Volunteers at LBCC help veterans stand down

JenniferMoody – Albany Democrat-Herald – Sep 21, 2018

A Stand Down for Homeless Veterans event is meant to gather resources all in one place, so veterans can get support, ask questions, and make connections without having to travel for them.

But to Michael Strom, the best part of the annual resource fair are the people who attend.

"I think the most helpful thing about this is it allows veterans to connect with other veterans," said Strom, an Albany resident who served three and a half years with the U.S. Navy in Desert Storm.

"They're more willing to talk to each other," he added.  "There's similar shoes that we walk."

In military slang, to "stand down" is to relax.  According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, the "stand down" concept as a location began during the Vietnam War.  Stand Downs were areas designated as safe retreats for units returning from combat; places they could grab a shower, a clean uniform, and a warm meal.

Stand Down for Homeless Veterans events began in San Diego in 1988.  Linn-Benton Community College played host to a mid-valley Stand Down resource fair Thursday, the second consecutive year it has done so.

Events the previous two years were held in Lebanon.  Before that, veterans looking for such an event had to travel to Salem or Eugene.

Mikalyn Martinez, a case manager for Support Services for Veterans Families and one of the event volunteers, said she thinks the community college's central location makes it better for bringing in additional people.  Volunteers weren't sure how many veterans to expect for the five-hour fair, but 42 had checked in during the first two hours.

Visitors to this year's event were invited to talk with a variety of service representatives, all of whom stood ready to help them with insurance benefits, low-income housing, health and dental questions, employment information, and more.

Volunteers at one booth provided free haircuts.  Another room was stocked with clothing to give away.  Still another area had tents, sleeping bags, and other equipment to ease the strain of outdoor living.

Michael Beck said he particularly appreciated the cold weather stock.  He doesn't currently have need of it – the retired Air Force veteran has found housing – but he has been homeless and knows the need.

Beck went to Stand Down events in Lebanon and Newport in 2016 to pick up items to help him survive the winter.  "It just made life a little easier," he said.

Even now, he said, the Stand Down at LBCC helps him fill some basic needs he can't otherwise afford.

"Some way, I'm going to try to pay it forward," he said.  "There's a lot of us out there."

Help sought for homeless veterans event

Help sought for homeless veterans event

Albany Democrat-Herald – Aug 20, 2018

Albany's Community Services Consortium is seeking assistance with its fourth annual Veteran Stand Down from 9 am to 2 pm Thursday, Sept. 20, at Linn-Benton Community College.

The event is looking for donations of new cold-weather gear.  Used items will be accepted only if they are in excellent condition.

Storage is limited, so organizers ask that donations be limited to tarps, tents, flashlights with batteries, new socks (in packages), razors and shaving cream, sleeping bags, gloves, large backpacks, hand warmers, first aid kits, rain gear, waterproof winter boots, large-size "long johns," baby wipes, nail clippers, and large-size reusable shopping bags (not plastic grocery bags).

Cash donations also would be appreciated.  Checks can be made payable to CSC/HELPS-Veterans Stand Down.

Information on donations is available online at http://communityservices.us/how-can-i-help/detail/category/donate.

The event will be upstairs in the Calapooia Center, 6500 Pacific Blvd. SW, in Albany.

The Stand Down is a resource fair dedicated to helping veterans, with an emphasis on veterans who need shelter assistance.

Multiple organizations will be on hand to help with disability and Social Security benefits, employment services, housing and utility assistance, alcohol and drug treatment, Section 8 VASH assistance, medical resources, health care, dental treatment and more.

The event is free and free transportation will be provided via the Linn County shuttle, Linn Benton Loop, or Albany Transit.  Riders must inform the driver they are attending the Stand Down, and the round-trip ride will be provided.

Drone Flights Map Success

Drone flights map success

Joan Brown – Newport News Times – Aug 15, 2018

LINCOLN CITY – Career Tech Charter High School’s Coastal Drone Academy pilots spent three days in the field this summer remotely flying while taking more than 25,000 photographs in a mission commissioned by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to map sea grasses and shellfish of Netarts Bay.

