April 22, 2023 8:30 a.m.
On Friday, Governor Tina Kotek visited communities in Hood River and Wasco counties on her One Oregon Listening Tour.
Kotek traveled to The Dalles and Hood River to hear from service providers, stakeholders and city and county elected officials about some of the state’s top priorities: housing and homelessness, affordable child care, and mental health and addiction services.
Kotek said, “I’m so impressed by the people I met today who are making things work to improve the lives of their friends and neighbors”. Kotek said, “I heard very clearly about the challenges facing the Gorge around workforce and housing, as well as an incredible can-do spirit from Oregonians who want to find creative ways to partner with the state to fix problems. They shared a lot of great ideas that I will take back with me to Salem”.
The day started with a tour of the Columbia Gorge Food Bank in The Dalles. The organization recently celebrated the completion of a new $3 million warehouse, community food center and learning kitchen. Following the tour, Kotek led a roundtable discussion about housing and homelessness in the region.
Kotek then traveled to Pacific Coast Producers, a fruit processing agricultural cooperative with Oregon locations in The Dalles and Salem. Wasco County is the top producer of sweet cherries in Oregon. Friday marked the start of the 42nd annual Northwest Cherry Festival. The Governor toured the facility and learned about the history of cherries in the region.
The next stop featured a lunch meeting about child care and early learning in Hood River. The meeting included educators and child care providers in the region, including representatives from Child Care Partners. They discussed the impact of paying child care providers better wages and the challenges of finding the necessary space in the area to host early learning programs.
Kotek then toured the Mid-Columbia Center for Living in Hood River. The organization is the designated behavioral health agency for Hood River, Wasco and Sherman counties. After the tour the Governor led a discussion about behavioral health, which included MCCFL managers, providers and counselors.
A release said Governor Kotek will visit every county in Oregon within her first year in office through the One Oregon Listening Tour to build strong partnerships across the state in order to solve problems with Oregonians. This will focus on housing and homelessness, mental health and recovery, and early learning and education.