Press – Page 2 – Resource Assistance for Rural Environments

ODOE Welcomes New RARE Member to Serve as Liaison to Central/Southern Oregon

Posted on November 7, 2023November 7, 2023 by kward2

In Fall 2022, the Oregon Department of Energy welcomed our first member of the Resource Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE) Program, Angela Singleton. Angela’s work was invaluable in the year she spent at ODOE, and we are thrilled to welcome a new RARE member, Alice Weston. Alice will be serving as a liaison between ODOE and central and south-central Oregon communities to help better connect Oregonians with ODOE programs and opportunities.

MEET ALICE IN HER OWN WORDS:

Six weeks ago, I received my ODOE laptop and set up my desk at home in Bend. Bend had only been my home for about a week and I had arrived in Oregon only a month earlier. I traveled to Oregon across the country from Baltimore, MD where, just a month prior, I received my master’s in social design from the Maryland Institute College of Art. In the classroom I spent my time researching social power structures, equity, and the roles that race and privilege play in shaping and creating the problems around us. Now, I find myself at my desk in my new home, thinking about energy equity in Oregon and specifically central and south-central Oregon. So, not only am I new to Oregon, but I am also new to the challenges and vocabulary of the energy sector. Prior to starting this new role, I had only entered the energy conversation as a consumer wanting to know more about my own carbon footprint. So, how did I end up working in energy in Oregon?

I landed in Oregon and at ODOE through the Resources Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE) program. RARE is an AmeriCorps program administered through the University of Oregon’s Institute for Policy Research and Engagement. The RARE program aims to increase the capacity of rural communities to improve their economic, social, and environmental conditions across Oregon — and they have been doing just that for 30 years. I decided to join RARE to expand my knowledge and skills around rural issues, specifically the unique challenges related to climate change, sustainability, and the types of community engagement particularly suited to rural environments. ODOE is lucky to have an intergovernmental agreement with the University of Oregon, which allows me to serve with a state agency. So far, working within the Community Navigation program and with Sarah Moerhke (ODOE’s Community Navigator) has been incredible, I have been able to dive headfirst into the world of energy in rural Oregon.

I have already been able to travel around the region and meet incredible energy advocates, collaborators, and experts who are passionately working for a clean and equitable energy future for all of Oregon. I have been warmly welcomed and supported as I navigate the often complex and nuanced conversations around Oregon’s energy ecosystem. I have been relieved and excited to find there are so many incredible organizations and individuals across the state working hard to make sure Oregonians have equitable access to resilient, clean, and affordable energy. As I begin the next phase of my work, I will be focused on attending more community events, conducting outreach, and developing deeper relationships to fill a geographic gap for ODOE’s programs and services in order to equitably reach Central Oregonians and the two federally recognized Tribes in Central Oregon: Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs and Klamath Tribes. I am also ODOE’s link to other RARE Members that are working in local governments or other organizations in rural parts of the state over the next year. I will be doing all of this work in support of ODOE’s Community Navigator program.

I am excited to use my community engagement and social design experience to help think about how ODOE’s programs and information might reach others, who like me, might be new to the energy conversation. All Central Oregonians deserve access to information and knowledge in order to make informed decisions around their energy needs and consumption. Central Oregonians are living experts on their communities’ energy needs and concerns and their voices will help shape the energy ecosystem of Oregon’s future. I hope to connect with many more ODOE and community experts through this role.

This article first appeared on Oregon Energy Info via the Oregon Department of Energy and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Cisco: Empowering Youth To Combat Climate Change Through Service Years

Posted on October 23, 2023 by kward2

By Peter Tavernise

What if young people concerned about the effects of climate change had the opportunity to perform hands-on service to mitigate its effects on vulnerable communities? As Service Year Alliance sees it, every youth in America should have that chance, and every community deserves youth service as a resource for combating climate challenges. Since its launch in 2016, Service Year Alliance has embarked on a mission “to make a year of paid, full-time service – a service year – a common expectation and opportunity for all young Americans” to serve communities across the nation.

Key to realizing the organization’s mission is ServiceYear.org, an online platform where individuals looking for service year opportunities can connect with organizations and programs offering them. Since 2013, Cisco has provided the organization vital technical and financial support, starting with the platform. Later, when events triggered by climate change became more frequent and severe, Service Year Alliance expanded its focus to include climate-related service, which qualified it to receive additional funding from the Cisco Foundation‘s $100 million USD portfolio, earmarked for supporting non-profit organizations working towards a more regenerative and resilient future climate.

