life that I come from.
There's a handful of us, and Ioften think we're we we are
often fighting for the samething, but often get sort of
(08:38):
overpowered in our our um ouradvocacy.
But I think, you know, it as Icontinued on, probably like, you
know, a couple months in, Irealized that when we talk
about, particularly when we talkabout the family unit, when we
talk about human services um aslike DHS or CPS or you know or
um child welfare, they often arejust looking at the child, and
(09:00):
that child has to get worsebefore they have to get bad.
Um one of the most common thingsI heard on the doors uh when we
were campaigning in both yearswas a story about basically um
that their child uh had suicidalideologies, but that they were
on the state health care plan,but they couldn't help them
(09:20):
until they actually would say toa physician, I I'm going to hurt
myself.
And so it had to happen in a badway before that child could get
help.
And it's and it the question ofthe why of that disconnect, why
do we have to get that far?
Um, that can be replicated, Ithink, in almost every pathway,
right?
Absolutely.
Every pathway.
And that that piece alone hasjust driven me to um make the
(09:47):
advocacy for people like that inevery single outlet uh that we
talk about, um, whether it isfoster care or child welfare or
the juvenile system um or youknow, SNAP benefits, or you
know, pick your category.
And I think that that that voiceis missing.
And that that part has likereally driven me to to be the
loud and sometimes annoyingvoice that I am.
SPEAKER_01 (10:09):
So when you look across the kind of the docket of
bills or budget allocations oranything that you're working on,
are there any significantimpacts that you can point to in
prevention and supportingfamilies before that crisis?
SPEAKER_02 (10:24):
Aaron Ross Powell Yeah, I I think that we have, as
a state, have been doing ourbest to help the child.
And I say that with emphasisbecause I think that there, at
least for me, becoming chair ofhuman services in early
childhood, it's been aneye-opener.
There is a lot more work that wehave to do to not just help the
(10:44):
child, but to help the entirefamily unit.
And I say that because it is ahard, it is a hard place for me
to be in because I think likewhen we talk about
representation, right?
Like if my mom had access to ahigh-paying job or a well-paying
job, if uh she had access toeducation as a single parent,
(11:05):
where would her life be rightnow?
Um, if she had a sense ofcommunity to help support her
and to support me during thosetimes of need, where would our
lives be?
Uh and that is just a tiny, tinyexample of so many cases across
the country, um, not just justhere in Oregon.
Uh, we have tons of parents whoare dealing with substance use
(11:28):
um issues, right?
We get a call to the hotlinethat there's a child running
around in the in the yard withtheir diaper on, um, and they
know that maybe the parent isum, you know, maybe uses.
They show up, they don't helpthe parent.
They, you know, whether it'staking the child or or whatnot.
The goal should be how do wehelp the unit, right?
(11:50):
Because re- if you reunificationis the goal of the state and
other states, um then we have tohelp the entire, the entire like
ecosystem of that child's life.
Um and we we don't necessarilydo that.
We don't see all theintersections of of um of those
supports, right?
Uh and and I think that that'sthe part that I really lean
into.
You know, I have substance useissues within my family, um, and
(12:11):
it it didn't just happen, no onejust chooses to be an addict.
Um we don't just do that.
Uh there is a why, right?
And access to therapy and healthcare is so important.
Uh access to like consistenthousing is so important.
But when we are like siloing allthese efforts and instead of
like seeing how they allintersect, like we can build all
(12:31):
these houses we want, but if youcan't afford them, and if you
can't manage your budget, if youcan't build intergenerational
wealth within yourself, thenthere's no reason that we should
be building houses.
SPEAKER_00 (12:39):
Aaron Ross Powell As a follow-up to that last
question, what what barriers doyou see in the legislature when
it comes to investing furtherupstream, larger investments in,
say, food assistance, housingassistance, not even housing
assistance, but greater housingdevelopment that is affordable
(13:02):
for lower income families, forexample, uh wage increases,
minimum wage increases, thingsalong those lines, right, that
really raise the floor forfamilies so that they don't find
themselves even approaching thecliff in the first place?
SPEAKER_02 (13:20):
I think put it this way, if I had my way, I would
just want to blow up the wholesystem and we could just start
over.
Uh if I'm doing if I'm beingcompletely blunt and honest.
Um because I think um if we'retalking about like child welfare
or you know these programs,right, and and the history, and
I I'm gonna speak from like anative lens, um, the history of
uh to my people very much thatuh you're not great, you're not
(13:44):
a good parent, and so we'regonna take your child away, and
we want to assimilate them intowhite culture.
That to me and many other uhcultures is is how we see child
buffer.
Uh they're not there for thefamily by any means.
They're not there to help.
That very much is still alivetoday.
