In this project we are speaking to people from various walks of life\u2014whether they are Indigenous, native born, a naturalized citizen, a refugee or an immigrant without legal status\u2014to ask what it means to be an American.<\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_video src=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rEw1hBEi0CA” admin_label=”YouTube Video” _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_video][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text: Video Teaser” _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”#ffffff” text_font_size=”16px”]<\/p>\n
Cat Duque meets up with Damien Wheeler, a social worker helping low-income families out of poverty and changing their narrative.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”HERO IMAGE OPTION 1: Background image: DELETE IF NOT NEEDED” _builder_version=”4.7.7″ background_enable_color=”off” background_image=”https:\/\/opb2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2021\/07\/Cat_Editorial_GIF_Yunyi-1.gif” background_blend=”multiply” custom_margin=”-24px|||||” custom_padding=”12%||39.4%|||” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”6px||3px|||”][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”3px||6px|||”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Illustrator credit” _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n
Illustration by Yunyi Dai<\/em><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”7px||35px|||”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”12px|||||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_post_title date=”off” comments=”off” featured_image=”off” admin_label=”Post Title” _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” title_level=”h3″ title_font=”Oswald||||||||” title_font_size=”42px” title_letter_spacing=”2px” title_line_height=”1.2em” meta_text_color=”#04a3e3″ meta_font_size=”18px”][\/et_pb_post_title][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||12px|||”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text 1″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em”]<\/p>\n
When he worked as a student advocate at Fort Vancouver High School, Damien Wheeler connected with a student who was at risk of failing. Wheeler said the student wasn\u2019t asking his teacher for help, so he stepped in.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cHe felt comfortable because he had someone on his side,\u201d Wheeler said.\u00a0 \u201cAnd he knew I wasn’t going to target him and say like, \u2018oh, you’re going to fail your classes.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWheeler said the student received the credits to pass his class.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThey were Ds, but they were still passing,\u201d Wheeler said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHe doesn\u2019t work at the high school anymore but, the work he is now involved with is similar. Wheeler is a community resource liaison at Bridgeview Resource Center, where he gives families in the Skyline Crest community resources connecting them to housing assistance, education, and employment.<\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_audio audio=”https:\/\/opb2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2021\/07\/Cat_MASTER.mp3″ title=”Being an American means being an example for the next generation” artist_name=”CATILINA DUQUE” album_name=”Next Generation Radio | Oregon Public Broadcasting Newsroom | July 2021″ admin_label=”Story Audio” _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”rgba(0,174,239,0.84)”][\/et_pb_audio][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”3px|||||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/opb2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2021\/07\/Cat01.jpg” alt=”\u00d2The American dream is not my Indigenous dream. It’s so different than that,\u00d3 Jolie Varela said. \u00d2As an Indigenous woman, I would like to see our ceremonies restored, our traditions restored, our homelands restored, and our land back. When people come from other places and they come in the name of this American dream or in pursuit of this American dream, I don’t think they realize how that American dream erases Indigenous people, and further infringes upon our rights as Native people.\u00d3 (Photo by Jarrette Werk)” title_text=”Cat01″ align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” admin_label=”Image 1″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 1″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n
Damien Wheeler stands on Council Bluffs Way in the Skyline Crest community. The mural behind him was designed by local teens. <\/span>(Photo by Cat Duque) <\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text 2″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em”]<\/p>\n
\u201cNot everybody’s life is the same, but being able to help them through it and being that consistent piece is the important piece of it,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\nWheeler grew up in Skyline Crest, a low-income Vancouver Housing Authority community in Vancouver, Wash. Today, he is 27, married, and a first-time home owner, returning to work in the community that connected him with a mentor and the opportunities to fulfill his American dream.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cTo be American is to provide those with opportunities who might not see it, to be an example for the next generation, because they’re going to be the ones that dictate what happens next,\u201d\u00a0 Wheeler said.<\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/opb2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2021\/07\/Cat02.jpg” alt=”\u00d2The American dream is not my Indigenous dream. It’s so different than that,\u00d3 Jolie Varela said. \u00d2As an Indigenous woman, I would like to see our ceremonies restored, our traditions restored, our homelands restored, and our land back. When people come from other places and they come in the name of this American dream or in pursuit of this American dream, I don’t think they realize how that American dream erases Indigenous people, and further infringes upon our rights as Native people.\u00d3 (Photo by Jarrette Werk)” title_text=”Cat02″ align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” admin_label=”Image 2″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 2″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n
Wheeler is pictured with his mentor Shawn Hamburg before his high school graduation in 2012. (Photo courtesy of Damien Wheeler)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text 3″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em”]<\/p>\n
The community is a small version of America\u2019s Melting Pot, where people like Wheeler connect homeowners with essentials like housing, education, and employment.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing this low income doesn’t make you feel less American,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere might be times where you feel like you’re being targeted and stuff like that, but I think being able to be connected to the resources … America with land of opportunities and all that. The opportunities are out there, I just think that people just need help finding them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_5,3_5″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” collapsed=”off”][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/opb2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2021\/07\/Cat03.jpg” title_text=”Cat03″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 3″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n
Wheeler took a field trip with his mentees in 2018 to tour the University of Washington, Seattle. (Photo courtesy of Damien Wheeler)<\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text 4″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em”]<\/p>\n
Wheeler has spent a majority of his career in social work advocating for, \u201cat-risk\u201d teens.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0\u201cLow-income children count as at-risk due to certain factors,\u201d Wheeler said. \u201cPrimarily I’ve worked with youth who are at risk of drug and alcohol addiction and gang involvement. I’m able to build relationships with these kids to help better themselves, they know that I’m not there to harm them in any way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nIn the six years Wheeler has been working with young people, he\u2019s left with memories of the kids he\u2019s helped. He\u2019s assisted them with school, or helped them process trauma, while taking them on field trips and college tours, or playing at weekly basketball games.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nNowadays, he gets to catch up with the young people he used to mentor and hear about their success.\u00a0 \u201cIt’s a great feeling, seeing them move forward,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\nWheeler\u2019s passion is to provide his community with equal American rights he said everyone is entitled to: housing, an open community, and comfortable living.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What does it mean to be an American? We are finding, coaching and training public media\u2019s next generation. This #nprnextgenradio project is created in Oregon, where four talented reporters are participating in a week-long state-of-the-art training program. In this project we are speaking to people from various walks of life\u2014whether they are Indigenous, native born, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":442,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"coauthors":[21],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/opb2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/199"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/opb2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/opb2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opb2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/442"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opb2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/opb2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/199\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/opb2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opb2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}