Faren Leader Helps LBCC Students Navigate College Challenges

Major changes for college students experiencing financial insecurities are coming within the 2023 year. These changes could make resources more difficult to find and acceptance to programs more problematic to navigate. This makes a position like Faren Leader’s as the Affordability Resources Coordinator all the more important.


LBCC has many resources for students who struggle with food, housing, and financial insecurities. In 2021, however, the Oregon Legislature realized more was needed and, thanks to Oregon House Bill 2835, the state created a position on every public college campus to help students navigate the choppy resource waters.


Faren Leader, 36, was hired at LBCC to do just that. The State of Oregon calls the position a Benefits Navigator, but Leader prefers to use the title LBCC chose for her position, Affordability Resources Coordinator, as it better describes the work that she does. She is, essentially, a walking phone book. Students needing to find some kind of assistance can meet with Leader, discuss their situation, and she can help point them in the right direction, as well as assist with often confusing applications.  

Leader has held many positions before coming to LB, such as in health services, substitute teacher, teacher and more. But no other position has offered her a chance to be the advisor she has always desired, until now.  

“This work culture here is probably the healthiest workplace I've ever been in and so I try to make sure I transfer that to students,” said Leader.  

“You know when I meet with students, often the first thing I ask them is ‘Have you had lunch yet?’ ‘Have you eaten anything today?’ ‘How are you doing on water?’ ‘Do you wanna walk together and go fill up your water bottle cuz you didn't stop at the drinking fountain cuz you were worried you were running late to this meeting?’ ‘Do you want to walk around and talk … like if you're feeling anxious being in this enclosed office?’ ‘Do you wanna walk and talk?’

“I just feel like you know it's a trickle down, in a good way, of, you know, when the work culture is healthy then I feel more energized to be able to pass that care down to other people.” 

Today’s students are facing a tremendous amount of stress. Many are having to figure out how to pay their rent and put food on their table. In 2020, 41% of students in Oregon reported food insecurities according to a survey done by the Hope Center for College, Community and Justice. 

Then came the pandemic and prices skyrocketed. Food wasn’t the only insecurities faced by students. Housing became a real problem as well.  

The authors of HB2835 “recognized a crisis of basic needs and security among college students, which is contributing to some of the worst dropout rates the colleges have seen since the Great Depression,” said Leader.  

“Enrollments are down across-the-board and the students we already have are leaving in droves because they can’t afford to be here. They can’t afford to be here for lots of reasons … which is that not only is college expensive, but financial aid is complicated and hard to get.” 

As students face these challenges, they often seek full-time employment while carrying a full credit load at school. Often feeling like less than full-time employment is not an option, students are struggling to pay their rent, utilities, phone and other bills, not to mention paying for the gas it takes to get back and forth to school or the wear and tear on the vehicle to do so.  

In an answer to this crisis, HB2835 mandated that a Benefits Navigator be available on all 17 community college campuses, as well as the seven university campuses in the state of Oregon. Twenty-four navigators exist to find answers for these students facing significant insecurities by forming a consortium and coming together every month to share information.  

With such a tumultuous task before them, their jobs are about to become more difficult. SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) applications for food assistance may become more difficult this year and emergency pandemic funding will be ending at the end of the fiscal year which is in June 2023. Navigators, like Leader, will be more important than ever. 

This line of work can often wreak havoc on the mental health of the navigators, so self-care is an integral component for each of them. For Leader, her 15-year-old son, gardening, and other self-care activities allow her to renew and refresh to be ready for meeting new challenges. And it works as she is excited to meet with students to help them deal with challenges. She loves helping and desires to remove some of the insecurity burdens from their shoulders. 

Many ask her what they can do to help the situation. Donations to the LBCC Foundation are wonderful and always accepted, but right now the legislature is working on the budget for the next fiscal year. Leader encourages everyone to call, email, or stop by the capitol to express your support for full funding of the bill. 

