Local Outreach At a Glance
Outreach Coordinators at North Coast Opportunities and True North Organizing Network are partnering with 16 Community-Based Organizations in community interviews all across the Redwood Region. Interviews with priority community members have been the primary focus in centering community voices through this outreach phase to ensure we hear from individuals who haven’t participated yet. The knowledge and wisdom that are being surfaced in these interviews directly funnels into project ideas that will be shared with the Sector Tables. In this way, we are encouraging grassroot organizations and community members to submit their ideas for projects to the Project Inventory Form.
Outreach is being conducted in a variety of ways that reflect the needs in each county. From in-person gatherings and tabling events to 1-1 conversations, relationships are being built to foster a long-term vision for our regional goals. Starting in April 2024, there will be Pop Up Data Walks in each county. Pplease stay tuned for updates!
Find the latest activities here:
Recent Outreach Efforts
At the end of April, Redwood Region RISE held an In-Person Gathering to foster unstructured networking and cross-collaboration for developing project ideas. It successfully accomplished these goals, leading to continued efforts in practicing and creating regional strategies centered on equity in economic development planning. A full visualization report on the outcomes can be found here.
Throughout the last few months, the Outreach Coordinators have worked closely with 16 Community Based Organizations (CBOs) partnered through NCO's CBO Mini Grant initiative to engage with local priority communities. They conducted outreach at community events and assisted CBOs in facilitating in-person Pop-Up Data Walks. Please find a digital version of these Data Walks here.
These Data Walks showcase the culmination of the Collaborative's regional outreach and engagement, and key research--elevating often overlooked community voices on economic development. Attendees review banners displaying data and quotes from interviews and listening sessions gathered over months by the Coordinators. This provides insights into how local residents perceive their ability to find supportive jobs and careers. A brief informal survey allows attendees to indicate if the exhibited data resonates with them.
Tribal Lands + Del Norte County: Report Out July 2024
Tribal Lands and Del Norte County have continued to work on their projects as we wait for various project approval. The Trails team worked to get a grant to begin work on trail expansion and forest management, which will help to improve tourism, mental and physical health of the residents, and help improve the carbon sequestration of our forests through forest thinning and trail access to create fire breaks. The Hmong group also continues to look for land to purchase to build a community farm and meat processing center, in hopes that their project will be approved, and continues to look at potential field trip locations. Our food systems group continues to meet and work towards our vision of a local food hub, and the fisheries have been selling their locally caught fish to the school district, and hopes to have a fundraising crab-feed in the fall to build morale and raise money.
Looking forward, we’re calling all interested parties! On August 14th we are hosting a regional strategy feedback session at Crescent City UMC at 664 H street. Dinner and networking will happen from 5-6, and then we will hear about all the work that has been done to date and get feedback from everyone in attendance from 6-7:30. Please join us! Find out more.
Please contact danag@truenorthorganizing.org for information or questions.
Tribal Lands + Lake County: Report Out July 2024
Lake County outreach and engagement for the latter part of June has consisted mostly of walking CBO mini-grant recipients through their final paperwork. Project Coordinator Stephen Dilley has also been actively engaging members of the public with updates about the planning phase, whether it be having the data banners up at another Neighborfest or having one on one conversations with people at the various CBO locations.
At one Neighborfest the theme was fire readiness. This event was held in the Scotts Valley area of Lakeport where all residents have been dropped from their homeowner’s insurance and forced to go on CA’s Fair Plan. The feedback on our data banners was positive but many folks indicated that they were surprised more data hadn’t surfaced in our interviews regarding the ever-present fire dangers and the economics of losing insurance and having to use the state’s very costly plan.
On June 28th Stephen was on KPFZ in Lakeport discussing Redwood Region RISE and the final stages of the planning phase. This was a one hour talk show style program and there was much in depth discussion about this initiative.
Please contact sdilley@ncoinc.org with any questions.
