Stories from Sometimes a Great Podcast - Dec. 22, 2025: Season 1, Episode 34

Jose Garcia is a program director at New Horizons in Hermiston and he is a direct service kind of guy. He goes to farms and delivers about 200 food boxes to farm workers. He stops by campsites and delivers about 30 hot meals a week to people living in tents along the river. He walks through parks to take food to people who need it. He also goes to apartment buildings where he knows families with low incomes live.  

“If you bring me a food box, I have to move it out right away. I will go directly to the people that need it,” he said 

So, when he learned about the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) Office of Resilience and Emergency Management (OREM) Resilience Hubs and Networks Grant he jumped right on the application. He knew his program could use help to get food to people in need in his community. The grant could increase the community’s resiliency. New Horizons in Hermiston is a non-profit that offers comprehensive therapy to people battling co-occurring mental health illnesses, alcoholism, opioid addiction and other types of drug misuse.  

“We want to be able to assist more people who are homeless and help families with low incomes and farm worker families. They’re working at the gas station or grocery store. They work in the fields. They live paycheck by paycheck,” Garcia said. Garcia is also a certified alcohol and drug counselor.  

The grants were offered to individuals and organizations in Oregon that proposed activities promoting resilience in communities. A resilience hub is a location where people come together daily to share resources, support one another and find resources during emergencies. A resilience network is an association of facilities, organizations, resource providers or service providers outside of a physical resilience hub facility that collectively serve the purposes of a resilience hub. 

New Horizons met the criteria and was awarded a grant of $7,500. They are one of the 87 grant recipients.  

Garcia said the funds will be used to buy more culturally specific foods, such as for the Latino community: corn flour, cooking oil, tortillas, chilis, and sauces to make items such as enchiladas and menudo. The non-profit also can expand food delivery to farm workers twice a week. New Horizons also partners with Agape House, a non-profit food bank in Hermiston, to help provide food to the community.    

“Yesterday I bought 15 bags of rice and 15 bags of beans. We fill about 10 to 20 food boxes per week – about 80 per month. These are for people who come into our office every month. While at the farms I teach about resiliency in natural disasters. I ask them, ‘Do you have a plan in case of fire, heat exhaustion, wildfire, earthquake?’ They know me. When I see them in town, they ask, ‘Hey when are you coming down to bring us some food?’ 

“I am really thankful for that grant. For me, it was a blessing from the sky. But we still have lots of work to do,” Garcia said.  

Learn more about New Horizons, 440 S.W. 11^th Street, Hermiston: https://addictionresource.com/listings/new-horizons-hermiston-oregon/.  

Learn more about the ODHS OREM Resilience Hubs and Networks Grant and see the list of the 87 organizations from throughout Oregon who received this transformative funding: https://www.oregon.gov/odhs/emergency-management/Pages/resilience-grants.aspx

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Dec. 17, 2025

Sometimes you get way more than you asked for. This was the case when the request went out to the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) Communications team asking for information about holiday events for the people we serve. The number of gift drives, holiday parties, donations, gift cards – even movies was truly astounding. The events and gift drives for children in foster care and their families and for children and adults served by the Office of Developmental Disabilities and their families spanned the state. This amazing generosity was from staff and many different organizations in Oregon that partner with ODHS -- many of which have been doing this work for 10 or more years.

Here are just a few events and gift drives this holiday season:

Holiday Party, District 8 Child Welfare in Josephine County is Friday, December 19. It’s a party for any family that has family visitations through the Child Welfare office. Every Child , a community organization that works with children and families involved in foster care, donates gifts. Foster Kids Inc., which support the unmet needs of foster children, donates all the food and tasty treats. The party also includes Santa Claus, cookie decorating and a photo booth for about 75 children. There are two different party times, 1 and at 3:30 p.m.

“This is a way for us to connect families and their kids. Parents can go in and pick what gift is good for the child, gifts, then they wrap them or get help wrapping and the child gets the gift. There are two sessions 1 p.m. and at 3:30 p.m.,” Mary Edwards, Child Welfare supervisor, said.

Gift Cards for Teens was started by ODHS Child Welfare Teen/Permanency Supervisor Kelly Paluso, District 2, Multnomah County. Paluso talked to her mother, Cary Hixon, about the need for something to help teens at holiday time. Many organizations cater their gift drives toward younger children. Hixon who volunteers for an organization that helps older adults age in place, puts a notice in the organization newsletter asking for donations of gift cards for teenagers who are in foster care or are part of the services offered by Child Welfare. Some people give money, which Hixon uses to buy gift cards.

“It’s always been a hit. This year we raised over $2,000 in gift cards. Teens love getting them. We make sure teen in our district gets at least one gift card. We try to match the teen with the gift card,” she said.

Paluso explained why she does this effort: “There are two main reasons for me. One, there is an obvious need – especially for teens. And two, the holidays at this job are incredibly stressful. There is a layer of trauma kids deal with around holidays and so it is a very stressful time to be a Child Welfare worker. It’s rewarding to know you are supporting and helping a teen in how they want to be supported. We need that joy too.”

