Before the RARE AmeriCorps Program. . .

I served in the Peace Corps and got excellent experience in self-growth as well as hands-on experience in serving others in need. However, for a long time, I was always blind to the needs of American cities and towns. I always assumed that the greatest needs were elsewhere such as developing nations.

The RARE AmeriCorps Program – Resource Assistance for Rural Environments has pulled off my blinders and shown me that there is need everywhere and that it typically looks the same no matter what kind of nation it exists in. Rural Oregon, and especially my community on the South Coast, is struggling. Industries which once built these communities are slowly falling apart, causing their cities to follow suit. I never would have experienced the need of America had I not joined the RARE program, and though my work is reflective of the work I did in Zambia, I feel a little more pride and accomplishment because I’m doing something for my own country.

About the Author:  Timothy ‘Tim’ Smth received his Bachelor of Arts in Journalism with a Minor in Photography from Doane College.  Tim served with Peace Corps in Zambia where he worked as an Agroforesty Extension Agent on an array of rural community development projects.  Tim  sees the RARE AmeriCorps Program as a stepping stone that will allow him to return to his home state of Nebraska with the purpose of increasing sustainability at the local and state levels.  Timothy is serving with the South Coast Development Council, where he is conducting a comprehensive inventory of regional food systems and resources in Coos County and working to form partnerships with the local farming and agricultural community as a means to increase involvement, and to increase the ability to produce and market locally grown products.