From Homelessness at 19 to Helping Others Find Housing Support

Test paragraph one.

Test paragraph two with a link.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Commercial Lending Taught Me About Serving the Public

In 2023 I took a job as a commercial loan consultant. It took me nine months to earn my first check. Nine months is a long time to keep showing up without a paycheck. But that job taught me something I still use every day: most people are not looking for a miracle. They are looking for someone who will explain the process, tell them the truth about it, and help them take the next step. A lot of the business owners I worked with were stuck on hard-money loans. Those loans can keep a business running, but they cost a lot. Part of my work was helping owners move to traditional lines of credit instead, so they could put more of their money back into their business. Some of those owners were right here in Central Oregon, and the financing helped them grow. Here's what stuck with me. The owners who struggled most weren't the ones with bad ideas. They were the ones nobody had walked through the paperwork. Lending has a lot of forms, deadlines and rules. If you don't know the sy...
Read more

Bend Ran License-Plate Cameras for Six Months Before Residents Got a Say

Around July 2025, the City of Bend put up four Flock license-plate reader cameras, two on the north end of town and two on the south end. The contract cost about $20,000 a year, and it didn't need a City Council vote. Most people in Bend didn't get a say until January 7, 2026, when residents packed the council chambers to object. They asked the questions that should have been answered before the first camera went up: How long is the data kept? Who can see it? What happens if it's hacked or misused? Councilor Ariel Méndez raised serious concerns about the company's security practices. The council listened, and that part deserves credit. The next afternoon the cameras were turned off. The contract won't be renewed, and the cameras are coming down. The problem is the order things happened in For about six months, cameras recorded where Bend drivers went before the public had any of those answers. Data about where residents drive belongs to the people of this city, ...
Read more

Nine Kids, One Family

I grew up with eight siblings. When people hear that, the first question is usually some version of "how did that even work?" Honestly, I think growing up in a family that big shaped me in ways I'm still noticing. You're never the only one who matters In a family of nine kids, the world doesn't revolve around you. There are always other people with their own needs, their own plans and their own bad days. You learn to share. You learn to wait. And you learn that taking care of each other is just part of life. I think that's a big reason I've always been drawn to work that's about other people. On a fire crew, everybody depends on everybody. In property management, the job wasn't the buildings. It was the residents. Leading a sales team, my job was to help other people succeed. Now I'm the parent Today I'm a father myself, and being a dad has become the most important part of who I am. I'm a family man. My favorite days are simple o...
Read more