Category: Meet Our RARE AmeriCorps Members

The town you should know about – and how they’re changing energy around Oregon

Posted on by Titus Tomlinson

By Sara Mercier

Lakeview, Oregon.  Have you heard of it?  That’s okay, you will soon.

This welcome sign tells the story of the town: the home of cowboys and ranchers.  But what it doesn’t tell is the innovation and ingenuity and surprisingly forward thinking nature of parts of the community. IMG_4860

Lake County is a hub of renewable energy, thanks to a little nonprofit Lake County Resources Initiative.  That’s right.  The remote county of around 8,000 people and almost 40,000 cattle, Lake County.

So we decided to start telling our story around the state, and trying to generate some new leaders in renewable energy.  The first workshop we completed was in Talent, Oregon.  It was wildly successful; here’s how we did it:

  1. Get the right partners and the right communities:

We’re an office of 2 people so our true power comes through our collaboration and partnerships around the county and state.  We created a core group of leaders for this workshop series, and with each workshop we would bring in new relevant partners to meet that community’s specific needs.  As far as what communities we would go to, we created an application process so that communities could apply for us to come present to them.  This ensured that the communities were really ready and that the right players are dedicated to this process.  Most importantly: we were able to identify who the movers and shakers were as far as community leaders that would help us make this happen!

  1. Immerse yourself into the needs of that community:

Renewable energy, like any planning, needs to be a community based process; it can’t be something that an outside group comes in and dictates what should happen.  So with each workshop we worked with the community ahead of time to ensure we provided them with the right resources at the workshop that were curated towards the resources they had available in their area.  This was a long in-depth process of collecting the right people from other organizations around the state to meet the needs of the community.

  1. It’s go time!

The day starts off with coffee and people milling around Lake County Resource Initiative’s ‘Renewable Energy Demonstration Trailer’.  You want to teach people about technology?  Hand-on work isn’t just for kids; you better have some hands-on things to show everyone to help them understand it and begin interacting with the idea of renewable energy technology.

After that the day kicks off with some movers and shakers:

Town Mayor: It is SO important to have a strong community leader backing the project, and this is just what she did.  I was blown away by her conviction to make Talent more green.

Jim Walls, Lake County Resources Initiative: He told the successes and failures of Lake County on our endeavors to become 100% renewable.  His speech gave something for the audience to tangibly latch onto and be inspired by.

Next, we have lined up a string of other experts to talk about the current energy use in Talent as well as their energy potential and how these initiatives can be financed

At lunch we break up into topic focus groups.  This room was bursting with creating problem solving energy.  Fast forward an hour and the group gathers back together.  The collaboration in this room was unparalleled to anything I could have imagined.  Organically, as the group gathers back together they end up in a giant circle so everyone is included.  Each group begins reporting out on their discussions and some action items they had each identified.

To wrap up the end of the day that fabulous town Mayor stands up to give some thoughts on “moving forward” and let me just say, she stole the day right there.  She had a wonderful list of tangible action items to move forward on.  And to take the end of the day back to the inspirations from Lakeview she looks around the room and says “If the cowboys and ranchers can do it, we can do it.  I learned today who I need to be open-minded about being open-minded” the room erupted in laughter.  She then turns to Jim and myself and says “cowboy, you’re my hero.”

  1. Be sure to leave them with a little something:

Leave them with more as they’re walking out the door:

We conducted survey so that we can identify a snapshot in time of the beginning impact of the workshop and how we could possible improve it in the future.  In return: overwhelm them with a bunch of REALLY AWESOME renewable energy resources.  Like case studies from areas like the new home yours truly, Lake County; a renewable energy workbook, community energy planning tool, guide to community energy strategic planning; basically, a gold mine of clean energy plan resources.

  1. Don’t just leave them hanging!

That workshop is just the beginning.  As a facilitator in this process, if I were to walk away, I would be doing a disservice to the community I had pledged to assist.  This process is more than dumping some information in the laps of a community and walk away!

Keep checking in!  Don’t you want to know if your event was successful so in the future you can either adjust for problems or replicate it to a T because it was so fantastically successful?

  1. Keep track of the successes:

We’ve made sure to keep track of everything happening in each of the towns we have visited.  Talent has made amazing strides since their workshop.  So here’s what happened in Talent: The Mayor held up her promises, there is now a working clean energy group approved by the town council and they are moving forward with putting a solar array on their new community center, just to name a few  They are the new movers and shakers, the new example and inspiration other towns can look to, all because of one tiny nonprofit in the remote town of Lakeview that slowly, more people are starting to hear about.

So what do you think? Don’t you want to be part of this amazing process?

