Think Out Loud

Soccer is a sport enjoyed around the world, but a new accessible version is growing. Amputee soccer follows many of the same rules as the original, but with a few differences. The field is smaller, teams have fewer players and, most notably, players use forearm crutches to balance, run and kick. The sport was created in Seattle in the 1980s as a way for amputee athletes to get out on the pitch. It’s been slowly gaining popularity since then, with teams and conferences across Asia, the Americas, Europe and Africa. A clinic in Portland on Jan. 13 will allow prospective players to learn the basics of the game and test out their skills.  Thuy Williams helped organize the Portland clinic, and Katie Bondy is a member of the U.S. Women’s National Amputee Soccer team. They join us to talk more about the sport and how prospective players can get involved.

Above-normal temperatures have caused a slow start to the ski season in the Pacific Northwest. Many ski resorts at lower elevations in Oregon still haven’t opened, and resorts at higher elevations are starting the season with lower snowfall totals. Greg Pack is the president and general manager of Mt. Hood Meadows. Andrew Gast is the general manager of Mt. Ashland Ski Area and Lauren Burke is the director of marketing and communications for Mt. Bachelor. They join us with details.

From the housing crisis to public safety, Oregon has a whole set of new state laws taking effect in January. The laws range from targeting “paramilitary activity” to tax breaks for families with children. We learn more on what Oregonians can expect in the new year from OPB political reporter Dirk VanderHart.

Jonathan Lethem, the bestselling author of twelve novels, including “The Fortress of Solitude” and “Motherless Brooklyn,” has often focused his books on the Brooklyn neighborhood he grew up in. His newest, “Brooklyn Crime Novel,” makes the neighborhood a main character. The book examines gentrification, nostalgia and race, among other topics. Lethem spoke to Dave Miller in front of an audience at the 2023 Portland Book Festival.

The lack of affordable childcare in Oregon and the nation has been described as a crisis. In 2020, Multnomah County voters passed a tax on high income earners to fund the Preschool for All measure. The idea is to give access to quality early childhood education for every family in the county regardless of their ability to pay.The program is rolling out in phases and is now providing free preschool to some families for the second year. It has subsidized some existing preschool programs, but hasn’t yet created the 12,000 new publicly funded preschool seats, which it’s supposed to do in by 2030.But capacity is expanding - if slowly - and there are now hundreds of families that have preschool for their children that would have been difficult or impossible for them to get otherwise before the program was implemented. We talk with the Director of Preschool & Early Learning Division Leslee Barnes and economist Mary King, along with Preschool for All providers and parents in front of a live audience at the Rockwood Market Hall in Gresham.The program is part of the series funded by the Oregon Community Foundation that examines some of Oregon’s biggest problems and possible solutions.

A few years ago, when Gabe Piechowicz decided to change careers from logging to religious ministry, he didn’t imagine that his work would be almost exclusively focused on helping people get off the streets in Eugene. But shortly into his new career, he was calling local shelters to help find a place for some of his church’s neighbors and Dan Bryant answered his phone. Bryant is the founder and director of Opportunity Village, one of Oregon’s first village-model temporary shelters, informed by Dignity Village in Portland. Piechowicz ended up working at Opportunity Village but ultimately began his own ministry in a separate housing program he founded called Everyone Village. EV, as it’s called for short, is on a four acre piece of land that was essentially donated. There’s a warehouse that’s been converted into a community meeting space, kitchen and office, as well as a separate building with full plumbing that has showers, toilets and a washer/dryer. There are 60 structures here, all with electricity:  tiny homes called “cottages of hope,” white prefabricated sheds and RVs that are parked inside the lot.  The village is self-governed, with expectations, rules and requirements. The people who live here are getting back on their feet, overcoming—and in the process of overcoming —a variety of social and economic challenges. Some of them joined us and shared their story when we visited EV recently and recorded a show as part of a solutions-oriented series focused on some of Oregon’s biggest problems. Our guests were: Dan Bryant and Gabe Piechowicz of Everyone Village; Brittany Quick-Warner of the Eugene Chamber of Commerce; as well as villagers Laura Dwinell, Sam Jones and Terri Kulick, and former Opportunity villager, Paul Miller.

The Cedar Grove apartments in Beaverton were created by Community Partners Affordable Housing, or CPAH. The nonprofit has been working to create homes that Oregonians can actually afford to live in for 30 years now. This is part of a series of conversations we’re having this year about some of the biggest problems Oregon is facing, along with possible solutions. More than half of renters in Oregon don’t have enough money after they pay rent to be able to afford basics like food, child care or transportation. Meanwhile, Oregon is among the states with the lowest supply of rentals that are affordable to people who are at or below poverty levels. As a state economist put it, “We have the worst affordability” in the nation. We were joined by CPAH staff: Executive Director Rachael Duke; Housing Director Jilian Saurage Felton; and Resident Services Coordinator Renee Sheets Johnson. We also heard from neighbors and residents of Cedar Grove and other residents of CPAH properties, including Talaur Alvarado, Patrick Kirlin, Virginia Bruce, Paula Morrison, Mary Barbee and Jeffrey Worthington.

Fentanyl has taken over the illegal drug market largely due to its low cost and abundant supply. It’s fueling rising addiction rates, and those in need of treatment often have no options. Enter the Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde’s Great Circle Recovery program. Great Circle runs two clinics in Portland and Salem, as well as a mobile clinic. It serves not just tribal members, but anyone who’s struggling with addiction and wants help. We hear more about the nonprofit’s mission and how the program works from Executive Director Kelly Rowe, Medical Director Dr. James Laidler and Operations Director Jennifer Worth. We also talk with James Smith, a urinalysis technician at Great Circle who is working to become one of their peer mentors; as well as Albert Mendez, who is in recovery and receives regular treatment from the clinic. Oregon Health Authority’s Behavioral Health Director Ebony Clarke also joins the conversation.

The Oregon-based nonprofit LifeWorks NW began providing mental health services more than 60 years ago, long before the idea of providing mental health services in the community was recognized as a best practice. Today the nonprofit runs a variety of mental health treatment programs, including Adolescent Day Treatment and one of the state’s Early Assessment and Support Alliance programs. It’s also one of the three partners of the Bridge clinic at OHSU. As a part of a new OPB series tackling some of the most pressing problems that Oregonians are facing, along with some promising solutions, we went to the LifeWorks NW Tigard site and sat down with those involved in receiving and giving mental health care. Our guests were: Massimo Merolla, an Oregon State University sophomore; Occupational Therapist Kylie McDermott; Tamara Sale, director of the EASA Center for Excellence; Sara Cady and her dad Josh Cady; Family Therapist Becca Schweigert; and Karen Bos, OHSU assistant professor and medical director of LifeWorks NW.

We are joined by a panel of experts to look back at the biggest news stories from the Pacific Northwest in 2023. Nkenge Harmon Johnson is the president and CEO of the Urban League of Portland. Anna Griffin is the Vice President of News at OPB. And Scott Bruun is the Vice President of Government Affairs at Oregon Business & Industry, a statewide business advocacy group.