It’s been nine years since UMA was founded in Morrow County. What a few years it has been from a kitchen table to a 501C3 organization fighting for fairness and equality.

So the question has been where is UMA in the past couple months, well here is our answer. We have been to Minnesota, many trips to Portland and conferences and retreat after retreat. Education is not a problem in this small group constantly learning and assisting others.

After nine years of constant on the go we have decided that 2012 is going to be a year full of reflections and adjustments. We have had many programs running and we need this year to evaluate the effectiveness of  the organization.

So what does that mean? UMA will continue with our current programs and maintain what we are doing. While  keeping closer to home than in the past, but as the year continues we will be discussing with our board what we should keep and what we will let go.

UMA is not going anywhere and we are still as strong as ever but we realize that we need to be far more assertive in certain areas and to maximize our impact while allowing us to get rid of what is not working.

It’s not to late to DONATE!

UMA in the past year has spread it’s wings pushing our own marriage equality brochures, providing HIV rapid testing, a syringe exchange program. Still being the only openly gay run 501c3 organization working in Eastern Oregon.

We have provided education to organizations in the form of speakers to local Department of human services offices, homeless services, helped to start a warming station for the homeless in Pendleton Oregon, working to create a homeless shelter in Hermiston.

All the while still tabling at more than 50 community events spreading the message of Equality in Eastern Oregon including our own gay pride event in the summer. We need your help to continue in 2012. We need donations as well as volunteers so come one come all and help the progression of equality in rural Oregon.

UMA is a 501c3 organization and donations are tax deductible.

By KATHY ANEY

East Oregonian

The twenty-something woman approached the van looking jittery and conflicted.

Seeing that the back of the delivery-style truck was open, she meandered there. The boxy truck, with Umatilla-Morrow Alternatives Health Van written on the side panels, sat on Southwest 4^th Street next to Pendleton’s Stillman Park.

“Is this where you exchange needles?” she asked, hesitantly.

When volunteer Darrell Alston said it was, she dug in her purse and came up empty. She punched a number into her cell phone and asked the person on the other end to “bring my dirties.” She disappeared and 10 minutes later, a man drove up in a shiny Jeep. He exchanged a Ziploc bag full of dirty needles for an equal number of clean ones before jumping back into the Jeep and roared off for the next fix.

The contaminated needles lay at the bottom of a sharps container inside the van.

Alston and Frank Roa, Umatilla-Morrow Alternative (UMALT) volunteers who man the van, watched him go. Their mission, they said, is to reduce the spread of HIV, hepatitis C and other blood-borne diseases. The pair travels to locations in Pendleton, Hermiston, Umatilla and McNary to remove dirty needles from circulation.

This was part of the front page story in the East Oregonian on Saturday Dec 10th and all the while a fight for federal funding to fund syringe exchanges with a proven track record of decreasing blood born pathogens.

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Efforts are underway to ban federal funding for syringe exchange programs.  Access to clean needles has proven to be extremely effective in reducing new HIV infections among intravenous drug users.  We have not heard a final result on the syringe exchange issue.  I am hoping this means that we are still in the final round of items being negotiated.  We encourage you to please keep calling the Senate!

Negotiations are starting to conclude.  We have also heard that the White House supports maintaining current Syringe Exchange law but that the Senate continues to be a problem.  Please call Senators Reid, Durbin, Schumer, Inouye and Harkin.  Even if you’ve made a call already we need to get calls in to the Senate.  We need to keep the pressure on the Senate.  If you can only make one call, please call Senator Reid.

Here are the numbers:

*Harry Reid (D-NV) Majority Leader: 202-224-3542

*Dick Durbin (D) Majority Whip, Financial Services Subcommittee Chair: 202-224-2152

*Chuck Schumer (D) Democratic Policy Committee Chair: 202-224-6542

*Daniel Inouye (D) Appropriations Chairman: 202-224-3934

*Tom Harkin (D) Labor, HHS Subcommittee Chair: 202-224-3254

Darrell and I are back from the “BOLD” gathering in freezing  Minneapolis Minnesota. This was a gathering of Queer and Trans People of color run organizations and for people of color from all around the country. We were hosted by local people of color groups like the local Two-spirit society and were given a choice of taking one of four  history tours to minority neighborhoods. The story tour choices were the African American, Latino, Asian, and native American historic neighborhoods. We were able to learn about local history and the destruction of each of the neighborhoods and killing of the Dakota tribe of which is a common story across this country. Ending in a night of native dancing and native local dinner.

