Oregon Corrections Enterprises (OCE) Administrator Ken Jeske recently brought a tree into the OCE Administration office for staff to enjoy. When the office AIC worker Michael arrived for work, the two put up the tree and had quite the conversation. Ken asked Michael how long it had been since he put up and decorated a tree. We hope you enjoy his story:

“My name is Michael Buell and I am currently an AIC at Santiam Correctional Institution (SCI). Having the opportunity to work for OCE has been a tremendous blessing. It gives me a sense of normalcy and purpose everyday which is extremely important to me. For example… When I came into work the other day, I noticed they had brought in this Christmas tree that you see in the picture. They showed me where the decorations were and asked if I wanted to set it up and decorate it. After struggling with burnt out strands of lights for a couple hours I finally got it all done, and the finished product is what you see here.
It occurred to me while I was decorating the tree, that the last time I had done something like this was over three years ago with my two daughters and it definitely brought back a lot of memories for me. Moments like that are special and you cannot put a price on them.
Continue reading “AIC Shares a Seasonal Story About Working for OCE”