In the following Q&A, Kristen Bennett, Service Year Alliance’s Chief Executive Officer, discusses its unique mission and how it’s changing the landscape of service years.

Q: What drew you to the national service space, and how did you become CEO?

A: I graduated from college in 2008, as the recession hit. I was already considering a mission-oriented career and found a service year opportunity through AmeriCorps VISTA with the WE Connect initiative, spearheaded by First Lady of California, Maria Shriver. During my service year, I built critical community partnerships and helped to connect low-income families to programs and resources to become more financially stable. I received a modest stipend and health care benefits while other recent graduates around me competed for a few unpaid internships and hourly service-industry jobs. The experience was transformational, placing me on a career path in service that I might not have otherwise reached on my own.

I wanted to make an impact beyond my service year, so after it was over, I accepted a position as a program officer at California Volunteers, California’s state service commission overseeing service and volunteerism in California. While working there, I learned the ins and outs of the service sector while building my professional network, which included Shirley Sagawa, one of AmeriCorps‘ founders. I eventually joined her at the National Conference on Citizenship in Washington, D.C. to lead the development of ServiceYear.org, the first technology platform dedicated to connecting the next generation of youth to service years. Over the next nine years, my role evolved into Service Year Alliance’s Chief Strategy Officer, Interim Co-Chief Executive Officer, and finally Chief Executive Officer, my current position.

Q: How has collaboration with Cisco and the Cisco Foundation been instrumental in advancing and expanding national service programs?

A: Cisco’s been with us since the beginning – first, in the early days before our organization even existed, offering $2.1M in philanthropic support through the Silicon Valley Community Foundation to launch Service Year Alliance and to create ServiceYear.org, the first technology platform to act as a marketplace matching young people and service year positions. We built the platform from scratch, and we couldn’t have done it without a philanthropic partner who had both technology expertise and resources to help us get the work started.

Over the years, Cisco has supported everything from our efforts to reach young people, to pandemic and public health response, and now the Climate Project. Our long partnership around helping young people become aware of, learn about, and find the right opportunity for themselves has allowed us to optimize very effectively for specific needs – like how to help young people find the right climate-related service year position.

As a result, throughout 2023 our conversion rate from registering on the site to actually submitting an application increased from 23 percent to 36 percent. Climate organizations saw even bigger shifts – Grid Alternatives, which advances resiliency programming, saw a dramatic 360 percent increase in enrollments and a 165 percent rise in applications this past year, reflecting the growing interest young people have in doing climate-focused service years.

Q: What does a typical service year look like?

A: There is no “typical” service year since opportunities can vary widely. They range from delivering high-dosage literacy tutoring to bring students up to grade level, helping rural non-profit organizations develop strategies for recruiting volunteers, giving tax preparation assistance to low-income families, assisting individuals at a community health center, or installing solar panels in under-resourced neighborhoods.

Q: What is the Climate Project, and how does a partnership between Service Year Alliance and the Cisco Foundation power the initiative?

A: A poll led by Data for Progress, an American think tank, shows climate change is a major concern for 91 percent of youth, but two-thirds of them aren’t sure how to make a tangible difference. In 2022, Service Year Alliance kicked off the Climate Project in a multi-year partnership supported by the Cisco Foundation to specifically address climate-related issues by recruiting the next generation’s youth into climate-related service to assist communities in becoming more resilient to climate change and empower them with opportunities to help tackle this daunting crisis.

To develop the project, we first hosted targeted conversations with national service programs, green sector employer associations, workforce development partners, and other organizations and agencies working to address problems brought on by climate change. We also formed a cohort made up of eight standout service year programs to take a deeper dive into effective strategies for leveraging service to both further address the impacts of climate change, as well as equip young people with the skills, certifications, and experience they will need to enter into green sector careers.

Taking what we learned, we published a suite of three guides for partners to use as “roadmaps” to best leverage human capital in three distinct areas related to climate and environmental resilience: community capacity building, rural resilience, and energy efficiency. They spotlight a diverse assortment of program models throughout the U.S., offering organizations guidance for choosing the best model for developing their own programs and pathways.

Q: What are your most valuable partnerships, and how do they further your mission?

A: Besides Cisco, the Cisco Foundation, and AmeriCorps, as part of the Climate Project we have worked with a broad spectrum of organizations committed to solving climate issues in under-resourced communities. In January 2023, we launched The Partnership for the Civilian Climate Corps (PCCC), a non-partisan partnership of over 100 national, state, and local cross-sector organizations representing service, workforce, labor, environmental justice, conservation, and youth – all organizations aligned behind shared principles for engaging youth in climate-focused service and workforce development opportunities. The PCCC includes The Corps �Network, American Clean Power, Jobs for the Future, Evergreen Action, and Americas Service Commissions, among many others.