Tribal Lands + Del Norte County: Report Out June 2024
No report out availabe.
Tribal Lands + Lake County: Report Out June 2024
On May 31st Stephen Dilley had the Data Pop Up banners in both English and Spanish at the Soda Bay/Riviera Neighborfest at Galilee Lutheran Church. Attendance was steady and in excess of 20 surveys were completed. Many wonderful conversations ensued. On June 1st Stephen had the Data Pop Up banners at Middletown Art Center at their closing celebration for their Latinx art exhibit “Raices Hermosas.”
With the banners in both English and Spanish, Stephen and NCO board Chair Maria Dahlin interacted with over 100 participants and secured more than 30 follow up surveys. On June 5, Stephen had both sets of banners at the first Summer Community Market at Vision of Hope Village in Nice, CA. Those who attended were very engaged with the data banners and many in-depth conversations were had. All together, for the first half of June, the Data Pop Up banners were in front of over 300 people. Many deep and insightful conversations took place and the feedback was very positive.
A survey participant from the Middletown Art Center said when asked the “How might we address economic development locally?” survey question,
“Increase salaries and wages to attract better and more educated people to our schools and industries. Maintain the value of Lake Co being priceless for its beauty and beautiful people. Keep looking for those Lake County diamonds. Promoting available resources and attributes to encourage a better lifestyle and sustainability. Lisa at the MAC really cares about our community and does wonderful outreach.”
Please contact sdilley@ncoinc.org with any questions.
Tribal Lands + Del Norte County: Report Out May 2024
Del Norte and Tribal Lands (DNATL) has engaged in 1-1 interviews and small working groups as we continue to assess needs and develop strategies to meet local needs. We are involved in local events for Pride, a major event for the LGBTQIA+ community that will help establish and build local relationships. We are also continuing to work with the farming community, the Del Norte Trail Alliance, Redwood Parks Conservancy, the Hmong Association, as well as the fisheries to support their goals for RRRISE and beyond. Please contact danag@truenorthorganizing.org for information or questions.
Tribal Lands + Lake County: Report Out May 2024
On Thursday May 2, 2024 Outreach Coordinator for Tribal Lands and Lake County, Stephen Dilley attended North Coast Opportunities’ Neighborfest in Nice, CA where Vision of Hope Village shared the Redwood Region RISE Pop-Up Data Walk banners and received 50 survey responses from attendees.
On Tuesday, May 7, 2024, Stephen held a Pop-Up Data Walk luncheon for a small group of Seniors at the Middletown Art Center. This group was also very engaged with and around the data presented. A lively conversation ensued, echoing much of what was presented on the banners but also from the unique lived experience of the group.
In Lake County, families with children and youth really resonated with the banners. The majority of the people at the Neighborfest felt like the banner concepts around belonging resonated with them from midway to very strongly. The majority of the folks at the senior event said that the concepts of belonging on the banner did not really resonate with them very strongly.
Another Data Walk is scheduled for the end of May at Neighborfest at Galilee Lutheran in the Riviera/Soda Bay communities. Another Data Walk is scheduled for the end of May at Neighborfest at Galilee Lutheran in the Riviera/Soda Bay communities.
Please contact sdilley@ncoinc.org with any questions.
Tribal Lands + Del Norte County: Report Out April 2024
With Project Proposals submitted, the month of April has been all about smaller meetings that lend themselves to relationship building as we look towards regional collaboration on our projects. Agriculture producers, fisheries, and food hub folks have continued to look at what still needs to be done, and how we can support one another. We are looking at each project proposal, tweaking things that need some adjustment, and hoping for some field trips to see how other communities are succeeding in similar areas (and hopefully learn from their mistakes so we don’t make the same ones).
Please contact danag@truenorthorganzing.org with any questions.
