Season 1, Episode 29: Dec. 3, 2025 28 min, 21 sec.

What’s inside The Big Picture

This week’s episode brings us to the Newport storefront office on the Oregon coast, where Bethany sits down with OEP eligibility workers Perla Garcia and Susan Reed for a candid conversation about serving families in a season shaped by HR-1, federal shutdown fears, and fast-shifting benefit rules. Perla and Susan describe what it’s like to be the first person someone sees when their SNAP benefits are delayed or uncertain, and how they navigate those conversations with honesty, empathy, and practical guidance.

They share how coastal realities—winter layoffs, tourism-based income, long travel distances, and high food insecurity—shape the urgency of their work, and how both formal supports (food pantries, churches, tribal commodities programs) and informal “coconut telegraph” networks help keep people afloat. As longtime members of the community, they talk about how local knowledge and cultural connection help them deliver hard news with compassion.

The episode closes with reflections on belonging, resilience, and what it means for ODHS staff to hold the line between uncertainty and hope when so much remains unknown.

Credits Hosts: Dr. Bethany Grace Howe — Communications Shenika — Community Partnership Coordinator, District 10

Produced by Dr. Bethany Grace Howe

Contact Questions / feedback: bethany.g.howe@odhs.oregon.gov

And in our Celebrity-SA: Winter is Coming… (14:33)