In small groups across all of the Regional Dialogues, Participants consistently shared that convening people together to share, listen, learn from one another, and build trust is the solution to addressing so many community, regional, and statewide issues. Participants desired time to slow down, hear about the life experiences from people different from them, and understand their needs and desires. People want to truly listen and truly be heard. “Building relationships” was a common refrain.
We need more time talking to each other… the time to meet, the time to change. We’re not going to change without having conversations and working together, less imposing on each other and more communicating about where the needs are. (Medford Dialogues)
We need to have more of these kinds of exchanges so we can empathize with different situations. I think if folks were to spend time in the tribal setting then they would understand. (Medford Dialogues)
What I'm always struck by is it really doesn't matter the community that you're in, it comes down to building relationships…We are more similar than we are different. (Portland Dialogues)
I'm not an urban person, but I'm willing to learn some of those issues…I certainly want the urban people to come and listen to us. (Baker City Dialogues)
It's fascinating to be a state worker or a nonprofit director and be in the same leadership class as a guy who has that air conditioning company. You begin to see through each other's eyes what you think the challenges are for each other’s children and for economic vitality. (Baker City Dialogues)
I think it's about trust. People come to the table with extreme views, but it’s important for people to listen. I’ve seen it. People reflect on their thoughts and share what they know. There’s a sense of feeling heard. It’s a tough thing to feel like you've never been heard or have been misrepresented. (Lincoln City Dialogues)
By building these relationships, more understanding can occur and people can better understand the urgency of specific issues for others. Consider the range of issues named in the Dialogues: houselessness, addiction, racial discrimination, lack of job training, under resourced education systems, poverty, sustainability, and more. Participants understand that these issues do not lie in isolation from one another, that they are all entwined. As on Portland Participant shared, “When any you address any of these issues, you need to do it through a comprehensive lens. You can't just look at homelessness and not work on job development. If you have a comprehensive lens, then you realize how we all impact each other.” Relationships and trust are developed when one is heard when they show up and when one can listen.
Another perspective that some shared is that every person has their own network. When someone at the table may not know an answer, then they know whom to call to find the answer. As trust is built for one person, then trust can be created for their networks as well.
As Participants found their way to these conversations about listening and learning to address issues, they referenced the need for such relationships to happen at the community, region, and statewide level. At each of these levels, all of the decision makers would need to understand each other’s issues and be at the table. These kinds of spaces bring familiarity and trust. “One can listen better to someone that they know, particularly in a room where others are also listening,” shared a Lincoln City Participant.
They sought a space where people could begin to collectively pull together. For statewide issues, Participants named that visiting other communities is essential to become informed and be changed. As a Medford Participant said it, “It gives space for not ramming a one-size-fits-all view on us because our needs are a little more nuanced than that. We can get at the resolution to some of the conflict by expanding, by informing the perspective.” More mutually beneficial agreements can be reached, as well as the understanding of limits and potential impasses.
DIFFERING VIEWPOINTS ARE NOT EASY
Participants acknowledged that this task would not be easy. Disagreement will happen and that, as a number of Participants reflected, is a good thing. Opening one’s mind to a different viewpoint is not easy. It does not mean one’s own viewpoint is changed or life experience has changed. As a Lincoln City Participant shared, “One of the signs that we are intelligent is that we can hold two opposing ideas and allow them to exist within our own mind. We should be able to do that.”
Two Participants in different Dialogues reflected how communities come together after tragic events. Individuals pause and openly share kindness and consideration towards one another. They wondered and hoped for that feeling of coming together to more commonly exist in our Oregon communities. One described it as a “preventative community building,” creating that networks are already strong.
THERE ARE VERY REAL CHALLENGES
Is creating this kind of local, regional and statewide trust easy? Not at all. Significant and very real challenges exist to building relationships and trust for the benefit of our communities.
Polarization and Division
At present, our state and country are incredibly divided. Politics is so polarized that people just don’t want to step into fighting and dysfunction. (It would be naïve to think that any gathering for the benefit of solving a community’s issues would not be called political.) People don’t feel like either party is right for them – more than a few Participants mentioned that they felt like they were more purple than red or blue. Whether intentionally or not, misinformation is out there. A sense of alienation exists, whether real or perceived, by not being on one of the teams. “The two-party system thrives on dissonance and refuses to compromise anymore. That's the problem: you get polarized people who do it their way or no way,” said a Lincoln City Participant.