Tribal Lands + Lake County: Report Out April 2024
In Lake County for the month of April we will begin doing Pop-Up events along with the NCO sponsored Neighborfest Events around the county. These Pop-Up events will focus around sharing the results of our Community Interviews with the community and getting additional feedback. Through our RISE sponsorship funding we were also able to sponsor the “swag” bags for the Neighborfest events. Our April 14th Neighborfest collaboration was canceled due to rain but rescheduled for May 31, 2024 in Kelseyville. There will be Neighborfest Events on April 20, May 4th. 5th, and 11th.
While gathering gift baskets and giving away items for the In Person event, Lake County Project Coordinator Stephen Dilley encountered a situation which should be brought front and center in our RISE work. One of the vendors, a Lake County multi-generation walnut producer, has fallen on hard times. The looming economy and overseas competition in the Walnut market has driven prices far below an average $0.35/pound break-even price, down to just $0.12/pound. This has had devastating effects on many of California’s walnut growers and this particular vendor faces foreclosure and/or the selling off of land/orchards that have been in their family for over 80 years. The prognosis for the US walnut market is in the “we are waiting for a miracle” phase.
Please contact sdilley@ncoinc.org with any questions.
Tribal Lands + Del Norte County: Report Out March 2024
Del Norte and Tribal Lands (DNATL) has been working hard to hone in on local group wants and needs, and getting ideas submitted to the portal. On March 11th, we gathered as a larger group to report-out what we have been working on in our smaller sub-groups, and presented a larger vision for our county and region, then broke out into brainstorming groups to discuss. There is a lot of excitement building as we move closer and closer to our ultimate project and 10-year vision for thriving in our region as we develop our economies and support our families in a holistic and resilient manner.
Reach out to Reverend Dana Gill for more information at danag@truenorthorganizing.org
Tribal Lands + Lake County: Report Out March 2024
Outreach Coordinator for Tribal Lands and Lake County, Stephen Dilley, and Equity Council Chair Maria Dahlin attended a Lake County Fundraiser for Vision of Hope Village on Saturday, March 16, 2024 at Nice Event Center.
Stephen Dilley presented to fundraiser attendees who were largely business association members and chambers of commerce members from around Lake County. The North Shore Business Association was the largest attendee group, but of note the County Office of Education, Lake County Fairgrounds, Lake County Board of Supervisors’ Eddie “EJ” Crandell and Sutter Lakeside Hospital personnel were also in attendance. Stephen gave a brief review of California Jobs First and then talked specifically about NCO’s outreach through our partner CBO’s and specifically with Vision of Hope Village. He explained the process of Community Interviews and how the information gathered would be used in many different formats including community pop-up events where members of the public will have opportunities to weigh in on the issues surfaced and answer the “how might we” question in terms of addressing these issues through economic development. The update was well received and there was much interest in finding out ways to collaborate moving forward.
Please contact sdilley@ncoinc.org with any questions.
Tribal Lands + Humboldt County: Report Out July 2024
Outreach Coordinator for Tribal Lands and Humboldt County, Rachel LaMell, has assisted local CBOs finishing up Data Walks, interviews and focus groups. In June, Data Walks were held in Arcata and Eureka.
Although not everyone who attended these resonated with the data presented. Everyone found the banners useful to initiate valuable conversations about community needs and challenges.
Some highlights from the responses included:
- A robust conversation about what a thriving job is and how we would like to see improvement or going into arts and culture, schools and education and business readiness. Participants also shared their concerns about the rising cost of housing and cost of living.
- Topics of importance included the ongoing challenges faced by people with disabilities and people of color in finding services and supports that were meaningful to them.
- Other concerns included a need for more support for bilingual people.
Please contact rlamell@ncoinc.org with any questions.
Tribal Lands + Mendocino County: Report Out July 2024
Yesenia Herrera, Outreach Coordinator for Tribal Lands and Mendocino County, has been actively engaged in conducting data walks and gathering community feedback surveys in collaboration with her Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) as they near the conclusion of Mini Grants. She has been closely collaborating with each CBO to finalize a comprehensive report detailing their outreach efforts and their partnership experience with the RRRISE initiative.
