In response to the 2021 heat dome, the Oregon legislature passed Senate Bill 1536 in 2022 to bring much needed heat relief. This is provided through a variety of incentives. One incentive includes heat pumps, which provide heating and cooling by moving heat from one place to another. They can work independently or with a furnace to provide effective heating and cooling for homes and other indoor spaces. 

The Oregon Department of Energy and Energy Trust of Oregon are providing incentives to home owners, landlords/renters, and community spaces. 

To learn more, click on of the following: 

• Oregon Department of Energy - heat pump incentive programs
• Energy Trust of Oregon - various incentives and rebates available

If you and your household are in need of immediate assistance with utility payment and additional services, click here for various emergency services this winter.

Phoebe Barker recently joined the Prevention Team in November as a CDC Fellow, working as a Health Educator II, with the Tobacco Prevention Education Program. Phoebe received her Master's Degree in Public Health from California State University San Marcos. Her role with the Prevention Team will include monitoring and supporting the Indoor Clean Air Act, tobacco policy work, school outreach, and education. Previously, she worked as an intern with the Patient Safety Movement Foundation, focusing on the prevention of medical errors on behalf of physicians and health care providers. Phoebe is excited to learn about the community as well as engage with its members.

Phoebe and her partner recently relocated to Salem from Southern California, for the opportunity to work with the Marion County Health & Human Services. They are both looking forward to exploring the beautiful surroundings and hiking trails. Phoebe used to work as a California State beach lifeguard. She enjoys spending time at the beach and cannot wait to explore the Oregon coast.

Wildfires, poor air quality, heatwaves, poor water quality, and drought have negatively impacted Marion and Polk Counties over the past several years. These environmental health hazards harm everyone’s health but can be particularly detrimental to vulnerable communities such as older adults, young children, outdoor and frontline workers, those living in rural areas, unsheltered persons, and non-English speakers. 

To prevent and minimize adverse health impacts from environmental health hazards, Marion and Polk Counties are partnering with Willamette University to conduct an Environmental Scan and research study. Over the next several months, a Willamette University research team will conduct interviews, surveys, focus groups, and gather feedback from across our two-county region.

This winter, service providers and community leaders have a unique opportunity to express their perspective on hardships, concerns, and opportunities to improve health outcomes and communication as they relate to environmental hazards. Next spring, we will invite every community member to participate in a community survey.

The Call to Action!

If you work and/or live in Marion or Polk County, we want to hear from you now! Valuable insight from you as a service provider and/or community leader will help to improve community resilience, collaboration, health, and well-being to environmental hazards.

Sign up for a 40-minute interview today with Professor Nicole Iroz-Elardo by emailing nirozelardo@willamette.edu

“Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much!” – Helen Keller

Salem Police Toy Drive: The Salem Police Department is collecting new, unwrapped gifts for kids up to age 14. You can drop off your donation through December 12 at any of the following locations:

• Cycle Country Inc. - 4764 Portland RD NE
• Green Acres Landscaping - 5711 Gaffin RD SE
• Physiq Fitness - All Salem locations
• Salem Electric - 633 7th ST NW
• Elite Chiropractic & Injury Rehab - 2150 Commercial ST SE
• White Oak Construction - 2455 River RD S

Keizer Toy Swap:Help the city of Keizer spread joy and reduce waste by participating in the holiday Toy Swap. Donations of gently used or new toys are being collected through December 6 at the following locations.

• Keizer City Hall, 930 Chemawa Rd. NE | Mon - Fri 8am - 5pm
• Salem Public Library, 585 Liberty Street SE Salem | Tues - Sun 10am - 7pm

Interested in attending the Toy Swap? The event is scheduled for December 10 from 10am to Noon at Keizer’s City Hall (930 Chemawa Road NE).

Marion Polk Food Share: What to donate: Food. When: Mon-Fri 9:00AM-4:00PM. Location: Marion Polk Food Share warehouse at 1660 Salem Industrial Dr. NE.

