Tag: Oregon Volunteers

MEET OUR RARE AMERICORPS MEMBER: Dan Lokic

Posted on by Julia Havens

Dan Lokic RARE AmeriCorps Resource Assistance for Rural EnvironmentsMeet Dan Lokic

Dan received his Bachelor of Arts in Urban and Public Affairs with a minor in Urban Planning and Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago. During college, Dan interned with 41st Ward Alderman Mary O’ Conner, where he worked on zoning and land use projects; Norwood Park Chamber of Commerce, where he worked in economic development planning; and Michael Schubert Consulting, where he created professional-quality maps and used ArcGIS to perform spatial analysis. With his Bachelor’s degree completed, Dan comes to the RARE AmeriCorps Program hoping that it will help him leave his comfort zone of Chicago and allow him to gain hands-on experience to help him assist communities. After his year with RARE, Dan plans to stay in Oregon to find a meaningful and long-term career.

About Marion County Community Services Dept.

The Marion County Community Services Dept. promotes safe and successful children, youth, families and communities through a range of programs and services. The department supports community-based programs that teach effective life and family management skills, promote healthy, pro-social youth development, and provide education and applied research in support of agriculture, forestry enterprises, natural resources and related workforce development within Marion County.

Dan is serving with Marion County Community Services Dept., where he will assist with leading the organization through a community engagement process that will help determine local workforce readiness. Dan will work to identify employment opportunities and skills needed; coordinate local resources that are available to support, address or align efforts that bring the supply and the demand together; and establish a sustainability plan that ensures the project would successfully continue beyond RARE’s involvement. Additionally, Dan will assist three rural communities in connecting to and using Marion County Community Services’ recently created Community Resource Network.

The Perfect Assignment

Posted on by Julia Havens

Lincoln County Coast Guard Helicoper Rachel Cotton

On October 2, 2014, a letter from U.S. Coast Guard Rear, Admiral Richard Gromlich, to the City of Newport, Port of Newport, State Representative Gomberg, and others announced the decision to eliminate the rescue helicopter stationed in Newport, Oregon and to close the Newport Air Facility on November 30, 2014. This decision was announced without any prior notice to the community or its political representatives.

In response to this urgent local crisis, many community members in Lincoln County mobilized to protest the announced closure of the USCG Air Station in Newport. At the beginning of November, I was called in as a researcher by a committee of local leaders formed to fight the proposed closure.

Who has the time, energy, and know-how to sort through dozens of news clippings, multiple email chains, US Coast Guard documentation, and over 30 pages of public testimony to distill the complex facts of a crisis situation into a 2-page fact sheet that can serve as a community and lobbying resource? Who can turn this job around in less than a week? A RARE AmeriCorps member, that’s who!  The word about my presence in the community was rapidly spreading and there was an existing familiarity with the RARE mission and the capabilities of its charges. As a result, creating a fact sheet about the announced closure became my primary focus during the early part of November.

My task was to distill all the theories and facts generated by a variety of news outlets, individuals, and entities into a 2-page fact sheet as soon as possible. This fact sheet was released under the jurisdiction of Lincoln County, the City of Newport, and the Port of Newport. It was hosted on the Port of Newport website and distributed far and wide, and it was even linked from an Oregon Public Broadcasting “Think Out Loud” online feature.

I worked hard on this task! And I am proud of the small role I played as a RARE AmeriCorps member in my local community’s efforts to keep our Coast Guard helicopter. Many of my neighbors, colleagues, and elected leaders worked much harder than I did to ensure the safety of our fishing fleet, our first responders, and (especially!) our visitors on an incredibly beautiful, but ruthless, stretch of the Oregon coast. I’m honored to have been part of such an inspiring team and to say, for now, that we have won battle.

 

Rachel Cotton Economic Development Alliance of Lincoln County (EDALC)X Rachel Cotton Economic Development Alliance of Lincoln County (EDALC) RARE Resource Assistance for Rural Entrepreneurs AmeriCorps ProgramAbout the Author: Rachel Cotton’s professional interests are in community economic development, sustainable development, participatory GIS, and affordable housing. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Middlebury College, a Master of Urban and Regional Planning and a Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Development from Portland State University. In her spare time, Rachel enjoys reading, cycling, and exploring new places. She is currently learning how to surf while enjoying life on the Oregon coast.