One of our CBO partners Jayma, from Laytonville Healthy Start FRC talked about the community meetings they hosted. She called them “Laytonville Rise-ing”: action groups that were formed. Jayme states one group will host a community art event called “Laytonville, A Taste of Culture” where local artists and makers will be able to host a booth and sell their wares. There will be live music, food and drinks. This will be an opportunity to stimulate our local economy, which is needed. Laytonville lies directly on Highway 101 giving this event a huge opportunity to capture tourists. Jayma says “ The RRRISE Project helped us get motivated to bring a fun event and some financial opportunity to our community.”
Please contact yherrera@ncoinc.org with any questions.
Tribal Lands + Humboldt County: Report Out June 2024
Outreach Coordinator for Tribal Lands and Humboldt County, Rachel LaMell, has continued working with seven local CBOs doing Pop Up Data Walks and focus groups. Since our last report out, six Data Walks, including two in Spanish were conducted in Fortuna, Eureka and Arcata, as well as a Data Walk that was held at NCIDC’s Workforce Development Summit, Pathways to Indian Prosperity at Bear River in Loleta, CA on May 30, 2024. The banners were also on display at J Cafe at Jefferson Center in Eureka.
In Fortuna, participants expressed wanting greater economic development in arts, culture, tourism, healthcare, and renewable energy. People appreciated having a space to be together, emphasis on working together as a community, supporting each other, and sharing resources.
Many surveys were conducted giving us feedback. Some highlights from the responses to the data walks include:
"We need job training for the long-term work that is coming to our area, so we can get employed locally from our community without having to outsource employees. That doesn't help our community out! We need to employ our local community."
"I have felt greater kinds of vocational programs could have a really powerful potential. A more expansive role of education for hands-on job and vocational training that could have a greater role for entry-level placement. A system of training and placement that connects educational resources to needed and available employment."
Participants also shared their concerns about the rising cost of housing and cost of living,
Please contact rlamell@ncoinc.org with any questions.
Tribal Lands + Mendocino County: Report Out June 2024
Outreach Coordinator for Tribal Lands and Mendocino County, Yesenia Herrera, has been working alongside the community based organizations to continue outreach and engagement for the remainder of their grant period which ends in June. The CBOs have been hosting many data walks to share back the data collected from the Empathy interviews with the community and having them fill out a survey to see how they related to the data.
Weaving Wellness and Diversity Inc. hosted one of their Data Walks at Mendocino College and received a lot of feedback from students and staff. The Arts Council of Mendocino County held both an in-person and virtual data walk which were both very successful and brought a lot of collaboration, great feedback and ideas together. Nuestra Alianza Family Resource Center in Willits have been doing Spanish Data Walks for our monolingual Spanish speaking communities. Redwood Community Services: Arbor Youth Center has been doing Data Walks with their youth/young adults at their fun and engaging events such as Graduation Party and PRIDE Event.
So far, there have been a total of 11 Data Walk events hosted throughout Mendocino County. Some highlights from the responses to the data walks BIG questions: How might we address some issues in our region? Project ideas for development that can help?
“Housing is the first issue.” “More available affordable housing.” “Better roads and public transportation for rural areas.” “We need free healthcare.” “on the job training and jobs that can lead to high paying positions for the experience.” “Considering skills and not just looking to see if they have a high degree when hiring.”
Please contact yherrera@ncoinc.org with any questions.
Tribal Lands + Humboldt County: Report Out May 2024
Outreach Coordinator for Tribal Lands and Humboldt County, Rachel LaMell, has been working with local CBOs to plan Pop-Up Data Walks in May, including one at Jefferson Center in Eureka on May 18, 2024, Arcata Playhouse in both English and Spanish which will be held on May 28, 2024 and May 30, 2024. Another Spanish Pop-Up Data Walk will be held at Centro del Pueblo (date TBD).
