Oregon Public Broadcasting

For the last year, we’ve been following a dozen Oregonians as they weathered the worst of economic times.

Some lost their jobs. Some lost their health insurance. Some had to sell their homes. And others just got by on less.

When we started to tell their stories, we asked the question: How did you survive the great recession? And today, we wrap up our Hard Times series with a look back at where they’ve been, and ask: How did the last year change you?

Annie Adkisson: "My name is Annie Adkisson I used to be on the giving end of things where I would be helping other people and giving them a hand Here recently I got a turkey for the Salvation Army, and I know what they could never tell me know about how it feels to not have money and to have people helping you."

Michael Smith: "My name is Michael Smith I’m an applied physicist in Portland Oregon and how has this recession and the experience of the past year changed me. First and foremost I think it’s been a growth opportunity for my faith taught me a lot more dependence on god and such that’s been good for me."

Angie Blackwell: "How has the past year changed me? One of the main changes I think is I’ve really come to appreciate and enjoy the things that money doesn’t buy – since I don’t have any, it’s a good thing!”That’s Angie Blackwell, the McMinnville woman we’ve been following for our “Hard Times” series. She’s always been adept at juggling her career, marriage, and four kids. The downturn is challenging her in ways she hadn’t anticipated.  As April Baer reports, when we first met Blackwell in June, she was trying to start a new consulting business. 

Angie Blackwell’s a member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. During the 90s, she ran the Spirit Mountain Foundation for a few years, and subsequently became a tribal council member. Her introduction to hard times came when she lost a tribal election, and found herself trying to start a new business at the age of 42. Part of that job is selling herself. 

Blackwell’s made a pitch for an advocacy group to a roomful of influential women. Angie Blackwell (to audience) “...I believe that really epitomizes what we’re doing here today. We know women as the nurturers of children and families. We’ve invited you here today to talk about the Children First Women’s Network for Change....”

Beyond the pitch, it was a chance to get her face in front of dozens of potential contacts. She hoped they could help her get contracts in her new vocation. She decided to become a life coach for blended families.  As the summer went on, she found getting individual clients tougher than she thought. So in September, Blackwell thought bigger.

Angie Blackwell  “I’ve been on reaching out to community colleges, and to the county extension – places that parents might already turn to for support. I’m hoping to work with some of the area churches.”

But by October, after months of meetings, she hadn’t been able to build up a customer base. Fortunately, her husband Darren’s work as a land surveyor held steady. But Blackwell still needed to start applying for office jobs – hard to come by in the slumping economy.

And at about that same time, Blackwell sat across the table from a trusted family friend in real estate, and talked about selling the house.

Angie Blackwell “The total payment is fifteen-sixty-five. So we could rent for--”

Joyce Lundeen “I wished I had that one! It’s difficult when you start with one income, then all of a sudden….it makes a big difference.”

For a while, it seemed she might qualify for a refinancing. But that never materialized, so in December, Blackwell and her husband decided to put the house on the market.

Angie Blackwell “We believe we have a really competitive asking price, especially for the square footage. It’s a bargain! In McMinnville! But the more I learn about staging the house and getting it ready for selling, the more I love it and I just want to stay!”

They’ve been in this house for nearly ten years. They’ve listed it for $259,000.  That’s substantially more than what they paid for it, but there’s no guarantee it’s the price they’ll get.  When both Blackwell and her husband Darren were working, meeting the mortgage payment was never a problem. But now, they just don’t have enough to cover the house payment and their other bills.

When she’s not working on the house, Blackwell is still pounding the pavement in search of new contacts for her consulting. She hasn’t been able to drum up a single contract. But she isn’t giving up. At this professional women’s dinner, she’s chatting up some other entrepreneurs.

Angie Blackwell  “I’m Angie, nice to meet you!”

Jamie Teasdale “Nice to meet you!”

Blackwell says it’s not easy to stay motivated, when there are bills coming in the door every day, and with the house on the market. For her, it’s a fine line between facing reality, remaining optimistic.

Angie Blackwell   “Sometimes that’s all you have! I haven’t always been so positive about things. But I think there’s no other way to be. Regardless, I’d still be in this same financial position, whether I was maintaining my hope, or sitting down with my head hung low. So I might as well keep my chin up.”

April Baer, OPB News.

Kathy Watson: "Kathy Watson, Nora’s table, Hood River. How has the recession changed me? I think it’s taught me to stop worrying when customers come in the door, is it the economy? To stop thinking about that. Focus on the food and people will find their way to you."

Chris Baker: "I’m Chris Baker and we were in danger of losing the entire company. We’re moving forward and I think we’re gaining more customers and looking to a rosier future."