Additionally, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council was an important link to additional networks such as the National Community Action Partnership, the National Association for State Community Service Programs, and the Building Performance Association. Our relationships with these organizations allow us greater access to national conversations and information essential to promoting national service as a talent pipeline to meet our nation’s ambitious climate goals.

Q: What are some of the benefits for corps members, including post service?

A: At a basic level, service corps members receive a living stipend, health care coverage, and skills training. After completing a service year, corps members are eligible for a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award, which they can use to pay for higher education or pay off student loans. Additionally, those who participate in service year programs without a bachelor’s degree are over twice as likely to go on to earn their degree compared to their peers.

Following service, we support service year alums by keeping them connected to one another and informed about a variety of career pathways available to them. Among those with bachelor’s degrees, 38 percent enter into service-oriented career areas – education, community and social services, and health care – compared to 13 percent of their peers. For climate-focused alums, we are committed to ensuring they are connected to green sector career opportunities and informed about their post-service options during and after their term of service.

Q: What are some ways climate-related service benefits communities?

A: Corps members dedicated to tackling climate hurdles in local communities have a direct and tangible impact. We selected the focus areas for our roadmaps based in part on a landscape assessment of the impacts of programs.

For example, one of the programs we worked with on our Energy Efficiency roadmap, the Mile High Youth Corps’ Energy & Water Conservation Program, saved over 101,500 low-income families 620,799 kilowatt hours of energy across Colorado in 2021 – a total savings of $160,000 USD. We are excited to continue to work with service year programs and employer partners advancing energy efficiency to help expand programming and create additional pathways for service year alumni to enter into weatherization and clean energy careers.

And in developing the Rural Resilience roadmap, we saw how AmeriCorps programs like Resource Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE) are not only demonstrating how service year corps members can infuse the additional capacity that is needed for more rural communities to participate in the growing green economy, but are also equipping these young adults to serve as the next generation of climate leaders in the communities in which they serve – with multiple corps members from the 2022/23 graduating class obtaining staff positions at the local nonprofits that hosted them during their service years. To help expand these types of results, Service Year Alliance is directly supporting several organizations as they seek to create and expand service year programming in rural communities throughout the Southeast.

Finally, we can already see how our Community Capacity Building roadmap is helping to fuel the development of state-based climate corps programming. In North Carolina and elsewhere, we are very pleased to see state-based initiatives really leaning into the belonging and inclusion elements of our resources and placing equity at the center of their program development efforts. By adopting practices that not only support diverse corps members, but also bring corps member host sites and supervisors along on the journey, new opportunities are being created for underrepresented populations to become involved in climate action. 2024 is going to be a big year for expansion of state-based climate corps programming, and Service Year Alliance is ready to help those initiatives grow in a way that will create opportunity for all.

Q: Can you share a story about a corps member whose life changed dramatically after a service year?

A: While in her early twenties, Geri Lopez, a member of the White Earth Tribe in central Minnesota, was working to bring solar and wind power to her community when governmental funding for it dried up. However, she wanted to continue working in the renewable energy sector.

That’s when she applied for a service year with Ampact AmeriCorps under the Climate Impact Corps Home Energy Initiative. Geri served alongside an energy-efficiency professional to make homes in low-income communities safer and more energy efficient. She learned how to test and analyze building envelopes, and just about everything else related to home weatherization. Equally important, Geri developed new problem-solving and communication skills, which, along with her training and experience, helped her land a job as a weatherization auditor and inspector at MAHUBE-OTWA Community Action Partnership, hence enabling her to join the green economy.

This article first appeared on StreetInsider.com and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

New Funding: $41.4M for Oregon Mass Timber modular housing

Posted on October 20, 2023 by kward2

New Wood Products — Research and prototyping in this new category of wood products will demonstrate that a system of modular mass timber housing can be not only aesthetically pleasing but can also potentially outperform light wood framing in energy efficiency, speed of construction, and fire resistance, according to the Oregon Mass Timber Coalition.

Courtesy from the Oregon Mass Timber Coalition

U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) has awarded the Oregon Mass Timber Coalition (OMTC) $41.4 million to develop and expand Oregon’s emerging Mass Timber industry.

