Joni Delgado, Ontario’s Woman of the Year, “walks the talk” when it comes to helping people in the community, according to Ken Hart, an Ontario city councilor who nominated Delgado to be honored by the Ontario Area Chamber of Commerce at its awards banquet on Friday, Jan. 10.
From founding Elderberry Lane, a camp that provides equine therapy for children and adults with varying abilities, to serving as a grant writer with the Ontario Elks Lodge, Hart said Delgado has shown “selfless dedication” to the community.
Delgado, a longtime Ontario resident, has worked in community health for over 30 years and volunteered in youth programs, including 4H, FFA and working with at-risk kids.
“Everywhere you look, she’s involved,” Hart said.
Delgado earned a bachelor’s in nursing from Boise State University and began her career at Holy Rosary Medical Center in Ontario before joining Oregon Child Development Coalition as a regional nurse. There, she said she focused on community health.
She said most people want to help their communities and everybody has a “gift” that they can use to help others.
Delgado said she believes anyone can have a career and work “9 to 5,” but what makes a difference in people’s lives is what they do outside their jobs.
“It’s the work outside of your benefited job that really impacts your life,” she said.
She said that she started with what was in front of her. When her kids were involved in 4H, FFA and youth sports, it made sense for her to become a 4H leader and a member of the FFA alumni group, she said.
“You start where you are,” she said.
She said it wouldn’t have been feasible for her to get involved in organizations or causes she was unfamiliar with.
Hart said that over the years, Delgado and her husband Jose have taken in foster children. In addition to working for the state child development coalition, Delgado works for the Oregon Department of Human Services as a resource nurse. Among her duties, Delgado said she provides nursing assessments and supervises staff and foster parents.
Delgado said the foster parents in Malheur County are “amazing” and help kids who are going through an extremely difficult period in their lives. She said she gets the opportunity to see the success stories.
She said some people will criticize foster parents. Delgado said she asks those who complain: “What are you doing for kids?”
The ultimate goal, she said, is to reunite kids with their families. Delgado said a combination of events lead to a child being placed in foster care.
“If kids can come out on the other side of it, and people are there to support those kids, you never know how they are going to view their life as they get older,” she said.
Delgado said those who have impacted her most along the way have been the “quiet ones” who have done good things in their community.
One of them, she said, was Helen Freetag at First Baptist Church. When Delgado was 19, she noticed that Freetag would sit in the back of the church in her wheelchair. Freetag would note who was missing from the service and send them a card and find out how they were doing.
“She led by a quiet example,” she said.
Freetag also used her talents, Delgado said.
Delgado said she hopes she is setting examples as Freetag did, along with others who have influenced her over the years
“My hope is that I ignite something that the people before me ignited,” she said.
Her son, Joe Delgado, said he has inherited his mother’s work ethic.
Joe said his mother had always been someone who had “never stopped” working on projects.
That example, he said, served him well. Delgado, 29, is an Olympic Trials finalist in the decathlon.
When it comes to giving back to the community, Joe said his mother does so for no other reason than that is “how she grew up.”
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