Homelessness prevention grant results

Earlier this week, Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Southern Oregon reported to the city of Medford the results from a $35,000 grant awarded last year designed to prevent homelessness.

The results are something the entire community can be proud of. Through intensive one-on-one credit counseling sessions and financial education programs (all offered free thanks to this grant) we were able to prevent 23 families from slipping into homelessness.

We all have seen the terrible cost that homelessness is taking on government services and most of all the families involved. But, if we can get out ahead of this problem and, as we have demonstrated, actually prevent families from lapsing into homelessness, this is a sensible and wise use of taxpayer dollars. This is like a financial flu shot for at risk families.

I want to thank Mayor Randy Sparacino and the entire Medford City Council for their support of this first ever breakthrough program. The results clearly show this works.

As the region’s only community-based nonprofit credit counseling agency, we are happy to play a small but vital role and return families to financial stability.

Bill Ihle, CEO / Consumer Credit Counseling Services

Providence needs to put patients first

We are the nurses of Providence. We work and care for you. For six months, we’ve been negotiating with Providence to reach an agreement that will address the critical recruitment and retention issues in our hospital that leaves nurses depleted due to the unsafe working conditions.

We are part of the 3,000 Oregon Nurses Association nurses from Providence hospitals across the state who have decided to strike. This decision is not taken lightly. We are striking to improve working conditions but more importantly, for our patients’ safety.

Providence Health & Services is Oregon’s largest and wealthiest healthc are company in the state. We have seen the quality of care and working conditions deteriorate over the years, placing the health and wellbeing of our community at risk.

Providence has rejected our common-sense proposals to commit to safe staffing and other critical patient safety issues in our contracts. When health care workers are asked to do more with less, patient lives are at stake.

Providence hasn’t offered any real plan to increase retention. Providence simply isn’t competitive with other health care systems in the area. That means fewer nurses, longer wait times and more medical complications for our community.

We need Providence to put patients first and make this a place where nurses will stay for the long term. We invite you to join us on the strike line at Providence Medford Medical Center starting at 6 a.m. Tuesday, June 18, until 8 p.m. Thursday, June 20. Learn more about our campaign and support our efforts at respectournurses.com.

Nurses at Providence Medford Medical Center / Medford