Society of Saint Vincent de Paul: What to donate: Food, household items. When: Ongoing. Locations: 3745 Portland Rd. NE Suite 110 Salem, Oregon 97301 or PO Box 7864 Salem, Oregon 97303.

Hope Station Community Services: What to donate: Food, toiletries. When: Ongoing. Location: 1337 Madison Street, Ste 115 Salem, OR 97301.

Center for Hope & Safety: What to donate: Various items (check website). When: Ongoing. Location: 605 Center Ave NE Salem, OR 97301.

Dress For Success of Oregon Salem (with the United Way of the Mid-Willamette Valley): What to donate: Various (check website). When: Second Saturday of every month from 10:00AM-12:00PM. Location: 401 Center St NE Salem, OR 97301.

Union Gospel Mission Donation Center: What to donate: Food and non food (check website). When: Ongoing. Location: Men’s Mission (777 Commercial St NE) behind the building or at Simonka Place (5119 River Rd. N, Keizer, OR).

Helping Hands: What to donate: Various (check website). When: Ongoing. Location: 1755 13th St SE Salem, OR 97302.

Marion County community partners are doing meaningful and important work surrounding tobacco prevention. Recently, Mano a Mano Family Center provided a report on their tobacco prevention community readiness assessment (CRA). The report is available in both English and Spanish.

Mano a Mano used this assessment to understand how tobacco/vape use affects the Marion County Latino/a/x and Spanish speaking community. They spoke with eight important community members and held three Cafecitos, which are culturally appropriate focus groups, all in Spanish.

Mano a Mano found four main challenges in the Latino/a/x and Spanish-speaking community that contribute to the use tobacco and vape. The challenges included personal behaviors and cultural beliefs, language barriers, lack of awareness, and lack of knowledge and resources. They used the community readiness assessment tool to identify strategies to address these challenges. These strategies can raise awareness and prevent future use.

To learn more about Mano a Mano’s work on this project and their findings read the full report, available in English and Spanish. Stay tuned for community readiness assessment reports from the City of Woodburn and Micronesian Islander Community of Oregon.

Last month, Marion County’s Youth Development Coordinator organized and hosted a Youth Engagement Summit! The purpose of the summit was to gather community partners together and start a collaborative discussion around serving youth. Topics of discussion included understanding current issues facing local youth, identifying areas where there are unmet needs or services, and brainstorming ideas to address these gaps together moving forward. Over 80 community members turned out to network, provide key perspectives, and begin collaborating. Information learned will be used to guide and inform program activities for Marion County Prevention Team staff, and to organize additional meetings and trainings for community partners based on feedback from the session. The information gathered at the summit will be compiled and shared in a report in the coming months.

Thank you to all who attended and provided time, energy, and caring input. It is exciting that so many participants shared the desire to continue this collaboration, participate in additional meetings, and to create community within youth serving organizations. Future meetings will help to keep everyone informed and allow groups to more effectively work together to expand youth engagement and opportunities. Watch for the first meeting of the “Marion County Youth Engagement Collaborative” sometime in January, potential dates and times to come later this month!

Any questions please reach out to Macie Reynolds, mreynolds@co.marion.or.us

How does a licensed service center access psilocybin products?

Psilocybin products are processed by a licensed manufacturer. They are tested in a licensed testing laboratory accredited by the Oregon Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program. The products are then sold or transferred from the licensed manufacturer to the licensed service center.  Products are tracked throughout the process.

How is Oregon’s legalization of psilocybin different from legalization of marijuana (cannabis)?

While marijuana can be purchased at a dispensary and taken home for consumption, psilocybin products cannot be purchased and taken off site for consumption. 

The AgriStress Helpline^SM is now available in Oregon! This helpline offers suicide crisis services to those working in agriculture, forestry, and fishing industries. The crisis specialists have extra training to know the culture, values, stressors, and lived experiences of agriculture, forestry, and fishing workers. In addition, crisis specialists have access to a state specific curated database of agricultural and health resources.

If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 833.897.2474 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.