CCP1025 by C.M.I.

Let’s have some fun! Refurbished Kidtown opens Page 3

SERVING CURRY COUNTY SINCE 1946

www.currypilot.com

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2023

Brookings, Oregon

Going up

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The new building will house these programs:

New Oregon Department of Human Services building set for summer 2024 grand opening

Office of Aging and People with Disabilities ••• Child Welfare Division ••• Self-Sufficiency Programs ••• Vocational Rehabilitation Services

The facility will solve a long-standing need to provide space for three main ODHS programs understaffed or not currently staffed in the area. — Jake Sunderland, ODHS ELLIOT SCHWARZ Country Media, Inc.

The behemoth skeleton that has been looming over the north end of Brookings for many months will soon be the new location for the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS). The large building replaces the state agencies smaller, aging facilities scattered between Brookings and Gold Beach. The new 26,500-square-foot three stories tall building is scheduled to open this coming summer and will also house offices for services that are now in Gold Beach. ODHS spokesman Jake Sunderland said the Brookings location was chosen because the majority of the people in Curry County that ODHS works with and supports are in the Brookings area and currently often need to drive to Gold Beach for services. The Brookings ODHS building will be home to more than 70 ODHS staff members along with space for community partners and contracted services to serve the greater

Curry population, Sunderland said, who those partners and contractors will be has not been determined yet. ODHS describes the location as strategically located to deploy ODHS emergency response efforts during wildfires or other emergencies. People will be able to get support with their cash and food benefits, employment assistance, and domestic violence survivor supports. Space for child welfare parent visits, including a trauma informed indoor play area, is included in the design. Safety and security for staff and patrons will be improved, with modern security systems and protocols consistent with most agency facilities around the state, according to Sunderland. “The facility will solve a long-standing need to provide space for three main ODHS programs understaffed or not currently

Elliot Schwartz / Country Media, Inc. Construction is well underway at the downtown site. staffed in the area, despite a majority of the population served for Curry County resides in and around Brookings,” Sunderland said. In the state agency’s recent estimates, the population served for Curry County saw approximately two-thirds living in the Brookings area. Projections see an increase in the aging population and expanding care facilities, requiring additional oversight and support from the state’s Aging and People with Disabilities program. “Beyond client population and safety, the new facility will also provide the agency with local compliance for accessibility and DAS facility requirements,” Sunderland added. “Connectivity and proximity to

civil resources will be improved with the facility as well.” Sunderland said the ODHS believes this new facility will be an economic driver in the greater Brookings area. “With increased property value and curb appeal, employment and local business, improved opportunity for locally contracted services, and more accessible supports from ODHS and community partners to those feeling economic strain,” he said. Follow this developing story at currypilot.com and in the Wednesday print editions of The Pilot.

$43M in additional food benefits for Oregon’s children STAFF REPORT Country Media, Inc.

Elliot Schwarz / Country Media, Inc.

Paul Mader arrives in Brookings.

One man, one bicycle, one dream ELLIOT SCHWARZ Country Media, Inc.

that his destination was Argentina I had to know more. Turns out he had landed in Seattle from Halle, in the former German

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“Traveling is a very German thing,” Paul Mader told me. I met Mader as I was heading south on Highway 101. I’d pulled over to take pictures of the rocky ocean shoreline. He had stopped to rest, his bicycle leaned against a guardrail, loaded down with bright red, blue, and violet paneers, and a Day-Glo rainbow of stuff sacks, every conceivable space filled. He had a Coke and a water jug on the rail post. His smile and wave hello let me feel comfortable asking about where he was heading. When he told me

I realized that I’m really good at traveling and that it’s a lot of fun. Paul Mader, Traveler

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Democratic Republic (GDR) or east Germany, a month earlier. After two days in a youth hostel in downtown Seattle he headed down the coast

INDEX

with a few detours inland in a relaxed ride to where I met him just south of Gold Beach. We met in Brookings the next day where he told me he ate at Taco Bell for the first time. He had a large burrito; he liked it. As we were deciding what to have for lunch, he spotted a sandwich called the “Patriot” in a display case. He commented on the difference in serving size between what he saw and what is available in Germany. What he saw was so much larger, so many more meats in the sandwich. He also found it “weird” that Americans drink out of straws. See TRAVELER Page 12

The Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) will be issuing additional food benefits for young children whose families received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits between Sept. 1, 2022 and May 11, 2023. These additional food benefits will provide approximately $43 million in additional food assistance for 99,000 young children in Oregon. “We are grateful to have been able to provide more than a $1 billion in addition food benefits to children and students in Oregon since 2020,” ODHS SelfSufficiency Programs Director Claire Seguin said. “As communities continue to be affected by COVID19 and the rising cost of food, we know that many families are experiencing hardship and are struggling to get enough healthy food for themselves and their children. We encourage anyone who is struggling to meet their basic needs to contact our partners at 211, the Oregon Food Bank and their local Community

Fast Facts Families who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and have young children will receive additional food benefits for their children. • Oregon will provide approximately $43 million in additional food assistance for 99,000 young children. • These food benefits were issued to existing EBT cards on Oct. 17. • These additional food benefits are part of the federal Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) program, a temporary COVID19 program meant to provide additional food support for children whose access to adequate and quality food may have been impacted by COVID-19. • This is the last time Oregon will be able to provide P-EBT food benefits to children in Oregon as the program has not been renewed. Action Agency for support during this difficult time.” See BENEFIT, Page 12

Phone Number: 541-813-1717 • Address: 519 Chetco Ave, Ste 7, Brookings, 97415 • Email: Circulation@CountryMedia.net

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