We continue our “Hard Times” special.  We just heard from Chris Baker, a 43-year-old Portland entrepreneur. He founded a medical software company a few years ago. When we first met Chris, the economy was in a free fall and he'd just cut most of his staff.  As Kristian Foden-Vencil reports, it's been a tumultuous year, but things are beginning to look up.

CrossCurrent is a tiny company based in a big old Portland warehouse.

It designs software that Baker says allows surgeons to easily bill insurance companies.   In 2008, the company was going great guns with 18 employees and a bright future. There was all the fun, whacky stuff you might expect at a high-tech start-up. The software engineers had programmed sounds into their testing equipment. So they'd get a warning if there was a problem.

And if the software was working fine?

The software may have been alive, but Baker says all of a sudden markets across the world started to crash and the economy followed suit. 

Chris Baker: “So we called a board meeting and said we don’t have any money….Essentially on Friday we told everyone, no one’s coming into work on Monday and nobody’s going to get a pay check. I mean we don’t people to work and not be able to get paid.”

Baker says it was very difficult.

Chris Baker: “The first thing that comes is that it’s hard to believe you’re really at that point after working so hard trying to build something for years that a) the thing may have entirely failed on you, b) that you don’t personally know if you’re going to have a paycheck the next week and take care of your own family. And c) having to lay off friends and colleagues that you’ve with for years, it’s a pretty overwhelming experience.”

The good news for the company was that engineers had just finished the software program -- so they actually had a product to sell.

Baker says they kept a core of four people -- reduced wages and started selling.

That was in the spring.

When OPB caught up with CrossCurrent again in the summer, Baker had made another cut -- the CEO. John Valavanis had been hired out of Chicago. But Baker explained, it wasn't working out.

Chris Baker: “He was here to raise the money and he didn’t raise the money. And so we determined that we would be better off spending that money elsewhere.”

Baker felt the nationwide search for a CEO had taught him a valuable lesson.

Chris Baker: “As an Oregonian, we sit in a small city and think, gosh there are people out there that must certainly know better than us sitting here, about how to raise money and how to run things. And I would say one of the lessons I’ve learned is that that’s not necessarily true, that Portlanders and Oregonians shouldn’t undervalue their expertise and think that someone else can be your savior.”

That was in the summer. By the fall, the economy was showing signs of stabilizing and Baker was anxious to start selling his software nationwide.  He still needed a CEO, who could raise large sums.

Kim Cox: “I think that this point that the company needs to do a minimum of a $5 million raise with probably a $5 million add-on.”

That's Kim Cox -- the new CEO and veteran Portland entrepreneur Baker hired. He helped turn around another local software company, Rentrak.

That was in October. Now, Baker is moving CrossCurrent into a new office space.

Ambience: keys in lock

Chris Baker: “Let’ see. New Key. Here we' go, we're in."

Kristian: “Right so we've got a big empty office space here with some cubicles. It's actually a nice office building. It's got beautiful old beams up in the air."

Chris Baker: “It's class A office space and a great price. You know, here we are looking at some of the carnage of the bubble. Right, this was a big mortgage building and these people moved out leaving all of the cubes, a great phone system. Now it's ours."

Baker estimates he's paying about 40 percent less for the space than he would have two years ago.  Meanwhile, the obvious question is: has the new CEO been successful?

Chris Baker: “He's doing fine. We don't see a lot of him. He's out there beating the streets for money and that's exactly what he should be doing."

Kristian: "He said he'd have $2 million by Thanksgiving?"

Chris Baker: “Not yet, but we're working on it."

They're also working on landing a few more accounts.

Kristian Foden-Vencil, OPB News.

Mike Rust: “This recession has taught me that if you are a young person, stay in school and get an education. It’ll always help you down the road.”

The unemployment rate in Oregon remains at about 11-percent, according to the state. That is still one of the worst rates in the nation.

But if unemployment is mediocre in urban areas, it’s truly awful in rural parts of Oregon. In Harney County, the unemployment rate is more than 19-percent.  Many counties that used to rely on timber share those scary numbers.

From Burns, we’ve been following Mike Rust, a 61-year-old natural gas pipeline worker who has been jobless for 15 months. Ethan Lindsey returned to Burns to find Rust still in search of a paycheck.

When we first met Mike Rust earlier this year in May, he was sitting in a truck stop on the main road through town.

Back then, he was lamenting the loss of his union health benefits. His wife suffers from diabetes and like everybody else, he needs to go to the doctor every once in a while.

Mike Rust: “So far, I’ve been lucky, I haven’t gotten sick. But, we’re as they say, running naked.”

Across the street is the old Louisiana Pacific saw mill, which closed for good in 2007 – costing the county more than 100 jobs that pay well.

