Tribal Council approves grant application to pursue Great Circle Recovery renovation

By Danielle Harrison

Smoke Signals editor

Tribal Council approved a grant application during its Wednesday, Dec. 17 meeting that, if awarded, will provide funding for upgrades and two months of operational costs at Great Circle Recovery Clinic in Salem.

The clinic, which opened in 2021, is one of two Tribal medication-assisted treatment facilities for those suffering from opioid addiction. A second clinic in Portland opened in 2023.

At Great Circle, patients are prescribed FDA-approved medications to help lessen cravings and reduce withdrawal symptoms, as well as receive supportive, culturally appropriate counseling. The services are open to Grand Ronde Tribal members, other Native Americans and community members.

During a Tuesday, Dec. 16, Legislative Action Committee meeting,  Tribal Executive Director of Health Services Kelly Rowe told Tribal Council members that the $1 million Oregon Health Authority grant would be used for repaving the parking lots, driving barriers for enhanced safety, plumbing and HVAC upgrades, security system upgrades, a generator and furniture. Additionally, two months of operational costs, which would include wages for 14 employees, would be included.

“We were approached by the Oregon Health Authority to apply for this these funds and they have these available for detoxification programs,” Rowe said. “We gladly did that for a million dollars. There are some limitations on how we can spend it. We can only use (the funds) operationally for the first two months. They really wanted us to use those for property renovations, security and things like that…It’s a million dollars that we’ll be able to sink into that building to make it better for the program.”

In other action, Tribal Council:

• Approved an intergovernmental agreement between the Tribe and Yamhill County to fund, operate and continue public transit services from Grand Ronde to Willamina and McMinnville;
• Approved an application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for an up to $5 million Indian Community Development Block Grant;
• Approved a loan from the Tribe to Spirit Mountain Gaming Inc. for up to $2.17 million to cover costs for the property-wide elevator modernization project;
• Approved an application to Indian Health Service for a Tribal Injury Prevention Grant for up to $750,000;
• Approved an easement for Portland General Electric on the Tribe’s OSU forestland property in Grand Ronde near Spirit Mountain Casino, so that the utility company can move its systems underground, which will reduce outages due to wind, fire and accidents;
• Approved an amendment to the Department of Interior self-governance multi-year funding agreement to accept $3.73 million from the federal government for self-governance. The Tribe receives the funding for the purpose of carrying out Tribal self-governance programs such as government, education, human services, health care, public safety, community infrastructure, economic development, and lands and resource management;
• And approved enrolling five infants and seven non-infants into the Tribe because they meet the requirements under the Tribal Constitution and Enrollment Ordinance.

To watch the entire meeting, visit www.grandronde.org and click on the Videos tab.