As LB’s student advocates remind their fellow students, “Our legislators can't do good work for the community if we don't tell them what we want.” 

In the meantime, it is important for students who are struggling to know that they are not alone.
Leader is one of many on campus who wants to help. There are resources available through the STEP program, RoadRunner Resources, and the LBCC Foundation as well.

At a Glance:

Name: Faren Leader

Occupation: Benefits Navigator / Affordability Resources Coordinator

Contact Information: leaderf@linnbenton.edu         (541) 990-6142 

Office Location: Temporarily located in Willamette Hall  

Stories and Lessons

We all have stories.

On June 14, for the final meeting of our JN217 Feature Writing class, we got to meet the incomparable Tom Hallman, Jr. We had been reading his book “Dispatches from 1320,” a collection of feature articles he had written during his time with the Oregonian. Meeting him “in person” (Zoom) was the cherry on top of my favorite sundae. (I laugh as I write this as one of the first things he asked was we not put him on a pedestal. But when meeting someone who has won every award that can be won in the journalism world, it’s hard not to be awe struck.)

Hallman is a man in his 60s. He still writes for the Oregonian. He still tells magnificent stories that have the power to melt the hardest of hearts. Yet he doesn’t take himself too seriously. He’s wise enough to see that the CEO and the janitor have the same value and that their stories are not only equally important to listen to, but equally important to share as well.

I came away from that hour thinking about all the stories I’ve heard and experienced in my lifetime. In that moment, I began to see the lessons in the stories, and realized that in the sharing of them we become teachers. That someone, somewhere will hear the story and it will move them. It will give them the opportunity to see things differently. If they allow it, it will change them.

The words of Norman Maclean in one of my favorite books “A River Runs through It,” came to my mind:

“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of those rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.”

I sat and looked out my kitchen window.

We live at the end of a very quiet cul-de-sac. Our neighbors look out for us and we for them. Like in many neighborhoods, we talk over the fence or out on the front walk. We share stories and get to know each other. Often, we are amazed by what we learn from those chats.

In 2019, I planted my first garden. The neighbors to our right had just moved in six months prior. Debby had planted a garden as well. As we were both out watering our prized vegetables, we began to talk for the first time. Fifteen years my senior, she was jealous of how well my garden was growing. We talked about the soil and how well my yard was lit. 

As is typical, I began to ask questions. Having a love-hate relationship with people, I am always curious to know their story and try to make a connection with them.

With Debby, it was much easier than I anticipated. Not because she liked to talk, which she did, but because in the end, I learned that she considered her step-dad her real dad and that he was the first cousin of my dad. (My dad’s mom, Nana, came from a family of 10 kids. You can only imagine how many of us in the Gill family there are, and why some of us have never met each other.)

The story became even more ironic when my first cousin from my mom’s side moved in three houses down. I found it humorous that I personified the running joke that everyone in Sweet Home was related to everyone else. Having two cousins, one from each side of my family, living on the same small cul-de-sac as I struck my funny bone.

Sadly, not all the stories are funny.

Our neighbors to the left are such a special couple. Their story, while life changing, is one of loss and love.

Kent and Judy Cherry were like many other couples. They had three young children when they moved into their house in our, then fledgling, neighborhood. They hadn’t been living here long before Judy became extremely ill.

She was an impressive woman.

With four degrees to her name, she was just getting into her dream job as an engineer at Hewlett Packard when she contracted acute disseminated encephalitis, a neurological disorder indicated by brief but widespread attacks of inflammation in the brain and spinal cord that damages myelin, the whitish protective coating over nerves that helps with electrical nerve signaling.

Many with ADEM do not survive.

Judy did.

Unfortunately, she is not, nor will she ever be, the same again.

Now a permanent 8 year old needing constant care, the ADEM caused neurocognitive issues that created difficulties with attention, short-term memory, decision making and processing speed that made returning to her prior levels of functioning impossible.

