Human Services Coalition of Oregon

Membership Drive

We don't have any prizes to offer, but we hope for a very successful membership drive. If you are currently a member of HSCO, you should have received your 2010 membership form in the mail. Please sign up for 2010 by the end of the calendar year. If you have any questions, please contact Co-Chairs Stephanie Tama-Sweet or John Mullin.

Also, see HSCO on Facebook.

Thanks!

HSCO Election

We had our regular monthly meeting today, and we held an election as well. John Mullin will continue as Co-Chair until June 2010, and Stephanie Tama-Sweet of the Oregon Food Bank is the new Co-Chair. Lee Mercer of the Oregon Center for Public Policy was elected Secretary, and Lauren Rhodes of the Oregon Health Care Association is the new Treasurer.

Join us for our next monthly meeting (November 4th at Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon from 1:00-3:00.) And watch for details of our annual meeting, December 2, with speakers, agenda, and location TBA.

And please note that October begins our membership drive. We are reaching out for renewals, and we also want to encourage more organizations and individuals to join. If you would like more information, feel free to contact John Mullin, 503-473-8681.

HSCO's New Volunteer

We would like to welcome a new HSCO volunteer, Erin White. Erin is a new attorney and is interested in working with organizations that advocate for vulnerable Oregonians while learning about legislative advocacy. She will be working with John Mullin on a variety of projects including minutes, research, and the annual meeting. If you have any thoughts about projects, contact John Mullin.

HSCO in the classroon

HSCO has been in the news frequently over the years. We have also done a video, a research project, and our name and work is recognized at the local, state, and national level. But we have never appeared in a textbook. That's about to change with the publication of: Policy and Practice for Social Workers: New Strategies for a New Era, by Linda Cummins, Katherine V. Byers, and Laura Pedrick. The book is being published by Pearson Education, with an expected publication date of February 2010.

The book will quote the "About HSCO" information on our website. And who knows? Perhaps one day, a newly minted MSW will come to a meeting and during the introductions will say that they learned about HSCO from this work.

HSCO pledges to "defend Oregon"

At our August meeting, HSCO voted to sign Defend Oregon's pledge to uphold the corporate and personal income tax measures passed in the 2009 Oregon legislative session. HSCO worked all session long to support tax and revenue changes that were in line with the adopted HSCO principles of adequacy, fairness, and stability.

Yesterday, a number of HSCO members were present at a Defend Oregon meeting to get updates and to network. If you are interested to find out more, including ways you and your organization can become involved, go to their website: www.defendoregon.org

We will continue to have a standing Defend Oregon agenda item at all of our monthly meetings.

HSCO Needs You!

At our August meeting, we appointed a Nominating Committee, chaired by Patti Whitney-Wise, assisted by Liz Baxter and Jon Stubenvol.  If you are interested in the Secretary position or the Co-Chair position, vacated because of Cathy Kaufmann's new job at DHS (we miss her already), please contact Patti at 503-595-5501.

Next HSCO Meeting on Wed, August 5th

Please join us for the next HSCO meeting on Wednesday, August 5th from 1:00-3:00 PM at Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon.  We will have our usual agenda, and we will also have a bit of a celebration.  Please come and be a part of the meeting.  We have lots to think about as Summer turns to Fall.

Revenue Bills are Critical to Protecting Human Services

Oregon faces an unprecedented financial crisis. More Oregonians than ever before are struggling in this difficult economy and demand for emergency cash assistance, food stamps, and other economic supports has already hit record levels. Drastic cuts in health and human services at this time of increased need will only cost us more in the long run. Without significant new revenue, vital state services will be slashed even further.

HSCO's position on Oregon's Health Care Expansion and Reform Bills

The Human Services Coalition of Oregon (HSCO) is on record  in support of health care expansion for children and low income individuals and families.  Our support for these expansions was stated in the 2007 session, and in the 2009 session, HSCO joined with the SAFE Coalition in a statement that includes the following:

Sustainable:   We must rein in the skyrocketing cost of health care to help ensure economic security for all Oregonians and Oregon businesses.
Available:   We must create a healthy community by covering all people living in Oregon starting with expanding access to cover all children and more low income adults, as we reduce health disparities.
Funded:   We must maximize the two-to-one match for Oregon's dollars from federal funds to expand our capacity to meet these goals.
Effective:  We must ensure accountability and fairness, focus on treatments that are proven safe, effective and improve health outcomes, and cut waste in the current health care maze.

HSCO’s Silver Anniversary, More or Less

About 35 people gathered in Room 50 at the Capitol to celebrate decades of human services advocacy.  The exact date of the formation of Human Services Coalition of Oregon is a bit of a mystery, but a quick search of the HSCO museum archives revealed documents dating back to 1986.

Current Co-Chairs Cathy Kaufmann and John Mullin kicked off the event with letters from Governor Ted Kulongoski, who noted that our voice is needed “now more than ever;” and from one of our key founders, Terry Rogers, who also gave us encouragement, adding that “nothing could be more important” than the work we do.  Terry was unable to join us, as she was on her way to Afghanistan for a short term project to train Afghani women on how to advocate with their parliament.  Amazing!