Rust started out in the timber industry – but when that slowed two decades back, he saw potential in the growing natural gas business.

For the past few years, he’s laid natural gas pipelines around the West.

He said he loved his job – and was hoping he would be promoted to work as a pipeline ‘inspector’ when he got his next contract.

That job would involve a little less manual labor – something he’d appreciate, he says, at his age.

Mike Rust: “Well, I liken it to working in the woods – except a lot of them time there aren’t many trees, there’s just a lot of dirt and a lot of mud. I belong to a laborers’ union and they had that type of work going on, and I don’t like working inside – I like working outside.”

The next time we caught up with Rush over the summer he was still unemployed. We talked to him as he stood outside swinging his axe, chopping wood for the coming winter.

Mike Rust: “We used to have an oil furnace, but, we got rid of the oil furnace. You might as well just take your money and throw your money in the furnace.”

Today, sitting next to where that oil furnace used to be, Rust remains out of work. In the corner of his living room, Rust has a newer wood stove and a pile of stacked wood on a ‘radio flyer’ red wagon.

Mike Rust: “I’m just getting tired. Tired of waiting.”

He says this is the longest he’s been unemployed since he was just out of high school.

Mike Rust: “Trust in the Lord that something will happen. I’m waiting for Spring. That’s why it’s always worked in construction or logging, generally. You had to have a winter-time off, unless they were big jobs. But this has just been -- bad.”

Rust says he’s still chopping wood – but he’s also added another chore to the daily routine.

Mike Rust: “Shovel snow. Keep the burning going, that’s about it.”

But, Rust says those tasks obviously won’t pay the bills.

And that’s a big concern. Rust has been unemployed for so long, his unemployment benefits check from the government is scheduled to run out this month.

Rust recognizes that he may need to compromise. He’s looking at moving to Wyoming, where natural gas work is easier to get.

And he’s widened his job search from the lower-stress, higher-pay ‘inspector’ gigs that he was targeting over the summer.

Mike Rust: “It’s hard to do real hard labor when you pass up 60. You were looking at inspector jobs, last time we met. Now, I’m taking anything that comes along. And I am looking at suggestions of any types of jobs, but haven’t figured anything out yet.”

As he thinks back on the many months of unemployment, he says it makes him contemplate his chosen career path.

Mike Rust: “This recession has taught me that if you are a young person, stay in school and get an education. It’ll always help you down the road. I wish I was a lot smarter in high school, I could have went to college. That’s what this has taught me!"

But Rust says he’s like the millions of Oregonians who grew up in the post-World War Two era, when working in the outdoors seemed like a natural fit.

Mike Rust: “I don’t think I had much choice. I mean, I didn’t think about it at the time. And do I regret it? No. That’s what Oregon’s main staple was, timber. And it’s too bad it can’t come back.”

Rust is a few years from the age when he may be able to retire and collect social security benefits.

He just hopes things turn around before then.

Ethan Lindsey, OPB News, Burns

Bonnie Warren: "My name is Bonnie Warren. I’ve got my priorities straighter. I spend more time at home with my family."

Jeanie Brisbois: “Okay, I’m Jeanie Brisbois, from the Warm Springs. How has this recession changed me, in the past year? Well, it’s just made me more aware of what’s going on. From gas prices, to grocery prices, to just being grateful I have a job.”

Our last Hard Times story takes an unusual turn. You could argue that Ben Perrins and Cindi Shipley started out in worse financial shape than anybody else we followed for this series. When we met the couple last spring, they’d been without a stable place to live for a year, and were bouncing between shelters and friends’ houses. They still rely on government assistance, rather than jobs, for income, but Shipley says the recession has been good for them.

Cindi Shipley: “My view – the recession is God’s way to push you and make you stretch yourself.”

Rob Manning reviews what the family went through in the last year – and why Shipley is happier now, than she was before.

I don’t know what your Memorial Day was like this year, but Ben Perrins’s and Shipley’s went like this: They woke up in the spare room at a friend’s house southwest of Portland. They roused their three kids and took them on public transit across the region to North Portland. It was a routine trip for them. Their youngest child stayed with Perris and Shipley while they couch-surfed, but their two school-aged kids spent weeknights at Grandma’s house, so they could stay at the same North Portland school. It pained Shipley.

Cindi Shipley:  “I only see them on the weekends, and their grandma sees them all through the week. She’s the parent to them, and that’s not the way it’s supposed to be.”

As she sat on the steps at Pioneer Courthouse Square, Cindi Shipley's oldest, nine year-old Kya was on her mind. Kya wanted to go to summer camp, but Shipley couldn’t afford it.

