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<DIV><FONT size=2>Another DHW office in a an area of severe economic hardship,
Boundary County, is also being closed.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>The lack of money is reality. There are hard
choices.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>However, my personal values are that funding the agencies that
provide the safety net of food, clothing, shelter, and very basic health care
should not be emasculated and/or made difficult to access beyond providing those
services to the most needy.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Many of the needy are not there just by choice, but partly,
and sometimes wholly, by circumstance -- expensive medical problems, loss of
employment, etc.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Many of us who have lived in extreme poverty for part of our
lives know the suffering and frustration that results from not having the
minimum of the essentials of life. I hope that many of us that are now
more fortunate will donate to food banks and other organizations that try to
help those without nearly adequate basics. Don't forget the pets,
too. A loving pet is an asset and an important comfort to a family in dire
circumstances, and pets must be fed and cared for also.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>W.</FONT></DIV>
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style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=v2020@ssl.fastmail.fm href="mailto:v2020@ssl.fastmail.fm">Saundra
Lund</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, April 06, 2010 9:16
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] THROW THE BUMS
OUT!!!</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><A
href="http://www.lmtribune.com/breaking-news/1304/">http://www.lmtribune.com/breaking-news/1304/</A><BR><BR>Breaking
News<BR>Orofino Health and Welfare office targeted for closure<BR>April 6,
2010, 1:49 pm<BR><BR>Associated Press<BR><BR>BOISE -- About a third of the
state's field offices for the Department of<BR>Health and Welfare, including
one in Orofino, are being closed and 126<BR>workers laid off within the next
two months as the department struggles to<BR>cope with a shrinking
budget.<BR><BR>Department officials announced Tuesday that offices in American
Falls,<BR>Bellevue, Bonners Ferry, Emmett, Jerome, McCall, Orofino, Rupert and
Soda<BR>Springs would close within the next two months, and some services in
the St.<BR>Maries office would be shifted to Coeur d'Alene.<BR><BR>"The
closures will cause hardship and inconvenience for many people,
but<BR>resources are not available to continue the current level of
office<BR>support," the department wrote in a press release.<BR><BR>The
Legislature left the decision on how to balance the Idaho Department
of<BR>Health and Welfare's $138 million general fund budget in the hands
of<BR>Director Dick Armstrong. In the press release, the department said
it<BR>evaluated traffic at each of the offices, as well as the ability to
shift<BR>services to another location.<BR><BR>Many of the offices being closed
had smaller caseloads than those carried at<BR>other offices, the department
said.<BR><BR>Health and Welfare clients will have to wait longer to get phone
responses,<BR>have their applications for services processed and meet with
staffers, the<BR>department said.<BR><BR>Officials said child welfare and
mental health services will continue to be<BR>provided in the regions affected
by office closures.<BR>___<BR><BR>For those interested, you can read more
double-speak here:<BR><A
href="http://healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/AboutUs/Newsroom/tabid/130/ctl/ArticleView">http://healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/AboutUs/Newsroom/tabid/130/ctl/ArticleView</A><BR>/mid/3061/articleId/1536/font-size2Department-of-Health-and-Welfare-Closes-N<BR>ine-Field-Offices.aspx<BR>OR<BR><A
href="http://tinyurl.com/yfz588w">http://tinyurl.com/yfz588w</A><BR><BR><BR><BR>=======================================================<BR> List
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