Court accepts state funds for center
Money will help with youth out-reach program
By Larry Meyer
Argus Observer
Monday, March 31, 2008 10:54 AM PDT
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| SEASON is a youth program of Harvest House Missions and recently received funding from the state for staff. The facility is situated at 466 West Idaho Ave., Ontario. The Drop-in Center offers a game room, television room and study area. |
ONTARIO — The Malheur County Court Wednesday accepted funds from the state for a program in Ontario designed to help youth who face challenges at home or struggle to stay in school and have other needs.
The court will pass the money onto the Safety Education Advocacy and Support Network — or SEASON — which is a program of the Harvest House Missions, a nonprofit social service agency.
The amount County Court members discussed Wednesday was $57,500, but the program will receive a total of $115,000, Renee Cummings, chairman of the board of Harvest House Missions, said.
The Safety Education Advocacy and Support Network will use the funding to employ two staff members for the youth Drop-in Center which was just opened earlier this month at 466 West Idaho Ave. Funding is coming through an appropriation by the Oregon Legislature for runaway and homeless youth support systems and services.
The SEASON Drop-in Center is for youth who need a safe place to be, Cummings explained.
“There is a game room,” Cummings said. “It has a TV room. It has a study room,” which will eventually have computers, she said.
“It will also have food,” she said.
When the computers arrive, there will be a weekly study night, she said, and there will be volunteers to help with homework.
The building was donated by Jeanie Reiner, Cummings said, with other donations coming from Oregon State Police and Bill Thomson, Veterans Service Officer.
Center staff includes Michael Gray, program director, and Becky Oddo, outreach coordinator.
“They will work with schools and agencies to help kids find the things they need,” Cummings said.
There will be a mediator available when needed to help youth work out issues with family or schools and professional counseling will be offered.
“Besides being an acronym, the name SEASON is designed to give a message to youth that whatever issues they are having, they are just a season in their lives, and they don’t have to be a long-term thing, and there is help for them,” Cummings said. An open house is planned for the center, plus a special event for local students, Cummings said.