Kent did the only thing he could do. He retired early to become the full-time caretaker of the love of his life. Financially, it was devastating, but Kent has found a way to make it work. With her mother and sister taking her for a day or two each week, and his now grown children also help out as their lives allow, he gets the breaks he needs to continue the hard work of looking after her and her needs.

He wouldn't have it any other way. It's impossible for him to imagine.

The loss of cognitive function and stature in life often make those who learn the story feel sorry for the Cherrys. 

Our perspective, however, is different. 

Each day that she is home, she walks her dog to the park and back. She sings and dances all the way, in between giving her puppy and all the neighborhood puppies the rundown of her schedule for the evening and sometimes for the next few days.

Judy's joy, laughter and smile are infectious. Not to mention that we now gauge the arrival of spring by hearing her sing Beatles songs while on her treadmill with her window wide open.

She brings joy to all in her life. She doesn’t remember her life before her illness, more than what she’s told. What she does know, however, she doesn’t allow to keep her down. Her love for her life more than exceeds the most successful of us. The lessons of her story are boundless.

The Cherry’s story isn’t the last on our block.

Clint and Kelly Hess live just on the other side of the Cherrys. Two years ago, their 23 year old daughter, Vanessa, was getting her life together. She had some trouble with Oxycontin due to an accident she had in years previous, and she was coming out the other side. 

Nessa, as she is loving called, had made it through the six month probationary period at one of the local mills, earning her orange hat and had started to look for a place of her own.

After one particularly hard day, she came home from work extremely sore. The pain was more than she could handle so she made a pit stop on the way to purchase an Oxy pill. She only bought one, most likely thinking that just one wouldn’t throw her into a relapse.

Unfortunately, no one will ever know. The pill she bought wasn’t Oxycontin after all, but instead it was pure Fentynal. She took the pill and slipped into a warm bath.

Kelly and Clint found her.

They tried to revive her.

They couldn’t.

Twelve days before turning 24, Vanessa lost her life to the Fentyal crisis gripping our nation.

As a mom, the story that unfolded outside my window triggered my very soul. Watching it unfold left me panicked, even though it wasn’t happening to me.

I think about her everyday. I think about Kelly and wonder how she goes on day after day. She has a strength I do not fully understand. What an inspiration!

After an hour with Tom, I realized that Vanessa, Kelly, Judy, Kent, Debby…they all had stories to tell. Alive or not, they still have lessons to teach. Some may be as simple as to open yourself to just talk to people, others are to never take life for granted and be joyful in everything you do. 

Some of the harder lessons still aren’t fully clear on what they are teaching us, but they are teaching us just the same.

May we all heed Tom Hallman’s philosophy – the CEO and the janitor have just as much value as the other, and both have a story to tell.

Listen to the stories and heed the lessons!

Postcard From the Future: Azore Islands (Portugal)

Four days before turning 49 years old, Jackie Machado Martin passed away unexpectedly. One of her dreams was to take her daughter, my wife, Jessica, to visit Portugal and the Azore Islands, to visit the birthplace of her family.

I have inherited her dream.

As I sit and plan for the future, I cannot help but see her and I board a plane with our youngest daughter, Charley, 2, to begin the 18-hour flight. Upon landing, we will find our hotel and try to catch up on some needed rest before the exploration of the islands can begin.

Resting will be hard.

I imagine tossing and turning like a kid trying to go to sleep on Christmas Eve eagerly anticipating the appearance of Santa Claus.

The sun rises on the next morning and the three of us hop a small plane to take us to our first destination: the Carlos Machado Museum on the island of São Miguel in the city of Ponta Delgada, the largest, most populated city of the Azores. Carlos Machado is from my wife’s family line.

We will explore and investigate.

After an amazing night’s sleep, we will jump on another plane and visit the isle of Pico, specifically the city of Madalena. Here we will check into a beautiful AirBnB in a villa along the coastline and then shop the shops and enjoy some lunch.