The Northwest contingent came from Latino gay pride from Portland, Asian Pacific Islander pride from Portland, UMA  from rural Oregon, Entre Hermanos, Tricone NW from Seattle, and Montana two-spirit society and Uma Rao from pride foundation.

This conference was a chance for the often dismissed people of color to gather and feel the energy and strength of one another and know that our message is being echoed from all around the nation. That message is people of color are here and to sacrifice one group of people to obtain a goal is not what we believe or support.

UMA has been on duty to staff  the warming station in Pendleton, Oregon since November 7,2011.

It has taken months of planning and we faced opposition and uncertainty about its’ opening, but on November 15, 2011,  for the first time a warming shelter has opened to assist the homeless. The  temperature that evening reached 23 degrees and the warming shelter provided a place for the homeless to go to avoid freezing to death.  The house has spots for 24 guests. Some spots are folding beds and others are pads with blankets, sheets and pillow.

Opinions are mixed about the warming station and the homeless population served. Ironically, an front page article in the East Oregonian featured an interview with a homeless man reluctant to go to the shelter because of fear of police violence and arbitrary arrests, not an unreasonable fear and considering many have mental health issues which make it hard to trust authorities often complicated by drug and alcohol problems. Its proximity to Washington Elementary School, a half-block away, has some folks concerned. Pendleton City Councilwoman Becky Marx of Ward 1 has scheduled a town-hall meeting at 6:30 p.m., Dec. 1 at Washington School to address those concerns. We feel the shelter is a step in the right direction. Hopefully, the issues with children and police will be resolved for the sake of all concerned.

Umatilla Morrow Alternatives has been working on a young adult led group and for the past 6 months. We have been honored to be working with several young Latino girls ranging from 15 to 18. The young girls came to us wanting to be involved and with a surprisingly energetic drive around wanting to help others. UMA has been working to  educating them around HIV education, social justice work, and community organizing.

We are very pleased to announce that 3 months ago they have started a LGBT and straight young adult group that has been meeting once a month in various locations. This group has members from 3 different towns (Stanfield, Hermiston, and Umatilla) and 20 members.

The next couple of projects for the group is to gather more people of which they are very excited to do as well as a craft project of where they are going to create LGBT rainbow bracelets and shirts to show their support for one another.

UMA is very happy to have them part of us and this is the 3rd group to be spawned by UMA in the fight for equality.

President Obama launches new National HIV/Aids Strategy

The new NIH/CDC National HIV/AIDS strategy  focuses on urban populations and condom distribution. This strategy has been our main mission at UMA for some time and the announcement is not really a change for us.

The Oregon State HIV/AIDS  prevention budget has been cut by 1/3.  Funding for  rural prevention programs are  being cut  100% or close to it. We attended the latest meeting with the OregonHealth Authority. During this conference, we  heard comments about people living with HIV in rural areas, ” It’s their fault” and “ Let them suffer” or “why should we spend any money on the rural areas when the bulk of the population is in Portland”. Eastern Oregon has 3 health care advocates that represent the  region. Eastern Oregon is a  vast region sparsely populated and has even scarcer  medical and prevention services for this population. Our minority  perspective presented against a  largely urban based group that is made up of around 30 people puts us at a distinct disadvantage with the State of Oregon. Currently 3% of the total HIV prevention   budget is dedicated to rural Oregon. Though we do represent a numerical minority the region entails over 60% of the physical state requiring many hours for the case work and service requirements to implement effective prevention work. We feel the current system is not  fair .

UMA in no part receives HIV/AIDS prevention funding from Oregon Health Authority. UMA does see the need for education and outreach to youth and minorities in rural areas where abstinence only education creates ignorance to the basic facts about prevention and transmission. Our youth leave the rural areas for urban centers poorly educated and prone to make poor decisions about sexual behaviors that lead to diseases including HIV/AIDS syphilis and other STDs. We know from personal experience that programs serving Eastern Oregon are similar to other minority programs. Underfunded and, as so, we are expected to compensate by traveling long distances for health care, education, and outreach which dilutes the mission further. We feel an increase in prevention funding is merited