April 20, 2025 • 29 mins
AntFarm Youth Services helps to build communities and support young people. A Kaiser Permanente Northwest pediatrician has advice for parents with young kids who have allergies. Oregon is losing BRIC grants and it will hurt disaster preparedness. There's bipartisan support in the Oregon Legislature for a bill to ban cell phones in schools.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Local Voices. I'm brad Ford. This week how
ant Farm is helping make a difference in the lives
of kids and young people in Clacamus County. Allergies can
be especially difficult for young children, and their parents will
have some tips. Brick grants are important for emergency planning
in Oregon and they're going away. Plus there's bipartisan support
in the Oregon legislature for a bill that requires school
(00:27):
districts to establish cell phone bands. There's an organization in
Clacamus County that's making a dramatic difference in the lives
of kids and young people. It's called ant Farm. Neil
Hatley is the director of Workforce Development and joins us
(00:50):
on Local Voices. Neil, what inspired the founding of ant
Farm Youth Services and how's its mission evolved since its inception?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, thanks for asking.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Um.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
I've heard our executive director tell this story a number
of times that prior to founding ant Farm, he was
a licensed occupational therapist working in Portland but living out
on Mount Hood and so he would travel down Highway
twenty six through Sandy trying to beat the traffic early
in the morning, and he would see all these young
(01:20):
people at times, you know, times a day that they
should be doing something you know, more productive, and so
he got this idea with his partner to create an
organization that would help youth connect with activities.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
And originally it was intended.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
To be activities in nature, so outdoor adventure style activities,
but pretty quickly the community of Sandy really came back
to our founder and said, really, I mean, we'd love
to get out to the mountain, but we really need
help with is I'd really like to find a job.
And so that's kind of how ant Farm was born,
(01:58):
and you know, in helping youth find their way, find
steps along their career journey. And since that humble beginning,
we've grown to cover most of rural Placamus so with
locations in Sandy, Stacada, and Malala, and we've kind of
(02:19):
tried to grow with the community need to be what
the community uh needs us to be. And so whenever
we had a forest fire, we became a hub of
information and and resources and whenever we have a house.
We had a housing crisis and they you know, offered
offered funding to try to support our community. With that,
(02:40):
we spun up a housing program to try to connect
the people that we know that are in need with
those resources. And and whenever COVID came along, we had
never done wrap round services or or you know, rental assistance.
But we you know, we took the tools that we
had and we put a program together to to take
the resources that were available at a state in a
(03:02):
county level and connect them with the people that we
know in our community that need them.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
That is terrific. Tell us about the significance behind the
name and farm and how it reflects your organizational values.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
Yeah, yeah, so it's all kind of in our our
mission statement. And so like ants are, we know them
as incredibly powerful for their size, and they can lift
more than ten times their body weights. They're really really
mighty creatures. And a farm is kind of a classic
example of a symbiosis of something of a multitude of
(03:34):
things working together to create something that's greater than the
sum of its parts. And so that's why our mission
statement is the might of one in the power of many,
and so it's we're able to work together bring the
power that we all bring as individuals, but work better
together in the community.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
So, how do your various programs such as the cafe
and bakery, Youth and Family Services and Workforce Development interconnect
to support youth and families.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
Yeah, so I think the interconnectedness is what makes our
programs work so well. And so I am the director
of Workforce Development, and I'm you know, I constantly benefit
from having these other resources to draw from. And so,
for example, if I have a youth that's one of
my my youth employees who's struggling or you know, can't
show up to work on time, or you know, we
get to a point where, when in a traditional employment
(04:26):
setting we would terminate an employee, I'm able to call
on our Youth and Family Services team to say, hey,
connect with this young person.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Help them.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
You know, let's figure out what the barrier is that's
preventing them from getting to.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Work on time.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
And sometimes it's as simple as they need a few
bucks to buy an alarm clock. Our cafe and bakery
is such a crucial resource as well, because for a
lot of us, for myself, it's how we found out
about a farm. You know, we walked in the door
to get a cup of coffee and figured it out
pretty quickly that there's something more going on here than
just really good pastries and the best breakfast burrito around.
(05:00):
It's it's a kind of a jumping off point for
for a lot of the people that benefit from our services.
And you know, the beauty of it is that we
take we take all kinds and so on Tuesday morning,
we might have a Bible study going on, and in
the evening we might have an lgbt q I A
two S plus event going on with the living room.
(05:23):
There's there's always something going on for folks from all
different walks of life, and for.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
People who don't know where where is the cafe and bakerylocated?
Speaker 4 (05:32):
Yeah, so our cafe and bakery is at three nine
one four zero Proctor Boulevard in Sandy, Oregon. But we
do have another cafe location coming soon in Esticada and
a resource center coming soon in Malala.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Well that's terrific. What measurable impacts have your housing initiatives
had on the community, especially concerning youth experiencing homelessness.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Yeah, so, I think in the last year alone, we've
housed more than one hundred families. We've we've helped more
than three dozen youth experiencing houselessness, and you try to
get them rapidly placed into into housing and then help
them find help them find a long term housing placement.
I should say that I'm not in charge of our
housing department, but man, I sure do benefit from the
(06:15):
services that they provide because a lot of these a
lot of these young people when they come along, if
they're experiencing, you know, houselessness, they're maybe sleeping in their car,
they more often than not need some help finding a
job as well. And the flip side of that coin
is people will come along and find my program looking
for a job, and we'll find out as we get
to know them that they're sleeping, you know, on on
(06:38):
their their their buddy's couch, and you know, it turns
out they're they're what we define in rural Clockamus County
as as homeless. And so it's just such a valuable
resource for us to be able to connect our clients with.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
So in what way does ant Farm address the unique
challenges that are faced by rural communities in Clancimus County?