“We can fly huge areas and produce really accurate data,” said Chuck Getter, drone professor at Career Tech.

In performing missions, pilots program their drones to fly in an up-and-back pattern in a block area while taking photos.  “In aviation terms, you call it a sortie,” Getter said.  “Your block is the area you’re going to take the pictures in, and that’s limited by the length of the batteries in the drones.  These drones can fly for about an hour, so they can fly about 25 miles.”

A block, or sortie, equals about a quarter square mile, Getter said.  In the Netarts mission, they tried to map two or three blocks a day.  Information they gathered is survey grade.  “They are a crew, and they get paid as a natural resource crew doing drone work,” he said.  “They get an incentive pay for the day.”  They also get high school and college credits.

Getter started talking about a drone program with Career Tech’s charter owner, Community Services Consortium, in 2015.  Gaining support from them, as well as from Lincoln County School District, Federal Aviation Administration, American Model Aeronautics, State of Oregon ODFW, and other collaborators and clients, Coastal Drone Academy gained a grant from Oregon Department of Education to get going, including the purchase of drones.  September 2018 commences the academy’s second full year of flying.

The academy offers three courses, AV 101, 102, and 103.  From the first week of the first class, students fly trainer drones.

In AV101, when it rains, students fly their drones inside the Oregon National Guard Building.  “They do racing, they have a lot of fun,” Getter said.  The first year is spent learning to be a pilot – aerodynamics, the rules of flying, visiting an airport and a flight museum, and learning how to repair their drones.

“Right now what we’re trying to do is marine studies.  To do that using a drone, you have to enter U.S. air space,” he said, and that requires a FAA drone pilot, or 107 license, which all students are strongly encouraged to obtain.

The 107 test has 125 concepts, Getter said.  “We actually spend a year inside the 107 licensing booklets trying to understand the concepts that FAA gives us, instead of just memorizing them.”

AV 102, the operations course, focuses on doing useful work for the academy’s collaborators.  AV 103 focuses on performing missions.

“Students also learn how to work as a team, how to produce a product of data for a client or collaborator, or maybe they look back and reflect on their high school experience with some more satisfaction in themselves and their accomplishments,” Getter said.

Coastal Drone Academy is being watched by two sets of evaluators – the Oregon Department of Education visits them every three months to talk to the students and instructors and to see what they can do, and the academy has also invited Oregon State University to evaluate its program.

A focus is to follow students once they graduate and to ask them what things worked and didn’t and what they would add. “We’re also trying to ask, ‘What did you become when you grew up, did it help you?’” Getter said.

Career Tech 2018 graduate student Jason Miranda will work next school year as a tutor in the drone program.  He will also be attending community college and has been accepted for a marine studies cruise scholarship to Oregon State University, Getter said.  “They have an offshore research program, and he’ll be off chasing whales with drones sometime in September.”

Getter has more than 30 years' experience as a drone and airplane pilot.  He worked on a team developing a concept for making maps of shorelines, subsequently mapping the entire United States shoreline then being invited by countries to map their shorelines, resulting in his team mapping over 25,000 miles.

Nationwide, there’s a shortage of drone pilots, he said, adding that collaborators and clients are great places for academy graduates to gain internships, employment, and other opportunities.

CSC Supporting Our Community

Energy Assistance Reaching out to our Logsden Community
Logasden Community Club Garage/Craft Sale

CSC supporting Paseo del Mercadito at Albany Farmers Market

SAHS Club Mecha Volunteers (picture below)

CAREER TECH HIGH: Graduation 2018

CAREER TECH HIGH:  Graduation 2018

Lincoln City The News Guard– Jun 8, 2018

The Sign:  The sign pointing upstairs to the front doors of the Career Tech Charter School at Lincoln City Hall.