This grant through the Build Back Better Regional Challenge, is specifically focused on utilizing mass timber products in prefabricated, modular home construction.

The Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) is utilizing a portion of the funding through this grant to help cities update and modernize local development codes to encourage the use of mass timber modular housing through the Code-UP project.

Working with a consulting team and the Department of Consumer and Business Services in 2022, DLCD staff and a consulting team audited the development codes of five cities to identify local regulatory barriers to developing mass timber and modular housing. Starting this fall, the Code-UP project team will continue this work by providing additional jurisdictions with code audits, amendment recommendations, and community engagement services.

Ten jurisdictions that have been selected to receive technical assistance this year: Chiloquin, Clatsop County, Creswell, Gates, Lincoln City, Mt. Vernon, Phoenix, Rufus, Sandy, and Talent. Consistent with the federal grant award, staff prioritized assistance to wildfire-affected and rural communities.

DLCD is committed to assisting a total of thirty jurisdictions over the next five years through a model code funded by the grant and encourages communities to reach out with interest.

Next Steps

Project consultants MIG and Cascadia Partners, DLCD’s Mass Timber Coordinator, and DLCD specialists and regional staff will support the Code-UP project team to complete the following tasks for each selected community.

Provide Adoption-Ready Code Amendments: Consultants will audit local code to understand potential barriers and opportunities for modular mass timber housing and prepare draft code amendments based off those findings.

Engage Community Members Equitably: Consultants will gather local data and information to assist in engaging traditionally underserved communities. They and DLCD staff will use a range of methods to engage community members.

Provide Additional Capacity: DLCD regional representatives and the AmeriCorps Resource Assistance for Rural Environments Mass Timber Coordinator will assist in local planning commission and city council work sessions and adoption hearings.

Oregon’s statewide land use planning program — originated in 1973 under Senate Bill 100 — protects farm and forest lands, conserves natural resources, promotes livable communities, facilitates orderly and efficient development, helps coordination among local governments, and enables community engagement.

The program affords all Oregonians predictability and sustainability to the development process by ensuring allocation of urban land for industrial, commercial, and housing development.

The Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) administers the program. A seven-member volunteer citizen board known as the Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC) guides DLCD.

Under the program, all cities and counties have adopted comprehensive plans that meet mandatory state standards. The standards are 19 Statewide Planning Goals that deal with land use, development, housing, transportation, and conservation of natural resources. Technical assistance in the form of grants to local jurisdictions is a key element of the program.

This article first appeared on Cannon Beach Gazette and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

2023-24 RARE members bring clean energy support to rural Oregon

Posted on October 20, 2023October 20, 2023 by kward2

Top row from left: Nolan Cochran, Ryan Taylor and Lanier Fussell. Bottom row: Alice Weston, left, and Alex Alonso Gudino. Photo courtesy of Bridget Callahan

A new cohort of Resource Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE) members is helping advance clean energy projects in rural Oregon.

The AmeriCorps program through University of Oregon places recent college graduates and graduate level students in rural communities across Oregon to support economic, social and environmental community development.

Members are placed with local agencies, typically nonprofit organizations or local governments, and work on a variety of topics from water quality and food insecurity to disaster recovery.

Five new members are working on energy-related projects throughout the state:

Alice Weston is working with Oregon Department of Energy in Bend supporting ODOE programs for Central and Southern Oregon.
Alex Alonso Gudino is working with NeighborWorks Umpqua in Roseburg on lower-income residential energy and housing issues.
Nolan Cochran is working with Klamath & Lake Community Action Services in Klamath Falls on energy and housing affordability.
Ryan Taylor is working with Lake County Resources Initiative in Lake County and Lanier Fussell is working with Wy-East in The Dalles. Both are helping agricultural producers and small businesses secure federal funding through USDA Rural Development programs.

Energy Trust has worked with RARE members for more than a decade, providing mentorship and guidance on ways energy efficiency and renewable energy can support community initiatives.

In some cases, Energy Trust also provides funding to help pay for some of the RARE member’s placement. This partnership builds local capacity to support Energy Trust program participation and, ultimately, customer utility bill savings and other clean energy benefits.

During the RARE orientation in September, Karen Chase, Energy Trust’s senior manager for community strategy, and Sustainable Northwest’s Bridget Callahan gave the new members an overview of Oregon’s energy landscape and issues facing rural communities in particular.

“I’m very excited to be working with and helping guide this new crew of RARE members,” said Chase. “They are going into rural Oregon at such an important time as more and more communities are seeking to invest in clean energy and need the capacity, resources and support to make that a reality.”

