Newsroom

Ways and Means Committee hears riveting testimony...

     State lawmakers of the Legislature's Joint Ways and Means Committee met in Eugene on May, 1, 2009, to hear from local residents what proposed budget cuts might mean within our community. Willamette Family Residential Counselor, Coreana Bowman, gave the most riveting testimony of the day, describing how she transformed her life from being a homeless addict to becoming a productive member of the community, a transition only made possible because of the residential treatment she received at Willamette Family.

  Coreana gave legislators the actual figures to back up her story, showing how her treatment saved the state literally hundreds of thousands of dollars in other social service costs that taxpayers would be paying if she had not been treated: $291,000 in incarceration costs, $30,000 in foster care costs, $20,000 in neonatal care costs and much more.

     Willamette Family board members who attended the meeting have expressed how deeply moving Coreana's story was, how legislators were seen wiping away tears, and how she was rewarded with a whooping round of applause. Let's hope the legislators in Salem get the message that providing adequate funding for alcohol and drug treatment saves the state countless millions of dollars in other social service costs. Coreana Bowman is living proof of that, and we are most fortunate to have her on the staff at Willamette Family...Congratulations, Coreana!