Cindi Shipley: “So she took it upon herself – she’s nine – took it upon herself to go to her neighbors, that she knows, of course to ask them ‘can I do any yard work for you, or whatever?’  So in three days, she’s raised seven dollars.”

Perrins and Shipley weren’t always homeless. Two years ago, Ben Perrins was working for a tow-truck company. But he says his name was at the top of the list, when the company went looking for layoffs.

Ben Perrins: “My head was on the block, so they did it.”

The couple had a history with methamphetamine, especially Ben. They say they kicked the habit by summer, but it had helped consume their cash. Add in a rent increase and the family was homeless. But the summer was brighter.

The family got into a family shelter in Gresham called “My Father’s House.”

Cindi Shipley: “This is a lot better. Now, the family is all together instead of two of the kids staying at my Mom’s house, and then Ben and I staying with our friend. Now the whole family is together.”

Little things seemed to be coming together for them, too. Nine year-old Kya went to camp, thanks to a donation they got. She’s also proud of the money she earned.

Kya: “I counted, I just can’t remember exactly....”

Kya’s mom comes and whispers in her ear.

Kya: “Twenty-seven dollars.”

But the couple had bigger worries. The shelter had a time limit, and Perrins and Shipley were concerned the family might have to separate again. The thought caused Shipley to tear up back in August. Perrins tried to console her.

Ben Perrins: “Maybe one more split-up. Hey, we put ourselves together this time, we’ll do it again. Stop… I love you. It’ll work.”

The time at the shelter wasn’t easy. The boys got the flu, and Shipley had surgery for a benign cyst.

But the illnesses and worries drew them together. And on one special weekend in November, they got to move into their own place. And, they were getting married. Shipley beamed in the wedding gown she borrowed.

Cindy Shipley: “It is an incredible weekend. Most people, they deal with getting a house or getting married. I’m doing both in two days.”

Wedding: ”I Cindi take you to be my partner....“

After the ceremony, Perrins celebrated, but also thought about the pressure of being the family’s provider, as he was before drugs and the economy dragged him down.

Ben Perrins: “It’s back to the grind again, you know, where I take them to school, and I look for work. She stays home and putting the house together. Every day things we were doing before, when I started acting stupid. And now, I’m getting a new chance.” 

Now, both parents are looking for work, though Cindi Shipley spends a lot of time at home, watching four year-old, Kristopher.

Cindi Shipley: “We can’t go outside, it’s raining outside.”

Kristopher: “Yup, it’s really raining.”

The shelter allowed the whole family to be together. Shipley says the apartment allows the kids – Kya, especially - to have a little time alone.

Cindi Shipley: “She’s a lot less stressed. She doesn’t say much about it – but you can tell that she’s less aggravated.”

And, both say without having to focus all of their energy on keeping their own lives together, they’re able to give back a little. On one freezing night earlier this week, Shipley got a call from her mom.

Cindi Shipley: “She called up Ben, late at night, and she’s crying and saying ‘I need your help, the house is flooding, I don’t know what to do’."

Cindi Shipley: “Well Ben comes out there....”

As Shipley explains how her husband fixed the plumbing, another person they’ve helped comes in the door. The kids call him, “Uncle Mike,” and he’s a homeless father himself. In exchange for the occasional night on the couch, he runs errands for them, or as he’s doing today, takes Kristopher out for a while.

Uncle Mike: “Want to go with me?”

Cindi Shipley: “Go with Uncle Mike for a little bit.”

Kristopher: “Bye, Mama.”

Cindi Shipley: “Bye, son. Can I have a kiss please? Get your coat – because it’s raining.”

Shipley says she and Perrins really appreciate all the help they’ve gotten. And she says she’s glad to have a home she can open to a friend in need, as friends did for her family, when she needed it, last spring.

Rob Manning, OPB News.

As we heard, the New Year begins with Oregon’s unemployment hovering around 11 percent. Economists say that by several measures, the recession is over, though we may be looking at a jobless recovery.

Our deepest thanks go out to the “Hard Times” participants.  They allowed our reporters to come back again and again – and gave all of us a window on how this experience shaped our lives.

Many thanks as well to musicians from across the region. They submitted their versions of the song “Hard Times Come Again No More,” the theme for our series. You’ve been listening to their interpretation of Stephen Foster’s tune throughout this program.

CREDITS: Our Hard Times special was mixed by Audio Engineer Steven KrayScott Silver, our Public Insight Analyst, provided sources for our seriesMichael Clapp is the Hard Times online editorEve Epstein produced Hard TimesMorgan Holm is our VP for news and public affairsThanks also to Think Out Loud, for helping to tell the Hard Times Story