This article first appeared on The Energy Trust Blog and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

RARE 30 Year Anniversary – UO Instagram

Posted on October 19, 2023 by kward2

Oregon towns embrace their local haunts with these ghostly events

Posted on October 4, 2023October 4, 2023 by kward2

Monmouth Historic Commission member Amy Lemco, Community Development Director Suzanne Dufner and Main Street Coordinator Laura Scully are among those organizing this year's History & Mystery event. — Monmouth Historic Commission member Amy Lemco, Community Development Director Suzanne Dufner and Main Street Coordinator Laura Scully are among those organizing this year’s History & Mystery event.

By Tom Henderson | for The Oregonian/OregonLive

Jessica Todd retired as the dean of women at Oregon Normal School in 1931 and moved to Philadelphia, but the odd thing about Monmouth is that people who leave the community often return.

In one form or another.

Todd, folks say, returned after her 1944 death. Legend holds she haunts Todd Hall, the building named in her honor at what is now Western Oregon University.

Marilyn Morton is glad to have her back.

Morton created the annual Ghost Walk in the neighboring community of Independence in 2002 as an opportunity to tell people local ghost stories and guide them through historic downtown buildings. The concept spread to Monmouth with History & Mystery, an event now in its third year.

The Ghost Walk is held the first Saturday evening in October, with History & Mystery held the night before.

Todd isn’t alone in the other-worldly realm. Independence draws people like Flora Mix, who is just one of the ghosts who haunts the Masonic Lodge on Main Street. Morton said starting October by getting together with the ghosts of Monmouth-Independence is like a family reunion — for both the living and the dead.

“When you go to a family reunion, you hear stories unique to your family,” said Morton. “They are the stories that brand you as a member of that group. They’re stories you can tell your children. To me, stories unite communities. That’s why I want to tell these stories.”

History & Mystery starts at 7 p.m. Oct. 6 at Monmouth Main Street Park. The Independence Ghost Walk starts at 7 p.m. Oct. 7 at Riverview Park on Main Street.

Supplied with maps, visitors can fan out to 21 locations in Independence and 13 in Monmouth, where an appropriately dressed “ghost host” shares strange tales and local history.

Amy Lemco of the Monmouth Historic Commission said researching Monmouth’s past was tricky.

“I thought since this is October, the stories should have a darker element,” Lemco said. “Because it was a dry college town, Monmouth doesn’t seem to have as many scandals and tragedies as some of the other towns around.”

The research eventually became easier. “Once you find one thing, there are other key words in the article that lead you down this rabbit hole,” she said. “The research has a life of its own.”

A book of local stories will be available during the event, Lemco said. Meanwhile, she added … spoilers. “I don’t want to give away any of the juicy stuff.”

Rick Gydesen, the owners of Rick’s Place at 123 Main St., will likely tell the story of the ghostly man in the old-fashioned derby hat who likes to appear — then disappear — at the coffeehouse.

His wife, Mary, has seen the apparition as well, Gydesen said, but it hasn’t fazed her. “She accepts the fact that they’re there,” he said.

Thoughts of a Ghost Walk began haunting Morton when she worked for the Independence Downtown Association. Merchants told her the strangest stories.

“Half of the buildings had some kind of unexplainable happening,” she said.

When she visited San Francisco and saw signs for a Barbary Coast Ghost Walk, she decided to take the idea to Independence. She hoped for 40 people at the first event. More than 300 showed up. In 2021, the event drew more than 2,000.

Ghost Walk organizers commissioned a comic book about Independence’s ghosts from Warrior Innkeeper Comics in 2013. Morton has also written two books about local ghosts: “Haunted Independence” published by Arcadia in 2013 and “Spirits of Independence,” a follow-up Morton published herself last year.

“I think I have a storytelling gene,” Morton said. “I can’t control it.”

Whether people believe the stories or not is as immaterial as ghosts themselves, she added.

“The whole point of the Ghost Walk is to bring some love to our downtowns,” Morton said. “People need to remember what fun it is just to be downtown and get to know folks — dead or alive.”

IF YOU GO: History & Mystery in Monmouth starts at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 6, at Monmouth Main Street Park. The Independence Ghost Walk starts at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7, at Riverview Park on Main Street. Both events provide visitors with maps so they can visit downtown locations to hear stories and see historic buildings. More information on History & Mystery is available under the calendar at www.ci.monmouth.or.us. More information on the Ghost Walk is available at orheritage.org/ghostwalk.