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Oh yeah, well I feel like I was kind of
going into it there just now without meaning to. So
things look different for us in rural Clacamus. So what
we kind of think of conventionally as like a houseless person,
as someone that's maybe sleeping on the side of the
road or under a bridge. For us, you know, especially
for youth experiencing houselessness in rural Cloacamus, it often looks different.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
You know.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
It's it's the kid who got kicked out by his
parents and now he's sleeping on his grandparents couch and
they just can't afford him to stay there. You know,
it's the kid who is bouncing around couch surfing from
friend's house to friend's house.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
That's a unique challenge that we face.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
And because we are we are of this community and
we are in this community, we know what that looks like.
And so we're able to make those connections and help
help our community members who are sometimes a little bit
our dubious of institutions and helped them, you know, bridge
the gap between where they're at and where they want
(07:53):
to be.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Can you share a success story that encapsulates the transformative
impact of your services on a person life?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Yeah, there there are so many.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
One that comes to mind and is is Ah, We
had a youth come along a few years back who uh,
he and his his partner and their young child had
moved out here to kind of get out of a
bad situation, and they saved their money and whenever they
went rented rented a place off the off of Craigslist
(08:24):
sight unseen.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
And when they got out here from where they.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Moved from, they found out that the apartment they had
put first in last month's rent down on was a
scam uh. And so they were left with almost nothing,
sleeping in their car, and they ran into one of
our our housing support specialists at an event that we
were we were working at at a laundry facility, and
(08:48):
just got to talking and we discovered that this person,
you know, through no fault of their own, was in
kind of dire straits. And so really quickly we got
them housed uh in one of our locations and I
got to sit down with this individual and have a
conversation about employment. And so he has been working for
us for over two years now, and despite being one
(09:10):
of our youngest crew leads, went from being a youth
to being an assistant lead to being a lead in
our community wildfire defense program doing you know, really complex
tree removals and just really impressive work. And so just
I don't know to see this this family go from
you know, living in a rough situation to having a
(09:34):
roof over their head, all their expenses met. I don't know,
it's just it makes me really proud of the work.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
That we do.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Absolutely. I mean, it really shows what a little bit
of support can do to, you know, help somebody move
to that next stage in their life. Tell us about
some of the challenges that ant Farm currently faces and
how are you addressing them to ensure continued service delivery.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
Yeah, so, I'd say this is probably not unique, especially
in the fun landscape that we operate in in this
day and age.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
But consistency in funding can can be tough.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
You know, we we are we're predominantly grant funded, and
so we are always looking for the next opportunity. We're
always making sure that we're connecting with our partners to.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
To provide the best possible level of service. But you know,
it's it can be tough.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
There are times whenever, you know, we we might experience
a gap in funding and it's those times that we
really rely on the support that we get from our
local you know, our our donors are our small dollar donors,
are our volunteer staff, all all of those things are
how we're able to continue to give the services.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
To the community that we we know they rely on.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
So looking ahead, what are nd Farm's goals for the
next five years and how do you plan to achieve them?
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (10:49):
So, I think that we are going to try to
catch up to the growth that we've experienced in the
last few years, and you know, just keep building that
solid foundation, keeper finding the services that we provide, and
then just try to look people. People approach us all
the time and say, hey, we want an air farm
in our town. How how can we get an air
farm in our town? And and that's the thing that
(11:11):
we're kind of looking for in the future is just
people who are who know their community, who care about
their community, who are motivated to try to see an
organization like ours help the people in their community that
need it. And so that's that's our plan, is to
try to to continue to meet the problems that we
know our community has UH and try to find other
(11:33):
communities that we can we can help as well.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
How can the community support your work?
Speaker 4 (11:39):
Yeah so, I mean, folks can go to our website
and Farm Youth Services dot com UH and you know,
either sign up for for one of our volunteer days
or you know, reach out to us directly if you
if you see something on our website that you have
some expertise in. We love having community members come out
and support our different programs and and of course always
(12:01):
you know donations. Donations go a long way. And so
we have a big event coming up here in May,
and you know, it's an annual fundraiser. It will be
a big celebration of the work that we've done over
the last year. And so if anyone's interested in coming
out and seeing us and hearing some of our stories
that will be on May seventeenth, we'd love to have
you out for that event.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Terrific. Neil, thanks for joining us on Local Voices.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Yeah, thanks, Brett, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
That's Neil Hatley with ant Farm and Clacamus County. If
you'd like to learn more, their website is Antfarm Youth
Services dot com. It seems like allergy season is getting
off to an early start this year. Allergies can be
(12:45):
especially tough for young children. Doctor Tracy Pack is a
pediatrician with Kaiser Promonente Northwest. Doctor Pack, we had an
early spring. Is that bringing an early start to allergy season.
Speaker 5 (12:56):
Definitely, with the start of spring, we're going to see
increased and that's really what is getting allergies started.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Our allergy is more difficult for children.
Speaker 5 (13:06):
I think allergies can be harder for parents to see,
perhaps if children can't use words to describe their symptoms,
but parents could simply look to their children and notice
those symptoms for example, such as red, swollen eyelids, clear
watery discharge from the eyes, running stuff he knows, or sneezing.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
What are some non pharmacological steps that parents can take
to reduce their children's exposure to allergens.
Speaker 5 (13:37):
Parents can help their child remember to wash off their
face and nasal passage as they come back inside from
out of doors, washing off hair, taking off clothing.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Does it help to limit exposure to outside air?
Speaker 6 (13:52):
You know?
Speaker 5 (13:52):
For people who have severe allergies, they can consider on
days where the pollen counts are higher to remain indoor
and do things such as closed windows and make use
of filtration devices and to those.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Little portable filtration devices. Do those help?
Speaker 5 (14:10):
I'm not aware of portable filtration devices, but for example,
many h VAC systems have HEPA filtration or indoor systems
that have HEPA filtration that can be beneficial.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Now you talked about this a little bit, but maintaining
cleanliness is something that can help. Talk about some of
the things that parents can do to reduce allergens by keeping.
