Friday, July 14, 2023
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Weekender
New online hub connects locals with mental health providers
BY BREE LAUGHLIN The World
Community healthcare workers are creating a hub to take the mystery out of navigating the healthcare process. The Coos Curry Behavioral Health Hub is a free online network being created to connect Coos and Curry County residents with local professionals who can help them with a variety of mental and behavioral health services. “The issue is people don't know where to go, so we want to have this hub site be the place for people to find the services that they need,” said Community Mental Health Coordinator Devyn Downum. Downum is creating the hub alongside Waterfall Behavioral Health Center’s Behavioral
Health Program Manager Jordon McLaren. The mission of the Coos and Curry County Behavioral Health Hub is to remove the barriers that make it difficult to access behavioral healthcare. Whether it’s in person or through telehealth, the hub aims to make the process easier and faster by connecting local residents to a therapist or psychiatric provider that meets their needs. The cooscurryhub.com directory can be used to search for a provider by selecting from a variety of categories. The client can enter their age and their language preference. Clients can also pick a therapist preference if they have one. They can search within Coos County, Curry County
or Telehealth providers. They can also match their insurance preference (or no insurance) with those that the providers accept. Clients can search for therapy for addictions, ADHD, anger management, anxiety, autism, bipolar disorder, chronic illness/pain, codependency, depression, eating disorders, family issues, grief, learning disabilities, life transitions, trauma, sexual abuse, sleep issues and many more. They can also choose the type Photo by Bree Laughlin of therapy they Waterfall Behavioral Health Center’s Community Mental Health Coordinator Devyn Downum and Behavioral Health Program Manager Jordon McLaren are creating an online community Online hub continued health hub to remove the barriers that make it difficult to access behavioral healthcare. on page 2
Local culinary graduate wins global chef competition BY BREE LAUGHLIN The World
A 2010 Graduate of the Oregon Coast Culinary School recently earned himself a gold medal and coveted title of “Global Chef of the Americas.” Chef Reilly Meehan competed at the Worldchefs Global Chefs Challenge Regional Semi-Final culinary competition in Santiago, Chile. This challenge is known for attracting top culinary talents from around the world who demonstrate their prowess in the kitchen and exhibit adaptability under pressure. Chef Meehan's culinary creations exemplified these
requirements, impressing the judges and securing his first-place finish. Chef Meehan will now move on to compete in the Global Chefs Challenge Finals, which will take place in Singapore in October 2024. “It's so much fun to meet people from all over, travel somewhere new and really challenge myself,” Meehan said. Meehan told “The World” that during the latest competition, he was tasked to compose three multi-course dinners which included a seafood starter course, a veal entrée and a dessert course using mango, tea and chocolate.
Although Meehan is a savory chef, he suspected it was his skill at making the dessert which took him to the top of the competition. He competed as a pastry chef when he was on a youth competition team in Oregon, and still enjoys making desserts. “I think that's one of the things that set me apart for sure,” Meehan said. The chef said he enjoys the creative process coming up with dishes and researching how different flavors come together.
When Meehan isn’t competing, he is working fulltime as a private chef and content creator. He has Local Chef continued on page 11
Contributed photos
Chef Reilly Meehan, who graduated from the Oregon Coast Culinary Institute, recently earned the title of Global Chef of the Americas.
Retired Bandon resident picks up rookie of the year trap shooting titles BY BREE LAUGHLIN The World
Less than a year into shooting competitively, Bandon Gun Club member Jaime White is taking home Rookie of the Year and State Championship Trapshooting titles. White said he joined the Bandon Gun Club to pick up a hobby in his retirement. Although he has experience with hunting with rifles, White had never tried TRAP shooting. “My wife and I both shoot, so it's something we can do together and Courtesy photos we both enjoy it,” he said. “We Bandon resident Jaime White started by shooting pistols. Then joined the Bandon Gun Club we see everybody out there shootas a hobby with his wife, Terri. ing shotguns, so we decided to try Now he is winning trapshoot- that. Then, I decided I wanted to try ing competitions and will go the trap.” Trapshooting is a specific form of on to compete in Washington clay target shooting, and is a game State.
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of movement, action and split-second timing. It requires the accuracy and skill to repeatedly aim, fire and break discs as they fly through the air. The 63-year-old Bandon resident said when he first started trapshooting, he wasn’t very good at it. But he kept practicing and decided he wanted to shoot competitively. “It just went on from there,” he said. When he first started shooting competitively in early January, White said he was hitting about 60 out of a 100 targets. “When I just got done at Medford, I shot 200 straight for the state championship,” he said. White will be heading to Olympia, Wash. to compete against trap shooters from eight different states in an effort to pick up a Rookie of the Year title with the Pacific International Trap Shooting Association
(PITA). “I don't know why, but there is something in me that drives me to get better and I just want to see how far it will go,” he said. Trapshootings’ continual growth and expanding popularity is due to the fact that people of all ages, incomes and abilities can compete, according to the Amateur Trapshooting Association. White said when he was in Klamath Falls, he was beat by a female who was in the third grade, and he has shot with a man in his nineties. “I think I'm pretty close to being the oldest rookie of the year ever,” White said. The Bandon Gun Club member said the people involved in the organization have a lot of fun. “We have a lot of young
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