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A little less for those in need Photo by Steve Johnson Community health nurse Gloria Krueger plays with 11-month-old Brandilyn Haight. Krueger is one of two community health nurses whose positions are being cut by Jackson County because of a budget shortfall. County cuts community health nurse program by two positions By DANI DODGE When Julie Shumake Haight was four months pregnant, her car broke down. The Gold Hill resident had to quit her job in Grants Pass because she couldn't get to work. Then her landlord evicted her, her boyfriend and their five children -- he said there were too many people living in their apartment. Desperate, the family moved in with an alcoholic relative who burned people with cigarettes. "We were like, `What are we going to do?' Where are we going to go?" 26-year-old Shumake Haight said. Depression was overwhelming Shumake Haight when she got a call from one of the county's community health nurses, Gloria Krueger. Krueger got her vitamins and a pre-natal check-up. She helped the family find housing in Medford, so Shumake Haight's boyfriend could walk to work. She bought the couple an alarm clock. Krueger connected the family to social service agencies that provided food, diapers and presents at Christmas. "We were like, `Yeah, Gloria'," Shumake Haight said. "It was a huge relief because our kids didn't have to suffer while we were getting it together." But Krueger won't be around any more. The county's community health nurse program is being cut from nine nurses to seven this month. Krueger is taking a job in Portland to avoid being laid off. Another community health nurse is transferring to a position in the county health clinic. "We won't be able to see all the women for whom we get referrals," said Peg Bowden, program manager for maternal-child nurses. ``It will be really tough figuring out who do we see and who do we refer on -- because there aren't any other agencies outside of La Clinica (Valle) that do this kind of work. "We are going to serve fewer women until we get more money in our coffers. It's just a reality." The county is facing a $1.2 to $1.8 million shortfall in the next budget cycle. "Our budget problems exist in the general fund and all general fund departments are affected," said County Administrator Sue Slack. "We are working with departments directly now to resolve that." Slack said she should have an idea in mid-April how bad the cuts will be throughout the county. The Health and Human Services Department of the county will be at least five people lighter when the new budget rolls around. There will be the two fewer public health nurses to do home visits and make referrals for low-income families. The county's detoxification program is closing down, eliminating another three jobs. All those people have found work -- some within the department -- said Health and Human Services Director Hank Collins. Collins said with the cuts he's been able to balance the department's $33.5 million budget -- $798,000 of which comes from the county's general fund. "I don't think there will be any other impacts or places we will have problems this year," Collins said. "But of course that could all change." The county's maternal-child nurse program is being cut because they lost a $150,000-a-year grant that paid for part of the program. Bowden is continuing to write grant applications to restore the program to full strength. The nurses conducted more than 3,000 home visits last year, seeing more than 1,100 families. The nurses get referrals from social service agencies, schools and concerned community members. The nurses work out of various offices around the county. Krueger works out of a storefront in Central Point. Christina Reising, the projects coordinator for the Central Point school district, said it's been invaluable having a community health nurse in her area. "We would have families where we knew there were problems," she said. "Gloria was non-threatening and could go visit the families at their houses. She can help the families be healthy and self-sufficient." Reising said Krueger has helped overburdened single mothers get lice out of their children's hair so they could go back to school. She assessed the families' situations and put them in touch with agencies that could help them find safe housing, health insurance and clothes, if that's what they needed, Krueger said. The Shumake Haight family was referred after Shumake Haight went in for a pregnancy test at the county's health clinic. That referral changed their lives, Shumake Haight said. Her boyfriend found work. They got housing and health care. Their baby, Brandilyn, was born healthy. All the services Krueger helped them find had been there all along, but they'd never known before. "Things got a lot more positive and that's really good for a pregnant girl," Shumake Haight said. "Anytime I needed her, she was there for a ride to the doctor or to the dentist or anything." Friday, Julie and her boyfriend, Brandon Shumake Haight, 25, got married. They said in part it was because of Krueger's help. They'd been too shaken by bad divorces in the past and their instability to consider it before. "We had to feel stable in our lives to feel good about marriage again," Shumake Haight said. "Gloria showed us the way." 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