Um, you are not gonna get a CPSworker going to someone's door
thinking, you're gonna help mewith my kid.
(14:07):
So when I say that, like blowingup the system and recreating
something from the ground up, Iwould love to do that because um
that trust is not gonna bethere, especially within like
lower income and likecommunities of color, uh,
because that is the history thatall just our parents grew up
with.
You know, we had the the 60scoop, you know, for for Native
uh families where they just comeand take children and these
(14:28):
Native kids don't even knowwhere they came from.
And so they're still searchingfor their lineage, right?
And so that is like sort of atthe core, at least for me, um,
and how we fix things, right?
It's like, oh, it's so greatthat we want to change the way
our programs are structured,doesn't mean someone's gonna
trust you, and especially inthis state.
Um and so that that part ishard, I think, for people to
(14:49):
grasp that, like, well, what doyou mean I'm trying to help?
But I think one common story Ioften hear from people is that
we keep people poor so that theycan stay on these services.
You know, when it comes to SNAPbenefits, when it comes to
housing assistance, when itcomes to like affordability, or
we have great programs here inthe state of Oregon with down
payment assistance or theseindividual uh development
(15:11):
accounts, which are matchsavings accounts that's funded
by the state.
Really great, teaches youintergenerational wealth
building.
But it stops at 80% AMI,sometimes 30% AI, sometimes 120%
AMI.
And so time and time again, Ioften hear from it, particularly
parents, I didn't take that jobbecause it would have put me
just over the amount to qualify,and I could not afford, you
(15:35):
know, you know, 1% over.
So I went from 80% AMI to 82%AMI.
Um, I can't afford to live that,so they just stay in their very
minimum wage job so that theycan still qualify for all this
government assistance.
I like I see the world like Iwant to build people's
intergenerational wealth.
Like that's the goal.
I want people to get SNAPbenefits and housing assistance,
(15:58):
and then how do we grow theirown so that they can move on and
we can help the next person andjust sort of having this sort of
revolving, uh not a door, but anescalator where people are just
moving up.
Um and we don't do that.
And so for me, that's a barrier.
Um, if we want to get people offgovernment assistance, because
people need it, like they needit, um, we have to learn how to
invest in that part there to getthem off so that we can
(16:22):
continue.
Otherwise, what we're doing iswe're just widening that gap,
continuing to wide the gap.
Um, and we are a part of thatproblem.
Um, and so I think like for me,that is one of the barriers in a
across the board in alldifferent types of agencies, and
how do we address um gettingpeople off of that cliff and
still helping sort of the quoteunquote middle lower class, like
(16:42):
in terms of income?
And I think the the last thelast barrier that I'll talk
about is that I just don't thinkwe have enough lived experience
in city, county, and state,right?
So it's like we can do whateverwe want in the state, right?
We can pass all these budgetsand whatnot, but you still have
cities and counties that have alot of power.
Right.
Counties run their programs,these health and services
(17:03):
programs.
And so um we need people whounderstand what it's like to
live paycheck to paycheck.
We need people who know whatit's like to have a substance
use issue or that in yourfamily, uh, and not just sort of
like throw like caution to thewind and be like, we're just
gonna give you money.
We but no, we want to like helppeople like build that on their
own.
SPEAKER_01 (17:22):
Aaron Ross Powell Based on what you said, the
conundrum is that those peoplewho may be mistrustful of the
systems that they rely on haveto be part of the solution,
right?
Their voice but also showing upto use it.
Right?
Which is goes back to your earlyfrustrations where you're how do
I convince me who has aintergenerational distrust of a
(17:45):
system?
SPEAKER_02 (17:47):
Very heavy.
SPEAKER_01 (17:48):
To be part then of the system with their voice.
Because the systems areperfectly designed to continue
in their current shape.
So speaking to those families,those community members, those
everyday folks, what can they dothen to be part of that
solution?
SPEAKER_02 (18:04):
Aaron Ross Powell That is the question, right?
I could give you the age-oldanswer of show up, provide
testimony, bug your bug yourrepresentatives, you know, bug
your counselors, um, you know,protest, all the things, right?
But I think in the end, um, andI like just to rewind a tiny
bit, as as someone who was theAnessa who didn't vote, what I
(18:27):
also want to just highlight isthat like I have to represent my
constituency.
I say that because of wherewe're sitting right now in the
city of Portland is completelydifferent demographic than my
district.
Completely different.
And so if people want to getinvolved, I want people to get
involved for who they are.
So whether you're anindependent, a green party,
(18:47):
unicorn party, apparentlythere's one.
Uh non-affiliated, we have wehave the most uh non-affiliated
uh registered voters.
Uh that's the that's ourmajority here in the state.
It's not Democrats orRepublican.