Speaker 5 (14:36):
Things clean well indoors, parents can do things such as
vacuuming and for dust mites, keeping away stuffed animals from bedding,
and simply as you're moving from out of doors to indoors,
taking off shoes or leaving jackets and other clothing that
(14:56):
has pollens coated on it at the door.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
One thing I've seen is the TV weather forecasts will
show a pollen count. Even my phone has a pollen
count on it. Does it help to look at those?
Speaker 5 (15:07):
It can be helpful to look at pollen counts, and
on days that are exceptionally high, you might consider avoiding
your out out of doors times rescheduling for a day
that has a little bit less We're kind of lucky
on rainy days that we can intermittently get some pollen relief,
so that that might be a benefit of some of
our Oregon weather sure sundbreaks and showers can help us
(15:33):
be more out of doors.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Yeah, helps knock down the pollen. Does it help to
talk with the doctor, especially if they are problems that
parents can't resolve with limiting outdoor exposure and keeping things clean.
Speaker 5 (15:46):
Definitely. I want to be able to see a child
for allergy related symptoms, if they had swelling of their face,
they had severe eye irritation, if they're having asthma symptoms
that are making it difficult for them to breathe, or
hives at their body that aren't resolved with over the
counter medicines.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Yeah, what type of treatments are available or the.
Speaker 5 (16:10):
Counter medications will include antihistamines and those can be medicines
such as cleratin or xertec. There are medicines that target
eye symptoms for example allergic eye drops, as well as
nasal symptoms like nasal steroids.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
And do most of those have levels that you would
use in a child. Obviously it would be less than
you would for an adult.
Speaker 7 (16:34):
Right.
Speaker 5 (16:35):
Dosing for these medicines is listed on the product, but
you should always check with your child's pediatrician for the
most effective dose and care plan for them.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
That's doctor Tracy Pack, a pediatrician with Kinder Permanente Northwest,
with tips on how to help children with allergies. The
Federal Emergency Managed Agency has been helping cities and counties
paid to prepare for disasters. Every year, FEMA provides BRICK
(17:06):
grants to fund specific projects. Steven Richardson with Oregon Emergency
Management joins us on local voices. Stephen, what are brick grants?
Speaker 5 (17:14):
Sure?
Speaker 8 (17:15):
So, BRICK is building resilient infrastructure community grants, and these
grants are intended for large infrastructure type projects, whether it
is water treatment systems, verbal evacuation center, something that general
post disaster grants don't have the funding for. And our
focus on holistic community resilience, so not just one piece
(17:35):
of an area or one section, but really regional geographical
type projects that are pretty large in scale to benefit
a pretty wide verse, diverse people and populations.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Sounds like these are really important then for disaster preparedness
for communities.
Speaker 8 (17:53):
Yeah, this is one of the few grands set is
reliable and that it is open every year. With post
as astra grants, we never known we never want a
disaster to occur. With the Brick grant, we knew that
every fall ish this grant would open, which would allow
for communities and it had a pretty large amount of
money that was available through a national competition.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Do you have some examples of BRICK grants and how
they're being used around the state.
Speaker 8 (18:21):
Yeah, So we've got a couple of grants that are
used to battle the heat Dome City of Portland was
going to fund trees that were going to provide some
shade in some of the areas that had a lot
of excessive heat. We use them a lot for mitigation planning.
So to even be eligible for any kind of a
(18:42):
FEMA grant, you must have a natural hydrid mitigation plan,
and those plans expire or lose their FEMA approval every
five years, and so BRICK being a dependable, reoccurring funding source,
we did a lot of mitigation plans throughout the state
to make sure that folks had their natural mitigation lands
that were available during times of a disaster and to
(19:02):
make them eligal for these grants. Some of the other
things that we've done with the BRICK grants is looking
at microgrids or backup power systems for critical infrastructure. Recently,
we had some larger projects that were submitted for water
treatment centers being more seismically retrofitted. Really focusing on the
(19:23):
Cascadia subduction zone and those types of issues that are
coming up through ORGAN and then just aging infrastructure, you
know things that were built many, many years ago, where
now we have updated building codes or even updated more
sustainable products that can withstand shaking of a Cascadia event
or even the heat of a wildfire.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Is there an average amount that Oregon receives annually for
BRICK grants or does it vary depending on what the
requests have been and what's approved.
Speaker 8 (19:55):
It varies on the dependable or I'm sorry the request,
So we'll get a notice of funding which outlines and
even the amount available to BRICK is different. The only
thing that's really remained the same is what's called the
state set aside, which is a small allocation that every
state is eligible to use. And it's almost, if you would,
a guaranteed amount of funding that has been around one
(20:19):
to two million over the last few years that BRICK
has been around the rest of it's the national competitive
pot and in twenty twenty, ORGAN did not get anything
in the national competitive selection. So we wanted to look
back and really build out how can ORGAN be more competitive.
So we created the Non Disaster Branch back in twenty
twenty one. Twenty twenty one, we started getting some of
(20:42):
our national competitive I believe we got three or four
projects in twenty one. Twenty two is our big year.
We were fourth in the nation for selected amounts, and
then in twenty twenty three, both twenty two and twenty three,
excuse me, we were number one in FEMA Region ten
for competitive amounts, doing really well in getting those funding
(21:02):
and on behalf of the state in the FEMA region.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Do you know if current BRICK grants will receive funding?
Speaker 8 (21:08):
So with the recent memo, what we know is that
BRICK grants that were awarded will continue to receive their
funding through the peer to performance that they were given.
BRICK grants that were selected but not yet awarded, our
understanding is may not receive their award, and those that
were submitted but yet not selected are also not going
(21:32):
to be reviewed as well. So it's really in flux,
and the state is trying to navigate through its federal
partners and channels of what exactly the memo means for
current existing projects that were selected and funded and then
those that were in the pipeline of review.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
That certainly has to be difficult for planning, Steven, anything
else you want to add that I didn't ask you.
