Finding Familiarity in a New Space
Written by: Anna Peach - RARE AmeriCorps Cohort Year 31
“Welcome! What can we Dufur you?” was the first thing I saw on the City of Dufur website. I had just received my potential placements from RARE that I would be interviewing with in a couple weeks and was looking into the regions that I might be moving to and working in. I remember smiling at this play on words used throughout their website, as I still do now. From this first read-through of positions and locations, I knew that the Gorge was where I wanted to end up.
My placement at Wy’East Resource Conservation and Development has me based in The Dalles, with occasional visits down to Dufur for various meetings and work with our electric farm equipment. One of my primary projects is working on a feasibility study for an agtech innovation hub to be based near Dufur, which is about 20 minutes south of The Dalles. My other project is the implementation of a Community Renewable Energy Program grant that we received last fall, with mobile energy storage and EV charging units to be placed throughout the county.
This work in energy and resiliency has been completely new for me, as my background is in public health and food security. I spent a lot of time in my first month here googling any technical term that was thrown my way and researching rural energy resiliency resources from across the country. Oregon itself has also been new to me, as I grew up and went to school and college in Iowa. Disasters like wildfires and earthquakes (I’d never heard of ‘The Big One’), the history of the logging industry, and many other aspects of Pacific Northwest life have been unfamiliar.
Dealing with so many unknowns, my personal and professional network in Oregon has been key to learning more about the region I am now living and working in. I have met so many amazing people who have loved sharing about this state and answering my many questions. My first week in The Dalles, I visited The Dalles Dam Visitor Center and talked with the park ranger stationed there for half an hour about her favorite hikes in the area. When I was back at the Visitors Center weeks later for a work event, we recognized each other and said hello again. It was nice to see a familiar face, something that now happens often when I am out and about in The Dalles. This interaction is just one of many of the connections I have made and relationships I have developed since moving to Oregon, including with community members, colleagues, RARE members, and new friends.
The Columbia River Gorge has many current and past RARE members living in it, which has been another great form of support. It speaks to the area that so many RARE’s have stayed in place, having moved here from across the country for a one or two year position. The Gorge is beautiful, with a never-ending list of hikes and waterfalls to explore, a list that I have been slowly working through since moving here. I have loved living somewhere I can almost always see a mountain and where I can get outside year-round to explore.
The amazing people I have met in the last five months have been what has truly made me feel at home in Oregon. I grew up in a small town in Iowa, and I’ve discovered that rural Oregon isn’t too much different from rural Iowa. A lot of the same challenges exist in both, which is what RARE is trying to address through our capacity-building placements. More importantly, a lot of the things that make small towns great exist in both as well. Neighbor helps neighbor in rural areas and everyone has been very welcoming and willing to help out as I have settled into my new role. I’ve met so many people in Wasco County who are more than happy to sit down with me and talk about what they are passionate about in this region. These passionate people are the champions who fight for rural areas, despite fewer resources and people to make things happen.
Five months into the service year, I am grateful to have met so many amazing people that have made Oregon feel like home. I am excited to see spring and summer in the Gorge and throughout Oregon and look forward to the many more people I will meet over the last half of the service year.