Director's Message

December 23, 2005

To: DHS employees

From: Dr. Bruce Goldberg, DHS Director

“It is obvious to me why all of you are Department of Human Services employees. The compassion and goodwill shown these past few weeks is humbling. In fact, any time you are asked to help, to give, you are there with a generosity of spirit that is infectious. Take a moment to turn to your neighbor and thank them for everything they have done throughout this past year for all those in need and accept my thanks as well.”

Carlie K. Jackson, Worker G4 Human Service Specialist II

Oregon Health Plan

We don’t always need to look to others for inspiration when we can find it in own backyard.  The above quote is from Carlie Jackson in a memo she sent to all staff at the Parkway Building in Salem acknowledging their hard work and dedication not just in their jobs but also in their commitment to their community.  

She was thanking employees who participated in the Labor/Management sponsorship of Simonka House shelter for women and children and their collection of 1,074 items needed by the residents there.  In passing this message on to me, she noted that this was just a small example of the kind of activities she has witnessed again and again during the eight years she has worked at Parkway. 

So, if you ever need a reminder of the compassion and generosity within us,  just take a look at the efforts of the thousands of Oregon Department of Human Services staff all over the state – who  go above and beyond to help those in need.

This time of year especially, our staff go the extra mile – often spending their own time and resources to help others in need. It’s not surprising since the needs that exist in Oregon are so apparent to all of us every day in the jobs that we do. While it saddens us all to see the enormity of need in our state, I am most thankful and appreciative of what we do within and outside our jobs to try to address it.

All the efforts of our staff should be applauded.  Unfortunately, I don’t have space to list them all, so I’ve pulled together a sampling for you from locations around the state:: 

• Lane County– Members of the Teen Parent Unit in SDA 5 work with the Tree of Joy sponsors at the Valley River Shopping Center in Eugene to provide Christmas presents for teen parents and their children, who might otherwise go without. Staff work evenings and weekends on this project. This year, about 350 gift orders were filled for needy clients.
  
  
• Douglas County – SDA 6’s annual holiday drive helped 350 children who received gifts of clothing and toys and whose families received food, quilts and hats – among other items.
  
  
• North Coast – The Wilson River Building staff adopted two families – providing them with food boxes and gifts.
  
  
• Washington County – An annual event involving the local food bank in this area provides food and toys to families in need. SDA 16 is directly involved in this effort. They also help coordinate a “toys to kids in need” project with Northwest Children’s Outreach, one of their community partners, KGW-TV and others. As many as 300 toys are being distributed to families with children served by DHS.
  
  
• St Helens – Child welfare staff hosted a holiday party for families whose children are in foster/residential care so that their birth parents could have a celebration with their children. The children had their pictures taken with their parents and Santa, and a holiday meal was shared.
  
  
• Multnomah County – Frosty’s Friends collects a few thousand toys for both DHS self-sufficiency and child welfare clients. Money and food is also collected to provide 28 food baskets. Toys are supplied for more than 700 children, as well as clothing and food items, books and school supplies.
  
  
• Public Health – Focus this holiday season was on REACH Community Development, a community-based agency that works to provide affordable housing to the elderly and people with disabilities, and provides support to low-income persons trying to improve their circumstances. A truckload of goods – collected from every public health floor in the Portland State Office Building – was delivered to the agency for distribution to those in need. The Public Health Lab participated as well in the Great Toy Drive, sponsored by KGW-TV, Les Schwab and Regence BlueCross BlueShield.
  
  
• Eastern Oregon – In Morrow County, businesses, the local bank, the hospital there and others have donated many items to Child Welfare to give to children in foster care and for needy families. In Pendleton, DHS staff participate in the Giving Tree, working with community partners to help low-income families in the area. This year, about 225 children served by DHS were helped, with a total of 400 families in need served. Local businesses and partners sponsored gifts for our kids that are in our care and custody.  The Christmas parties were at each of the branches to give out those gifts, about 100 people attended in Baker. Generous donations from many local givers were provided to schools so they could give out vouchers for kids to buy coats, hats, and mittens at the local businesses. In Harney County, letters were given to clients, referring them to the local "Tree of Joy" for gifts for children, the elderly, and the disabled.  DHS teamed with CASA volunteers to help the community provide gifts for area foster children. In Grant County, the Tree of Joy there helped about 175 kids with gifts for those  in foster care as well as kids in need throughout the county. This was in addition to holiday food baskets, clothing, and gifts to seniors and people with disabilities. In Malheur County, a foster kids holiday party was held. Help Them to Hope is in its 34th year of providing food, toys and clothing to those less fortunate in our community.  HTTH is run entirely by volunteers. Last year it served 881 families and 2,100 individuals with more than $100,000 worth of food, toys and clothing.   Items are packaged and delivered to towns in Western Idaho and Eastern Oregon each Christmas.
  
  
• Coos County -- SDA7’s fourth annual Christmas drive for toys, clothing, and food, known as Bus Jam, was held again this month to benefit families in Coos County who need assistance during the Christmas season.  On the actual day of Bus Jam, the radio station broadcasts live from both Bi-Mart stores.  People tuning into this popular radio station can hear what is happening at each location and are encouraged to bring in donations of food, toys, clothing and cash or to just drop by to visit with neighbors.  This year during the 5-hour donation period, $1,900 in cash and just over 3 tons of food and toys were received. The average income of families helped was $753/month; most families had two or three children ranging in ages from 10 days to 18 years. 

Staff here in central office should not be forgotten for their generosity and help as well – from efforts like collecting hundreds of toys for the toy drive to delivering gifts to patients at the Oregon State Hospital. Many, many staff and offices do projects like this during the holiday times and also throughout the year.

As I close this week’s message, just a simple reminder to you to also take some time for yourself during this holiday season. In order for all of us to do the important work that we do every day, we all could use some gentle reminding that you first and foremost need to take care of yourselves and each other.  Also, take some time to reflect upon the year that has passed and contemplate what the year ahead can bring.

That said, I will take a short break from this message next week and be back in 2006.  Wishes for a wonderful new year.

This message is intended for all department employees. Please read it electronically, if possible. Managers and supervisors are asked to share the message each week with employees who do not have email access.

If you have a disability and need this message to be provided to you in another format, please send an email to dhs.forms@state.or.us, or call (503) 947-5107. You can also fax your request to (503) 373-7690, or call (503) 947-5080 for TTY service. If you know of others who need this accommodation, please let them know it is available.