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Central Oregon Health Council hosts listening session in Sister, Oregon on Nov 1
Goal is to hear barriers, opportunities, and possible solutions to improve living conditions

Sisters, OR | October 27, 2022 — The Central Oregon Health Council is hosting a listening session in Sisters, Oregon on November 1 to hear from residents who are having trouble paying for the things they need to live, but earning too much money to qualify for financial assistance. Participants will be asked to share how they are coping, their greatest challenges, frustrations and ideas and solutions. Each listening session participant will receive $50 gift certificate (1 per household) and a free meal.

“There are simply too many hard-working people living in that grey area where they’re not eligible for financial assistance, but they’re struggling to get by day-to-day,” said MaCayla Arsenault, project manager for Central Oregon Health Council. “Our goal is to listen and to better understand the current challenges and needs. We plan to use the input from the listening sessions to help guide future funding and resource decisions.”

According to Arsenault, this growing population is referred to as ALICE — which is an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. “ALICE represents those of us who are unable to afford the basics of housing, childcare, food, transportation, health care, and technology,” said Arsenault.

There will be 11 ALICE listening sessions being facilitated throughout Central Oregon in both English and Spanish.

Participants must RSVP to attend. Location will be provided to those who reserve a seat. To RSVP, contact Linda Quon at (541) 610-4317 or [email protected].

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About Central Oregon Health Council
The Central Oregon Health Council is a not-for-profit public and private community governance entity. COHC works to improve the health of the region and provides oversight of the Medicaid/OHA population and the region’s Coordinated Care Organization (CCO), PacificSource. COHC was officially created by Senate Bill 204 in 2011 to promote the health of the region’s residents and seeks to achieve the Triple Aim of improving health outcomes, increasing satisfaction with the health system, and reducing costs. Visit www.cohealthcouncil.org for more information.