This article first appeared on The Oregonian and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Meet Your Local Farmer: Sweet Union Farm & Maranatha Farm

Posted on September 28, 2023 by kward2

Sweet Union booth

By SARAH AKBARI Local Food Resources Coordinator, Klamath Grown

The Sweet Union Farm booth at the Klamath Falls Farmers Market, which is open 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays.

John and MaryAnn Anderson of Sweet Union Farm have a booth at the Klamath Falls Farmers Market.Take a walk through the farmers market this weekend or step onto a local farm and you’ll see an abundance of fresh, beautiful produce. Fall is a special time of year in the Klamath Basin, when the weather is starting to cool and farmers are hard at work harvesting the fruits of their labor. In the summer we enjoyed sweet berries and ripe tomatoes, but now is the time to pick festive pumpkins, eat tasty squash and crisp apples.

At their farmers market booth, Sweet Union Farm always has an array of vegetables to choose from: salad mix, edible flowers, unique potato varieties, garlic, carrots and more. I recently had the pleasure of volunteering at the farm and helping Katie Swanson, owner of Sweet Union Farm, and her crew harvest winter squash and colorful pumpkins, which will be available at the farmers market starting Sept. 30. They will have everything from tiny pumpkins that make festive decorations to large orange pumpkins that are the perfect canvas for carving a jack o’lantern. You’ll also be able to purchase different varieties of winter squash, such as red kuri, candy roaster, winter sweet, delicata and spaghetti. One of Katie’s favorite ways to enjoy winter squash is simply chopping them up and roasting them in the oven, but there are many other fun, delicious ways to eat them!

Katie Swanson is also the co-founder of Klamath Grown, a local nonprofit food hub that operates an online farmers market. Scroll through klamathgrown.org/market to find locally grown produce, meat, raw honey, eggs and more. Sweet Union Farm’s products are available for purchase on the online market, along with Maranatha Farm, another local farm with an abundance of produce available now.

Maranatha Farm is owned and operated by John and MaryAnn Anderson. They have been selling produce to farmers markets for the past 25 years in Northern California and the Southern Oregon Coast, but have recently settled in Klamath Falls and are dedicated sellers at the farmers market. Their booth is always bursting with fresh produce and surrounded by an eager crowd. One of their specialities is melons and if you stop by their booth, you will see why. They grow a wide variety of melons, including Galia, watermelon, musk and crenshaw. John and MaryAnn also grow delicious sweet corn, onions and soon will have plenty of pumpkins available!

I have also had the pleasure of visiting John and MaryAnn’s farm, which is full of rows and rows of produce. They take great pride in growing delicious produce that they know people love to eat and enjoy making meaningful connections with their customers.

The Klamath Falls Farmers market is open 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays, located on 9th Street between Main Streeet and Klamath Avenue downtown. Next time you’re there, be sure to stop by Sweet Union Farm and Maranatha Farm’s booths to connect with the farmers and pick up some delicious seasonal produce, even if it’s something you’ve ever tried before! I also highly recommend getting there early, so you can stock up on what you want before it sells out.

Meet more local farmers and find out where to buy their products on our local food directory: klamathgrown.org/eat-local

This article first appeared on Herald and News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Local Food, Local Dollars: Community Partnership Promotes Klamath Basin Agriculture

Posted on September 19, 2023September 19, 2023 by kward2

Klamath Grown Online Market highlights farmers and ranchers who are producing a rich diversity of agricultural products in the Klamath Basin

Katie Swanson (far left), owner and operator of Sweet Union Farm in Klamath Falls, meets with Sarah Akbari (middle) and Nicole Sanchez, OSU Extension horticulturist, on a farm visit. (Courtesy Photo)

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Farming can be a challenge in the Klamath Basin in southern Oregon.

The high desert climate produces wide temperature swings from day to night. The growing season is short. But a visit to a new digital directory highlights resilient small- and medium-sized farmers and ranchers who are producing a rich diversity of agricultural products.

Scrolling through the directory reveals seasonal fruit and vegetables, eggs, garlic, herbs, honey, goat milk, microgreens and pork and lamb. A half-dozen businesses grow flowers, and one farm produces mushroom products for cooking and medicinal purposes. The directory includes a restaurant, a local grocery store, a brewery and a winery.

While the directory gives southern Oregon and northern California residents a chance to meet their farmer, a companion resource allows them to buy from them. A re-envisioned Klamath Grown Online Market launched in December. There, customers can purchase many of the foods and beverages that are produced by the businesses in the directory. The directory provides opportunities for businesses to find out where they can source local ingredients.