Um they don't get to vote in ourprimaries.
So I would love to see openprimaries where they get to vote
and who that is.
So they just get to vote for aDemocrat or Republican
(19:09):
regardless.
Um I think that, you know, Idon't want to give you some
like, you know, kind of lameanswer, but like continue to
show up and all those things.
Those are important.
A lot of the bills that I'vepassed are from constituents,
not all not just in my district,but from across the state, that
have brought a problem to me andthen they help organize that.
So I think when it comes topolicy, that's really powerful.
SPEAKER_00 (19:29):
What what what sort of vision would you have for
kind of the future of childrenand families in Oregon?
And in your best world, howmight Oregon serve as a leader
for the rest of the country whenit comes to issues facing
(19:49):
children and families and morespecifically how you are
responding to those issues?
SPEAKER_02 (19:55):
Yeah, I just say the first thing that came to my mind
when you were saying that.
Um, again, personal standpoint,uh, you know, very rooted in my,
you know, values as a as anative woman.
I think like this country andthe state, you know, as a whole,
we've lost that sense ofcommunity, right?
Like we, you know, uh, Nativepeople very much lived, you
know, like my people, noteveryone lives away, but my
(20:16):
people, we lived in longhouses.
Like we we are a community andwe help each other.
Uh I don't, I don't, I can'tthink of a time that I or like
my neighbor ever said, like,hey, can I borrow some butter or
whatever that may be?
Or like the amount of effort ittook for me to even like get to
know my neighbor was COVID.
We lived in that place for solong and we never really
(20:38):
conversed with one.
So, you know, the hand wave,right?
And so I think, and for me, Iwas a military kid, so we moved
around a lot, and so it was alittle different, right?
You're growing up on base,there's community there.
Um, and then when we left,you're like, oh, I don't know my
neighbors.
Or you kind of like develop thislike fear of like, can I go talk
to them?
And it could just be, you know,my upbringing, but I think that
(20:59):
sense, that sense alone of umcommunity and how we help each
other, not that um I need topick up the phone and call
because your child's running inthe yard.
What can I go do to help you?
To me, from like a personalstandpoint, I don't I don't know
how, I mean, I know how we gothere, but how did we get here,
right?
And it doesn't help, like wewe're s we we are continuing to
be more divided than ever.
(21:20):
But that that alone I thinkwould do a lot of good.
If someone could just learn tolike help their neighbor instead
of just immediately judgment andlike learn it, like lean in with
curiosity rather than immediatejudgment, like what could that
do for people?
Um and I think that the the samething could be said in an agency
lens, right?
Like um, if someone is dealingwith substance use, not your bad
(21:44):
parent, but why?
Like, and what can we do to helpyou instead of judging you in
that way?
Uh and the same thing with ouryouth.
Like, we have, what are we?
I think we're the third highestpopulation of juveniles in in
the prison system or in theincarceration system.
Like, why, like why is that?
What are we not doing?
And are we even talking to thosethose young kids about what
(22:07):
they're like where how they gotthere?
Um we have this really amazingum program, it's Parrot Creek is
the organization.
And sort of they have a uh acampus, if you will, um in sort
of the middle of nowhere.
Uh and they're instead of goinginto um into Juvi, like they get
to go there, and it's sort ofkind of an open, I would say an
open, like parents can stillcome or their caregivers can
(22:29):
still come.
But I visited there a coupleyears ago, and uh I would say
90% of them were all had beenhomeless and they were under the
age of 17.
Or they were couch surfing.
Why?
Some gang violence, somesubstance use, some had already
been using.
And to me, like why?
Like just the question of thewhy.
(22:51):
Like why what are we not doing?
And I would just love to sitaround a table with one people
who have experienced the fostercare system, uh, people who have
gone to Juvie, uh, who've beenhomeless and they're all under
the age of 18.
Like we have our wonderful, likeum, we have our high schools
that have addiction serviceswithin them, and like just
off-the-record conversationabout what in your life had got
(23:12):
you to this point.
And I wish we could make policythat way, and that we listen to
the people who are actuallybeing impacted by this.
And so I think in my time inthis in this world, I I sit and
I talk to people over and overand they bear their souls and
their stories.
And I wish that we just madepolicy off of that, you know,
and I think that there's a lotof families out there to be
(23:34):
like, I just really needed this,or I really needed that.
SPEAKER_01 (23:38):
Well, Representative Harbin, thank you so, so much.
And thank you for yourcommitment to Oregon children
and families.
SPEAKER_02 (23:45):
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_01 (23:46):
Can you run for federal office?
And you can invite upstreamsolutions into your feed by
subscribing to the Shift Voicesof Prevention today.
Join us to create an ecosystemwhere children and families live
purposeful and happy lives withhope for the future.
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