Money Can Be the Loudest Voice
“America's America requires money to be heard,” contributed a Warm Springs Participant. Decision makers prioritize the demands and needs of the west side of Oregon where so much of the economic power and drive rests in Oregon. The needs of the rest of the state are eclipsed by whatever the Willamette Valley, Salem and Portland need. These economies attract people and thus the majority of Oregon’s population lies here. With that comes a larger percentage of the state legislature. Participants noted that two-thirds of the House of Representative’s districts lie along the I-5 corridor from Eugene to Portland. In contrast, Oregon’s House District 60 stretches from Baker City to Lakeview, a 5 1/2 hour distance between the two cities.
The legislature looks at the population they do, but they don't live that areas. They are looking at where population comes from. That's where the money comes from it. That's where the votes come from…their priority is over there. (Baker City Participant)
When a political decision appears to be imposed based on the greater number of voters in the I-5 corridor, it may not fit eastern Oregon living. What I appreciate is when there is some flexibility for rural, the realities of rural living. (Baker City Participant)
You’ve got legislative issues that are coming forward where urban seems to outweigh the rule. If you look at redistricting every time a census comes out, we're continuing to create larger and larger rural districts because the populations are shrinking. (Medford Participant)
I think a lot of times we get overlooked in rural Oregon because of the amount of population we have or that we're just far away from Salem… I’m here to help people understand and kind of educate some people from the other parts of our state with what's going on with our community. (Warm Springs Participant)
Oregon Is a Huge State
Others made the point of the sheer size of Oregon and the lengthy drive needed to get to and from Salem. The closer proximity to decision makers, Participants said, makes a huge difference. If ten Portland residents travel to testify at a hearing, their voices may drown out the perspective of the one or two individuals from eastern Oregon. Not everyone can spend hours in the car, not to mention the associated costs, a Participant shared. It’s possible, one Participant said, that meetings could be held over video or across the state, not just in Salem or Portland (a solution made more accessible and accepted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which happened after these conversation). This could create more and improved connections between legislators and their constituents.
It's a big commitment for a farmer to drive out of Ontario to come to Salem to go to a meeting. We all know that. As for a video meeting, it's unrealistic to expect that people have and maintain technology themselves.
So decisions are made regardless of contribution from the rural community because that's what the center of power is. So sometimes the system needs to be designed to allow the diversity of those things to influence a decision. In many ways you, when you live in a rural part of any place, you feel like you're still the colony.
Politics Produces Disincentives for Getting Involved
People see public entities making moves that make no sense to them. A rural Participant, for example, named the paradox of having a new federal director overseeing rural development and helping Oregon’s smaller cities and that is based in Portland. "Did anyone consider that this placement would draw question to the federal government’s commitment to such a position?" they shared. That such a position could be seen as more of a token than a sincere interest at bolstering small communities? How could this be an oversight? Participants gave other examples. A city council that made a series of bad decisions and, despite new council members, the community does not trust the councilors or their decisions. A Participant called their county the “poster child of dysfunction.” Another shared that every time someone tries to do something bold, naysayers chip at the idea and claim it cannot be done. The idea (and its supporters) get picked on and pecked to where only a skeleton remains of the original vision. These kinds of political ecosystems produce not just disincentives for getting involved but hopelessness as well.
Being Real about Sense of Hopelessness
Going back to so many of the issues people named that burden their community and community members, Participants expressed the feeling of being overwhelmed, kind of stuck and even hopeless about how to address urgent issues, such as lack of water for farm and ranch families or the challenges of drug addiction among Native Americans. “People are going broke,” shared a Warm Springs Participant.
Participants in different dialogues shared a desire for intentional conversations around the hopelessness that so many feel and to elevate voices and perspectives that are not often heard. A deep frustration exists and perhaps this is why convening for the purpose of listening, sharing one’s story and truly hearing was so frequently brought up as a solution. Such dialogue could serve as a form of healing as well giving space to comprehensively consider problems and possible solutions.
Day to Day Challenge
Participants acknowledged the impossible task of creating a way for everyday people who care about these things to get involved and make a difference. People are busy or they are trying to make ends meet. They feel like they do not have skills or perspectives to offer. Participants recognized that attending or participating in such conversations necessitates that people have the privilege of time and freedom to attend. The Dialogues where these conversations happened were all during a workday, taking up the half the day. Similarly, other public meetings are often held in the evening, which can conflict with childcare, work, or much needed downtime. Yet, without these voices at the table, problems may not be identified and solutions to challenges such as houselessness or affordable housing may miss the mark for the populations they are intended to serve. Getting more of voices to the table would require an upscale in outreach to successfully hear from voices so often left out, not invited, or unheard.