The directory also provides an opportunity for people outside of Klamath who are curious about visiting or moving to the area, Akbari said. That kind of economic benefit interests Alison Smith, deputy director for the South Central Oregon Economic Development District, which serves Klamath and Lake counties.

The development district is a strong supporter of the OSU Extension-Klamath Grown partnership because “promoting and buying local food means local dollars stay here,” said Smith, who is also a board member for Klamath Grown.

“That’s vital rural economic development,” Smith said.

Klamath Falls farmer Katie Swanson, a Klamath Grown co-founder and director of community relations for the nonprofit, said the Klamath Basin needs a strong local food system.

“There are so many pieces to a community being able to feed itself,” said Swanson, who owns and operates Sweet Union Farm, a small, diversified vegetable farm in Klamath Falls. “Part of it is cultural and social: Having pride in your community and the land that you live on. That’s important to us.”

Increasing local food awareness

Akbari has contributed to the digital directory and online market of local producers for Klamath Grown’s website as part of her work as an AmeriCorps Resource Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE) service member. The position is supported and funded through a unique partnership of the Oregon Food Bank, Klamath Grown and OSU Extension in Klamath County.

Akbari was hired in September 2022 to work on a campaign to promote local food to the community by creating the digital directory and communicating with customers via social media and email newsletters. She’s also conducting research and surveys that will seek to increase customer accessibility to local products and markets.

“The directory is a great resource for people in the area who want to find local food and who are interested in supporting local farmers,” said Akbari, a University of Oregon graduate who grew up in the Portland metro area. “It’s a great marketing tool for farmers, who can join the directory for free. There’s been so much interest from people who are excited about what Klamath Grown has been doing, so being able to support local food in a rural area has been very impactful.”

Akbari’s next major project is to break down access barriers to local food. She collaborated with Oregon Health & Science University to conduct a survey that generated 200 responses from individuals and families who receive SNAP benefits. One of the goals of the Farmers Market Promotion grant is to create a first-of-its kind Harvest Box for underserved residents.

“None of this would have been possible without OSU Extension,” Swanson said, noting that Patty Case, a professor emerita in the Extension Family and Community Health Program in the College of Health, was instrumental in writing a successful grant proposal to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmers Market Promotion Program, which was awarded to the South Central Oregon Economic Development District. The district disperses the funds to OSU Extension and Klamath Grown.

“OSU support has been essential to everything we’ve attempted do,” Swanson said.

Through the grant, which was for nearly $250,000, OSU Extension has been providing technical expertise and education in the areas of food systems, small farms, supply chain dynamics, market analysis, drought resiliency, irrigation efficiency, food production efficiency, season extension, nutrition education and public health.

Extension’s role in the grant also includes:

Facilitating locally grown food bulk sales by schools and serve as the lead for Oregon Farm to School and School Garden Procurement.
Collaborating on community and school education and promotion efforts to raise awareness of the benefits of eating locally produced food.
Sharing contacts with relevant OSU faculty, connections to local experts and peers through the Oregon Food Hub Network and other local and regional food networks.

“OSU Extension has established connections and relationships both locally and at the campus level,” Case said. “We knew that we had a lot of ways that we could contribute. The question came up, ‘How can we get the boots on the ground and make things happen in our community?’ That’s where we shine as Extension.”

Blue Zones set the tone

Case, who retired in December, helped bring The Blue Zones Project to Klamath County, resulting in what is now Healthy Klamath. She worked with the Klamath County School District to place a FoodCorps service member in two schools. She also partnered with the county school district and Klamath Falls School District to implement a Farm to School and School Garden Program.

In 2015, Klamath Falls was selected as Oregon’s first Blue Zones Project Demonstration Community. The Blue Zones Project brings communities together in a commitment to bolster healthy habits. Blue Zones created a readiness for the Klamath Farmers Online Marketplace, which is now Klamath Grown and the Klamath Grown Online Market. Case said.

“Access to local foods was always something that Blue Zones aimed for,” Case said. “Eventually, our residents will consider supporting local foods as an important value of our community.”

— OSU Extension Service

This article first appeared on Morning AgClips and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Elkton hosts 16th annual ‘Butterfly Run’ to bring together local community

Posted on July 10, 2023July 10, 2023 by kward2

Runners begin the Butterfly Run Saturday in Elkton.