Speaker 8 (21:52):
About a lot of the communities relied on these grants
to really bolster their community resilience, and unfortunately the uncertainty
of BRICK has caused a little bit of uncertainty within
Oregon's ability to prepare for and mitigate against natural disasters.
OEO was committed and my team is committed to working
(22:13):
to find any federal program that we are able to
update in upgrade infrastructure that's going to protect populations and
people and again making the state more resilient.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Steven, thanks for joining us on local voices that Steven
richardson with Oregon Emergency Management and details on federal BRICK
grants that are going away. They've helped Oregon cities and
counties across the state prepare for disasters. The money is
being caught as part of the federal budget reductions. The
(22:45):
Oregon House passed bill that requires school districts to impose
cell phone bands. State Representative Kim Walla started the discussion
last summer.
Speaker 6 (22:53):
There's still concerns.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
There's concerns about how this is going to be enforced.
School districts in Oregon have to this. They have different
ways of enforcing it. The bill just says you must
your district must have a policy, and there must be
some kind of consequences. So how you do your bell
to bell ban is up to you. How you enforce
(23:16):
it is up to you as a district. But I
just we went ahead with the bill because a number
of districts having enacted this, but not all of them.
And we have some of the poorest performing schools in
the country here in Oregon, sad to say, and we
haven't seen a lot of legislation aimed at addressing that.
(23:40):
I know we have an accountability bill coming, but there
hasn't been a bunch of bills coming forward to address
low student performance. I think this is one None of
the states that have enacted legislation, and none of the
districts that I have heard about who have enforced or
introduced a policy have River course, Dad tells me a
(24:02):
lot about the need for this bill. It tells me
a lot for the need to get the phones out
of the kid's hands during school so they can learn.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
Representative April Dodson supports banning cell phones in schools.
Speaker 7 (24:13):
Today's kids are struggling and it's not just in Oregon.
Across our country, young people are experiencing rising rates of loneliness, anxiety,
and depression, and a growing body of research shows that
the constant presence of smartphones and all the distractions they
provide in our kids' lives are part of the explanation.
Some of the biggest companies in the world have made
(24:33):
it their business to commodify our children's attention, and they
have been very successful at their business. Our educators see
the results every day in their classrooms, and we've all
seen it in students' test scores and their inability to
finish a book. Something has to change, colleagues. Our teachers
shouldn't have to compete with trillion dollar tech companies and
(24:56):
the most advanced social media algorithms for students attention in
the classroom. It's not a panacea, but there is clear
evidence that phone free schools improve students academic success and
mental health. My own school district went phone free this
year and the results have been inspiring. Fewer behavioral issues,
(25:17):
better attendance, and ninety eight percent of the teachers we
surveyed said a bell to bell ban on phones has
had a positive impact in the classroom ninety eight percent,
and although many Oregon school districts have joined the growing
movement to get smartphones out of the classrooms, many others
are waiting for us to act and provide clarity and
guidance at the state level. I served on the North
(25:40):
Clackamis School Board when we adopted our cell phone policy,
and it's a tough conversation to have. I'll be honest,
those of you who have school aged children like I do,
are going to get an earfull at dinner tonight if
you vote I. But this bill is about having the
backs of districts, parents and educators who see the need
for change and making sure every every student in our
(26:00):
state can have an education where engagement in the classroom
is the expectation and not the exception. I want to
emphasize that this bill preserves space for local decision making
and community input. We're setting a clear standard for our
districts based in science, but it's still up to each
district to determine how they want to implement a bell
(26:21):
to bell ban. In my district, we found success with pouches.
Other districts have an often away policy where students are
required to keep phones in their backpacks or lockers until
the end of the day.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
Representative Mark Owen says he has concerns about the bill.
Speaker 6 (26:35):
I believe that cell phones don't have much room in
the classroom. I do believe that social media is very
detrimental to adults and expressly.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
More to kiddos.
Speaker 6 (26:44):
I do believe that our schools and our school boards
already have the ability, as we heard the carriers say,
to impose such policy. So we're going to decide here
today as a group whether we want to make and
school boards to do policy that they already have the
ability to do or not to do. Is this a
(27:08):
slippery slope that we're entering in today that now we're
going to mandate stuff that is permissive for school boards
to do and make them do that. Just think about this,
because and when we're back here in twenty seven or
twenty nine, are we starting down a path of taking
school board discretion out on policy? I would say yes,
let us not vote to do that today, because there's
(27:31):
only a couple of school district in the whole state
that decided not to do this, and what they want
from US's political cover. That's what you're doing is giving
school boards political cover to do the right thing. The
next time we vote here, we might be giving political
cover to some school boards that don't want to do that.
So be careful of how you vote today and look
at the future of unintended consequences or attendant consequences.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Representative Cyrus Javity also has concerns.
Speaker 9 (27:55):
I rise in opposition not because I don't see the
value of the intent in this bill, because I believe
local control still matters in Tilmook, in my district, until
my county, Classic County. They have policies in place that
are working effectively. The school board adopted, they do places,
phones and pouches. It's working fine, and this feels heavy
handed to them. And so as they reached out this
(28:17):
week to share their concerns, I promised that I would
weigh in and let their voices be heard. There's good arguments,
and for state wide consistency, it can create clarity, it
can avoid patchwork policies and signal that we take certain
issues seriously. I totally get it, but there are also
very real downsides. When we override local authority, we risk
(28:39):
ignoring the unique circumstances of these individual communities. What works
for a large urban district may not really work for
a small rural one. And to my friend from the
front tier Oregon district the best part of the state,
I disagree with.
Speaker 6 (28:56):
That, but.
Speaker 9 (28:59):
I agree that we've empowered the boards. They have the
flexibility to do this, and when we start implementing policies
like this piecemeal, it does send an interest precedent.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
The bill requiring school districts to establish a cell phone
banned policy past the House with bipartisan support and now
moves to the Senate. Thanks for listening to Local Voices.
