Community leaders in rural areas of Oregon are often stretched thin, juggling multiple roles and responsibilities due to staffing shortages or other economic pressures. To support these communities, the Resource Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE) AmeriCorps Program places current students and recent graduates in small communities for 11 months of service. Willamette University alumni and students have become key participants in the RARE AmeriCorps program, using their skills and knowledge to drive meaningful change in high-need areas across Oregon.
AmeriCorps members from Willamette have taken on a range of roles to help towns more effectively deploy resources and implement sustainable practices, drawing on training from the RARE program and lessons from their time as students at Willamette to make a difference. In turn, AmeriCorps volunteers gain valuable leadership, service and professional experience by helping to solve community and regional development issues.
We spoke to two recent Willamette graduates to learn how their AmeriCorps experiences are helping them turn knowledge into action across the state.
Emily Embleton BA’23 helps two rural communities with disaster preparedness and food security
Emily Embleton BA’23 has undertaken two projects through RARE after receiving encouragement from Professor David Gutterman and Professor Wendy Petersen-Boring to apply to the program. A Politics, Policy, Law & Ethics (PPLE) major and recipient of a Theatre scholarship, Embleton fell in love with the rural coastal town of Coos Bay, Ore., during the pandemic, inspiring her to gear her studies at Willamette towards supporting rural communities. “The service mindset of Willamette lends itself well to the mission of the RARE program in supporting rural communities,” Embleton says.
Emily’s professors recognized her commitment to service and helped inspire her to pursue the program. “I loved having Emily in class because she brought such positive energy and creative ideas for how to make our world more just and sustainable,” says Petersen-Boring. “Her intellectual gifts, desire to change the world for the better, and experience working in small towns in Oregon make her a terrific match for Americorps.”
In the RARE program, Embleton first traveled to Florence, Ore., where she worked as their Emergency Management Communications Analyst in City Hall. There, she helped inform the local population about disaster preparedness through town expositions, a weekly talk show on the local community radio station, assessment surveys, and a website about disaster preparedness.
“In a small town like Florence, people are completely at capacity, and so I was able to come in and take some of the things off their plates,” Embleton says.
Inspired by the work she accomplished in Florence, Embleton again applied to the RARE program and was matched with the non-profit Rogue Food Unites in Ashland, Ore., where she currently works.
“We’re revolutionizing the food systems in Ashland by working closely with producers to provide people with free local produce,” Embleton says. “We buy produce from local farmers, so all the money goes back into the local food economy. In times of disasters, we'll provide hot meals and provision boxes to people around the state.” Finding her dream placement, Embleton will continue working at Rogue Food Unites after her RARE assignment concludes in August.
“At Willamette, I had the chance to study everything that would prepare me for this work, from sustainability to Indigenous rights and land management,” Embleton continues. “The conversations I had with Professors Gutterman and Peterson-Boring in and outside of class set me up to live in rural communities and stand by my values.”
She also attributes her opportunity to study theatre at Willamette to helping her become more well-rounded. “Theater is my greatest love, and I got to balance it with my passion for sustainability and rural communities. In Florence, I even got to teach dance and theater classes to local children,” she adds.
As a passionate advocate of the RARE program, Embleton also helped Milo Greenberg BA’24 apply.
Milo Greenberg BA’24 creates change and navigates big challenges in a small county
Milo Greenberg BA’24 has transitioned from his urban Seattle upbringing to one of Oregon's most rural regions through his work with the RARE program. A PPLE major and Data Science minor at Willamette, Greenberg is now in Wallowa County, where he’s working with the Northeast Oregon Economic Development District to increase access to grant writing, provide information on accessory dwelling units (ADUs), and address specific issues associated with being in a remote area of the state.
“I’m working in frontier counties, which means they have fewer than six people per square mile. It can be difficult for these counties to find people to apply for grant funding, which I’m helping to address,” he says. “The eastern half of the state often feels left out of political and government processes. I want to ensure that I’m in a position to make their needs heard.”
Greenberg is working to help the county address its housing crisis by taking a specialized approach to their difficulties. “Housing problems in these places look a little different than they do in, say, Salem or Portland or Eugene,” he says. “It’s really hard to get developers so far out of the way, and many are focusing their efforts on short-term rentals for tourism. We want to make sure people who work and live there can afford the rent or buy a house or apartment.” To address this issue, Greenberg has started an educational program to inform residents about ADU laws and accessibility.
Distinctive Willamette programs like The Conversation Project have helped Greenberg find success in the RARE program. The course trains students to lead conversations despite differences and aims to give them the conversational foundations to promote equality, inclusivity, and pluralism.
“Topics like climate change and climate resilience are controversial issues, and the county has struggled to adjust their energy planning because people are concerned about change,” Greenberg says. “I’ve taken lessons from the class to ensure people that their concerns are heard and they feel that members of their own community are leading these changes.”
“Milo is remarkably thoughtful, deeply committed to building bridges between people, and has a great gift for being able to lighten challenging circumstances with humor,” says Gutterman, who co-founded The Conversation Project with Petersen-Boring.
With guidance from professors and fellow Willamette alumni, Greenberg is looking forward to helping communities in Eastern Oregon thrive.
