Tag: Sandy Main Street

Meet Our RARE AmeriCorps Participant: Aubrey Erwin

Posted on by Julia Havens

Aubrey Erwin RARE Resource Assistance for Rural Environments

Aubrey Erwin received her Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Studies with a minor in Literature from Albertson College in Idaho. As a student, Aubrey worked with the campus environmental organization TERRA (The Environmental Resource & Recreation Association), where she worked across organizations and social groups to education and advocate for sustainability. After attaining her Bachelor’s degree, Aubrey served with the Idaho Food Bank as an AmeriCorps Vista member. During her first year of AmeriCorps, Aubrey worked as a Summer Feeding Associate that included a wide away of program implementation and coordination related responsibilities. Now with RARE AmeriCorps – Resource Assistance for Rural Environments, Aubrey hopes to contribute as many of her strengths as possible to the betterment of the community she serves. Following her year with the RARE Program, Aubrey plans to study urban & regional planning at the graduate level.

Aubrey is placed with Sandy Main Street. In September 2008, the City of Sandy was selected to participate in the Clackamas County Main Street Program, in conjunction with the Oregon Main Street Program. Currently, Sandy Main Street is participating in the Oregon Main Street Program at the “Transforming Downtown” level. As such, Sandy Main Street is committed to downtown revitalization using the Main Street Four-Point Approach, and is working incrementally to implement the program.

With Sandy Main Street, Aubrey will coordinate and manage an array of activities leading to further development of the downtown area, including filling vacant stores, recruiting businesses, counseling property owners, and developing and expanding existing events. Specifically, Aubrey will spend the majority of her time developing processes, procedures and methods for helping new businesses locate in Sandy. Additionally, Aubrey will work with Main Street’s Promotion Committee on a local restaurant promotion plan, plan and execute a visioning process for downtown Sandy, and help manage the organization’s master database of properties, businesses, vacancies, etc.

Organization: Sandy Main Street
Community: Sandy, Oregon
Population: 9,774
County: Clackamas

Stories From the Field: A RARE AmeriCorps Perspective

Posted on by Julia Havens
Sandy Main Street Astoria Oregon RARE Program

I admit it, I love conferences. Fluorescent lights, windowless rooms, and sometimes-questionable food aside, the synergy of passionate, like-minded individuals uniting to share ideas and learn together. We come to conferences from the day-to-day reality of our work, maybe feeling embattled, overwhelmed, or in need of a recharge. By the end, everyone leaves bleary-eyed, over-caffeinated (maybe that’s just me), and eager to get home, but carrying with them a renewed spark of passion for their work.

Coming to the Oregon Main Street Conference as a complete novice representing a Main Street program that, in many ways, is still in its infancy, I was floored by the wealth of innovative projects taking place across the state. But more than that, I realized for the first time that there are a LOT of components involved in revitalizing and preserving a city. I mean, that goes without saying, right? It’s a bit too obvious to call it a realization. But seeing the topics in all of the conference sessions laid out in front of me, I think I really comprehended it for the first time. Preservationists, retailers, developers, property owners, tourists, community members, service organizations, parking specialists, disaster preparedness planners…all of these components and countless others work in sync (ideally) to make up the physiology of a community.

What amazed me most about the experience was the overwhelming spirit of collaboration and community present in every project, every presentation, every conversation between programs. All of the aforementioned moving pieces in a community are manned by individuals who want to invest in their collective future. They are the reason that these projects exist, and their investment is the crucial ingredient for the success of the projects. And the wonderful work showcased at the conference came to fruition because of their passion and expertise.

The opportunities for partnership and collaboration in Main Street are plentiful, because so many people can contribute, and so many will benefit from the program’s success. Seeing these successful models of collaboration, pulling together as many stakeholders as possible to capitalize on their energy and skills, which is the ‘spark’ that I carry with me from this conference; the one that fuels the fire for my work. The people in these communities want their cities to succeed, and it’s our job to build the infrastructure needed for them to achieve that goal.

Oregon Main Street works with communities to develop comprehensive, incremental revitalization strategies based on a community’s unique assets, character, and heritage. This year’s Oregon Main Street Conference was held in Astoria, Oregon on October 2-4, 2013

Aubrey Erwin RARE Resource Assistance for Rural Environments Sandy Main Street, Sandy OregonAbout the Author: As a RARE AmeriCorps Program – Resource Assistance for Rural Environments participant, Aubrey Erwin is the Main Street Coordinator in Sandy, Oregon. She received a Bachelor’s of Arts in Environmental Studies from Albertson College of Idaho, and plans to study urban and regional planning in graduate school. Her free time hobbies include bicycling, gazing lovingly at Mount Hood, and exploring the natural and man-made wonders of the greater Portland metro area.