Tag: Laura Goodrich

Meet RARE AmeriCorps Participant: Laura Goodrich

Posted on by Julia Havens

Laura Goodrich RARE Participant Resource Assistance for Rural Environments

Laura Goodrich received her Bachelor of Science in Community Development and a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from Portland State University.  Laura interned with Cogan Owens Cogan Planning Firm where she worked with the Department of Land Conservation and Development on an array of land use and natural resource planning projects.  Laura plans to use her  RARE AmeriCorps  Program – Resource Assistance for Rural Environments experience to further hone and develop skills that will make her a better community developer and planner. Following her year with the RARE Program, Laura hopes to find work in the field of community development and planning, possibly in an international setting via Peace Corps.

Laura is placed in Sweet Home, Oregon to assist with a new effort to organize a community forest for multiple social, economic, and ecological outcomes. The City of Sweet Home and a number of other entities, including the Sweet Home Economic Development Group, US Forest Service, South Santiam Watershed Council, Linn County Parks and Recreation have been participating in an Oregon Solutions project to develop a “South Santiam Community Forest Corridor”.  Laura will directly provide much needed local community capacity building and will assist with the implementation of all agreements made through the Oregon Solutions process.

The City of Sweet Home was founded in 1851 and incorporated on February 10, 1893. It operates under the provisions of its own charter and applicable state laws, and has a council-manager form of government. The mission of the City of Sweet Home is to provide community stability while planning for the future, to provide effective and efficient city services, and to be responsive to the community and encourage community involvement.

Organization: City of Sweet Home
Community, Sweet Home, Oregon
Population:  14,000
County: Linn

ready. . . set. . . SNOW!

Posted on by Julia Havens

Top Story on the News Tonight: Snow

Just about every community in the state of Oregon is hunkering down for snow, snow and even more snow. Levels range from 1 to 3 inches along the south coast to 7 to 10 inches in areas east of the Cascade Range. The National Weather Service says the cold weather will last through the weekend and transition to milder and wetter conditions (a.k.a. rain) by the middle of next week.  With that in mind, the Resource Assistance for Rural Environments-RARE AmeriCorps participants took a moment to share photos of their community’s first winter wonderland conditions before the rain washes it all away.

Resource Assistance for Rural Environments - University of OregonThe mission of the RARE Program is to increase the capacity of rural communities to improve their economic, social, and environmental conditions, through the assistance of trained graduate-level participants, from across the US.  These RARE AmeriCorps participants live in and serve 25 rural Oregon communities assisting in the development and implementation of projects for achieving a sustainable natural resource base and improving rural economic conditions. The markers on the map represents the 25 RARE placements throughout Oregon for 2013-14.



Special thank you to Andrew Barbier, Aubrey Erwin, Jeremy Goldsmith, Laura Goodrich, Maggie Hanna, Julie Havens, Katherine Hayes, Blake Helm, Gabby Pauling, Maddie Phillips, Rebecca and Jason Sergeant, Saira Siddiqui, and Titus Tomlinson for sharing their photos with us.