Action: Sign and share this public letter to the Deschutes County Commissioners

Thornburgh Resort Violates Our Vision of Central Oregon as a Place to Call Home

Sign and share the letter HERE

Deadline to sign: June 3

Action: Sign and share this public letter

When Make Polluters Pay, one of the Sacred Organizing Coalition’s top priority bills, didn’t get called for a vote out of committee last month it effectively died for this session. But our commitment to hold big fossil fuel companies financially accountable for their role in the climate crisis is still very much alive.

Now, as a follow-up, we have the opportunity to sign onto an Open Letter penned by youth–including three from Bend Youth Collective!–from the Youth Solidarity Movement. The letter expresses their disappointment and calls on Gov. Kotek, Sen. President Wagner, and Committee Chair Sollman to commit to passing Make Polluters Pay next session.

Sign and share the letter HERE.

Full text below:

Governor Kotek, Senate President Wagner, Committee Chair Sollman,

We are youth from different parts of Oregon who felt like we had to do something together. We are writing this letter to say we are disappointed that the Make Polluters Pay Act was not moved this session to be voted on.

Last April, many people, including young people like us, showed up at the Capitol in Salem to share our stories, speak with lawmakers, and give testimony at the Make Polluters Pay bill hearing. For us youth, this was our first time doing anything like that. It was very empowering, and it felt good that we could make a difference when we worked together and that our voices would be heard.

We were very vulnerable in telling our stories to you. But now we feel upset because by not even putting it up for a vote in committee, you didn’t take into account how important this is to us. 

We are growing up in a time when climate change is already hurting our communities. Many adults probably think of summer as the outside time to experience the sun. Yet we can’t remember a time when there haven’t been major fires. What we think of summer are the many times we can’t go outside due to the smoke and the fires. 

A few years back, the Almeda fires in Southern Oregon forced the extended family of one of the writers of this letter to evacuate their homes and experience fire damage to their homes and personal property. It was a scary time that we hope no one else would have to experience. Yet it happens over and over again to many people.

Make Polluters Pay makes big fossil fuel companies help pay for the damage they caused, and pay to prepare for future disasters. Ever since we were young, we were taught that when you make a mess, clean it up. We want a future where big corporations clean up the messes they make. We are fighting for a time when everyone can live in a cleaner, better society.

We want you to know that we are paying attention. There are many people across Oregon – young and old, parents, grandparents, pastors, friends – supporting us. And we will be back to fight for this bill again. Will you commit publicly to supporting this bill in the next session?

Our future matters. We and all of our co-signers look forward to hearing from you. 

Signed,

Dietrich Hange, 11, Hillsboro

Samuel Henderson, 14, Bend

Lena Field, 13, Bend

Luna Kinz, 12, Bend

Sylvia Ravensberg, 12, North Plains

Skye Ravensberg, 12, North Plains

Deadline to write: June 13
Target: Capital Construction Subcommittee Co-Chairs Girod and Nosse and Joint Ways & Means Committee Co-Chairs Lieber and Sanchez

Background: The Oregon legislature can consider and include in their budget needed funding for repairs and improvements for the water filtration system for the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.

There are continual line breaks and boil-water notices on the reservation, and water has–for many years–not been trusted among residents there. In solidarity with the indigenous inhabitants of the land that is now called Central Oregon, we can advocate for needed improvements and repairs.

Please send your letter to the following addresses. A script (please adapt) is below.

Sen.FredGirod@oregonlegislature.gov, Rep.RobNosse@oregonlegislature.gov, Sen.KateLieber@oregonlegislature.gov, Rep.TawnaSanchez@oregonlegislature.gov

Sample letter:

Hello, my name is Rev. Erika Spaet, and I am a resident of Bend. I write alongside other Central Oregon residents and people in my congregation–the Storydwelling community–as an act of solidarity and love for our neighbors in Warm Springs. 

I’m writing to advocate for the inclusion of the following budget items in the State of Oregon’s budget:

• Warm Springs Reservation Water Plant filtration system
• Water main
• Water distribution system
• Warm Springs Reservation new moderate-income housing
• Warm Springs Reservation commissary project

In particular, I encourage you to fully fund the improvements to the Warm Springs Reservation’s water filtration system.

We know that the people of Warm Springs are the original inhabitants of the place I now call home, and which we now call Bend. I have visited the Warm Springs Reservation deliver donations of clean drinking water and connect with TEM staff and volunteers. Due to the age of the Reservation’s water plant, filtration and distribution systems, the system often breaks down due to burst pipes and other maintenance issues. Reservation residents are frequently put on boil water notices. And, understandably, even when there isn’t a boil water notice, residents are wary of trusting the water that flows out of their faucets. In addition, as climate change worsens, wells have been drying up.