I'm brad Ford. You can hear past episodes on the
iHeartRadio app under the podcast tab. Local Voices is a
public affairs presentation from iHeartRadio.
Welcome to Local Voices. I'm brad Ford. This week how
ant Farm is helping make a difference in the lives
of kids and young people in Clacamus County. Allergies can
be especially difficult for young children, and their parents will
have some tips. Brick grants are important for emergency planning
in Oregon and they're going away. Plus there's bipartisan support
in the Oregon legislature for a bill that requires school
(00:27):
districts to establish cell phone bands. There's an organization in
Clacamus County that's making a dramatic difference in the lives
of kids and young people. It's called ant Farm. Neil
Hatley is the director of Workforce Development and joins us
(00:50):
on Local Voices. Neil, what inspired the founding of ant
Farm Youth Services and how's its mission evolved since its inception?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, thanks for asking.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Um.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
I've heard our executive director tell this story a number
of times that prior to founding ant Farm, he was
a licensed occupational therapist working in Portland but living out
on Mount Hood and so he would travel down Highway
twenty six through Sandy trying to beat the traffic early
in the morning, and he would see all these young
(01:20):
people at times, you know, times a day that they
should be doing something you know, more productive, and so
he got this idea with his partner to create an
organization that would help youth connect with activities.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
And originally it was intended.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
To be activities in nature, so outdoor adventure style activities,
but pretty quickly the community of Sandy really came back
to our founder and said, really, I mean, we'd love
to get out to the mountain, but we really need
help with is I'd really like to find a job.
And so that's kind of how ant Farm was born,
(01:58):
and you know, in helping youth find their way, find
steps along their career journey. And since that humble beginning,
we've grown to cover most of rural Placamus so with
locations in Sandy, Stacada, and Malala, and we've kind of
(02:19):
tried to grow with the community need to be what
the community uh needs us to be. And so whenever
we had a forest fire, we became a hub of
information and and resources and whenever we have a house.
We had a housing crisis and they you know, offered
offered funding to try to support our community. With that,
(02:40):
we spun up a housing program to try to connect
the people that we know that are in need with
those resources. And and whenever COVID came along, we had
never done wrap round services or or you know, rental assistance.
But we you know, we took the tools that we
had and we put a program together to to take
the resources that were available at a state in a
(03:02):
county level and connect them with the people that we
know in our community that need them.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
That is terrific. Tell us about the significance behind the
name and farm and how it reflects your organizational values.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
Yeah, yeah, so it's all kind of in our our
mission statement. And so like ants are, we know them
as incredibly powerful for their size, and they can lift
more than ten times their body weights. They're really really
mighty creatures. And a farm is kind of a classic
example of a symbiosis of something of a multitude of
(03:34):
things working together to create something that's greater than the
sum of its parts. And so that's why our mission
statement is the might of one in the power of many,
and so it's we're able to work together bring the
power that we all bring as individuals, but work better
together in the community.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
So, how do your various programs such as the cafe
and bakery, Youth and Family Services and Workforce Development interconnect
to support youth and families.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
Yeah, so I think the interconnectedness is what makes our
programs work so well. And so I am the director
of Workforce Development, and I'm you know, I constantly benefit
from having these other resources to draw from. And so,
for example, if I have a youth that's one of
my my youth employees who's struggling or you know, can't
show up to work on time, or you know, we
get to a point where, when in a traditional employment
(04:26):
setting we would terminate an employee, I'm able to call
on our Youth and Family Services team to say, hey,
connect with this young person.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Help them.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
You know, let's figure out what the barrier is that's
preventing them from getting to.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Work on time.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
And sometimes it's as simple as they need a few
bucks to buy an alarm clock. Our cafe and bakery
is such a crucial resource as well, because for a
lot of us, for myself, it's how we found out
about a farm. You know, we walked in the door
to get a cup of coffee and figured it out
pretty quickly that there's something more going on here than
just really good pastries and the best breakfast burrito around.
(05:00):
It's it's a kind of a jumping off point for
for a lot of the people that benefit from our services.
And you know, the beauty of it is that we
take we take all kinds and so on Tuesday morning,
we might have a Bible study going on, and in
the evening we might have an lgbt q I A
two S plus event going on with the living room.
(05:23):
There's there's always something going on for folks from all
different walks of life, and for.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
People who don't know where where is the cafe and bakerylocated?
Speaker 4 (05:32):
Yeah, so our cafe and bakery is at three nine
one four zero Proctor Boulevard in Sandy, Oregon. But we
do have another cafe location coming soon in Esticada and
a resource center coming soon in Malala.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Well that's terrific. What measurable impacts have your housing initiatives
had on the community, especially concerning youth experiencing homelessness.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Yeah, so, I think in the last year alone, we've
housed more than one hundred families. We've we've helped more
than three dozen youth experiencing houselessness, and you try to
get them rapidly placed into into housing and then help
them find help them find a long term housing placement.
I should say that I'm not in charge of our
housing department, but man, I sure do benefit from the
(06:15):
services that they provide because a lot of these a
lot of these young people when they come along, if
they're experiencing, you know, houselessness, they're maybe sleeping in their car,
they more often than not need some help finding a
job as well. And the flip side of that coin
is people will come along and find my program looking
for a job, and we'll find out as we get
to know them that they're sleeping, you know, on on
(06:38):
their their their buddy's couch, and you know, it turns
out they're they're what we define in rural Clockamus County
as as homeless. And so it's just such a valuable
resource for us to be able to connect our clients with.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
So in what way does ant Farm address the unique
challenges that are faced by rural communities in Clancimus County?