Day three will begin with an amazing breakfast of bread, sliced cheese, sliced ham, bread, jam, a milky coffee, and a small glass jar filled with local yogurt.

The Azores are known for their rich dairy products. They use their cattle for milk, rather than beef. They consume pork more than any other meat. As vegans, this will be challenging. We will re-acclimate to meat and dairy before we leave on this trip in order to truly enjoy all that the Azores have to offer. 

After our hearty breakfast, we will connect with Mateus Machado, a second cousin three times removed from my mother-in-law, Jackie. He and his family will be the tour guides for the rest of our visit. We will see gorgeous caldera’s that make up much of the landscape on many of the islands in the Azores, as well as learn of their rich history.

The tiny island of Faial will be next on our visit list. With only inhabiting 15,000 people, it is the smallest of the Azores. To put it in perspective, the small town of Lebanon, OR, is home to 19,000 people. Mostly consisting of volcanoes and landscapes, the city of Horta on the isle of Faial, was once a booming port city, and houses the majority, if not all, of the people living on the island. It is well-known for having the last volcanic eruption on the islands back in 1958.

Our last two days of our visit, we will explore Flores Island, named for its abundance of flowers. Home to less than 3,500 people, Flores Island was dominated by the French from 1962, when they built a missile tracking facility, until they left in 1994. During that time, a hospital, a power station and an airport were established, creating a better financial situation for its inhabitants.

Prior to that, the history of Flores is filled with shipwrecks, whalers, and pirates.

We will spend two days there to take it all in.

While our goal was to reconnect to my wife’s mother who was suddenly taken from us, it is not clear that we will find answers to the questions we seek. What we will leave with; however, is a better understanding of the history of the Azores, and this may give insight into her heritage.

Portugal

Where: Azore Islands, starting at São Miguel Island

What: To see and learn of the area which my wife’s family came from

Official website: Visit Portugal / Azores

Best way to get there: Fly from Portland (PDX) to São Miguel Island (PDL) by way of IAH (Houston, Texas) and BOS (Boston, Massachusetts)

Travel Time: 18 hours, 20 minutes

Cost of Flight: $1425 round trip, per passenger

 

Albany Civic Theater presented "Something Rotten" in April 2023

If you were looking for hilarity, impish behavior, and a wee bit of innuendo, you didn’t have to look further than the musical “Something Rotten."

Throughout the entire month of April, the Albany Civic Theater (ACT) ran performances of the musical comedy, directed by Christi E. Sears. Set in the 1500s, it is a tale of two brothers, Nick and Nigel Bottom, who are both considered Bards and rivals of Shakespeare. Between the songs, the acting, and the pot shots at Shakespeare, the play and cast married well together in simple harmonies to create an evening of pure entertainment.

“I love the music,” said Sears. “I’d been listening to the music and I saw a little bit on YouTube and I love farcicals. And to have it be a farce and a musical, that the music combines a lot of shows that you’ll hear and go ‘oh, I know that show, I know that show because they’re from other musicals.”

When creating the cast that brought “Something Rotten” to life at ACT, Sears looked for personable people who could sing, as well as have a group dynamic during auditions that flowed naturally.

“We observe them not only on the stage, but how they interact within the structure of the audition process. You can find out a lot about somebody. We were looking for those who wanted to enjoy the process and have a great time and who would compliment each other well,” said Sears. “Because they are going to create the characters and they’re going to bring them to life.”

And a marvelous job she did. The flow of dialogue between characters was seamless, as were the harmonies that were sung. There certainly couldn’t have been better choices made when casting.

These were not professionals, mind you. They were just folks who loved to act and sing. Sharing those characteristics with their fellow cast members truly is what made this performance so memorable.

“We felt like a family from day one. We worked, yes, but it didn’t feel like work. We laughed, sang, learned to dance (some of us having a harder time than others), and never took ourselves too seriously, “ said Christa Tillman, part of the Ensemble.

