Charities and Volunteering in Bend, OR

This month at Romancing the Genres the subject is charities. There are so, so many different kinds from the horse rescue Paty Jager talked about, to the One Bead at a Time Judith Ashley talked about, to charities fighting hunger, for world peace and tons of charities to help research against various diseases.

I don't have a specific charity that I give to on a regular basis. I've given a lot over the years to food banks, free meal programs, save the planet, oceans, animals, water, children etc.

Instead I am going to highlight a few different charities. A few that are more obscure.

Here in Bend there is Friends with Flowers of Bend Oregon. It is similar to the Bloom Project. Volunteers collect donated flowers from weddings.

These flowers are repurposed into smaller bouquets in vases and delivered to Hospice, palliative care patients and their families. It seems like a small thing to have a vase of flowers, but I saw firsthand when I volunteered at the hospital how appreciative patients were for this bit of brightness at a stressful time in their lives.

 

Another local charity is SavingGrace. Is a safe environment for women escaping an abusive relationship.

Here are their services as listed on the website:

• “24-hour hotline
• Support groups
• Emergency shelter
• Professional training
• Emergency transportation
• Court advocacy
• Respite child care
• Systems advocacy
• Programs for children exposed to violence
• Community education
• Hospital response
• Therapy
• Individual crisis counseling
• Public awareness
• Information and referral to social services
• Youth violence prevention
• Supervised visitation and exchange center"

This group is in need of volunteers and donations.

Cascade Youth & Family Center for homeless or runaway teens.

This program serves youngsters between 11 and 17 yrs. From around Central Oregon who are at risk of running away or have already run away or been kicked out of their homes. Young people who come from homeless families where the parents can no longer take care of them. They find safety in a shelter or host home.

Teens would be accepted under the following conditions:

  couch surfing, staying temporarily with friends or family

  living in an unsafe or unstable environment at home

  unable to resolve conflict with parents or guardians

  sleeping unsheltered, outside, in a car, or other places not meant for   housing

services include: 

·         education planning and support

·         employment search assistance

·         career planning

·         life skills training

·         positive recreational opportunities and transition to self-sufficient living

Donations and volunteers are needed.

Do you have a local charity you support?

The Future of Doors

By Judith Ashley

I'm very aware that this month's topic for the Genre-istas is "Favorite Romantic Cliches", after all I'm one of the Blog Queens who came up with this idea.

The only thing that came to mind as I sat down to write this month's post was "It was a dark and stormy night" along with "Time stood still" and "He was tall, dark and handsome". Not much for a 200 - 300 word post.

Doorway at Roslyn Chapel, Scotland

What did pop into my mind more than once was the phrase "When one door closes, another opens." I know those words do not fit the topic: romantic cliches. I'm not sure those words even fit cliche-status. Area they trite? I'm not sure but I do hope they are true.

Why? Because the weekend of September 5 - 7 I'll be working as an After Hours Consultant which translates into I'm a resource for vulnerable adults in Multnomah County, Oregon should problem occur after normal business hours. And, this weekend is the next to the last one I'll be scheduled for. I retire from this work on October 31, 2014.

October 1, I start my nineteenth year in this position - one night a week, one weekend a month (sometimes more if one of the other team members is unavailable).

What do we do? Tonight I was paged because a neighbor was concerned about a disabled woman in the apartment complex where they live.

Last weekend, the four team members split the long weekend. I had the Friday from 4 p.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday shift. My replacement has been hired and he shadowed not only me but the other team members all weekend.

Friday night a police officer called in with concerns about a man he'd checked on who had a head injury who was refusing medical treatment. When we went to his house the next morning, we found him on the floor, blood caked all over his head, face and upper body. The house was filthy with no electricity or water. The gentleman had no phone and was unable to call for help. I had my phone and called 911 asking for help. The fire department and ambulance responded and he was taken to an emergency room to be evaluated.

A woman who is on dialysis due to renal failure called. She was out of food. That call came in near the end of my shift so the next team member got her some food - enough to last through the long weekend.

One of my favorite places in the world - Depoe Bay OR

I tried to find a woman who was reported to be confused, thinking people lived in an apartment above her (there is no apartment above her, only the roof). She wasn't home.

One of the day staff was worried about an older gentleman whose roommate, who also did some care-giving activities, was arrested. He was managing well because someone else stepped up and made sure he had groceries, etc.

Since I made the decision to close the door on this part of my working career, I've had so many experiences. A dirty home that made it to the top three of all the homes I've ever been in (and that number is well over a thousand); taking police out with me twice in one day due to the reported possible danger I'd be in if I went alone; an EMT in his 20's or maybe his early 30's lecturing me about patient rights (I did not say anything snarky although I know one eyebrow arched and my jaw tightened).

In the last two months,without After Hours interventions, at least three people could have died.

When this door closes, I do expect another door to open. I'm not sure what will be on the other side. I am not picturing fleas, filth, rotten food, cockroaches, sticky floors, squishy floors - well, you get the picture.

The Blog Queens Book Signing - Desert Dreams 2014

When the next door opens, I'd love to see quality time to write, large royalty checks and books signings.
Whenever I offer a workshop or training, people will sign up! I'll have time to spend with family and friends at the coast, in the mountains and at home. In this utopia, weeds will not grow in my yard nor will any plants die.

My belief that when one door closes another opens is soon to be tested.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences with one door closing and another opening. Please share!

For more about my books check out my website at
http://judithashleyromance.com   and my author page at
http://windtreepress.com

Badlands, Moon Rocks and a Heliport

I’ve been asked where I get my story ideas.  So I thought I’d take a moment and tell you about a recent idea I began working on.

My husband and I went for a drive to the Oregon Badlands east of Bend.  We parked and hiked through the cold desert air and found some spectacular rock formations.  It was pretty easy hiking so we stayed for a couple of hours checking the area out.  When we left we drove to the end of the road.  There was a locked gate and a No Trespassing sign.  A blue and white sign identified this property as the Moon Rock Mine.  From what I saw through the gate, it looked like an abandoned mine.  No one in the work yard, and very little equipment.

After that, we decided to follow a rough dirt road with our van.  On the trail head map it looked as if the road would end at the beginning of a dry river canyon.  The Native Americans used to camp along this river when water flowed in it.  There are Native American drawings on the rocks by the river.  The road was too rough and we had to turn our van around.  We had climbed quite a bit higher than the desert floor.

We stopped and got out.  From our bird’s eye view, we could see the desert, rock formations and buttes spread out before us.  Hard as we tried, we couldn’t find the Moon Rock Mine from our vantage point.  We did spot a heliport, and in another part of the desert a landing strip with a couple of out buildings. Neither of these seemed appropriate in the desert. And again, they appeared to be deserted except for wind socks blowing in the wind.

So then the “What Ifs?” began.
What if the Moon Rock Mine is excavating real moon rocks or meteorites?
What if a UFO crashed landed there?
What if there were survivors?
What if they built a whole underground city?
What if the heliport is there to bring in scientists?
And what about the air strip?
What if a pilot crash-lands on the air strip and discovers the entrance to the underground city?
What if the Native American drawings are actually drawings from beings that were on the space ship when it crashed?

And the what ifs go on and on!

Do you have a story idea?”  Where did it come from?