My brother in law installs carpet. He’s not going to take a day off work to come do this, but he's like one of those people that would be so great to have in this conversation. How do we get more people? (Warm Springs Dialogues)
Such limited time that we all have, as parents and professionals. But talking/learning about one another is key to gaining understanding. I want to be more communal with my state. Though my bandwidth is limited. But I should make the time. (Portland Dialogues)
Necessity of Upscaling Outreach and Inclusivity
Upscaling of outreach and bringing people together comes with a number of challenges. Ensuring that different cultures, ethnicities and, really all people, feel welcome and invited to share their perspectives. One Participant, a resident of Woodburn, shared that their community is a majority-minority city with 60% of the population being Latina/o. “For a long time, we've always been majority and we had very little to no representation at the government,” they shared. Another Participant shared that Portland has the largest Indian population, potentially more than all of Oregon’s nine tribes put together. Finding ways to include these voices is paramount, not just by invitation to join but inclusive of their voices in actual decisionmaking. Learning about and honoring the differences between different non-white populations is critical to bringing people together in a way that establishes trust.
I'm becoming more and more convinced that having diversity in decision-making is really important. And so having voices at the table that are talking about things can get you to better results. (Baker City Dialogues)
We have a pretty significant Mexican community, but they're not at the table. They don't have a voice and they're busy working. But you know what, I'm not so sure that they're welcomed. (Warm Springs Dialogues)
Diversity brings such… you're just better. You make better decisions with diversity. (Warm Springs Dialogues)
Something that always occurs to me is being able to get more people at the table… All the people you see in this room, you'll see him a thousand times. But where are the people you're are not seeing, how do you recruit others into his all to being at the table? (Medford Dialogues)
Is raising the bar on inclusivity easy? Participants named challenges and possible solutions. White leaders do not consistently have the comfort or understanding of engaging with people coming from different cultures, whether it is Indigenous, African American, Latinx, Japanese, or any of the other cultures represented in Oregon. Likewise, these Communities of Color, who have not historically been served by policies and public servants, may rightfully question intentions and distrust that their perspective will be heard. Further, many Americans do not understand that tribes such as the nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon are sovereign nations. “ Half the time we are treated as special interest groups when we are sovereign…. I have to walk to that minefield in order to accomplish business for our nation, shared a member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. Generations of being ignored, abused, stolen from, and killed cannot easily or quickly be eased. “I think that's where some of the real work lies,” shared a Portland Participant, who continued saying that being in a space with people so different from you can build understanding, shed distrust and have real conversations with honesty, questions, humor and forgiveness.
People Do Not Like to Speak in Public
For all of the reasons above, this notion of inviting people to show up and share seems simple and yet daunting. People are not always drawn to sharing their perspectives and attending a community visioning session. Per a Baker City Participant, “We have a talent show and the whole community shows up. But if you invite them to talk about what they want to see this community become, we get maybe ten or so.” With the hope of attracting new voices and more community participation comes ignoring patterns worn in by history, turning off the divisive radio and television stations, attempting to truly listen and not judge, and to keep going. In reflecting on persistent need of hearing from different voices, one Portland Participant reflected that engagement is like exercise, that they will always need to do it: “I never think that I'm going to be in shape and then I don't have to eat well and exercise anymore.”
We want to make sure that we get the different perspectives. We have rural communities that have different perspectives from each other. It's not just Portland versus the state. How do we do get these perspectives? How do we move forward? It's developing the listening skills to say, “Okay, I hear you. Let me think about how we can make it all work together.”
It’s a variety of stakeholders: private and public sector; local, state, federal and special districts; philanthropy; and others. You might not know how to get there, but you figure out how much it costs, who can do what, and then collaboratively build that into solution.
We all have something to give. Giving it can empower all of us. I would love to see how we could cultivate that… if we really listened to what each other needs and what we have to give them, we could make some really good choices (Medford Dialogues)
NEW LEADERS
With the desire for deeper and wider outreach in communities, Participants also desired new leaders. One Participant is surrounded by youth that want to get into elected roles. They also have a different mindset about sex education, marijuana, and other issues. The younger population wants to talk about these issues that current political leadership just doesn't will not bring to the table. Participants yearn for some community leaders to step and run for elected office and to create more legislators willing to cross party lines, listen, and collaborate.
Participants desired more People of Color in public office and, with that, identifying any barriers so that they felt confident and comfortable to run. Another Participant wished for an organization to help with such an endeavor: “A group of women of color got together and realized that we all work full time. We all have our families. We all do volunteer work on the side. There is no organization in Southern Oregon to help with this.”