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Oh yeah, well I feel like I was kind of
going into it there just now without meaning to. So
things look different for us in rural Clacamus. So what
we kind of think of conventionally as like a houseless person,
as someone that's maybe sleeping on the side of the
road or under a bridge. For us, you know, especially
for youth experiencing houselessness in rural Cloacamus, it often looks different.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
You know.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
It's it's the kid who got kicked out by his
parents and now he's sleeping on his grandparents couch and
they just can't afford him to stay there. You know,
it's the kid who is bouncing around couch surfing from
friend's house to friend's house.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
That's a unique challenge that we face.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
And because we are we are of this community and
we are in this community, we know what that looks like.
And so we're able to make those connections and help
help our community members who are sometimes a little bit
our dubious of institutions and helped them, you know, bridge
the gap between where they're at and where they want
(07:53):
to be.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Can you share a success story that encapsulates the transformative
impact of your services on a person life?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Yeah, there there are so many.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
One that comes to mind and is is Ah, We
had a youth come along a few years back who uh,
he and his his partner and their young child had
moved out here to kind of get out of a
bad situation, and they saved their money and whenever they
went rented rented a place off the off of Craigslist
(08:24):
sight unseen.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
And when they got out here from where they.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Moved from, they found out that the apartment they had
put first in last month's rent down on was a
scam uh. And so they were left with almost nothing,
sleeping in their car, and they ran into one of
our our housing support specialists at an event that we
were we were working at at a laundry facility, and
(08:48):
just got to talking and we discovered that this person,
you know, through no fault of their own, was in
kind of dire straits. And so really quickly we got
them housed uh in one of our locations and I
got to sit down with this individual and have a
conversation about employment. And so he has been working for
us for over two years now, and despite being one
(09:10):
of our youngest crew leads, went from being a youth
to being an assistant lead to being a lead in
our community wildfire defense program doing you know, really complex
tree removals and just really impressive work. And so just
I don't know to see this this family go from
you know, living in a rough situation to having a
(09:34):
roof over their head, all their expenses met. I don't know,
it's just it makes me really proud of the work.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
That we do.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Absolutely. I mean, it really shows what a little bit
of support can do to, you know, help somebody move
to that next stage in their life. Tell us about
some of the challenges that ant Farm currently faces and
how are you addressing them to ensure continued service delivery.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
Yeah, so, I'd say this is probably not unique, especially
in the fun landscape that we operate in in this
day and age.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
But consistency in funding can can be tough.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
You know, we we are we're predominantly grant funded, and
so we are always looking for the next opportunity. We're
always making sure that we're connecting with our partners to.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
To provide the best possible level of service. But you know,
it's it can be tough.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
There are times whenever, you know, we we might experience
a gap in funding and it's those times that we
really rely on the support that we get from our
local you know, our our donors are our small dollar donors,
are our volunteer staff, all all of those things are
how we're able to continue to give the services.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
To the community that we we know they rely on.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
So looking ahead, what are nd Farm's goals for the
next five years and how do you plan to achieve them?
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (10:49):
So, I think that we are going to try to
catch up to the growth that we've experienced in the
last few years, and you know, just keep building that
solid foundation, keeper finding the services that we provide, and
then just try to look people. People approach us all
the time and say, hey, we want an air farm
in our town. How how can we get an air
farm in our town? And and that's the thing that
(11:11):
we're kind of looking for in the future is just
people who are who know their community, who care about
their community, who are motivated to try to see an
organization like ours help the people in their community that
need it. And so that's that's our plan, is to
try to to continue to meet the problems that we
know our community has UH and try to find other
(11:33):
communities that we can we can help as well.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
How can the community support your work?
Speaker 4 (11:39):
Yeah so, I mean, folks can go to our website
and Farm Youth Services dot com UH and you know,
either sign up for for one of our volunteer days
or you know, reach out to us directly if you
if you see something on our website that you have
some expertise in. We love having community members come out
and support our different programs and and of course always
(12:01):
you know donations. Donations go a long way. And so
we have a big event coming up here in May,
and you know, it's an annual fundraiser. It will be
a big celebration of the work that we've done over
the last year. And so if anyone's interested in coming
out and seeing us and hearing some of our stories
that will be on May seventeenth, we'd love to have
you out for that event.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Terrific. Neil, thanks for joining us on Local Voices.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Yeah, thanks, Brett, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
That's Neil Hatley with ant Farm and Clacamus County. If
you'd like to learn more, their website is Antfarm Youth
Services dot com. It seems like allergy season is getting
off to an early start this year. Allergies can be
(12:45):
especially tough for young children. Doctor Tracy Pack is a
pediatrician with Kaiser Promonente Northwest. Doctor Pack, we had an
early spring. Is that bringing an early start to allergy season.
Speaker 5 (12:56):
Definitely, with the start of spring, we're going to see
increased and that's really what is getting allergies started.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Our allergy is more difficult for children.
Speaker 5 (13:06):
I think allergies can be harder for parents to see,
perhaps if children can't use words to describe their symptoms,
but parents could simply look to their children and notice
those symptoms for example, such as red, swollen eyelids, clear
watery discharge from the eyes, running stuff he knows, or sneezing.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
What are some non pharmacological steps that parents can take
to reduce their children's exposure to allergens.
Speaker 5 (13:37):
Parents can help their child remember to wash off their
face and nasal passage as they come back inside from
out of doors, washing off hair, taking off clothing.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Does it help to limit exposure to outside air?
Speaker 6 (13:52):
You know?
Speaker 5 (13:52):
For people who have severe allergies, they can consider on
days where the pollen counts are higher to remain indoor
and do things such as closed windows and make use
of filtration devices and to those.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Little portable filtration devices. Do those help?
Speaker 5 (14:10):
I'm not aware of portable filtration devices, but for example,
many h VAC systems have HEPA filtration or indoor systems
that have HEPA filtration that can be beneficial.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Now you talked about this a little bit, but maintaining
cleanliness is something that can help. Talk about some of
the things that parents can do to reduce allergens by keeping.
