Community Tides

In this week’s Community Tides, KPTZ’s Chris Bricker and co-host Siobhan Canty, President & CEO of Jefferson Community Foundation, speak with Sarah Grossman, Board President of JUMP! (Jefferson Universal Movement Playground). Sarah provided pediatric Physical Therapy to children in Paraguay with the Peace Corps in the early ‘80s and during work trips to Mexico and Guatemala.  She has been a Physical Therapist for over 40 years, working with children and adults with a variety of disabling conditions over the time, on the Olympic Peninsula, and in Hospitals, Outpatient Clinics, and Skilled Nursing facilities on the East and West Coast. She joins us today to talk about JUMP!  The project has become a labor of love for Sarah and her team, from planting the seeds for this project to the exciting good news she’ll be sharing with us about the possible Spring opening of the playground at H.J. Carroll Park.

Since 1999, Jumping Mouse Children’s Center has helped kids heal through expressive mental health therapy. In the Center’s warm, homelike environment, children confront past and present hurts and discover lasting resolutions. In this edition of Community Tides, KPTZ’s Chris Bricker and co-host Siobhan Canty, President and CEO of Jefferson Community Foundation, talk with Kimberly Gorman, in her new role as Executive Director of Jumping Mouse, and Jean Scarboro, Clinical Director. We’ll learn about their important work, and how our local children are faring in these trying times.

In this edition of Community Tides, KPTZ’s Chris Bricker and co-host Siobhan Canty, President and CEO of Jefferson Community Foundation, talk with Sara Penhallegan, Founder and Director of Center Valley Animal Rescue. Since it’s inception in 2002, Sara’s vision has become a legacy of love, compassion, and the right for helpless creatures to have a “second chance” at life. The love and care of abused and abandoned animals is the soul of this organization. We discuss the center’s growth, the animals both large and small, the wide range of experience and expertise that staff and volunteer veterinarians provide, as well as the variety of volunteer opportunities available to members of our Peninsula communities. 

Twice a month during the noon hour on Fridays, KPTZ host Chris Bricker and co-host Siobhan Canty, President and CEO of Jefferson Community Foundation, meet to discuss new developments, new paradigms, and the new normal as we flow into the months ahead. This week, Siobhan and Chris talk about the landscape of good work being done here in Jefferson County and how exciting it is to see relationships develop as complementary non-profit organizations are able to find and work with one another. Chris and Siobhan emphasize the significance of general funds in the life of a non-profit organization, and also the importance of the ability of a non-profit to be able to pay a living wage to its employees. Our hosts also note that the “season of giving” to groups that do good work really needs to last year round.

On this edition of Community Tides, Siobhan Canty and KPTZ’s Chris Bricker speak with Rita Frangione, Outreach Coordinator for VetConnect – Supportive Services for Veterans through Olympic Community action programs of Clallam and Jefferson Counties. Professional services  for our veterans in need are especially important out here on the Peninsula and Washington State in general. Rita joins is to discuss the demographics, needs and resources available for our veterans.

Japanese families have a prominent history on the Olympic Peninsula. Joe Kawamoto, until his recent death, owned a picture-perfect farm, north of Quilcene on US 101, and just north of Lake Leland. Joe’s wife, Margie, decided to sell the farm. Enter the Jefferson Land Trust, and the efforts of Margie and family to preserve this historic dairy and farm, owned and farmed by the Kawamoto family for the last 100 years. To tell us more of these efforts and of the sale, Blaise Sullivan, the Jefferson Land Trust’s Stewardship and Conservation Coordinator, and Sarah Spaeth, the Trust’s Director of Conservation and Strategic Partnerships, join Siobhan and Chris for an enlightening and paradigm-shifting conversation about the process.

In this edition of Community Tides, Co-Hosts Chris Bricker and Siobhan Canty, President & CEO of Jefferson Community Foundation, speak with their special guest, Kelli Pareher, one of our County’s true treasures. Kelli’s contracted positions and duties with the County include the Proctor House – the Juvenile and Family Services alternative to Juvenile Detention – as manager of options for low, middle, and high-risk youth, She’s also a Master Trainer and facilitator to professionals on a state level, and she’s a consultant to the Center for Anti-Bullying and Non-Violence, in Denver, Colorado. Today, Kelli talks with us about her current endeavor, the OWL360-Pfeiffer House Sustainable Living Project. The Non-Profit serves our younger local population of 18 to 24 year olds who are in need of shelter and assistance. Through grants and contributions, an old Victorian house in Uptown has been converted to a center and living space.

Chris Bricker’s Co-Host for today is Jen Kingfisher, Jefferson Community Foundation’s Non-Profit Relations Manager.
Chris and Jen explore a landscape view of basic needs that that the non-profit sector service and counsel in Jefferson County.  Those needs include food assistance for adults, families and school children; financial assistance (especially with utilities); housing and rental assistance (especially with the eviction moratorium in effect for the remainder of October); Pro Bono eviction legal assistance; transitioning of the shelterless from the Fairgrounds to the Mill Road property; the need for an assist in the navigation of resources for children and their families; and the need for available and affordable childcare. 

Twice a month, co-hosts Chris Bricker and Siobhan Canty, President and CEO of Jefferson Community Foundation, get together to talk about new developments and new paradigms for our communities as we roll through the rest of 2021. In this edition of Community Tides, Siobhan and Chris speak with Richard Tucker, Executive Director of Jefferson Land Trust, about our local farm and agricultural community, the role they play in the economy and the vitality of our county, the challenges farmers face these days, and how Jefferson Land Trust supports our local farms. Finally, they explore the ways that each of us can give our local farming community our support.

This week, Siobhan and Chris speak with Bex Berryhill, who is not only Centrum’s Program Manager for Creative Youth Development, but she’s also one of the seven Cooperative directors of the Gray Coast Guild Hall in Quilcene. We learn about the building’s history, the mission of the cooperative, who gathers there, and the inclusive impact its range of activities can have on the local community.