Lincoln City’s Career Technical Charter High School will hold a celebration for its graduating seniors at 5:30 p.m. on Friday June 8, at the Lincoln City Council Chambers, Lincoln City City Hall, 801 SW Highway 101, Lincoln City.

The News Guard staff gives our best wishes to all the graduates at Career Technical High School of Lincoln City.

Below a list of the Career Tech High graduating seniors.

·         Faith Bennett

·         Margaret Ford

·         Sarah Gonzales

·         Kindra Grey

·         Jacob Helton

·         Nickiah Lane

·         Jason Miranda

·         Lakota Newman

·         Skyler Pullen

·         Julian Rudd

·         Sabrina Santistevan

If You Go

Career Technical High School Graduation

5:30 p.m. Friday June 8

Lincoln City Council Chambers

Lincoln City City Hall

801 SW Highway 101

Lincoln City

541-351-8551

Showing A Little Heart - A Democrat-Herald Article

Showing a little HEART

Jennifer Moody – Albany Democrat-Herald – May 18, 2018

Juana Cortez of Albany browses racks of clothing provided by Love INC on Thursday for the 13th annual HEART to Heart Resource Fair at the Boys & Girls Club of Albany. Andrea Stutzman of Capital Dental cleans a visitor's teeth during the 2018 HEART to Heart Resource Fair.  Capital Dental and Oregon Dental Service teamed up to provide cleanings and invite people looking for providers to contact ODA at odscommunitydental.com or 1-800-342-0526. Missy Chavez, with baby Chloe Thaxton, 1, talks with Kids & Company Head Start during the 13th annual HEART to Heart Resource Fair. Jason Dickerson and his partner, Lori, play with a kitten owned by Diana Fields from the Helping Hands booth.

Love INC has long been in the business of helping people, but until this year, it had never brought a clothing closet to the HEART to Heart Resource Fair.

The faith-based nonprofit has a 20-foot cargo trailer it fills with clothing and takes wherever it's needed, said Deb Powell, Love INC executive director.  This year, someone suggested the trailer come to the resource fair Thursday at the Boys & Girls Club of Albany.

That was fine by Juana Cortez of Albany, who spent part of her noon hour browsing the clothing racks.  She didn't find any keepers, but said she was glad her friend had invited her to the fair anyway.  "There's a lot of people; we get to be with each other," she said through an interpreter.

The HEART to Heart Resource Fair is now in its 13th year.  Organized by Albany's Homeless Engagement and Resource Team, which is where it gets its name, the fair brings together a variety of community resource organizations to offer haircuts, dental treatment, eyeglasses, pet supplies, new socks and more to low-income or homeless residents.

As of shortly after noon on Thursday, more than 150 people had browsed dozens of information booths, from Linn County Mental Health to Jackson Street Youth Shelter to Kidco Head Start to the Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence.

Missy Chavez, who came with her daughter Chloe Thaxton, 1, was particularly glad to stop by the Linn Benton Housing Authority booth for information on low-income housing.

"We live in a shelter and we're trying to get out," she said, adding that she still had several booths to visit.  "I'm still doing my rounds."

Jason Dickerson said he'd come to the fair once before and was glad to take advantage of its services.  He said he'd love to see the fair last longer into the afternoon, or maybe held more than once per year.

"If you're a street person, there's no reason you can't come here and get cleaned up," he said.  "All these representatives, I do appreciate."

One of Dickerson's favorite stops was at the booth sponsored by First Christian Church, another first-timer at the resource fair.  The church holds a free community dinner each Tuesday, where it also gives out packs of personal hygiene supplies, and decided this year to bring those packs to the fair.

Volunteer Rey Woitt said he got the idea because his mother, Pam Woitt, a teacher at the Periwinkle Center, always spoke highly of her time at the fair with the Kidco booth.

"I always remember her coming home and saying, 'It was a big day, but I'm glad I'm doing it,'" Rey Woitt said.  "We thought our booth would be a good fit."