Speaker 5 (14:36):
Things clean well indoors, parents can do things such as
vacuuming and for dust mites, keeping away stuffed animals from bedding,
and simply as you're moving from out of doors to indoors,
taking off shoes or leaving jackets and other clothing that
(14:56):
has pollens coated on it at the door.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
One thing I've seen is the TV weather forecasts will
show a pollen count. Even my phone has a pollen
count on it. Does it help to look at those?
Speaker 5 (15:07):
It can be helpful to look at pollen counts, and
on days that are exceptionally high, you might consider avoiding
your out out of doors times rescheduling for a day
that has a little bit less We're kind of lucky
on rainy days that we can intermittently get some pollen relief,
so that that might be a benefit of some of
our Oregon weather sure sundbreaks and showers can help us
(15:33):
be more out of doors.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Yeah, helps knock down the pollen. Does it help to
talk with the doctor, especially if they are problems that
parents can't resolve with limiting outdoor exposure and keeping things clean.
Speaker 5 (15:46):
Definitely. I want to be able to see a child
for allergy related symptoms, if they had swelling of their face,
they had severe eye irritation, if they're having asthma symptoms
that are making it difficult for them to breathe, or
hives at their body that aren't resolved with over the
counter medicines.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Yeah, what type of treatments are available or the.
Speaker 5 (16:10):
Counter medications will include antihistamines and those can be medicines
such as cleratin or xertec. There are medicines that target
eye symptoms for example allergic eye drops, as well as
nasal symptoms like nasal steroids.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
And do most of those have levels that you would
use in a child. Obviously it would be less than
you would for an adult.
Speaker 7 (16:34):
Right.
Speaker 5 (16:35):
Dosing for these medicines is listed on the product, but
you should always check with your child's pediatrician for the
most effective dose and care plan for them.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
That's doctor Tracy Pack, a pediatrician with Kinder Permanente Northwest,
with tips on how to help children with allergies. The
Federal Emergency Managed Agency has been helping cities and counties
paid to prepare for disasters. Every year, FEMA provides BRICK
(17:06):
grants to fund specific projects. Steven Richardson with Oregon Emergency
Management joins us on local voices. Stephen, what are brick grants?
Speaker 5 (17:14):
Sure?
Speaker 8 (17:15):
So, BRICK is building resilient infrastructure community grants, and these
grants are intended for large infrastructure type projects, whether it
is water treatment systems, verbal evacuation center, something that general
post disaster grants don't have the funding for. And our
focus on holistic community resilience, so not just one piece
(17:35):
of an area or one section, but really regional geographical
type projects that are pretty large in scale to benefit
a pretty wide verse, diverse people and populations.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Sounds like these are really important then for disaster preparedness
for communities.
Speaker 8 (17:53):
Yeah, this is one of the few grands set is
reliable and that it is open every year. With post
as astra grants, we never known we never want a
disaster to occur. With the Brick grant, we knew that
every fall ish this grant would open, which would allow
for communities and it had a pretty large amount of
money that was available through a national competition.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Do you have some examples of BRICK grants and how
they're being used around the state.
Speaker 8 (18:21):
Yeah, So we've got a couple of grants that are
used to battle the heat Dome City of Portland was
going to fund trees that were going to provide some
shade in some of the areas that had a lot
of excessive heat. We use them a lot for mitigation planning.
So to even be eligible for any kind of a
(18:42):
FEMA grant, you must have a natural hydrid mitigation plan,
and those plans expire or lose their FEMA approval every
five years, and so BRICK being a dependable, reoccurring funding source,
we did a lot of mitigation plans throughout the state
to make sure that folks had their natural mitigation lands
that were available during times of a disaster and to
(19:02):
make them eligal for these grants. Some of the other
things that we've done with the BRICK grants is looking
at microgrids or backup power systems for critical infrastructure. Recently,
we had some larger projects that were submitted for water
treatment centers being more seismically retrofitted. Really focusing on the
(19:23):
Cascadia subduction zone and those types of issues that are
coming up through ORGAN and then just aging infrastructure, you
know things that were built many, many years ago, where
now we have updated building codes or even updated more
sustainable products that can withstand shaking of a Cascadia event
or even the heat of a wildfire.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Is there an average amount that Oregon receives annually for
BRICK grants or does it vary depending on what the
requests have been and what's approved.
Speaker 8 (19:55):
It varies on the dependable or I'm sorry the request,
So we'll get a notice of funding which outlines and
even the amount available to BRICK is different. The only
thing that's really remained the same is what's called the
state set aside, which is a small allocation that every
state is eligible to use. And it's almost, if you would,
a guaranteed amount of funding that has been around one
(20:19):
to two million over the last few years that BRICK
has been around the rest of it's the national competitive
pot and in twenty twenty, ORGAN did not get anything
in the national competitive selection. So we wanted to look
back and really build out how can ORGAN be more competitive.
So we created the Non Disaster Branch back in twenty
twenty one. Twenty twenty one, we started getting some of
(20:42):
our national competitive I believe we got three or four
projects in twenty one. Twenty two is our big year.
We were fourth in the nation for selected amounts, and
then in twenty twenty three, both twenty two and twenty three,
excuse me, we were number one in FEMA Region ten
for competitive amounts, doing really well in getting those funding
(21:02):
and on behalf of the state in the FEMA region.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Do you know if current BRICK grants will receive funding?
Speaker 8 (21:08):
So with the recent memo, what we know is that
BRICK grants that were awarded will continue to receive their
funding through the peer to performance that they were given.
BRICK grants that were selected but not yet awarded, our
understanding is may not receive their award, and those that
were submitted but yet not selected are also not going
(21:32):
to be reviewed as well. So it's really in flux,
and the state is trying to navigate through its federal
partners and channels of what exactly the memo means for
current existing projects that were selected and funded and then
those that were in the pipeline of review.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
That certainly has to be difficult for planning, Steven, anything
else you want to add that I didn't ask you.
Speaker 8 (21:52):
About a lot of the communities relied on these grants
to really bolster their community resilience, and unfortunately the uncertainty
of BRICK has caused a little bit of uncertainty within
Oregon's ability to prepare for and mitigate against natural disasters.
