Tribal Council approves grant application for peer support specialists

By Danielle Harrison

Smoke Signals editor

Tribal Council approved an application to apply for a grant that would fund four peer recovery support specialists to help people struggling with addiction at its Wednesday, Nov. 6, meeting. 

The Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts is a grant that funds up to $300,000 a year for the support specialists to work in tandem with the Tribe’s Community Transitions program. There is already one specialist working in the department and if the grant is awarded, the Tribe would be able to use the funds for that position and to hire three already budgeted positions in 2025.

“These are positions that are already in the budget that we are looking at using other funds for to be able to hire for and move into this grant,” Health Services Director Kelly Rowe said during a Tuesday, Nov. 5, Legislative Action Committee meeting.

Tribal Council member Lisa Leno said she appreciated the Tribe’s commitment to hiring peer support specialists. 

“I just wanted to comment how much I appreciate the peer support work that is happening in our community with people who have lived experience (with addiction) and who have been in this community for a long time and are in recovery,” she said. “They are now giving back and (there are) monumental changes in our community happening and I really appreciate that.”

In other action, Tribal Council:

• Approved an annual amendment to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Cleanup Cooperative Agreement for $539,809 to cover work on the Portland Harbor site cleanup;
• Approved a contract with Oregon Retrofit LLC of Lyons to replace the original lighting in light poles in various locations throughout the Tribal campus, housing and in the Tribal community with energy efficient lighting;
• Approved a $150,000 application to the National Association of County and Health Officials for CDC’s Project Firstline, which offers educational resources in a variety of formats to meet the needs of healthcare workforce;
• Approved a land transfer agreement accepting a donation of the 5-acre Kimsey property, which is adjacent to the Tribe’s Chankawan property in Marion County;
• And enrolled three infants into the Tribe because they meet the enrollment requirements in the Tribal Constitution.

To watch the entire meeting, visit the Tribal government’s website at www.grandronde.org and click on the Videos tab.