Both First Christian and Love INC said they'd be back again next year, joining more than four dozen other organizations offering items and information.

"It gets all the services that are in the community in one place, under one roof, at least for one day," said Dina Eldridge of the Community Services Consortium.  "We love that we get lots of veterans services, and Legal Aid shows up, and we're here – sometimes, they might know about us.  This is a way for them to see about a lot of different services in one day and make connections."

MOLDING MINDS: Career Tech shapes the makers of tomorrow

MOLDING MINDS:  Career Tech shapes the makers of tomorrow

Katie Mortimer - newsguardreporter@countrymedia.net - May 9, 2018

The Sign Hanger:  Lincoln City Career Tech student Alder Hartman hangs one of the signs on a tree along the Cutler City Wetlands Trail.

A walk into the Cutler City Wetlands will be a bit easier following the hard work done by the Lincoln City’s Career Technical High School wood fabrication students.

The students have made, and placed, several wooden signs to direct hikers through the trails.  Prior to hanging the signs, the students manufactured large beams to hold the signs they crafted.

“At first it was just getting credits, now it is more so about getting the skills to be able to create,” Career Tech student Corrie Martin said.

According to the Career Tech website, the school is designed to give student "employees" guided practice in basic career survival skills by providing a simulated workplace environment.  The students are expected to behave, dress, and be productive in a workplace manner while attending the school.

Students can receive credits for college, gain career-based education, and get real-word work experience at the Career Technical Charter School.  The school offers students the opportunity to learn about careers in environmental sciences, metal, and wood fabrication.  On average, Career Tech enrolls 55 students a year.  The outdoor classes that are offered allow students to have an active learning environment experience.

Hiking in the wooded mud covered trials, John Kiser, local contractor spoke about his role in the Career Tech High School.

“The public wanted to know where to go on the tails without getting lost,” he said.

Kiser is the Wood and Metals Crew Leader in charge of the students out on a work site.  “I hope the students learned a lot about teamwork,” Kizer said.

He has a large role in the school along with other local vocational professionals, like Tyler Cunningham, a local woodworker.

The wood fabrication program works closely with community organizations to give students the opportunity to see what working in this field is like.  Lincoln City Parks & Recreation has partnered with Career Tech as one of those partnering organizations.

“If you went into any of our open spaces, you would not know where to go,” Lincoln City Parks Supervisor Joe Miller said, referring to the city parks in the area.

This particular trial project involves the City of Lincoln City.  Career Tech has worked with national, state, and city parks in past years.

The students proudly show off the work they’ve done in the park, including crafting some of the trail bridges at the Cutler City Wetlands Trail.

Career Tech Education Supervisor and Teacher Joel Riverman said he believes that the school is doing good things for both the students and the community.

“The school system has the mentality that everyone has to learn Shakespeare; this is true hands on learning,” Riverman said.

For more information about Lincoln City Career Technical School, call 541-351-8551.

Career Tech Filmmaking Program

Lincoln County - Charter School Debuts New Filmmaking Program

An article (by Joan Brown) from the Newport News Times (link)

Read Joan Brown's article below:

       LINCOLN CITY – Four high school students talked script and technique         as they prepared to hold their first-ever auditions, which will be for an         infomercial about their school, Career Tech.

      “We’re building a film program,” said instructor Lucinda Ulrich.  Prior to         coming to Lincoln City, Ulrich was an independent film maker in          

       Albuquerque, N.M., where she also started a high school film program           that is still running.

       Funded through an Oregon Department of Education grant, which was         possible because of the passing of Measure 98 – the High School      

       Graduation and College and Career Readiness Act of 2016 – the video           program started at the beginning of the 2017-18 school year and     

       meets once a week.

      “We’re still working out all the details, the money just became available 

       this month,” Ulrich said.  “This is kind of like a start-up experience, 

       we’re kind of building the ship as we’re sailing it.”