OEO was committed and my team is committed to working
(22:13):
to find any federal program that we are able to
update in upgrade infrastructure that's going to protect populations and
people and again making the state more resilient.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Steven, thanks for joining us on local voices that Steven
richardson with Oregon Emergency Management and details on federal BRICK
grants that are going away. They've helped Oregon cities and
counties across the state prepare for disasters. The money is
being caught as part of the federal budget reductions. The
(22:45):
Oregon House passed bill that requires school districts to impose
cell phone bands. State Representative Kim Walla started the discussion
last summer.
Speaker 6 (22:53):
There's still concerns.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
There's concerns about how this is going to be enforced.
School districts in Oregon have to this. They have different
ways of enforcing it. The bill just says you must
your district must have a policy, and there must be
some kind of consequences. So how you do your bell
to bell ban is up to you. How you enforce
(23:16):
it is up to you as a district. But I
just we went ahead with the bill because a number
of districts having enacted this, but not all of them.
And we have some of the poorest performing schools in
the country here in Oregon, sad to say, and we
haven't seen a lot of legislation aimed at addressing that.
(23:40):
I know we have an accountability bill coming, but there
hasn't been a bunch of bills coming forward to address
low student performance. I think this is one None of
the states that have enacted legislation, and none of the
districts that I have heard about who have enforced or
introduced a policy have River course, Dad tells me a
(24:02):
lot about the need for this bill. It tells me
a lot for the need to get the phones out
of the kid's hands during school so they can learn.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
Representative April Dodson supports banning cell phones in schools.
Speaker 7 (24:13):
Today's kids are struggling and it's not just in Oregon.
Across our country, young people are experiencing rising rates of loneliness, anxiety,
and depression, and a growing body of research shows that
the constant presence of smartphones and all the distractions they
provide in our kids' lives are part of the explanation.
Some of the biggest companies in the world have made
(24:33):
it their business to commodify our children's attention, and they
have been very successful at their business. Our educators see
the results every day in their classrooms, and we've all
seen it in students' test scores and their inability to
finish a book. Something has to change, colleagues. Our teachers
shouldn't have to compete with trillion dollar tech companies and
(24:56):
the most advanced social media algorithms for students attention in
the classroom. It's not a panacea, but there is clear
evidence that phone free schools improve students academic success and
mental health. My own school district went phone free this
year and the results have been inspiring. Fewer behavioral issues,
(25:17):
better attendance, and ninety eight percent of the teachers we
surveyed said a bell to bell ban on phones has
had a positive impact in the classroom ninety eight percent,
and although many Oregon school districts have joined the growing
movement to get smartphones out of the classrooms, many others
are waiting for us to act and provide clarity and
guidance at the state level. I served on the North
(25:40):
Clackamis School Board when we adopted our cell phone policy,
and it's a tough conversation to have. I'll be honest,
those of you who have school aged children like I do,
are going to get an earfull at dinner tonight if
you vote I. But this bill is about having the
backs of districts, parents and educators who see the need
for change and making sure every every student in our
(26:00):
state can have an education where engagement in the classroom
is the expectation and not the exception. I want to
emphasize that this bill preserves space for local decision making
and community input. We're setting a clear standard for our
districts based in science, but it's still up to each
district to determine how they want to implement a bell
(26:21):
to bell ban. In my district, we found success with pouches.
Other districts have an often away policy where students are
required to keep phones in their backpacks or lockers until
the end of the day.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
Representative Mark Owen says he has concerns about the bill.
Speaker 6 (26:35):
I believe that cell phones don't have much room in
the classroom. I do believe that social media is very
detrimental to adults and expressly.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
More to kiddos.
Speaker 6 (26:44):
I do believe that our schools and our school boards
already have the ability, as we heard the carriers say,
to impose such policy. So we're going to decide here
today as a group whether we want to make and
school boards to do policy that they already have the
ability to do or not to do. Is this a
(27:08):
slippery slope that we're entering in today that now we're
going to mandate stuff that is permissive for school boards
to do and make them do that. Just think about this,
because and when we're back here in twenty seven or
twenty nine, are we starting down a path of taking
school board discretion out on policy? I would say yes,
let us not vote to do that today, because there's
(27:31):
only a couple of school district in the whole state
that decided not to do this, and what they want
from US's political cover. That's what you're doing is giving
school boards political cover to do the right thing. The
next time we vote here, we might be giving political
cover to some school boards that don't want to do that.
So be careful of how you vote today and look
at the future of unintended consequences or attendant consequences.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Representative Cyrus Javity also has concerns.
Speaker 9 (27:55):
I rise in opposition not because I don't see the
value of the intent in this bill, because I believe
local control still matters in Tilmook, in my district, until
my county, Classic County. They have policies in place that
are working effectively. The school board adopted, they do places,
phones and pouches. It's working fine, and this feels heavy
handed to them. And so as they reached out this
(28:17):
week to share their concerns, I promised that I would
weigh in and let their voices be heard. There's good arguments,
and for state wide consistency, it can create clarity, it
can avoid patchwork policies and signal that we take certain
issues seriously. I totally get it, but there are also
very real downsides. When we override local authority, we risk
(28:39):
ignoring the unique circumstances of these individual communities. What works
for a large urban district may not really work for
a small rural one. And to my friend from the
front tier Oregon district the best part of the state,
I disagree with.
Speaker 6 (28:56):
That, but.
Speaker 9 (28:59):
I agree that we've empowered the boards. They have the
flexibility to do this, and when we start implementing policies
like this piecemeal, it does send an interest precedent.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
The bill requiring school districts to establish a cell phone
banned policy past the House with bipartisan support and now
moves to the Senate. Thanks for listening to Local Voices.
I'm brad Ford. You can hear past episodes on the
iHeartRadio app under the podcast tab. Local Voices is a
public affairs presentation from iHeartRadio.
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