The feedback gathered from community members at the data walk in Eureka after seeing the banners was that it resonated with individuals. Responses to the information shared was very positive. The participants appreciated seeing how their data was/may have been used.
Please contact rlamell@ncoinc.org with any questions.
Tribal Lands + Mendocino County: Report Out May 2024
Outreach Coordinator Yesenia Herrera supported and participated in Weaving Wellness’ Pop-Up Data Walk at Mendocino College on May 7, 2024 and Dia de Familia with Nuestra Allianza (Mendocino Healthy Start) in Willits, in Spanish on May 18, 2024. Laytonville’s Healthy Start Family Resource Center also conducted a Pop-Up Data Walk at the Laytonville Community Outreach Fair on May 20, 2024. Feedback from these surveys will be reported next month.
Please contact yherrera@ncoinc.org with any questions.
Tribal Lands + Humboldt County: Report Out April 2024
The month of April saw Humboldt County CBOs wrapping up over 50 community interviews. Several people were put forth as possible candidates for video interviews with the Regional Convener, the California Center for Rural Policy (CCRP). Many of the CBOs plan to host Focus Groups/Pop-Up events which will focus around sharing the results of our Community Interviews with their clients and getting additional feedback.
Outreach Coordinator for Humboldt County, Rachel LaMell, attended the California Big Time and Social Gathering on Saturday, April 6th in Arcata. This event was hosted by The Indian Tribal & Educational Personnel Program at Cal Poly. Rachel also tabled at the Decolonizing Economics Earth Day event on April 21, 2024 in McKinleyville, where she shared information about Redwood Region RISE.
Please contact rlamell@ncoinc.org with any questions.
Tribal Lands + Mendocino County: Report Out April 2024
CBOs in Mendocino have completed the community interview phase of the outreach and engagement plan and are now planning events for the months of April and May to do Data Walks where they will share back with the community what they have heard from the interviews so far.
Outreach Coordinator Yesenia Herrera attended the Mendocino College Native American Motivational day on April 12, 2023 in Ukiah and did a lot of networking with the tribal community.
Outreach Coordinators Yesenia Herrera and Zenia Leyva Chou will be tabling at events in Ukiah as well as Fort Bragg’s Earth Day events, both on April 20, 2024.
Please contact yherrera@ncoinc.org with any questions.
Tribal Lands + Humboldt County: Report Out March 2024
Outreach Coordinator for Tribal Lands and Humboldt County, Rachel LaMell, attended the Seed & Plant Exchange in Arcata, CA on March 9, 2024. A great opportunity for the community to come together to bring seeds and plants to share, talk with other gardeners and farmers, and to learn more about food sovereignty in our region. This event was hosted by the Humboldt Permaculture Guild and it was a wonderful way to connect with individuals from the community about getting involved with Redwood Region RISE.
Rachel also visited the Arcata Farmers’ Market on March 16, 2024 where she handed out Redwood Region RISE outreach brochures and invited Humboldt County residents to participate in the community interview process. You can find our Redwood Region RISE staff at California Indian Big Time & Social Gathering at CalPoly Humboldt on April 6, 2024 in Arcata, CA. And you can find our outreach table at Decolonizing Economics 2024: Earth Day to May Day on April 21, 2024 in McKinleyville, CA.
Please contact rlamell@ncoinc.org with any questions.
Tribal Lands + Mendocino County: Report Out March 2024
Outreach Coordinators Yesenia Herrera and Zenia Leyva Chou doing outreach at the Mendocino Farmers Convergence in Willits, CA on March 19, 2024. A day of inspiration and learning from local farmers and community leaders who are passionate about making a difference in our local food web. Yesenia continues to make strides in community interviews as well as focusing on opportunities to engage more in upcoming local events. You can find our Redwood Region RISE outreach table at Ukiah’s Earth Day event as well as Fort Bragg’s Earth Day event both on April 20, 2024.
Please contact yherrera@ncoinc.org with any questions.