       Currently the equipment being used works as a learning tool, but it 

       won’t get the students very far.

       “There’s a list of acceptable cameras that are considered broadcast-

       quality.  If you don’t own one of those cameras, you can’t distribute to 

       Netflix, you can’t distribute to any of the major studios,” Ulrich said.     

       New equipment is forthcoming.

       “Long term I really want to get to a point, maybe in the summer,     

       where we’re shooting actual short films and then we’re partnering with 

       union film people, that’s sort of a long-term goal,” she said.

       Because of past experiences and contacts, Ulrich has been able to line         up mentors from almost all aspects of the film industry.  As students  

       advance she will connect them with those who will be able to guide   

       them in advancing their film careers.  “These are people who are 

       professional, who are working, who can mentor,” she said.

       Of the four students in this first course, two students have no video    

       experience and two students have made skate and music videos using         their home equipment.

       Trinity Shamberger, 15, said, “I don’t have any film experience, but I 

       take photos.”  Mostly she takes pictures of her cat and nature such as   

       sunsets and raindrops on the grass.  Shamberger said she would like  

       to make videos featuring animals.

       Faith Bennett, 17, said, “I don’t really have any film experience.  I’ve 

       learned a lot from Lucinda, she really enlightened me about the whole 

       cinematography world.”  Bennet said she would like to make videos 

       featuring nature.

       Jeremiah Surber, 16, said, “I started filming skateboarding with my 

       friends probably a year and a half ago on my iPhone.  I found out I 

       really liked it and purchased my first camera about a year ago.  When 

       I found out we got this video program this year I was super excited.”  

       Surber said he intends to go to college and study everything he can for 

       videography.

       Tyler Rini, 16, said, “I’ve filmed music videos for my brother, because 

       he’s an artist.  Also, I’m a big editor – I like to edit stuff.”  Rini said his 

       aim is to make music videos professionally.

       “Next semester (each student) is going to have their own project and 

        they’re going to have their own pieces,” Ulrich said.

       For next year she hopes to run the class like a crew, and take on   

       projects that students would get paid for.  “We would be Career Tech’s 

       production company.”

       Contact reporter Joan Brown at 541-265-8571 x211 or       

       jbrown@newportnewstimes.com

FREE Education Workshops

Join us for FREE Energy Education Workshops and help make your home more energy efficient.  (See attached flyer for details).

CSC Outreach at Mesa Familiar de Corvallis

CSC Outreach News:
CSC's own Felipe Garibay (Energy Assistance) and Maia Kazaks (Energy Education) doing outreach at Mesa Familiar de Corvallis.

Outreach is done at Mesa Familiar de Corvallis every 4th Thursday of each month.

Located at:

Mesa Familiar de Corvallis
365 SW Tunison Ave
Corvallis, Oregon

2018 Homeless Point-in-Time Count

When:  Thurs Jan 25^th-Weds Jan 31^st

Time: 8am to 7pm (for most events)

Location:  Various Meal Site Locations

Volunteer to fill out PIT demographic form with people experiencing homelessness at meal sites and/ or go with outreach workers to outdoor sites:

Sign-up form: Point-in-Time Sign-up

In-person trainings:     

                        Monday in Albany 9-10am or 11am-12pm at Community Services Consortium
250 Broadalbin St, Suite 2A Albany, OR 97321

                        

                        Tuesday Corvallis 1-2pm or 2-3pm at Community Services Consortium 

545 SW 2nd St, Suite A  Corvallis, OR 97333

If you cannot make an in-person training you can still volunteer.   A training video out on Monday 1/22/18 that can cover anyone who didn’t get in-person training.

Donate to CSC to help purchase warm gloves, hats, and socks for the unsheltered street count:

 Click “Give to a Program of Your Choice” and enter “PIT” in the spot to "specify program to direct donation to".

Contact: 

Julia McKenna at 541-224-7724    

jmckenna@communityservices.us