Director's Message

April 14, 2006

To: DHS employees

From: Dr. Bruce Goldberg, DHS Director

"Some have questioned if hunger exists in our country. I can tell you that hunger does exist in this country. For many adults and children, going to sleep hungry is not a threat; it's a regular occurrence. And that must end."

Former USDA Secretary Mike Espy

With such abundance about us, it's truly a shame that many of our neighbors go to bed every night hungry. Under Gov. Ted Kulongoski's leadership along with efforts by our hard-working staff and many community partners statewide, we can all be encouraged by the fact that today fewer people go to bed hungry every night in Oregon than did three years ago.

On Monday, Governor Kulongoski kicked off Hunger Awareness Week -- to help encourage people to take action to end hunger in Oregon. Since the Governor took office, Oregon's hunger insecurity rate has declined from first in the nation to 19th, according to federal rankings. Last year, Oregon was the only state in the country to reduce its hunger rate. In addition, Oregon's food stamp participation rate is now the highest in the country, reaching 83 percent of Oregonians eligible for the program.

Here at DHS, working to end hunger crosses all clusters and disciplines. The following are some of the key areas focused on this issue:

Our food stamp policy team is committed to reducing hunger and food insecurity in Oregon by increasing access to the food stamp program. Recently this team was selected to receive a Hunger Buster Award from the Oregon Food Bank for their dedicated efforts. Congratulations to team members Carolyn Ross, Eliza Devlin, Anne Hilgers, Dawn Myers, Sandy Ambrose, and Roseanne Richard.

In Public Health, our Women, Infants and Children nutrition program provides low-income women and children with key foods necessary to help meet recommended nutritional requirements. This program is critical in helping meet nutrition and food insecurity needs of thousands of Oregonians.

For seniors -- some of whom face difficult financial decisions over purchasing food or needed medications -- the department has been working hard to help with the implementation of new federal drug prescription benefits. Money saved for these seniors will help stretch their personal budgets and prevent some of them from joining the ranks of the hungry in this state.

These are just examples of the efforts in DHS that reduce hunger in Oregon. We also assist thousands of clients in becoming job-ready -- helping to eliminate food insecurity issues for persons with disabilities, those facing substance abuse issues, extreme poverty, mental illness or needed vocational rehabilitation assistance. And by providing health care to hundreds of thousands of low-income Oregonians through the Oregon Health Plan, we are helping these families be able to afford food and health care.

Besides these many DHS programs, our caring staff have stepped up every year and been leaders in the state employees food drive. This year, state employees donated more than 133,000 pounds of food to the Oregon Food Bank. Cash donations totaled nearly $233,000, and payroll deductions totaled more than $402,000, which is $141,000 more than in last year's drive. According to the Oregon Food Bank's calculations, state employees donated the equivalent of 3.9 million pounds of food to needy families, a 27 percent increase over the amount donated in 2005.

But in spite of all that we and others are doing to end hunger in this state, our work isn't finished.

Oregon's food insecurity rate is still high enough to be of concern. Even with the improvements, more than one in 10 Oregonians experienced difficulty purchasing food due to a lack of resources at some time during the year.

We all need to keep working to ensure that families reach economic stability -- that they have the resources they need to meet all their basic needs. The work that DHS does every day -- in all its many programs and offices all over the state -- will continue to play a key role in helping address this serious issue in our state.

To provide feedback email: DHS.Directorsoffice@state.or.us

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.