Family Ties Help On Reservation

Hard Times Come Again No More

Beth Hamon submitted her version of the Stephen Foster song that is our theme for this series. You can too.
- Listen to Beth's version
- Beth talks about the song

Michael Smith

Michael Smith is a 50-year-old engineer from Sherwood, Oregon. Smith worked in a company that built measuring devices for computer chips, but lost his job in Oct. 2008.

He bought his house in Sherwood for $850,000 in 2006. He’s now selling it for $700,000. Once that sale goes through, he’s planning to buy another house in Happy Valley for about $350,000.

His wife is a nurse and they can afford the new place on her salary alone. They have no children.

Smith has been on unemployment benefits for about 6 months. He’s looking for work but says nobody seems to be hiring at the moment.

Mike Rust

Mike Rust is a 61-year-old union pipeline worker who lives in Burns. He's married and has 6 grown children.

He grew up in Vida, near Eugene, and his first job was as a logger, but when the timber business started to struggle he began working on natural gas pipelines, from the Northwest to the Mountain West.

He has been out of work since October and has seen a lot fewer jobs to apply for this year, because of the economy.

He is thinking of applying to jobs as far east as Misssouri, to cast a wider net.

Melissa Tokstad

Melissa Tokstad, 37, is the owner of Melika, a Hood River swim and active wear store for women.

The economy forced Tokstad to cut back on several positions at her store, including sales help and a production assistant.

This means she has to do that work herself, working more hours and spending more time in her store.  Tokstad started up a wholesale business this fall, selling her designs at different stores in the northwest.

She says her work schedule these days doesn’t leave much time to enjoy outdoor activities in the gorge -- which is why she moved there in the first place.

Kathy Watson

Kathy Watson, 53, is proprietor of Nora’s Table restaurant and Gorge Catering in Hood River.

She has changed the way she runs her restaurant by cutting costs whereever possible, doing more email marketing, and even having cooks wash dishes on slow nights to save on payroll costs for a dishwasher.

She works seven days a week, even days the restaurant isn’t open. 

Winters are slow in Hood River, so she has to plan on making enough in the summers to carry the business through the winter.  Her cuts and hard work are slowly paying off, though, and Watson says her revenue is up from this same time last year.

Even so, she's very much looking forward to an economic recovery.

Annie Adkisson and Joel Shempert

Annie Adkisson, 30, and Joel Shempert, 34, are a young married couple living in Northeast Portland with their five-month-old daughter, Niamh.

Annie left her job with a software company because she was having a baby - and because the company had stopped paying her.

Joel is now the sole breadwinner.  He's an instructor with the Multnomah Education Service District.

To help  make ends meet,  Joel and Annie are sharing their home with new housemates. They're also eating and entertaining at home, instead of going out. But, they’re still battling steep debts - particularly from credit cards - and there are medical and dental procedures they need to have done, but can’t easily afford.

All in all, though, they say they're learning to get by on far less than they thought they could.

5/20/2009 - Taking In Roommates To Make Ends Meet
6/12/2009 - Finances Affect The Whole Family
9/28/2009 - Child Care And Health Issues Complicate Unemployment Problems

Chris Baker

Chris Baker is a 42-year-old entrepreneur from Portland.

He’s started up a medical software company, CrossCurrent, which currently employs about eight people.

Last year there were 18 people on staff, but the economic crisis forced Baker to make massive cuts.

He’s married with two kids. His wife is a teacher with Portland Public Schools.

Bonnie Warren

They're making a living on one-and-a-half incomes right now; she's a certified nurse's assistant at Menlo Park Health Care, and he works in retail.

Like many young couples, they're struggling with bills, and trying to maintain a sense of fun and family.

Bonnie and Joe are raising two kids: 4-year-old Faye, a daughter from Bonnie's first marriage, and the couple's eight-month old baby, Jaden. 

Finances permitting, they hope to get married in August of 2010, but with cash in short supply, nothing's set in stone yet.

Ben Perrins And Cindi Shipley

Ben Perrins and Cindi Shipley are married, with three kids: Kya (age 9), Kenny (6), and Christopher (3). They're currently jobless and homeless, and have been moving in and out of shelters, and among friends' couches.

Often, when the parents are couch-surfing, the family splits in two, with the older kids staying at Grandma's house in North Portland.

Ben and Cindi are hoping to find work - Cindi in retail, and Ben probably working with his hands. And they're hoping to find a permanent place to call their own. The tight economy and their spotty rental history make both a challenge.

Angie Blackwell

Angie Blackwell is a 42-year old mother of five.

She lives in McMinnville with her husband, Darren.

A former tribal councilwoman for the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, she's now starting her own business as a coach for blended families.

Even in the hardest times, music helps us survive.

We're inviting you to join us in creating the music that accompanies this series.

We want to create a community version of the Stephen Foster classic Hard Times Come Again No More, with performances by everybody from school choirs and local orchestras to garage bands and folks who just want to sit down with a guitar, a banjo, or a kazoo.

Several of our OPB staffers have already recorded their versions.

You can listen to them and find out how to participate here.