Sara MercierIMG_4691

Sara received her bachelor’s degree in Engineering Science with a minor in Landscape Studies from Smith College. While in college, Sara worked with the Northampton Office of Planning and Sustainability and the Northampton Department of Public Works to develop and present multiple conceptual designs for a multi-use trail spur. Sara hopes that RARE AmeriCorps – Resource Assistance for Rural Environments will help her develop both personally and professionally by allowing her to be out in nature, getting her hands dirty and exploring a new part of the country. After the RARE program, Sara wants to be a planner, aiding in the development of a self-sustaining city with an integrated approach to energy and food systems.

Don’t Want To Be Pigeon-Holed in Your Job? Go Free Bird! Go RARE!

Posted on by Titus Tomlinson

Fly

By Mariah Dodson

When I began writing this post, I had the bright idea to describe a typical day-in-the-life of a RARE member working in Economic Development and Main Street programs. However I quickly realized that it was nearly impossible for me to define a regular day. Sure, there are some key tasks that must be completed daily, weekly, or monthly, and the meetings, answering phones, and emails that come with most any job. Upon further reflection, it’s actually the lack of routine and categorization that has become one of my favorite parts about my RARE experience.

When starting out in your RARE position, you and your community supervisor will set out a work plan of the benchmarks, deliverables, and goals to be completed during your 11-month placement. This big picture overview serves as a roadmap for the year. Of course things change—some projects fall through and new ones arise.

Maybe one of my favorite (and somewhat bizarre) assignments cropped up unexpectedly last fall:

I’d been around a few months and had begun to prove myself, community members and city staff began to think of me as a utility person who could handle short, specialized tasks. When new ideas or problems came up that didn’t quite fit into any of the wheelhouses of other city positions, it usually landed on my desk. And thus begins the story of my introduction to the Canby Town Turkeys…

fb turkey

A “rafter” of 5-6 wild turkeys had made Canby their home a few years ago. They range free through backyards and neighborhoods across town, and occasionally stop traffic as they stroll down the street. I had no idea at the time, but apparently the Town Turkeys are a big deal—these birds are more active on social media than I am! They have their own Facebook page with 1,230 fans, and dedicated ‘birders’ in town track their location as they meander through their adopted domain. They have become a beloved and quirky asset to our small town.turkey crossing

One night a concerned citizen presented at a City Council meeting, saying that the Canby Town Turkeys needed the protection of crossing signs along select city streets. The next day I was asked to take it on. So how to even go about creating and installing turkey crossing signs I wondered?

After an internet search and a couple phone calls with the Public Works team, we had a design to deliver to the County Sign Shop to fabricate our custom turkey crossing signs. Our concerned citizen was very familiar with their trail patterns, and we placed signs at strategic areas along routes where they most often travel.

All in all, it turned out to be a pretty quick and easy project, but I learned a lot about my position and my community along the way. And wouldn’t you know it that the very first time I laid eyes on one of the famous Town Turkeys, it was standing underneath one of our lovely signs?!

While I’ll admit this story is a silly example, it illustrates a larger point I want to convey about the RARE experience…

Starting out, my work plan focused on strategic plans, business surveys, event planning, and marketing—I never would have imagined that one day I’d be creating turkey –crossing signs when I signed up for RARE.

While you’ll likely get labeled as an ‘intern’ in the beginning, this is like no internship you’ve likely had before. Rather than being confined to rote-tasks or fetching coffee, you’ll get to do REAL work that makes a REAL difference! Your role can be what you make it.

It is true that small rural towns do not have the resources and capacities that other urban areas possess—that’s why RARE is such a great fit for those applicants who want not only a wide depth but also a wide breadth of experience. A lack of capacity in small rural towns means that there are constantly opportunities coming along that no one person or department has the time or ability to handle.  So a word of advice: Don’t be afraid to insert yourself where needed and try on a few different hats. Chances are one might fit that you’d never get to try on otherwise working for a large company with narrowly defined positions.

Therefore if you’re the kind of person looking for a challenge and a wide variety of experiences—in other words if you don’t want to be pigeon-holed, but are ready to spread your (turkey) wings and fly—RARE could be for you!

Gobble gobble!

Mariah
Mariah Dodson

Mariah Dodson

Mariah received her Bachelor of Arts in History with minors in Business and International Studies from Gonzaga University. During college, Mariah participated in the Hogan Entrepreneurial Leadership program, where she focused on learning about creating social ventures to aid in community and economic development. After attaining her bachelor’s degree, Mariah became a Conservation Volunteer with American Conservation Experience, where she worked on projects involving invasive species removal, ecological restoration, fence building, trail work, and dry stone masonry projects. Now in her second year with RARE AmeriCorps – Resource Assistance for Rural Environments, Mariah hopes to further develop her technical skills and leadership and communication abilities. After the RARE program, Mariah plans to begin working on a graduate degree in Landscape Architecture or Urban and Regional Planning.