By Grace Kaplowitz, Economic Development Coordinator for City of Oakridge and Project Manager and Outreach Coordinator for the Oakridge Air Program

If you’re new to community building work, I will let you in on a little secret: community building is nebulous. It is collaborative. Most of all, no single task can be completed in a vacuum. There are always partners, stakeholders, and community members to consult and they are the ones who will make the biggest impact. In the three short months I have been in my RARE position it has become clear that relationships are at the heart of the work we are pursuing.

It is tempting to measure one’s success by the individual tasks we accomplish and to try to quantify our worth and contributions based on numbers and dollars we bring in. While I don’t discount the importance of measuring and evaluating one’s work, RARE has begun to show me that the greatest thing I can accomplish is supporting the people around me to shine. One of my biggest achievements to date has been building the foundational relationships and trust that will carry my projects forward beyond my service year and into the realm of long-term changes.

In my placement in Oakridge, Oregon I have the wonderful opportunity of working with two separate organizations. I am dividing my time between economic development work for the City of Oakridge and project management and outreach work for Oakridge Air. This has allowed me to convene numerous stakeholder groups and find common ground surrounding the issues at hand. One of the groups I have had the pleasure of working with is the Chamber Partners, a diverse group of stakeholders from community, city, county, and statewide organizations. The Chamber Partners are dedicated to responding to Covid-19 and economic development issues in the community through collaboration and creative problem-solving strategies.

A few examples of what the Chamber Partners have accomplished so far include:

• Distributing free PPE from Business Oregon to 60+ local businesses
• Mailing Covid-19 resource flyers to all businesses licensed with the City of Oakridge
• Sharing Covid-19 small business grant opportunities through email and social media
• Staying on the pulse of creative solutions to community issues such as affordable housing, local food systems, sustainable recreational tourism, environmental issues, and community-wide communications

As a RARE member working on numerous projects across these community issues, I have been able to make connections and fill in the gaps so we can all better utilize the resources at hand and achieve our collective goals.

Meanwhile, it is no easy task getting to know a community in the midst of a global pandemic, but I have thoroughly enjoyed volunteering at outdoor Covid-safe events, collecting mushrooms and a Christmas tree from the Willamette National Forest, and enjoying the lovely amenities at Green Waters Park.

About the author, Grace Kaplowitz: Grace was born in Dexter, Oregon and has spent her whole life in the Willamette Valley. She loves small towns and big trees and has always had a passion for building community and relationships. Grace graduated from the University of Oregon with a B.A. in Planning, Public Policy and Management (PPPM) where she was the president of the Student Community Organization, a member of the PPPM Student Advisory Board, and completed internships on campus and with the cities of Veneta and Springfield. After discovering her interest in local government, Grace is excited to apply her education to direct service work in her beloved State of Oregon.

Does community development work interest you? Are you looking for a life changing experience in rural Oregon? Learn more about serving with the RARE AmeriCorps Program.