Sarah Abigail Moehrke
Meet Sarah Abigail Moehrke:
Sarah Abigail majored in Politics and Government, Communication and Art History at Ripon College (WI). She is fulfilling a lifelong goal of living and working on the beautiful Oregon Coast through her service in RARE. She has an excellent sense of direction, learned how to read a map around the age of 5 and is a rabid fan of baseball, specifically the Seattle Mariners and the Milwaukee Brewers.
Community and Organization:
The City of Florence sits at the mouth of the Siuslaw River, where the Coast Range Mountains meets the Oregon Dunes. This historic coastal city once heavily relied on logging, commercial fishing, and other natural resource industries. Today the tourism and service industries are growing in Florence. With nearby beaches, hiking, ATVing, camping, horseback riding, sightseeing, or dining, either in town or just a short drive on scenic US Highway 101 (Oregon Coast Highway), Florence benefits from its proximity to natural and cultural amenities.
Project:
Sarah Abigail served as the Community & Economic Development Assistant for the City of Florence, working out of the newly renovated City Hall. She was involved with different economic development initiatives including developing a workforce development program that includes the local chamber of commerce and school district. She also developed and coordinated a new Business Retention and Expansion program. Additionally, she continued to work closely with the Public Art Committee, continuing her work with their outdoor art gallery, Art Exposed, as well as the Siuslaw River Bridge Steps beautification project. She continued the efforts to update the residential housing codes which hadn’t been updated since the early 1980’s. Once completed, the project will streamline housing development of the missing middle, such as townhomes and cottage clusters.