Will Geschke/The News-Review

ELKTON — It was cloudy on Saturday morning when a group of dozens gathered at the Elkton Community Education Center to take part in the annual Butterfly Run, a community oriented event to kick off the summer season.

The event was started 16 years ago by John Bradley, an Elkton winemaker, and has continued since as a way to bring locals together.

“I knew John when I was a kid, and his involvement in the community for the schools, the other winemakers and the community in general, was just tremendous,” said Dan Burke, the mayor of Elkton.

Kendra Peterson, a worker with the Resource Assistance for Rural Environments program, operated by AmeriCorps, works with the Elkton Community Education Center to create health and wellness initiatives. Peterson helped organize the Butterfly Run this year as part of a larger effort to improve the wellness of Elkton’s rural community.

“I was asked to help with the butterfly run because it’s something they do every year, but it’s incorporated under the health and wellness umbrella, so it kind of fit with my work here,” Peterson said. “I’ve never done this before, so it was a new experience, but it was good. I think it was pretty successful.”

Visitors came from across Elkton and from beyond, including the Edmans family from Florence, who arrived in butterfly costumes to take part in the fun.

“It’s actually really well attended,” said Jayne Edman. “I had no idea about this, this is really fun.”

Why butterflies? Organizers said that the name came from the local monarch butterfly population, and has stuck ever since.

“June is the time of year when the monarchs [butterflies] start arriving in Elkton,” said Marjory Hamann, the executive director of the Elkton Community Education Center. “So the event, it’s really about us all conjuring the butterflies, telling them they’re welcome here. It’s just a big, big celebration.”

After the 5k took place in the morning, visitors were able to take part in a butterfly costume contest, shop from a number of local vendors and listen to live musical performances.

Will Geschke is a multimedia reporter for The News-Review. He can be reached at wgeschke@nrtoday.com.

This article first appeared on The News-Review and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

The PLAYA 23 Statewide Rural Energy Convening Brought Together Rural Energy Stakeholders from Across the State

Posted on June 26, 2023June 26, 2023 by kward2

On April 19th, 2023, a network of rural energy stakeholders from across Oregon gathered in Lake County, Oregon, at the PLAYA Center on Summer Lake, for the second annual Statewide Rural Energy Convening.

PLAYA, as the event is often referred to, is a unique multi-day opportunity for non-profit organizations, federal and state agencies, utilities, and landowners to connect in a remote, distraction-free environment to discuss and strategize on overcoming barriers and advancing opportunities for rural community energy development.

The event, which was co-hosted by Lake County Resources Initiative (LCRI), Sustainable Northwest (SNW), the RARE Americorps Program, Wy’East RC&D, and USDA Rural Development, had roughly 30 people from various organizations participating. The relatively small number of attendees allowed each individual to participate actively during the various workshops, personal story-telling activities, and lively panel discussions. This event and network are made possible by Energy Trust of Oregon and a USDA Rural Energy Development Assistance (REDA) grant that aims to fund renewable energy technical assistance for agricultural producers and rural small businesses.

As the country moves rapidly to transition to a clean energy future and take advantage of the unprecedented funding opportunities introduced in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), convening to discuss rural energy needs has never been more important. Rural communities have been historically underrepresented in energy transition conversations and overburdened by energy costs. The PLAYA attendees, collaborating with their affiliated organizations, aim to develop a statewide, coordinated rural energy network that is customer-focused and results-driven. This includes developing effective strategies to ensure rural communities can access their fair share of the incoming federal funding.

The conversations, ideas, and connections that PLAYA cultivates are unparalleled due to the unique, off-the-grid nature of the event. The PLAYA center, which is located in the high desert region of the state right on the edge of Summer Lake – an alkali lake with breathtaking views and vast wildlife activity, offers little to no cell service and very limited wifi. This environment allows attendees to dive deeper into each conversation, collaborate more efficiently, and work together to formulate effective strategies for overcoming barriers to funding, capacity, and information gaps.

Top-level themes that were discussed included:

Due to capacity constraints of organizations and agencies, the influx in federal funding is not only an opportunity but also a challenge

Rural communities (landowners/customers) require more technical assistance when navigating energy incentives, grant applications, and project technical assistance
Further resource-sharing and collaboration across the rural energy network is crucial to properly assist rural energy customers.

As PLAYA concluded, it was increasingly clear that there is a monumental amount of work to be done to ensure community energy development prioritizes the needs of rural communities. Fortunately, it was even more evident that the strong, diverse, statewide network that gathered at PLAYA was equipped with the skills and resources to create a clean energy future that elevates rural voices and priorities.