By Alison Smith, Rural Economic Recovery Coordinator, South Central Oregon Economic Development District

On my second week as the Rural Economic Recovery Coordinator for the South Central Oregon Economic Development District (SCOEDD), I attended a very small offsite – socially distanced as much as possible. SCOEDD supports economic development in Klamath and Lake counties in the southern part of Oregon. While I am living in Klamath, we ended up driving to Lake county for this offsite to try and get our organization’s priorities aligned with other partners. Lake is an area known for its picturesque landscapes, mountains, and dark skies. Unfortunately, it was a bleak day with a smoke-filled sky because of the recent wildfires in September. However, everyone I met could not have been kinder or more ready to help their community.

We talked a lot about our organizations’ challenges, opportunities, and strategies. However, at one point, I had an “aha” moment about living and working in rural areas in Oregon. That moment has continued to strike me in numerous ways throughout the first quarter of my service. We somehow managed to discuss a critical economic factor impacting Lake – the most likely scenario of a local prison shutting down. This shutdown order was coming from the state of Oregon. Regardless of the background and reasoning as to why they were shutting it down, Lake county citizens were angry. If the prison shuts down, 100 people of the county’s workforce may transition to other parts of Oregon or the country if they want to be in the same line of work. It also meant the possibility of 100 people no longer buying local and supporting Lake’s economy. One hundred people may not seem like a lot if you are from a larger area, but to the county, this could have damaging impacts, even if the prison was already facing extreme budget cuts over the years.

Now, I was not there to say whether it was right or wrong to shut down this prison; it was only my day eight on the job and there was plenty of reasoning from both the state and Lake county. However, there seemed to be a deeper issue at stake, even outside of the prison itself – communication. Did Oregon initially share plan details or ask Lake citizens what they thought/how this would impact them? Not really. Did citizens of Lake understand the mechanisms to try and communicate their frustrations or questions back to legislators? Not likely. There seemed to be a piece missing – the informing and sharing of details with others. It even brought up something I had not necessarily thought about before: the urban/rural divide. It seemed that these self-proclaimed two sides did not have the desire to hear each other out. There was only frustration. At times in the conversation, I could see why both were not willing to listen. What made it even more difficult was the fact that the prison is not the lone scenario. This type of frustration has happened with agricultural land, water, and more. It also has not always happened with Oregon’s legislatures – it could be larger businesses too. Regardless, this type of situation gives the illusion that there are two sides enormously far apart from one another.

Pivoting briefly, I grew up in a county with 1.1 million people. I went to a secondary school (7th-12th grade) with roughly 3,500-4,000 students in it. I then proceeded to go to a university that had nearly 44,000 undergraduate students at the time. Finally, before joining RARE, I lived and worked in Washington DC, with 705,749 people (a 9,856.5 population per square mile). All I have ever known was a vast place to grow up, live, and work. I did not know of or hear about many policies, legislation, or decision-making impacting me other than at the federal level (well, and if you want to get technical, DC is not a state anyway). I assumed that most legislation took into account the majority of peoples’ voices. While that is not necessarily false (more people = more voices), I failed to understand the impacts on the communities that do not fall into the “more people per square mile” category.

I do not think anyone is right or wrong in these situations. However, there is minimal communication, elaboration, or question to people who may bear some of the brunt of a decision, policy, or legislation. Lake county has a population of just under 7,900 people. All I could think about after the meeting and the prison example was, “who is listening to these 7,900 people?” Pushing aside “wrong” versus “right” here, I realized that many folks in my community feel unheard. I do not think there is an easy solution for this. Still, the fact I sat, listened, and realized that there may be a communication failure and that there was not a lot of discussion around local decision-making, policy, and legislation brought that “aha’ moment to me full throttle. It put me in a perspective I had never been in before.

RARE offers many opportunities for so many people, but I find it particularly important for people with my background. Hearing about this impact was extremely important for me, as it has opened my eyes to some challenges, yet opportunities, surrounding us, but particularly for rural areas. Being from a city and large places allows me to come in with differing views and experiences that can get others to see this perception if shared correctly and respectfully. But the best part is that the reverse can happen. Hearing about different backgrounds, experiences, and views has enabled me to piece together a very complicated, convoluted, and often tricky US puzzle. Do not get me wrong: RARE will not help you solve every problem in the community – and I think that makes sense; that would be nearly impossible, and even if it could, that change should likely come from within the community. However, it enables you to gain different perspectives while also learning new skills, meeting new people, and gaining valuable experiences. It can also help the community by placing someone in the area to provide new perspectives and appropriate ideas.

I would not have been able to see these challenges or hear the voices of those who feel unheard if I had not done RARE. There is truly something to be said about being placed in an area where people are quite different than you – you learn so much more than you think (and I like to believe community members do as well), and you may also find that a lot of us have some things in common. Active listening and learning about one another has significantly helped me professionally, but also personally. We will not necessarily change each other’s views or perspectives, nor will we solve every policy or legislative challenge, but we can search for common ground to help our communities.

About the author, Alison Smith: Alison hails from the Washington, DC metropolitan area where she spent the last five years in the business consulting industry. She completed her undergraduate studies at Penn State University, majoring in Business Management and minoring in both International Studies and Psychology. Alison is excited to take her business experience and couple that with more community and grassroots level planning with the RARE AmeriCorps Program. She is passionate about the triple bottom line – social, economic, and environmental success – and helping others prepare for and overcome change. In her free time, she can be found hiking, soaking up the sunshine and outdoors, trying new food, and catching up on her favorite TV shows and books.

Interested in gaining community and economic development experience of your own? Are you looking for a life changing experience in rural Oregon? Learn more about serving with the RARE AmeriCorps Program. Applications for Year 28 (2021-22) due April 23, 2021.