Many Warm Springs residents are reliant on donations of clean drinking water. Although TEM limits residents to four gallons of water per family per day, TEM goes through donations very quickly–thousands of gallons a week, especially during the summer.

This situation is untenable. Clean water is a human right. People should be able to trust the water that comes out of their pipes. They shouldn’t have to worry about that water making them sick or making daily trips to TEM to pick up their family’s water supply.

The water crisis has already gone on too long. Please fully fund the repair and replacement of Warm Springs’ water system.

Sincerely,

Rev. Erika Spaet

Deadline to write: May 16
Target: Oregon Senate Housing Committee

We know Oregon is experiencing a housing crisis, and SB2964A would unlock more land in Oregon for affordable housing by helping faith communities transform their land into needed housing.There are currently approximately 200 acres of faith land ready to be unlocked across Oregon, assessed at over $108 million on the traditional market. 40 congregations owning that land are currently stuck at the feasibility stage that this bill would address. If this bill passes, many households stand a chance at future access to affordable housing that does not exist today!

You can read more about SB2964A HERE.

Write to the Senate Housing Committee by clicking here: https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2025R1/Testimony/SHDEV/HB/2964/0000-00-00-00-00?area=Measures

Please include your name, city, and identify yourself as a part of the Sacred Organizing Coalition or the Storydwelling faith community.

Sample written testimony:

(Please personalize this for yourself).

Chair Pham, Vice Chair Anderson, and Committee members,

Thank you for your ongoing commitment to providing Oregonians with affordable housing solutions.

As [Job title/congregation member/community member] of [Faith Organization/ Non-profit/ where you live], I am dedicated to[insert one line about your organization/community]. 

I am [here today/writing to you today] to advocate for the passage of HB 2964. 

Healthy communities need stable, affordable housing, but we know that basic need is unreachable for so many Oregonians. Faith communities are prepared to step up and close this gap: [We are one of/we know of] at least 200 acres of faith land throughout the state that are currently ready to be developed.

However, because faith communities are often cash poor and land rich, we lack the money to do the upfront feasibility and community engagement work that readies our land for a developer to come in and build.

HB 2964 offers a solution to this hurdle. It codifies and broadens eligibility in the OHCS Predevelopment Program and allows groups like faith communities to access essential loans to unlock our land for housing our communities need. 

(You can add one or more of these statements, if you wish:)

Reasons for OHCS Grants to do Feasibility and Community Engagement

1. Faith land is often in coveted urban areas where land is scarce and the need for housing is great.

2. Many faith properties already have roads and utilities in place and are in areas with needed services for low-income families.

3. Many faith groups will sell their land at a discount, more than offsetting any grant dollars provided.

4. Many faith communities are land rich, but cash poor. Often they provide other needed services to their communities, like food pantries and day shelters. By helping them sell their land for affordable housing, those dollars help them stabilize and continue providing needed community services. This is a win-win. 

[If you are a member/ leader of a faith community/ partner, include 1-3 sentences describing your own organization’s need or how you would benefit from this program. Especially helpful is information on how long you have been waiting to build housing or been stuck at the feasibility stage, and whether you could get started if this funding were available immediately.] 

This bill will provide a needed option to cover a range of things from land surveys to community engagement efforts to building neighborhood approval. On their own, these costs can often total upwards of $100,000 and prevent projects from getting off the ground. Giving organizations access to these dollars will help to ensure that projects are able to move forward.

We are ready, and we invite you to help us unlock this land, so more Oregonians can unlock safe, affordable housing.

Thank you for your time and thoughtful consideration,

[Your Signature/Title] 

Write to Sen. Broadman and Rep. Levy: We want an Oregon where all belong!

We’ll be collecting postcards in-person to send to our representatives who sit on the Ways and Means committee of the Oregon legislature. In particular, we are asking them to support:

Food for All (SB 611): Ensures every Oregonian–especially children–has access to food programs regardless of documentation status

Oregon New Neighbor Coordinated Access Act (SB149): Provides increased access to housing, education, workforce development and healthcare services for refugees and asylum-seekers in Oregon

Housing for Families and Youth (HB5011): Major investments for homeless assistance and shelter, affordable housing development and preservation, permanent supportive housing, and affordable homeownership programs.

Farmworkers Disaster Relief (HB 3193): Creates a permanent disaster relief fund to protect essential agricultural workers during extreme weather events

Can you write to Broadman and Levy with a postcard or an email? (Or both!) Postcards available on Sunday mornings at Storydwelling; at the Joy in Resistance rally on April 19, and in Pr. Erika’s office.

Emerson Levy: Rep.EmersonLevy@oregonlegislature.gov
Anthony Broadman: Sen.AnthonyBroadman@oregonlegislature.gov