New Oregon law will allow family councils for memory care

One of the new laws approved in this year’s Oregon’s legislative session gives people with a family member in memory care the right to establish independent councils to advocate for their loved ones.

It’s not that often that a couple of ordinary Oregonians who don’t work in government are successful in getting a law passed in Salem. But two Eugene area residents were the forces behind the legislation.

Jewel Nelson and Judith Smith met in 2019 when each of their mothers moved into memory care at the Rawlins in Springfield.

Soon after, COVID hit. Nelson told KLCC she learned you don’t know what you don’t know.

“One thing we do know is that the residents themselves because of suffering from these diseases have no voice of their own, no ability to advocate for themselves,” she said. “Eve