I felt troubled after reading the March 24 article “In Search of Stability” on regional teen homelessness.  I can think of no more important issue than teen homelessness in our community, and providing for these kids, our kids, who find themselves in desperate circumstances, is an absolute priority. The article indicates that the rate of teen homelessness is rising while available funds to provide for these teens are decreasing.  The article says that Pat Gundy, the CYFC program manager, “spent about 20 years working with troubled youth in Oakland before taking the job in Bend, where he’s owned a second home for two decades.”  Being able to own any house in Bend is financially challenging, let alone a second one.  I’m curious about the disparity I perceive between Mr. Gundy’s commitment to homeless youth and what seems to be his affluence.  Did his salary in Oakland contribute to what seems to be his wealth?  Could our youth and families be better served if the available funding was directed toward them, and salaries of program executives were more in line with local median incomes?

This article appears in Mar 31 – Apr 6, 2011.

MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN

One-time Monthly Annually

One-time

$25

$50

$150

Other Donation amount

$

Monthly

$10

$20

$85

Other Donation amount per month

$

Annually

$120

$500

$1,000

Other Donation amount per year

$

We're stronger together! Become a Source member and help us empower the community through impactful, local news. Your support makes a difference!

Donate Now

Republish This Story

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.

Close window

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The Best Use of Our Dollars?

by Source Weekly, The Source - Bend, Oregon
March 30, 2011

<h1>The Best Use of Our Dollars?</h1> <p class="byline">by Source Weekly, The Source - Bend, Oregon <br />March 30, 2011</p> <p><p><span> I felt troubled after reading the March 24 article “In Search of Stability” on regional teen homelessness.  I can think of no more important issue than teen homelessness in our community, and providing for these kids, our kids, who find themselves in desperate circumstances, is an absolute priority. The article indicates that the rate of teen homelessness is rising while available funds to provide for these teens are decreasing.  The article says that Pat Gundy, the CYFC program manager, “spent about 20 years working with troubled youth in Oakland before taking the job in Bend, where he’s owned a second home for two decades.”  Being able to own any house in Bend is financially challenging, let alone a second one.  I’m curious about the disparity I perceive between Mr. Gundy’s commitment to homeless youth and what seems to be his affluence.  Did his salary in Oakland contribute to what seems to be his wealth?  Could our youth and families be better served if the available funding was directed toward them, and salaries of program executives were more in line with local median incomes?</span></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com/opinion/the-best-use-of-our-dollars-2137573/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com&quot;&gt;The Source - Bend, Oregon&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-Untitled-design-4.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=12540&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.bendsource.com/opinion/the-best-use-of-our-dollars-2137573/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/bendsource.com/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

Copy to Clipboard

1

Trending

MidCity SmashedBurger Bounces Outta BendJune 8, 2026Nic Moye

New Roundabouts and Traffic Signals Slated for Midtown BendJune 5, 2026Clayton Franke

Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Investigates Three Employees for Alleged MisconductJune 5, 2026Peter Madsen

Bamboo Sushi OpensJune 3, 2026Nic Moye