Money is a huge thing that prevents people running. Running for any office costs money to pay for mailings, yards signs, a website and in bigger elections, television and radio advertisements and campaign staff. Beyond that, there’s a lot of work in getting people out to vote as well, which circles back to the need for more authentic communication and true inclusive participation. Participants want also a more informed citizenry, one that knows the system of government, both local and federal, and how democracy works so that we can make the changes so that people can get their basic needs met. More than one Participant shared how immigrants learn this in the process of becoming a citizen and the need for everyone to know these things.
More education. More listening and sharing. A higher bar for inclusivity. Building better relationships. Creating Trust. New leaders. These are the identified steps forward to building better communities and a better Oregon. Have you been a part of an effort or campaign that has embodied these? How is it possible to operationalize such steps, to put them into practice? Below are some experiences, practices and ideas that Participants shared in the Dialogues. Grab a notebook and reflect on what of these resonate with you, how they make sense or how they don’t to you, and any changes you see yourself making after reading this long section and the notes below.
COMMUNITY BUILDING APPROACHES AND SUCCESS STORIES
One person acknowledged that many different approaches to community building are used and practiced all over the country. Here some examples of community building process and successes shared by Participants in the Dialogues.
THE FORD FAMILY FOUNDATION’S COMMUNITY BUILDING APPROACH
Listen to learn
Engage to mobilize
Skill up, branch out.
Plan together
Create change
Celebrate and reflect
For more information: https://www.tfff.org/program-areas/ford-institute-community-building/community-building-approach
FOR INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS
Providing childcare at public meetings.
Serve food. To assist students in completing federal student aid forms, a group held events with dinner so parents did not need to worry about it.
Go to where people are: build relationships with churches, synagogues and other places of worship in order to get public information out. A Participant gave example of going to a church to talk about identify theft and 200 people joined.
ATTRACT ALL PUBLIC, PRIVATE AND NON-PROFIT SECTOR LEADERS
Public private partnerships and community-based groups get stuff done because the people in the groups are responsive and live or work in the community. They're super responsible with their resources and they apply them in a way that meets the needs.
Comprehensive long term visions communities or regions can bring all sectors together to really address the comprehensive needs. Then, they work collectively as a region because they know what's needed.
CREATE MANAGEABLE TIMELINES
Establish 90-day benchmarks for planning and to sustain long-term work. A Participant has seen this provide a sense of progress and on manageable timeline.
LEARNING TO WORK TOGETHER TAKES TIME
A Rogue Valley planning effort to plan for doubling of the population in several districts took more than ten years. People complained a lot throughout the process because it took so long. It was not just about the technical aspect, but also people getting used to working with each other. Twelve years later, everybody agreed. Developing the relationships was key to success in difficult project.
LEARN FROM AND USE EXISTING COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE
The infrastructure already exists for such building relationships: common community groups, small community foundation, community action networks, visioning groups, and nonprofit organizations are already a hub for these conversations.
Watershed councils in Oregon have been operating for 15 or 20 years breaking down some of these divides.
Great collaborations are happening around forest management and preservation. A Warm Springs Participant gave Klamath area as an example of bringing people from all the different sides and perspectives together and reaching solutions.
CONSIDER PAST PROGRAMS
The Civic League and The Progress Board addressed issues at regional level via strategic planning and with support of statewide leaders.
CREATE CORE VALUES
A Participant shared: We worked to passing a transportation package. From the beginning, we had a series of core values. We used the word “neighbor” to talk to people about other communities. We asked questions like, “How do you help your neighbor when their needs are different? How are we going to value them?” We listened as went around the state. Everyone's needs just look different. And that's okay. By the end, we really had folks fighting for each other's needs because from the beginning we set that as a value and then they really heard that along the way. And it all passed.
KNOW THAT WORDS MATTER
We can do complex big things, but how do we talk about it from the outset and how you get the right people to the table to push something forward here who sort of matters.
INDEPENDENT DEVELOPMENT ACCOUNTS
Tribes do a lot of community engagement, trainings, and outreach. They have community action teams and work with people to establish Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), which really helps folks reach goals like purchasing or renovating a home, go to college, buy a car, start a business or the like.
HUMOR
For a new initiative, community leaders called their meetings “Not Another Meeting.”
WELL-ROUNDED SUPPORT
One community created a place and programs for all kids that need a place to go right after school. They are fed. Volunteers engage them and support students struggling with homework. Families come together and visit. It’s a place where people connect with each one and really listen.
TRIBES COLLABORATING
Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes work together on water, housing, and more.
LOCAL DECISIONS
Decentralize decision making so regions have more flexibility to make the allocation and rules more appropriate to their community.