Third Annual Resource Family Holiday Party by Miller’s Barbecue is Saturday December 13 and Sunday, December 14 n Salem by owner Matthew Miller for children in foster care and their families. The party features Santa Claus, gifts for each of the children, food, including cookies and hot cocoa and a photo booth. And this year Miller has 160 pairs of pajamas to give out. Saturday’s party is for children and their resource families. Sunday is for children and their biological parents, but resource parents can attend also. All year Miller collects donations from the community to provide for this event. He also works closely with the ODHS District 3 Child Welfare office on the event.

Miller, who grew up in foster care, said, “I just wanted to create an event that was inclusive for the whole family, biological kids and foster kids in a family. It’s a time for children in foster care to be seen and to let them know they’re not alone and we love you.”

Mark your calendars. Next year’s parties will be December 12 and 13.

Central Oregon Employment Supports, a service provider for ODHS, helps people with disabilities find jobs through programs like Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment First, hosts several fun holiday events.

Rebecca Smallwood, ODDS policy analyst, said that many local families and people who experience intellectual and developmental disabilities, including one of her adult children, participate in some of their holiday events, which include:

A trip to the Oregon Zoo for Zoo Lights, December 12; Holiday Cookie Baking class, bringing and sharing their own recipes in a bake-off and cookie exchange, December 19; and a Holiday Party and Gift Exchange December 17.

There’s also the Crook County ODDS community-wide party December 18 and Craft Night December 23 at 47 NE Ochoco Plaza Dr., Prineville.

Creating Opportunities presented double feature Grinch movies at the 75-foot Aerodrome Giant Screen Theater in McMinnville. Creating Opportunities supports children and adults with disabilities in Polk, Yamhill and Marion counties and is contracted with the ODHS Office of Developmental Disabilities Services. The special double-feature screening of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” showed both the classic 1966 animated film and the 2000 Jim Carrey version, to about a dozen families. The crowd was treated to Grinch Popcorn (white chocolate bits and M&Ms sprinkled over Grinch green colored popcorn).

Cheryl Cisneros, Executive Director of Creating Opportunities, first launched a family network in California in the mid1990s soon after her son, Steven, was diagnosed with autism. She led that organization for a decade before her family relocated to Oregon in 2007. In 2014, she established a second non-profit, Creating Opportunities, to continue supporting families.

“I felt stronger when I started helping other families advocate for their children. I think it is so important for families to connect with each other. It’s so nice that someone understands what you’re going through. Being able to help each other makes it easier for families. I’ve been there,” she said.

Here is what one person who attends Creating Opportunities events said, "We love going to Creating Opportunities events because they are fun, safe and judgement free. My kids get to play and have fun however they feel comfortable."

Creating Opportunities is part of the Oregon Consortium of Family Networks. Here are some of the other many family networks’ holiday events:

Bridging Communities – Southern Oregon: Holiday Support Deliveries, including Christmas trees and food boxes for families experiencing need this season. Sensory Santa — a calm, accessible holiday experience designed for children and adults who benefit from a lower-stimulation environment and sensitive Santa.

CODSN – Central Oregon: CODSN hosted a sensory Winter Celebration with Santa in partnership with Sunriver Resort in Central Oregon. Santa, Mrs. Claus and one of Santa's elves, attended. Hot Cocoa Bar and some fun crafts were included. This event is set up so that families can have a quiet one-on-one time with Santa and take candid photos during their visit.

The group also puts on a Winter Celebration with Santa in Klamath Falls on December 20. And a Pinecone Glitter Craft event, where children with disabilities decorate pinecones.

CODSN donated an artificial tree, ornaments, and other decorating accessories to a family in Klamath Falls who needed a Holiday Tree. They were very grateful for the donation.

COAAST – Northern Coastal Counties: serving Clatsop, Tillamook, and Lincoln counties holiday event: December 20: Holiday Karaoke with DJ “Flash” Ben, from Clatsop County.

FEATT – Douglas County: December 12 Time with Santa; December 17LHannukah Crafts and Activities; December 20 Sensory Movie, SpongeBob SquarePants.

More organizations and their holiday events:

The Arc Families Connected & Familias en Conexión just participated in the annual Springfield Holiday Parade which included The Arc Lane County’s float. The Arc advocates for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and partners with ODDS. Some of their holiday happenings include:

• Sensory Santa and Holiday Crafts Event held December 13. Santa is former University of Oregon special education professor who signs with the children and comes to the event with PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System).
• Annual Tree of Joy giving campaign, where The Arc distributes gifts to Families Connected and Familias en Conexión families experiencing disabilities and who are experiencing financial hardship.

There are probably many, many more holiday events that support the people ODHS serves. This story shows how much we are all in this season of giving together as a community.

Need help during the holidays? Resources such as food, warm clothing and gifts are provided by many organizations. You can sort through the link below by county to find resources:

https://www.oregon.gov/odhs/pages/community-resources.aspx.

Or for more resources: 211info.