First written as a book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell, “Something Rotten” played 708 performances on Broadway beginning in April 2015. Music and lyrics composed by Karey Kirkpatrick and his brother, Wayne Kirkpatrick, the play met rave reviews and earned 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Actor Christian Borle, the original William Shakespeare, won the show’s only Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.

Since its original release, it has toured not only through the United States, but also internationally. And now, it can add Albany, Oregon to its credits.

Set in 1595, the musical tells the tale of two brothers, Nick and Nigel Bottom, played by actors Ryan McWayne and Jonathan McQuay. They run a theater troupe and are looking for their next big hit. One that will annihilate their largest rival: Shakespeare, played by Dean Keeling.

Nick seeks out the guidance of a soothsayer, Thomas Nostradomus. Played by thespian Pat Megowan, Nostradomus is the nephew of the French astronomer, Michel de Nostredame. He “sees” into the future and tells Nick that the future big thing will be…MUSICALS! This sets the stage for some very creative songs, such as their first play suggestion – “The Black Death.”

Hijinks and innuendos ensue as Shakespeare makes the scene. As the Bottom brothers clear rival, he goes incognito to steal their next big idea. In the end, he is successful, but not before the Bottom brothers stand trial for debauchery by the local Puritans.

Nigel fell in love with the wrong girl…Portia, played deftly by Melissa Gutierrez. Portia is the daughter of the Puritan leader, Brother Jeremiah, who was played by William Brown. The court proceedings end with the Bottom brothers being found guilty and sentenced to exile in America. Portia chooses to go with Nigel and the entire troupe is banished with them.

Shakespeare’s new play becomes a success, and the Bottom brothers find their next big hit in their new homeland.

The play did not disappoint. Neither did the actors.

It was clear the cast understood the nuances of each innuendo, sarcastic comment, and song. Double that with some simple, yet outstanding sets,the audience was transported to the time of Shakespeare, albeit from an irreverent perspective.

While most of the audience adored the production, it didn’t make the grade for a few. Some felt the innuendos were a bit much and were not needed for the overall plot.

“I just didn’t understand why there was a need to be a bit raunchy. Does entertainment always need to include sex and innuendo,” asked Dorothy Richards, 81, from Jefferson, Oregon.

No, Dorothy, it doesn’t, but for “Something Rotten” it was part of a perfect recipe that left many laughing well after it ended. Rating: 5 out of 5 stars!!

At-A-Glance

What: Something Rotten

When: April 7 - 29

Where: Albany Civic Theater, 111 First Ave. W., Albany, Oregon

Cast:

Director: Christi E. Sears

Nick Bottom: Ryan McWayne

Nigel Bottom: Jonathan McQuay

Shakespeare: Dean Keeling

Thomas Nostradamus: Pat Megowan

Bea: Frankie Caswell

Portia (Puritan): Melissa Gutierrez

Brother Jeremiah: Bill Brown

Minstrel (plus ensemble): Anya Corbitt

Shylock (plus ensemble): Ray Phipps

Lord Clapham (plus ensemble): Sam Sappington

Master of the Justice (plus ensemble): Douglas Hambley

Ensemble: Josiah Barnett, Ed Beaudry, Nancy Beaudry, Noah Camuso, Susan Jones, Shauna Kiefiuk, Christoph Littrell, Jennifer Moody, Olivia Pereyra, Dylan Renfro, Stephanie Schwarz, Madison Stevens, Christa Tillman, Adam Vester

Next up at ACT:   Moonglow, directed by Sarah Roth

                              June 23 - July 1

 

                              Disney's My Son Pinocchio Jr. - ACT Summer Camp (Special

                              Event), directed by Rebecca Douglas

                              Auditions: June 26 - 28

                              Camp Dates: July 31 - Aug. 18

                              Performances: Aug. 18 - 26